Zephyr (2007)
by Neil Morris Fragrances

The opening is very fruity – tangerine, but it quickly morphs into a strawberry smell, where it remains for a while. Thus far it is pleasant, light, sweet and feminine. It holds onto that strawberry feel for quite a while, keeping the florals at bay until they eventually progress into a bouquet of honeysuckle and lily; I don’t get the tea note that is supposed to be in the middle, but the florals are quite nice. The dry down is a quite weak musk that has little variety, little projection but good longevity as a skin scent. Zephyr is a nice, subtle, fruity feminine scent. It could stand to be more interesting.

This, like all the other Neil Morris fragrances, has a curious magic perfume-bubble quality; at first you smell the outside of the bubble, at which point the other notes are hidden and you get an impression of "ah, this is what the fragrance will be like", but then the bubble bursts and all the other notes come gushing forth. In the case of Zephyr, the effect is "the smell you get on your hands after picking wild strawberries", then "fairly synthetic, but very pleasant girly shampoo". I'd recommend this to fans of any of the Ralph fun & fruity scents. I would enjoy this in the summer, or at any time I felt frivolous. I can't help wishing for a more complex base (what would happen if you took some of the base from Gotham and laid it under Zephyr? For instance).