Powerful (2009)
by Boadicea the Victorious

Aromatic lemon with medicinal edge in the opening … topped with a tinge of “off.” Underneath the meh opening accord is a meh grapefruit that grows stronger as the chromatic lemon fades. I don’t get the violet… or at least it doesn’t annoy me if its there. I see the opening as very uncoordinated… lacking in identity… but I’m making too much of it because most of the citrus action fades rather quickly (five to ten minutes) before it sinks, insignificantly, to an inferior floral-textured (possibly ylang-ylang accord that comes across to me pretty much as a drug store fragrance. I may be misjudging this – maybe that bit of offness has something to do with the violet note and provides enough annoyance to me to dislike what’s happening in the development. Whatever… After the disappointing opening and heart, Powerful eventually settles down to a musky, powdery, somewhat dirty base that produces enough sillage to explain the name… Powerful… Lacks longevity…

5th December, 2010.

Lemon, with a touch of grapefruit. Don't even go looking for violet, ylang-ylang or sandalwood. It's 95% lemon and 5% grapefruit. I like lemon and this would be so-so on a woman, but it's singularly unimpressive in terms of endurance & complexity. You could just buy a bottle of lemon essential oil and you'd be in the same spot as buying a bottle of Powerful.

9th August, 2009.