Reviews by Sun-and-water

    Showing 1 to 15 of 15.
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    L'Eau par Kenzo by Kenzo

    I have a bottle of L"Eau par Kenzo in my cabinet. It is from a couple years ago, from a time I wasn't so crazed about rose scents as I am now. This was my favorite perfume then. This week I spread it in a hurry before going to work, and was surprised (again) by how good and fresh and clean it smelled. Watermellon? Water? Cedar? A fresh breeze, uplifting like the wind one could feel when staring at the sea from a rocky hill covered by trees on a sunny day.
    Lasts all day in a hot, humid weather. Very nice. I would by another one anytime.

    3rd March, 2011.

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    Notre Flore Jasmin by L'Occitane

    I like it very much. The jasmine is very prominent and satisfies my longings for this scent. I also smell something slightly bitter in it. It is a very good fragrance. Seems a bit strong while I am spraying it, but in a few minutes it settles at a comfortable level and, although not extremely long lived, I can feel it for many hours. It is not the perfect jasmine scent (OH, Jasmin par Le Galion!) but my first bottle is almost over and I have just bought two more, out of my extreme fear of being jasmine-deprived again. All thumbs up!

    12nd November, 2009. (Last Edited: 6th October, 2011.)

    rating

    Roses des 4 Reines by L'Occitane

    A real truly rose scent. I love it and wear it almost every day. It is light and smells fresh and yet it is rosey rosey rosey, the way I like them. It has a fairly good staying power, despite being very light. I feel that just-out-of-the-shower sensation for hours. Also, it does not annoy even the perfume-enemies (and they DO exist, poor ones!). Now and then somebody asks me what is it that I am wearing that smells so fabulous. It is a pity it is so expensive at L'Occitane shops in my city (circa 130 U.S. dollars a bottle). But I pay it gladly because it is so pleasant. Hoe may thumbs up dp I need?

    30th October, 2009.

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    Green Tea and Jasmine by L'Occitane

    I bought Green Tea and Jasmine because of the jasmine, of course. Mad about jasmine. Not mad about green tea. The jasmine is there, but is overridden by the green tea, which is a pity. Well, I really think it has too much green tea. It is a nice fragrance, although very fast vanishing. The first bottle went in two months. I got another one, and that is practical evidence that I actually enjoyed it. I spread it liberally after the shower, and when I arrive at work it is there, but very lightly - and unfortunately, much more tea than jasmine. On and on, its delicate, makes me happy and I intend to go on wearing it on a daily basis. It is not a great scent, but deserves a thumbs up.

    15th March, 2009.

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    L'Instant de Guerlain Fleur de Mandarine by Guerlain

    I really liked as I sprayed. I could smell very fast and nice citric notes. And they were gone (FAST). The first time I tried LDG Fleur de Mandarine, after a few minutes I sensed something of Chamade (which I love), also vanishing fast. And then the lasting scent, very old-ladyish. This was lasting. I really did not like it.

    The second time, I hallucinated in Shalimar, but the bottom line was unpleasant and heavy, with a lot of staying power. Made me a little bit sick. My daughter also found it a Granny's perfume. Chic, no doubt. I can feel it is high quality and well done. But old-lady's.
    I could give it a neutral rating because of its very good quality. I could notice it is elegant. I know it can be marvellous in some other woman. But not me. True to this, a thumbs down.

    30th June, 2008.

    rating

    Paris Roses des Vergers Springtime by Yves Saint Laurent

    I love it. It was not love at first sniff, though. Not even at the second one. Roses hidden under stronger scents. Very feminine, I could never wear Paris, but the springtime versions are really very wearable, at least the two I have tried. Roses des Vergers is stronger than the next one, Jardins Romantiques. I got along better with the last one (third bottle already!). I cannot explain it better , but I found Jardins Romantiques a cleaner scent. I'm eager for the next one, Pont es Amours. Well, I love rosey perfumes.
    Thumbs up!

    15th June, 2008.

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    Paris Jardins Romantiques by Yves Saint Laurent

    I am wearing the third bottle and have three more safe in my wardrobe. Do I love it? Smells even cleaner, fresher than Paris Roses des Vergers (which is sweeter to my nose), but as lovely as. When I finished my Roses des Vergers bottle and headed for another, it was too late. So I stocked up on Jardins Romantiques (which I also cannot find any more). Looking forward for the next springtime version of Paris (lovely but too much for me on a daily basis), which I intend to buy and buy. Light, but when I think it's gone, I catch a whiff of it, hours later. A scent everybody around me enjoys. So much delicate, such a beautiful smell, nothing wrong with it at all. Both thumbs up.

    15th June, 2008. (Last Edited: 23rd June, 2008.)

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    Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune by Guerlain

    The opening is fantastic, fresh, stimulating, mouthwatering. Then a smell that I associate with dead damp grass on a steamy cloudy day shows up, something that I now realize is the patchouli on my skin. If I reapply it, Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune keeps wearable, but that patchouli is like ashes in my paradise. I will wear it some more, because it's a Guerlain after all, and maybe I will change my mind despite the patchouli (or even because of it - funny, because I enjoy patchouli incense sticks a lot, but when it comes to perfume, it has been disappointing).

    13rd May, 2008.

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    Shalimar by Guerlain

    I came to know Shalimar through my mother-in-law's wardrobe. I was in my early twenties. It fascinated me. I had mixed feelings about it. It's pungent (to my senses) opening gave way all too soon to a sweet powdery wave that stayed for a very long time. Old lady's? Sometimes I think YES! And then I am not so sure. I wore it for a long time, but stopped when it began to make my skin itchy and red. I think it is a little too heavy for me. It is chic, elegant, but it is also something that does not match my way of life. Perhaps is meant for a well-dressed lady in a cold weather. Very self confident and mysterious. Maybe driving a leather upholstered car. Not for a woman who longs for her weekend strolls along the beach while she drives to work early in the morning in capri pants and t-shirts, listening to Ventura Highway and Summer Breeze and Rain Must Fall, water still dripping from her hair, pearly pink foolproof lipstick hurriedly applied, looking forward for her first cup of coffee of the day. Anyway, for all the sophisticated ladies in this world, a thumbs up.

    5th May, 2008.

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    Passion by Elizabeth Taylor

    I had a bottle of Passion many many many years ago. And I liked it. It was sweet and sexy - not instantly, I mean. You had to wait a bit for it to warm up on your skin. I found in it the same sexyness I found in Chamade (but Chamade is the top of the line for me when it comes to perfume). I dont think it is "old lady's". It is very feminine, seductive. And yes, citing Bonni, "something you'd expect Elizabeth Taylor to wear". Better saying, something I would expect Cleopatra herself to wear. But it is not heavy, never gave me a headache. Good staying power, and a few drops go very far. Very nice fragrance. But then again, I have not seen it in years. Believed it had been discontinued. A thumbs up.

    5th May, 2008.

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    Voile de Jasmin by Bulgari

    I think Mercurygirl is right when she says it is so very much like Eau Fraiche de Bulgari (which, by the way, I like best). Voile de Jasmin is delicate, nice, pretty and so on. Although it is a "voile", I expected more of it. More jasmine, more staying power (its vanishes faster than Eau Fraîche), more body (I think jasmines are intrinsicly "fuller", or at least they should be). It is too elusive for me. But it deserves a thumbs up because despite not being what I expected from it, it is really a very good fragrance.

    19th January, 2008.

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    Diva by Ungaro

    I bought a bottle back in the 80's and let it grow old in my bathroom cabinet. Could not stand it. Wore it a couple of times to work (ok, not fit to work) and that was it. Too heavy, dry, intrusive. But I can see that all male reviwers gave it a thumbs up - just like an older male colleague who complimented me on it. Maybe I should wear it for the sake of the masculine fantasies it seems to recall. Great name, by the way. Diva. The name itself is a fantasy.

    19th January, 2008.

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    Jasmin by Le Galion

    THE real jasmin. Lovely. An aunt gave me a miniature bottle when I was 15. I wore it as if there would be plenty of it to be bought, and then it was gone forever. At high school a friend used to bring me jasmin flowers now and then, and I put them inside a bun in my hair, so that their smell would last all day long. Just like Le Galion's Jasmin. Never had a better perfume. Maybe it was my being fifteen, but I doubt. I still look for jasmin scents. Last I bought was Voile de Jasmin de Bulgari. Nice, but not jasmin enough for my taste. Would someone tell me where to find a truly jasmin still in production?

    19th January, 2008.

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    Sicily by Dolce & Gabbana

    OH yes, I strongly agree with Margi! Sickly, what a perfect definition. Something (or a wronged mix of) struck me from the very start to the end (persistent thing!). My daughter didn´t like it either.
    Bought it in the dark, trusting the D&G brand. What a waste of money. So much so that I don´t even remember where I stashed the bottle (a big one). Big, huge don´t.

    Adding to this review some years later: it smells of the mould that develops on lemons when they are forgotten inside the frigde for a long time, inside a closed plastic bag. Even through the plastic, the citric mould smell pervades and contaminates the whole fridge and you get that nauseating breeze as you open the door. Remove the plastic bag with the nasty things and all, and still the fridge stinks for a long time, even with charcoal stones put inside to absorb the smell. This is Sicily!

    9th January, 2008. (Last Edited: 6th October, 2011.)

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    Chamade by Guerlain

    I loved this fragrance from the very beginning, when an inspired friend gave me a bottle for birthday, back 1984. She set my mind on a perfume I would wear and be just crazy about for the next 5 years. Ceased to wear it when it suddenly desappeared, at least from the shops in my city. Sexy, sultry, gorgeous, chic, perfect. Everybody asked me about it, and male coleagues wanted to buy it for their wifes/sweehearts. Where can I find it?

    9th January, 2008.

    Showing 1 to 15 of 15.

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