Fragrance Reviews by soirdelune

A little beauty, a treasure, a darling. A self-possessed floral with a soft hint of spice. Opening with a sharp-to-soft welcome of jasmine and orange flower, opening up to a warm, but ultimately sheer, golden bath of neroli and ylang-ylang. A strongly held middle yields eventually to a pretty violetty, powdery base. Resolutely of its era, but giving force to the notion that 'what is old is now new'. I found this a satisfyingly 'vintage' scent, while also somehow surprisingly modern.

I had a rather extraordinary encounter with this perfume recently. Encouraged to try some 'older' scents (which is a bit of a joke, for someone who wears no. 5 as a staple), I sniffed this one out at my local department store. It was quite an olfactory experience, and one that is rarely encountered with today's rather bland scents.

The top notes hit me like an almighty smack in the face: green, green, green, but humid and jungly like rotting vegetation beneath a shaded tree canopy. Startling, though not altogether revolting. Top notes lingered for a good half hour.

The middle notes were the most interesting, and pleasing part of the fragrance: again, a very vegetal smell, and one that, for a long time, I could not easily place. And then it struck me: cooked quinoa -- yes, that very particular smell of hot, cooked quinoa. Quite comforting, but unusual!

Remarkably, the drydown lingered just a short while, although not before my partner had come home and said (somewhat non-committally), 'Oh, you smell nice.'

An intriguing scent, but -- for me -- one that peaks far too soon.

Well, I am interested to see that nearly all the reviews for AdP Colonia here are by gentlemen, as my lady wears this scent and she smells quite magnificent in it. Yes, with her, you certainly get that triumphant initial citrus blast, but this then settles into something quite dense, dark and herbaceous -- masculine, but fetching on a lady, nonetheless. Am also interested to read about the 'hyping' of this brand: I must say that she elected to buy this scent after having sniffed a large number of other colognes. Had it not been for her impatience, I would probably have bought her a bottle of the Chanel Exclusifs Cologne, which is sublime. AdP is an excellent substitute, nonetheless.

My signature daytime scent ... narcissist, moi? A scent with a whole heap of glamour and gumption: audacious, elegant, complex -- not unlike its wearer! No, seriously, as a fair-skinned blonde, this is one of the few heavyweight scents I can truly pull off. It strikes just the right balance between the restrained sexiness of its rich rose and jasmine floral tones and the more sensual pepper, nutmeg and honey-musk notes beneath. Stupendously long lasting, reflected in its high price. I can also testify to its aphrodisiac powers: for ladies and lovers and lovers who love ladies!