Fragrance Reviews by aquilaclaudia

This chypre-based rose scent inspired by legendary Mitsouko is astonishingly beautiful in my opinion. It is glamorous and profound at the same time. Started out with an illusion of sea of crimson and vermilion roses, it smells almost cloyingly sweet at the beginning. But it soon melts into the soothing and calming greens of its chypraic base which then well balances the lavish sweetness of honey, fruity rose with its chic aura, making the rose suddenly stands out with a proud and dignified charisma. The image of the rose it conjures up in my mind is not a fragile, dainty rose but a sturdy, noble rose celebrating the joy of life in autumn wind while other flowers withering, in which I find just very touching. Rose Barbare is a rose with flamingly proud character, definitely not just another bottle of rose scent.

Hard-to-detect traces of rose companied with relatively potent grapefruit smell. It is a young, light, fresh, girly scent but nothing else special. As the combination of rose and grapefruit is almost omnipresent in nowadays perfumes for young ladies, this one doesn't create any other magic out of them in there. At this point, I can't see something worth the price.

JOY is a peerlessly beautiful fragrance. Divine or heavenly, every such adjective you can think about to describe this perfume will just be appropriate and no exaggerating because it is truly a best of the best. Love at the first smell was my experience with it. It smelt so obviously good that there was no room for me to argue about but completely submissive to its superiority, which for a captious picker as me was a totally unforgettable experience. This fragrance doesn't take time to cook or transform on the skin, the qualitative ingredients in its composition state it all from the very first whiff to the last trace. It doesn't reveal its beauty gradually or understatedly, it's an intoxicating flower bomb of the best rose and jasmine in harmony to immerse you in great and infinite joy. Every time I smell it, it gives me a feeling to crave for more and an impulse to collect more of them in afraid that one day I might not be able to find this gorgeous scent again.

If somebody expects a floral explode from 1000 as from Joy, he/she is surely to get disappointed very possibly. As mille is much more a Chypre fragrance than a floral. It may appear a bit old-fashioned to somebody, but this is why I like it because such a majestic masterpiece made of obviously high-class ingredients is a hard-to-find nowadays. The green note starts off at the beginning is very elegant in a discreet way, creating a dignified prelude for the floral core note ensued. I can understand why people saying this smells old-fashioned because the green note is not as transparent or as crispy as many of modern light green-floral scents, but it is this slightly bitter and mossy green note makes the floral core blooming and profound. The part of sweet osmanthus intermingled with lush bouquets to soften the a bit edgy green note to a sophisticated floral is my favorite part of the perfume because it smells understatedly chic, just as a beauty who is self-assured in her value and majesty but without a strong statement, which I find it is appealingly beautiful.

Another nausea causer from Dior. I have always felt that Dior is not very good in making oriental scent though it does have some block buster such as Poison in the line. But this did not change my impression for the brand. The vanilla scent in Addict is so potent that it dominates the whole composition from the beginning to the end, which leaves no rooms for the flower core to bloom, and I believe it is this unbalanced and overdosed vanilla makes this fragrance a flat and heavy annoyance. The multi-facet quality appearing in many recognized oriental classics such as Coco, Opium or Samsara is therefore totally absent in this work. Going to something extreme might have become a principle for CD's oriental creations to succeed because they did it in Poison. But this will be inapplicable to Addict because it is less unique and not as pioneering as Poison in every aspect. It may appear as a gem to some vanilla lovers but definitely not a masterpiece for sure.

What a mistake for me to buy this! I bought it as a gift for my sister who loves rose scent without testing it on myself beforehand and now it proves to be a huge mistake. It smells more like a candy bar whereas the rose has dimmed to leave only an elusive trace. Anyone expects a pure or classical feeling of rose from this is surely to be disappointed. It is very much like a young girly scent with some artificial sweeteners, which makes it smell rather contrived to me. The worst thing is that it makes both my sister and I nauseous.

As a rose hater, this is one of the few which are able to please me with its delicate beauty. I agree the previous review that it has a tender and shy character but it is very long lasting also. It starts softly with a lovely sweet note of rose, very transparent and young, but remains to leave a powdery trace when the rose fades, which, somehow, cause me some slightly unpleasant feelings. I would still give it 5 stars, though.

Gosh! This fragrance is so so so good!! I tried it with a small vial and applied it deliberately to both of my forearms before going to bed. The result was amazing. The interplay of powdery iris, creamy vanilla, and sweet core of rose accompanied by a cello note of woody base was heavenly. It is deep, soft, and creamy, as sweet as a thin layer of sugar veil had been laid on my skin but never developed into something cloying or overpowering. I was instantly hooked and it kept on drawing me deeper and deeper. This is really a fragrance of quality as I was often repelled by iris note because it often presents too powdery to get on with. But in Attrape-Coeur, along with the tenacious sandalwood and smooth vanilla, the powdery iris stays just impeccably beautiful to add the tranquil and tender touch as plumy as a very refined velour to the composition. I feel fantastic as I am wearing it. It is one of a few of recent Guerlain that I feel it really shows the prodigy of the brand. And I am so glad that Guerlain is gonna make it permanent in its perfume line as I need not to worry about I will find it nowhere in the future.

Pure, joyful, young, and vivacious. It is probably the loveliest orange blossom scent I have ever smelt. I like this one better than Jo Malone’s Orange Blossom because it is greener and crisper, not as much floral as Jo Malone. I find its transparent mixing of petitgrain, neroli, and orange blossom very appealing and uplifting, a delightful simplicity to enjoy and appreciate for everyday wear.

This one is marvelous. The best leathery scent created ever. There is nothing to make you think about animal skin or to cause resistance but pure and powdery aroma of leather that softly envelop you with shimmering and subtle hint of vanilla, which reminds me greatly of Shalimar.
I have never found leathery note could be so intriguing untile I met Cuir Beluga. Though it is too expansive to own, I am glad that Guerlain has had a modern/new masterpiece like this in their product line. It is an avant-garde yet elegant scent that retains the beauties of complex in Guerlain’s tradition; truly a class!

I always consider myself as an oriental lover cause I love quite a lots of heavy and heady classic orientals such as Chanel Coco, Guerlain Samsara, YSL Opium and even some more latest such as Gucci EDP, Cartier Le Baiser Du Dragon, and many others of these kinds. However, I was not impressed when I tried this one in a department store. It smells rather light and has an elusively sweet hint of orange companied with a seemly complex base note. However, it seems to lack an astonishing power to mesmerize me instantly as many others that I adore. I agree that it does have some sorts of classic charms but overall it is very much like just an excerpt derived from some more complex and dark oriental compositions, which is just not enough for me.

I have been using perfumes for over 15 years and currently still have over 100 perfumes in my collection. Lots of perfumes come and go but Jicky replaced Chanel Coco from her 6 years long rein and has been sitting comfortably on the throne ever since I luckily obtained an EDP from a friend a few years ago.
This is a very poetic and sentimental composition in my opinion and I can’t describe how I was touched when I first smelt Jicky. The young and exuberant note of rosemary which awakes all my sense was my first impression of Jicky. Then after the scent stays a while on the skin, the idyllic and poetic lavender reveals to conjure up a rural landscape bathing in breeze which seems to visualize the scene of Aime Guerlain first met his beloved Jicky in England countryside. The fougere note keeps on developing the scent in a shady leafy harmony while opopanax and vanilla undertone add some exotic and creamy depth to relish the whole composition.
I was not to believe that a perfume can really tell a story until I met Jicky because I felt almost to cry when I first smelt it. It is full of emotion, longing, and love and it is completely beautiful.

Though smelled ethereally beautiful at the beginning, it soon becomes cloying to my taste after a few more times of wearing it. The smell of jasmine in Marc Jacob’s interpretation is just simply too nice to be true; some sorts of sweet hints of fruits make it more a pleasant and easygoing scent than a jasmine scent. Though I can handle some sorts of fruity sweetness in fragrances, this is not something I expect from a jasmine scent. And the worse thing is that this something else than jasmine seems to never wear thin when I am wearing it. The airy aroma is also another very annoying existence when I need to concentrate on work. I think I prefer something more pure and simpler than this. For me, Clypso St. Barth Jasmine or Le Jasmine from Chantecaille is much better than Blush. The truly voluptuous and opulent jasmine can be detected vividly in either of them. To me, Blush is beautiful, but not beautiful enough to be a jasmine scent.

I have always been an oriental perfume lover who loves warm and heavy scents such as exotic Chanel Coco, YSL Opium, and Guerlain Samsara very much but have found it is getting more and more difficult to find fragrances with such kinds of prominent characters and qualities in recent years. However, now I can say this is it. It has everything I like about oriental: captivating, distinct, deep, rich, seductive, strong, sensual, and multi-facet all reveal in a very elegant way. It starts with an extraordinarily strong head note of floral which may cause some resistance at the beginning but then it will gracefully soften down to something so powdery and dreamy that will linger and haunt in your mind when the dark iris and the warm and silky woody base gradually emerge. Especially after a few more tries, I find the heady head note that repels me at first also very intriguing which reminds me of spellbound Gucci’s L’art de Gucci. This is that kinds of typical and very refined perfume which reveal its true beauty and secrecy virtuously that deserves a few more tries to acquaint with. Then you will know this scent is completely excellent and divine, truly a delight to enjoy with.