Fragrance Reviews by chatnoir

As a child of the eighties, I remember well all of the buzz around Giorgio. I remeber the "designer impostor" wannabe Giorgios- what hubris! I also remember Giorgio NOT being a scent I cared for very much, so I've been content to leave it alone. However, I sprayed a bit on me on impulse the other day at the store, and you know what? It isn't half bad. Sure, it's strong. My kiddie nose and my adult nose agree on that much. But it is also very smooth, and attacks as a unified whole- no single note just bludgeons you. As it dries down, it mellows and becomes a spicy, rich scent (probably the carnation and amber) that smells sophisticated and confident. In small doses, this would actually be a great work scent- it smells rich, confident, and capable.

Something I would have hated as a child, something I find intoxicating and sophisticatd as an adult. This smells of seduction- the first sniff is almost overpowering, but the Patchouli becomes a beguiling and exotic note upon drydown that keeps you coming back for more. I tried this on one arm, Shalimar on the other, and I must say there are many similarities. Shalimar doesn't start out as potently as the Youth Dew, but the drydown shares a lot of the same exotic notes. The main difference after a couple of hours is that Shalimar's vanilla warms up the spice and incence notes, while Youth Dew is a much cooler and more pungent incence at the end.

Yumm! I love this scent. I have the cologne, and I apply it liberally, and I find it lasts for me. I detect a spiciness- an almost carnation-y secent that I just love, along with the powdery sweet florals. This is a great daytime scent, though I enjoy wearing it to bed, too. A classic that deserves its reputation- that's White Shoulders.

Sweet and sassy, Insolence smells a bit like grape candy to me (must be the raspberry I'm smelling). The drydown is warm and sweet, and it is surprisingly persistant on my skin for such a sweet scent. this is a daytime scent, and it says "happy" to me.

Sigh. My ex husband used to wear this when we first met. It smelled wonderful and distinctive on him. He hated strong scents- they gave him a headache- but this one worked well for him. It was not really musky at all- a fresh, light, almost floral scent that still manages to be masculine is how I would describe it.

My husband wears this, and it works well for him. It has a nice, woody scent- the balsam really dominates on him. It is fairly persistent, and fades to a slightly spicy woody scent after a few hours.

I liked this one at first when I tried it- all sophisticated florals and fruits. But in the drydown, it smelled like...peanuts. I'm not kidding! I sprayed some on me in a store, walked around the mall for a while, and it morphed into peanuts! I had my husband give it a sniff to confirm, and he said the same thing. I'd chalk it all up to my chemistry, but the little tester strip smelled the same... I love the bottle though, and the topnotes are nice. Perhaps I'll have to try this one again. To be fair, I noted that they reformulated this, so my comments apply to the new stuff only.

Ugh. I hated this one, probably because it was foisted on me by my truly "wicked" stepmother, and even at the age of 9 or 10 when I received it, it smelled "babyish" to me. I wasn't allowed to pick my own scent, probably because I might choose something with some personality. This is baby powder in a spray bottle, folks, and that's about it. There's no depth, no drydown, nothing. Even kids deserve better.

Another of my great-grandma's scents, Chloe seemed supremly stinky to me as a child, but I rediscovered it a while back and liked what I smelled. I'm a Lilly of the Valley fan, and I liked the sweet melange of florals that dried down to a powdery softness that was quite appealing. Imagine my consternation, then, when I found out the old Chloe is being discontinued. I better run out and get some before it gets swept away by the new iteration (if it hasn't all ready).

The better of the cheap mid-nineties vanilla scents. Vanilla musk is a warm, sweet vanilla, and the musk gives it a nice soft drydown.

One of the mid-nineties vanilla scents- the least among them, actually. I once made the mistake of saying I liked this, and ended up getting annual gifts of it from my well-meaning ex mother in law. I still keep a bottle of it stashed in my train case because I wouldn't be terribly upset if it got broken or lost, but I don't mind wearing it, either. The vanilla isn't very sweet, as such things go, and sort of floats beneath other poorly-defined florals.

My mother always disparaged Shalimar because she believed its popularity unfairly detracted from her favorite scent- Guerlain's Chant d'Aromes. I dismissed Shalimar because of this, and because of my mistaken belief that "Old"="Old Lady". Wow! Was I wrong. This is strong, heady stuff, but it is so dynamic and sophisticated on! I am further amazed when I look at the short list of notes in Shalimar. What is it that gives it all that drama? The opopnax, perhaps? This is a great scent that would be a fabulous night time scent or a scent to wear with your best power suit and killer heels.

Reminicent of Charlie, this is a nice, solid scent. It works well at the office or on the weekends, and the drydown is a nice, unobtrusive clean floral.

Cheap, and it smells it. This was one of the perfumes I was stuck with growing up. Since my whole perfume "wardrobe" consisted of stuff I was given as gifts, Lady Stetson joined the ranks of such forgettable scents as Exclamation, Love's Baby Soft, Electric Youth, and something put out by Jordache that was so horrible I've conveniently forgotten it's name. It is alcohol-y and blessedly short-lived, and has no real distinctive notes.

This was a scent of my great-grandmother's. When I was a child, I thought it was stinky skunk oil, though I was always captivated by the dove stopper. I revisited this recently, and I was pleasantly surprised. To my adult nose, it smelled fresh and romantic, with just a touch of earthiness in the rose notes. This could be effective as either a day scent or a night scent. I want to purchase a bottle and see if it will live up to the ultimate test- will it last more than an hour on my skin? If it does, this might become one of my five-star scents.

I liked Island Kiss- until I tried it on. It lasts for about 30 minutes. It also smells almost exactly like Rockin ' Rio and Sunset Heat. Is Escada just repackaging this fragrance annually? It's sweet and fruity, and if it lasted, it would be a real summertime treat. What a shame.

Mmmm. Warm lemon cookies! That's what Hello Kitty smells like to me. Unabashedly sweet, undoubtedly slight, undeniably fun. This is a feel-good fragrance for me. I love Hello Kitty the character, so I was given this as a gift, but I would honestly go out and buy it for myself. It's girly and light, and doesn't have the greatest persistence on my skin, so I use it a lot like a body mist and spray it all over in liberal amounts. I should have known it was connected to Givenchy- I seem to like all of Givenchy's scents!

My mother's signature scent in the early 80's was Cinnabar. I remember it being deep, exotic, and very spicy. It just screamed "grown up" to me, and I used to sneak a spritz on occasion. I would love to revisit it today and see if it still smells like the quintessence of sophistication.

Exclamation was one of the scents I was condemned to as a child. It was popular, I received it as a gift, I wore it. I also found it to be overpowering and obnoxious, and too much induced a headache. Over time, my sense of smell has changed, and things I found to be unbearably strong as a child are much less obnoxious to me now. I wonder if I revisited Exclamation if I would have kinder things to say about it?

Nah.

This was the stuff, circa junior high. I was inordinately thrilled to get a bottle of this for my birthday from a "with-it" aunt. I wore it religiously most of my 8th grade year, and felt it was an integral part of my "cool cred" at school. I stumbled across the "travel bottle" of Electric Youth that came with my big bottle of it, a while back, and I gotta say, aside from the plastic floaty things and the coil of neon-hued plastic wound around the spray tube, this scent just isn't all I remembered it to be. Sweet, floral, and slight, it fails to excite me the way it did all of those years ago. But my white Reebok high-tops with the pink lining and laces? Those are still rockin', even today ;-)

As insignificant as the pop star who lent it her name, Curious smells lke nothing other than a child's modeling clay I once played with. It has no drydown, as it simply doesn't last that long. The bottle is cute, but that's slight praise for a perfume.

What a great scent! Clearly one of the predecessors to the clean, green florals that have been so popular the last few years, Amarige is a scent that will continue to stand the test of time.

In many ways, I see Amarige as analogous to the famous Audrey Hepburn "look" created by Givinchy. Always fun, feminine, and youthful, Givinchy's designs for Hepburn also highlighted her sophistacated, elegant side, too. With its modern florals, followed by a strong, elegant finish, Amarige manages the same feat in a scent.

The only downside to this scent, ironically enough, is also one of its greatest attributes. The strength that gives it such a strong finish and staying power can also be a bit overwhelming if you get too much on at once. Like all good things, then, enjoy Amarige in moderation!

I love Lilly of the Valley, but I do not love Norfolk Lavender's version. I have the cologne, and it is simply the weakest scent! You can barely smell it, even if you smell the bottle directly. What you DO get is alcohol- in spades! What a shame- Lilly of the Valley is such a lovely scent, and stands so nicely on it's own. If you really want a good Lilly of the Valley perfume, try Caswell-Massey's instead!

I wanted to hate Goddess. I really did. I received it as a gift in a set with another Earth-shatteringly vulgar sounding scent- J-Lo Glo. Anything created by a talentless pop icon trying to leverage their popularity in the fragrance market usually fades about as quickly as the poplet who leant his/her name to it, but Goddess is the exception. Goddess is a rosy, strong scent that dries down to an enticingly deep, soapy floral. I wouldn't go so far as to call this "sexy"- it actually reminds me a lot of the scratch-and-sniff flowers in the "Pat the Bunny" book, but it has good persistance, and a strong, true note that exudes femininity and confidence- perhaps it IS a bit sexy after all!

This is my grandmother's signature scent. She is 86, and I am 32, and I think it works equally well on both of us. Charlie is a seamless scent- it has good persistance and it stays true all day. The only quibble I have with it is the "Blue" incarnation. It smells slightly different than the original- my grandma had an old bottle of the original that got tucked away half-used in a cabinet, and when I compared it to a bottle of "Blue", the original seemed slightly warmer and deeper, with a slightly spicier drydown. Perhaps that is due to age, but the effect is generally more pleasing. A perfume that reminds me of Charlie is Nautica woman, which has that same seamlessness, and a touch more persitance than the "Blue".

Bora Bora reminds me of Dior's J'Adore. As a matter of fact, I consider it to be J'Adore Light. The problem is the "light". This scent has little persistance on me. I like the white florals, even though they have become so overdone lately. This one is slightly fruity with a warmer drydown than some of the other whites, which makes it a nice scent, albiet a fleeting one on me.

J'Adore was my first "adult" fragrance. After spending my early twenties wandering through the wilderness of fruity body sprays, I found J'Adore. What a lot of reviewers refer to as "boring", I refer to as "dependable". J'Adore goes on J'Adore, and stays J'Adore for the rest of the day. That's no mean feat, considering my chemistry wreaks havoc on many perfumes, making them dissapear entirely in a short time. J'Adore has persistance and a refined scent that is the best of the white flower fragrances- sweet without being cloying, and approachable without feeling cheap.