Darling by Kylie Minogue, 2006

sugary, chintzy, kind of like the perfume equivalent of fruit tingles. smells ok, as long as it isn't too hot. doesn't linger much. thank goodness.

From watching the advertisements, I figured that Darling would be reminiscent of the 90's and have a certain type of class and elegance. However, this was not so. Upon first spray, Darling was quite sour and common. I could detect the passionfruit and the litchi, but to me they weren't an appealing blend. Interestingly though, the scent when settled on the skin for a few hours became quite pleasant and soft. Perhaps it was the vanilla in the base that made me sit up and take notice. Unfortunately there is nothing about Darling that stands out from the crowd. While the base is likable, the rest of the fragrance leaves nothing to be desired.

In my opinion, this is a hugely underrated fragrance by the wonderful Thierry Wasser and Ms. Minogue. Yes, it goes on sweetly synthetic, but nothing as bad as others may make it seem. The true beauty of the perfume is the way it wears and its progression. The quality and the mastery of its creator makes itself apparent in this regard. As some have noted previously, the middle is where this one starts to shine (largely due to the freesia giving away to lily and then boronia mixed with a light vanilla) and then ends in a gorgeous base that is absolutely delightful and lasts for many, MANY hours. I indeed hold this fragrance in very high regard. This is one that I think many wrote of for being a celebrity scent, and that is really a travesty as it is so much more than that. Any fan of Thierry Wasser should check this one out - make notes and study. Overall: 4 stars (minus one ONLY for the overly sweet top) and a big THUMBS UP!!!

When I first sprayed this on my arm, all that was there was an overpowering, sweet and cloying burst of flowers and some fruit. Though there was something behind it all, wanting to come out, and after a good few hours there's a pleasant creamy vanilla amber left. It feels like good quality stuff, at least it's a lot different from all the other celebrity fruity florals (with SJP Lovely as an exception). There's no place for it on my shelf though.

An "easy to wear" chypre. Top notes are fresh, juicy, grapefruit, lychee and peach. It is very cosmetic rose, violette, creamy. And then, it becomes suddenly very close to Gucci Rush !The Chypre fruity accord is nearly the same, but lighter, less sweet and heavy. It smells like a 90's fragrance, almost a new classic... I wouldn't wear it, but recognize that it's well balanced and absolutly in line with the australian lady's image.

I tried this on one arm with Guerlian's 'Shalimar' on the other - I was surprised to discover that Darling long outlasted the heavy scent of Shalimar. At first I thought Darling had an unattractive mandarin topnote with not much complexity and then wishy-washy middlenotes, but by the end of the day the fragrance was getting better and better which may be because of the amber coming through. Overall not one that impressed me enough to buy it.