Hot Couture by Givenchy, 2000

A Christmas gift from my husband a couple of years ago. It's so sweet of him to want to buy me perfume, but I really wish he wouldn't. My tastes are too particular. There's just something very main stream and uninteresting about this. To my nose, it's not a mature scent at all. I find it to be a very young scent, teeny bopper even!

I'm very disappointed with Hot Couture. The opening is vile, like someone just opened a pair of long dusty curtains and that musty, mildewy smell fills the room. The middle (I persevered!) is simply raspberry. Nothing else. And then it ends. No musk, no amber, no sandalwood. So the opening is disgusting, the middle is boring and the base doesn't exist. I'm glad it works better for most of you than it has on me, I'm ditching this bottle.

I'm surprised at the reviewers stating this is better suited for a "more mature" woman to wear. This is the first "serious" fragrance I bought at the age of 18 when it came out. Yes it is sophisticated, but the raspberry makes for a little playfulness. On myself I could smell pepper, smoke, and of course raspberry the most. I find it to be very unique and overall modern. It is warm without being sweet, it can be almost tart at first but it is extremely well-rounded.

I really liked this perfume when I sprayed it on myself from a tester bottle in a local drug store. It has a really nice, warm, enveloping and soft vanilla smell that I find very pleasant and appealing. Unfortunately, though, I think I still don't come across as being "mature" or sophisticated enough to wear this fragrance. I walked by a couple of guys at the mall (with the perfume still on me and very noticeable) and I distinctly heard one of them say: "Oh wow! There's nothing like a sixty-year old YOUNG woman!" So, alas, I fear this particular perfume doesn't really suit me. Maybe I'll wear it when I'm older, LOL! (For reference, I'm 31.)

Hot Couture by Givenchy ... the top note bursts with spicy, yet tart, raspberry, lovingly fused with bergamot and orange, before being whisked away into the heart, where an exquisite magnolia simmers with pepper, creating a dusky, lemony touch, thence, the creamy, woody and vanilla base wonderfully transports to the remarkable drydown ...

On me this is slightly peppery which becomes smooth and I like it. There is a slight citrus and vetiver, while the base notes are sandalwood, amber and musk. On my skin it is smokey and smooth.

Surprisingly to me, I like this very much...although the opening and middle are a little more floral than I like, the drydown smells full of sweet (but not TOO sweet...at least for me...) raspberry to me! I love raspberry scents, and this one is beautiful! EDIT: This is still a thumbs up but only a 3.5 star fragrance for me...not quite good enough to keep. The floral note just doesn't sit right on me; it smells cheap and synthetic on my skin.

This was a very odd fragrance indeed. I totally wasn't expecting what I smelt when I intially applied Hot Couture. The previous reviewers are not wrong in stating that this is a peppery floral scent. It's quite sharp and surprising to my nose. I know many of you will go crook on me for saying this, but Hot Couture really reminds me of Chanel No.19. It has a grassy/green quality to it that I can't deny. In my personal opinion, I don't think this fragrance would be very well suited to young women, it seems to take a more mature and sophisticated approach. Don't get me wrong however, I'm not saying this is an 'old-lady fragrance'. I don't actually get the raspberry and vanilla in Hot Couture, which I'm a little disappointed about. To be honest, I don't find this scent sweet or fruity at all. I'd choose Versace Woman as a better alternative if you're looking for a raspberry and spicy/herb scent.

I find there's something fun about this fragrance as long as it's worn in a) microscopic doses and b) large open spaces only. I get melting plastic and raspberry-scented hairspray / soda (maybe the hairspray is the nose-tingling black pepper? who knows... I can't bear to apply enough to definitely tell). I've worn this for a night out before - the sort when I know everyone will be drunk within minutes. It's a fragrance that I find mixes well with sweat and booze and little else. If it wasn't so blatantly, fluorescently trashy I would give it a thumbs down, but I think it has a sense of humour to match its tiny ra-ra skirt.

Its like I just toured the Willy Wonka chocolate factory and got trapped in the cotton candy room and decided to jump into a vat of strawberry cotton candy. Pink sugar lovers will love this one. I think its great for my ten year old niece, but you wouldnt find me smelling like this unless I really did get the grand Willy Wonka tour.