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I Tried the Armani Ondes

post #1 of 8
3/10/09 at 11:58pm
Thread Starter 
I was looking forward to trying these, and they got some good press on the Perfume Posse (well, sort of lukewarm press). But what a disappointment! The Extase, which was supposed to have sesame eo, or accord, was very dull, sweet and powdery, with a slight bitter edge (the sesame?) that lasted 5 minutes. Then it went to a "Tampax Fresh" drydown. Yuck. A scrubber. Mystere was a combination of synthetic florals and "floralizers" with a gallon of Iso E Super thrown in to top it off. Yuck. Another scrubber. I couldn't even bear to try Vertige on skin. Overpowering synthetic florals. And each measly bottle was about $140. Yeesh. Needless to say, I passed.
So sad, I haven't found a single mainstream release I've liked in about 6 months. Thank goodness for the Indies!
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post #2 of 8
3/11/09 at 7:29am
Thank you for the review Elf!
I've been unsuccessful in hunting them down
here in Canada so eager to try them,
I was especially excited about the sesame note.
Oh well, at least now I don't feel so bad
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post #3 of 8
3/11/09 at 8:42am
I have samples of the line, and I was underwhelmed. I liked Mystere the best of the three (that's the rose one, right) - and the synthetics didn't bother me. As far as rose fragrance go it's pretty good, but not good enough to purchase. As a general matter the three weren't particularly distinctive. I've seen them for $103 shipped on eBay, I'm not sure what the in-store US price is.
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post #4 of 8
3/11/09 at 9:32am
Ahhhh. Good. You saved me and others some grief. Thanks, Elf. When this collection was first announced, my interest was piqued, but I'm 99% jaded now with virtually anything mainstream, and until I hear lots of hoots and hollerin' in this forum about some new product, I ain't gonna be bothered about checking the non-indies.
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post #5 of 8
3/11/09 at 3:08pm
I smelled them at Saks and also was underwhelmed to the point where I did not want to waste skin-space on them - saved that for Tom Ford's Champaca Absolute! I mean, what does it say when the silky cord and tassel on the bottles was what I liked the best?
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post #6 of 8
3/17/09 at 3:04am
I like Extase the most, it somehow reminds me Luctor et Emergo from POTL, I can imagine it as a nice and warn fall/winter fragrance. However the price of all Armani Ondes is quite high and if i want to get an expansive perfume i would rather pay more and get POTL which to me is more unique and less commercial than Armani.
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post #7 of 8
3/17/09 at 3:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jardanel View Post

I smelled them at Saks and also was underwhelmed to the point where I did not want to waste skin-space on them - saved that for Tom Ford's Champaca Absolute! I mean, what does it say when the silky cord and tassel on the bottles was what I liked the best?

I think it means you're better off saving your hard-earned cash for something more interesting and spending a fiver in an upholstery shop on a tassel to play with!
(They are nice though, aren't they, silky tassels. Remind me of dolls' hair or something. Very soothing.)
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post #8 of 8
3/17/09 at 12:34pm
Mmmm, tassels...my cat likes to bite them off all my good scarves!

I too, have been underwhelmed by Armani & Gucci - all those fancy-pants designers are copying each other and making the same juice over & over. I, for one will not give them any of my $$$.
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