Deodorants -Trader Joe's - Unscented Deodorant with Cotton
UrbanSkies 12/27/2009 5:52:00 PM
This deodorant doesn't work for me at all, but it seems to be effective for a few people I know. I tend to sweat more than average and have very acidic body chemistry. Sadly, no aluminum-free deodorants are effective on me. This one is the worst of all the major brands I've tried (Tom's of Maine, Jason, crystals, etc.). Somehow it makes me smell worse than if I didn't wear any deodorant at all! I've tried it in all kinds of weather, even on winter days while resting at home. However, I like the simple packaging, the price is good, and it doesn't leave any residue or discolor your clothes. Plus, it's always nice to have natural, unscented, aluminum-free options that aren't tested on animals. I really wish this one worked for me.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Creed - Love in White
UrbanSkies 5/29/2009 7:44:00 PM
A bright, elegant, clean-smelling floral. Very pretty and feminine! Smells like Gucci Envy, which has always reminded me of Finesse shampoo and conditioner. I prefer the Gucci Envy because it's much less expensive ($20 at Nordstrom Rack) and has better sillage. But this is by far my favorite Creed scent.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -GAP Beauty - Heaven
UrbanSkies 5/15/2009 10:09:00 PM
After a somewhat-harsh/chemically opening, it's clean, flowery, pleasant, and calming. Definitely a spring and summer scent. I would recommend it for women who like Sunflowers by Elizabeth Arden; it gives me a similar feeling or mental image when I wear it. This is not a sexy scent -- just very good-hearted, innocent, and optimistic. Great for the office, church, or family gatherings where you want to smell fresh but don't want to make a dramatic statement. Excellent price and nice bottle, too.
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Fragrances -GAP Beauty - Grass
UrbanSkies 5/15/2009 9:52:00 PM
LOVE!! Great price ($24 for 100 ml!), nice bottle, and the juice smells like a grassy field full of blooming clover. It also reminds me of sweet pea flowers -- clean, fresh, sweet, and optimistic. It's much more floral than one might expect from the name, although the grass aspect is there as well. There's a bit of a muskiness in the drydown. It's both fresh and surprisingly complex for a fragrance of this price. Much better than Demeter Grass any day! I just can't get enough of this smell.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Demeter - grass PMU
UrbanSkies 3/16/2009 5:56:00 PM
I was hoping for fresh-cut grass or the impression of laying on a clover-filled lawn in the summer, but this smells much more like Demeter's Laundry to me. It's sweet and flowery, but not in a good white clover flower way. It's the sweet, synthetic floral of a laundry detergent. Disappointing, but not a terrible smell overall (hence the rating of 2 rather than 1). Gap makes a much better rendition of grass.
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Fragrance -Chanel - Egoiste pour Homme
UrbanSkies 3/16/2009 5:14:00 PM
This is a gorgeous composition, but to me it smells quite feminine. Men's fragrances normally turn sweet with my chemistry, and it's especially true for Egoiste. To my nose, it's a smoky version of No. 18 from Chanel's Les Exclusifs line. (And Sean John's Unforgivable Woman reminds me a lot of No. 18, oddly enough.) In the first few minutes, it has a sweet chemical aspect to it, bordering on plasticky. After that, it's mainly campfire or fireplace smoke with light cinnamon, mild vanilla, gentle flowers, and a tiny bit of strawberry. It reminds me of the color pink or mauve -- a dusty rose color. It's an innocent, comforting, elegant scent with a mellow vibe that reminds me more of the country than the city.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - 4711 Echt Kolnisch Wasser (Original Eau de Cologne)
UrbanSkies 3/16/2009 4:39:00 PM
Being a history lover, I reeeeally want to love this fragrance. I adore the bottle design and the fact that this was the first cologne ever made, plus it's very affordable. I normally like vintage and medicinal-smelling scents, but 4711 reminds me of the cola-flavored candies called Bottle Caps. That's all I can think of when I smell it. Because of the slight medicine quality, it would be more like the kid's chewable asprin version of Bottle Caps. In the dry down, there's also a slight sun-screen vibe. A good fragrance for summer. It's not a bad smell, but it just doesn't conjure up any amazing memories or feelings for me. It's a clean, crisp, medicinal, cola-like scent -- similar to Prada Infusion d'Homme. A nice fragrance, just not something I would personally want to wear.
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Fragrances -Yves Saint Laurent - Nu
UrbanSkies 3/1/2009 2:38:00 PM
Nu eau de parfum is a SPICE BOMB. Another YSL masterpiece in a similar spirit as M7. I love it, but it should be categorized as a men's fragrance or at least unisex. It remindes me of a darker, more-complex, sophisticated version of L'Artisan's Safran Troublant or a male version of Estee Lauder's Sensuous (has none of the cloying vanilla). On my skin, Nu begins with a blast of pepper and then dark flowers, woods, saffron, and a little insence quickly emerge. It dries down to mostly saffron supported by other spices and dry woods. This is a fall and winter fragrance, in my opinion. It's a very dark, deep, smouldering scent, but in a kind of religious way. It intrigues me every time I wear it because it's both complex and simple, ornately historic and modern. I personally don't find it to be sexy. It reminds me of being in an art museum -- a spare, modern building that houses antiquities and relics such as intricately carved wooden boxes from Asia and Russian icons. It also calls to mind monks in an ornate church. I rated it a 4 rather than a 5 because of the packaging -- something this strong, elegant, and spicy deserves a proper glass bottle, not a plastic lavender-metalic hockey puck. Also, even though it's a powerful composition, it stays close to the skin. I wish it had a bit more sillage.
8 out of 9 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrance -Giorgio Armani - Black Code EDT Pour Homme
UrbanSkies 2/18/2009 9:35:00 PM
One of the best men's fragrances of all times! Every time I'm so enthralled by a man's fragrance that I'm compelled to follow him down the street to ask him what he's wearing, it's Giorgio Armani Code (aka Armani Black Code). It smells a little different on each guy, but equally sophisticated, clean, and enchanting (it seriously casts a spell over me!!). It smells completely handsome and has a young, fresh, modern, European, almost metrosexual energy about it. This man is impecably groomed and has a healthy/respectful sense of pride in his appearance. Perfect for a night of club hopping in the middle of summer.
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Fragrances -Aramis - Tuscany Per Uomo For Men
UrbanSkies 2/18/2009 9:05:00 PM
I loved this so much on my boyfriend back in 1996 that I bought it for myself to wear. It's a fresh, woodsy fougere fragrance that reminds me of summer in Italy. My chemistry tends to lighten and sweeten men's fragrances, so it doesn't smell too masculine on me, but it's perfectly masculine on men. Even though it has a rather heavy cedar note, it's very much a summer scent for me.
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Fragrances -Montale - Greyland
UrbanSkies 10/25/2008 12:14:00 PM
With my chemistry, Greyland turns into a whole lot of cumin supported by some nice woods and oregano -- much too foody for my taste. It reminds me of preparing a gourmet meal in a top-of-the-line kitchen. It's a beautiful composition overall (as other reviewers have said, austere, taut, dry, understated), but not worth the price.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Dolce & Gabbana - The One
UrbanSkies 10/20/2008 8:40:00 PM
I loved The One when I tried it at the perfume counter, but every time I wear it, I like it less and less. On first sniff, it was clean and fresh. After owning it for a year, I now find it to be almost too thick and cloying, even when applied lightly (it must be something with my chemistry). It's a mildly interesting mix of peach, vanilla sweetness, and spices -- rather innocent and youthful, but also a bit boring. On the up side, it's warm, good for any occasion, lasts all day, and men like it. For me (age 36) it's a pleasant-enough daytime and late summer fragrance, but it might appeal best to women under 25, for any time or season. However, I don't think it smells anything like the way Gisele Bundchen looks, so I have no idea what Stefano and Domenico were thinking when they chose her as the muse for this fragrance.
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Fragrances -Escada - Escada EDP
UrbanSkies 8/28/2008 8:32:00 PM
Even though this frangrance is very sharp and chemically (and I don't usually like chypres), I adore it. It's like an abstract painting of the concept of "modern urban elegance". Even though it was launched in 2005, there's something very 1980s about it. It has that same razor-sharp fancy edge to it that Giorgio has, but Escada is more delicately floral and clean. It remindes me of a chic New Waver in London or Paris circa 1985, all covered in bangle bracelets, funky earings, and geometric prints in primary colors. I would imagine this to be the signature scent of Corinne Drewery, the lead singer of the band Swing Out Sister, epecially in the video for "Breakout". The drydown is an angular musk (how else to describe it besides geometric or abstract?), and it lasts all day on me.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Frederic Malle - French Lover
UrbanSkies 8/17/2008 9:30:00 AM
A modern, bracing, woody fragrance that reminds me a lot of my beloved Banana Republic Modern (which has been discontinued) and a little bit of Tuscany per Oumo by Aramis. These scents are marketed toward men, but I adore wearing them because they're so clean, crisp, and well designed. It begins like a gentle cedar-scented breeze blowing in through an open window of a minimalist house in the woods on a rainy day. It then develops into deeper, sharper woods -- a few flowers arranged Ikebana-style in a metal vase on a sleek hardwood table. Its alternate name in the U.S. is Bois d’Orage, which is quite fitting: Stormy Wood. Pensive, elegant, uncluttered, soigne. A good match for someone with the soul of a graphic designer or modern architect, or readers of Wallpaper* magazine.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Frederic Malle - Iris Poudre
UrbanSkies 8/17/2008 8:50:00 AM
A floral aldehyde very similar to Lanvin's Arpege, but a more modern, lighter, sweeter version.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No