Fragrances -Calvin Klein - Calvin Klein Beauty
estesmcc 11/20/2010 10:54:00 PM
I actually do like this scent, but I can't say that I LOVE it. It's a white floral and I could detect lily, jasmine and something that smelled like it could be gardenia. If you like your florals almost crystal clear, this would probably appeal to you. It's a smooth, elegant scent and has nothing really unusual or "dirty" about it. However, the same qualities that make it pretty and likable also render it a little too distant for one to truly embrace it. I own a bottle and I do wear it, but it's rather like seeing a well-decorated room in a house and appreciating its beauty while at the same time not feeling anything warm and inviting in there.
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Estee Lauder - Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia
estesmcc 11/10/2008 11:55:00 AM
After sampling this scent at Sniffa 2007, I finally splurged and bought a bottle this spring. I'm so glad I did! Normally tuberose and I do not get along well(Fracas being the notable exception), so I had been reluctant to even try this scent.
However, on my skin, I get mostly gardenia and something ever so sweetly green from this perfume. I get a faint hint of something warm and tropical as the scent dries down, but the tuberose is surprisingly unobtrusive on me. In addition, while the perfume is sweetly floral and has definite sillage, it is not nearly so strong as I had thought it would be. It makes me feel put together, but would never enter a room ahead of me.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Sinfonia di Note - Poudre d'Epices
estesmcc 11/9/2008 5:57:00 PM
The longer I wear this scent, the worse it gets. I felt as though I was racing through the circles of Dante's Inferno as it headed for the drydown. This scent starts innocuously with a burst of floral aldehyde. As it starts to dry down, I notice a hint of pepper - that's as much spice as I got. For the most part, this scent morphed into a sour green scent with occasional hints of musk and something slightly rotted. The longer I kept it on, the more noxous and acidic it became. Not a winner on my skin.
Per Luckyscent, the notes are geranium, green notes, cinnamon, black pepper, floral notes, musk, woods, spices. Per that website, the effect is supposed to be one of spice-drenched powder. I would never have guessed.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Melissa Flagg - Clementine
estesmcc 11/5/2008 4:42:00 PM
*shudder* Oh, I just get the shivers when I think of my experience trying this scent! I got a sample from Beautyhabit. From the description, I expected orange blossoms, citrus and other white florals. I love citrus, I love orange blossom and even though I'm a bit of a white floralophobe, those notes generally like my skin.
From the descriptions of this scent,one would think it woudl be a match made in heaven for me. Not so. When I first applied, I smelled like orangey burnt plastic. Then we morphed into an ever-so-lovely furniture polish accord. Just when I thought I was going to have to go over my arm with steel wool, everything softened down into a really nice hint of orange blossom.
Unfortunately, the good part just didn't last. Once i got to orange blossom, the scent stayed set on white florals. However, it bloomed big time on my skin and morphed into a death cloud of poorly blended white floral notes all jangling against each other while a hint of burnt plastic sliced through it all with a vengance. I'll give an extra lippie for the few lovely moments of delicate orange blossom, but the rest was disastrous.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Sinfonia di Note - Coeur de Noisette
estesmcc 11/4/2008 9:07:00 PM
I didn't expect it, but this is definitely my favorite of the Sinfonia di Note line so far. The more I wear this scent, the more I like it. While it has a gourmand touch on my skin, it really isn't a super-sweet, overpoweringly dessertlike scent. I get the feeling from reading other reviews that this scent must be very different on everyone who tries it.
When I first applied, I could pick up a distinct hazelnut note. As it warmed into my skin, I started to detect a faint whiff of woods and perhaps even a light floral note. However, as the scent dries down, I get the most perfect warm, nutty cinnamon scent ever. When I say I want a cinnamon perfume, THIS is what I want. Most others smell like Big Red gum, but this one smells like complex, good cinnamon.
Per Luckyscent, the notes are coconut, amber, hazelnut, woods, fruit notes, floral notes, spices
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Sinfonia di Note - Saveur d'Artichaut
estesmcc 11/4/2008 9:01:00 PM
Hmmm...this is a rather unique one. I had to try this artichoke-inspired scent a couple of times before I felt as though I could really describe it. It's a very earthy scent and as I wore it, I could also detect densely green and herbal notes to it. As it dries down, it seemed a little rough, but I still like the overall effect of the scent. While some earthy scents seem a little edgy and daring, this one felt oddly comforting. I think I like it- and I could also see a guy wearing this one really well. If I could give half lippies, this would get a 3.5 from me.
Per Luckyscent, the notes are bergamot, aromatic notes, basil, moss, artemisia, wood notes
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Sinfonia di Notes - Ecorce d'Orange
estesmcc 11/4/2008 8:57:00 PM
I generally love citrus, so I did have reasonably high hopes for this scent. It ended up being a slightly sharp, rather ordinary orange, though. I was somewhat disappointed. The sinfonia di Note scents sound lovely from their descriptions, but they just aren't doing much on my skin.
Ecorce d'Orange starts off as a juicy fresh orange on my skin. I could even smell the skin of the orange. However, the longer I wore this scent, the more it seemed to grow sharp and then come apart. I don't know if something was off in the way it was blended or what happened. However, as it dried down, it just started to smell like a cheap and rather generic musky citrus.
Per Luckyscent, the notes are aldehydes, orange, mandarin, lemon, bergamot, musk notes
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Fragrances -Ralph Lauren - Notorious
estesmcc 10/29/2008 11:43:00 AM
*Ugh* I loved Safari, so I wanted to like this scent. Like at least one other reviewer, I had heard that this scent bore some resemblance. when I tried it, though, I found myself deeply disappointed.
The vanilla and patchouli in the base give the scent a warm feeling. I also detected black currant - however, warm black currant mixed with vanilla and patchouli can develop unfortunate cough syrup tendencies. The hint of something vaguely marine in this scent did not help matters.
Bottom line? On my skin, this perfume smells like a walk through the fragrance department of Macy's. There are hints of dissonant notes that do not blend harmoniously, all overlaid with a nondescript warm, perfumey sillage.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Seven Skies Chelsea Girls
estesmcc 10/17/2008 9:08:00 PM
Like many on the frag board here, I jumped right on the chance to get a set of samples for the new Seven Skies scents. All of them sounded fabulous to me, and I couldn't wait to try them. Chelsea Girls, with its promise of an intoxicating, seductive scent blended around the scent of rose, especially called to me. I'm looking for a nice, sexy fall/winter floral.
This mess definitely isn't it. If there is a rose note in here, it certainly never developed on my skin. Though not listed in the notes, I got a brain piercing burst of sharp jasmine and a touch of LOTV mixed rather roughly with fruits and a hint of amber mixed with a faint hint of someone in need of washing. I did get occasional wafts of a similar odor when I was on the Tube at rush hour, but I wouldn't want to carry that scent memory with me. I'm still game to try the rest of the samples in my set, but this one was definitely not meant for me.
Per b-glowing, the notes are: Top notes : soft(!!) apricot, peony and lily of the valley
Heart notes : English roses and sparkling cassis
Soul notes : deep patchouli and amber
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Sinfonia di Note Fleur de Santal
estesmcc 10/17/2008 9:01:00 PM
My second foray into the Sinfonia di Note samples fared slightly better than the first, but it's still no great shakes. The ad copy at Luckyscent describes this as a sexy but playful scent. I love sandalwood and I had wonderful images in my mind of what a musky sandalwood-floral scent could do. It sounded like the perfect date night scent.
Sadly this only works as a seduction tool for the anosmic. It's not a bad scent; it's just ordinary. The sandalwood lacks a certain depth (perhaps due to the issues with obtaining natural sandalwood nowadays), and the whole scent just read "Generic Oriental" to me. At its best, it smelled like a prototype for Salimar Legere - but one in need of some serious tweaking.
For the curious, the notes given at Luckyscent are bergamot, floral notes, sandalwood, musk, patchouli .
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Sinfonia di Note Bouquet de Bois
estesmcc 10/13/2008 5:12:00 PM
I have been intrigued by the descriptions of the Sinfonia di Note scents over at Luckyscent, and I was more than happy to try this one back when they were running their Sniffa deal. According to the website, this scent is meant to be warm, invigorating and clean; somehow evocative of a walk through the forest. Unfortunately, I did not find that at all when I tried this scent on skin.
I love woodsy scents, so I am disappointed to say that when I applied this one on skin, it smelled initially like cheap men's cologne. The notes had a vaguely woody feel, but nothing seemed well-blended at all. Everything simply jangled together and aside from a piercing sharp scent, it was difficult to really get a feel for the notes of the scent at all. As the scent settled down, I got a mixture of tinny, sharp wood scents that spoke of either inferior materials or blending, and a basic, clean and soapy accord.
This scent was note unspeakably awful, but is definitely not a winner in my book. For the curious, Luckyscent reports the notes as: vcedar, bergamot, geranium, floral and wood notes.
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Satellite Corrida
estesmcc 8/25/2008 10:57:00 AM
The ad copy for this scent over on the Luckyscent site, and the actual juice bear little resemblance to one another. After reading the description, passionate visions of sultry nights in Spain will dance throuh one's head. You will expect a lush scent full of woods and fruits that will whisper sensuality into the lazy summer air, and you will get...
...any of a number of interchangeable fruity florals from Escada, but at a much higher price. This disappointing scent smelled like a Sexy Grafitti/Ibiza Hippie/Island Kiss/whatever tropical fruity dreck of the moment clone. Not terribly pleasant to wear and even if the bottle is lovely, it's just not worth the money.
In case anyone is curious, here are the notes according to Luckyscent: black currant, neroli, rose, lily of the valley, jasmine, floral accord, sandalwood
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Fragrances -Balmain - Ambre Gris
estesmcc 8/6/2008 5:14:00 PM
I was a little apprehensive as I purchased this scent unsniffed. I'm glad I did, though. It's a little different than my usual preferences, but I am enjoying it. The notes are given below in debrsl's review, so I won't repeat them here, except to say that you should not fear the tuberose. I detected it once I knew I was looking for it, but it definitely does not clobber one about the head.
When I first applied, Ambre Gris had this thin, grating quality that reminded me of big musky 80s perfumes combined with the residue of aerosol hairspray. This brought back vivid memories of smothering hugs from relatives when I was small. However, the fragrance soon settled into something much nicer.
Somehow this scent manages the amazing feat of being both warm and brisk. I loved the warmth of the amber, but the slight sharpness cutting through it gave the scent an intrigue it would otherwise not possess. It will not displace DSH Ambre as my favorite amber, but I am glad to have this one in rotation. And the bottle is gorgeous!
4 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Fragrances -Ava Luxe - Figuer
estesmcc 7/3/2008 10:22:00 AM
Though I'm not a huge fig fan, there are a few that I like, and I was curious to give Ava Luxe's interpretation a try. It's billed as a dry fig scent, and the notes sounded intriguing, so when a sample came my way, I jumped right in.
As the scent opened, it had that milky fig accord that reminds me of L'Artisan's Premier Figuier. However, it quickly dried down into something that smelled almost dusty or mildewy on my skin. The scent seemed a little jarring, drifting between the dusty fig and a sweet, green scent. It never seemed to pull together into something wholly wearable for me. Most of the Ava Luxe scents work well for me, but this one will not join my winner's list, I'm afraid.
According to the website, the notes are: Fig Leaves, Galbanum, Cedar, Green Vine, Coconut Milk
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Fragrances -Unlisted Brand - Manuel Canovas - Ballade Verte
estesmcc 7/2/2008 11:47:00 AM
As soon as I read the Beautyhabit description of this scent, I knew it had to be mine. Luckily, I tried a sample before plunking down my money for it. The notes can be found in Winterwheat's review, so I won't duplicate.
When I initially applied Ballade Verte, I got a burst of clear, sharp green. It smelled of grass and ivy - I thought I would love this scent. Unfortunately, as the scent remained on my skin, it kept its greenness, but also acquired a generic "nice-smelling chemical flowers" accord. The effect reminded me of a cleaning fluid. It tried to be appealing and fresh, but simply cannot hide the strong solvents lingering beneath. I give 2 lippies since the opening was nice, but the rest of the scent was downright appalling on me.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No