Recently I did a triple review of Ormonde Jayne Tiare, Stella McCartney Stella Nude and Strange Invisible Perfumes Fire and Cream, and I started out by saying there was no common theme to tie the three fragrances together, to which Mals86 responded in the comments that the theme was clearly "Recent Releases: Very Nice, But Didn’t Grab Me" — true enough in the case of the Ormonde Jayne and the Strange Invisible Perfume, although I don't think I'd grace the Stella Nude with even a "very nice". In any case, in the interest of saving you the trouble of reading, I'll tell you today's theme up front — "Recent Releases: Don't Try Them On My Account".
Couture Couture by Juicy Couture
Juicy Couture has done very nicely for themselves with their fragrance line, and the first two entries for women were both well-executed examples of their respective genres — the original Juicy Couture being a nearly perfect representation of a bright perky mainstream fruity floral, and Viva La Juicy of a young-ish mainstream candied floral gourmand. Neither of those are things I care for terribly, mind you, but I can see the attraction.
Couture Couture is another matter. I originally tried it next to the two earlier Juicy fragrances, and my initial reaction was that I didn't love any of the three, but that Juicy Couture and Viva La Juicy at least smelled like perfume, whereas Couture Couture, whilst most definitely possessing a smell, did not. It did, however, smell familiar, and I'm sorry to say that such is the state of my long-term memory that I had to consult the reviews at MakeupAlley to discover the answer: grape Kool-Aid. Now, grape Kool-Aid can be done in such a way that it does, in fact, smell like perfume, and I offer as proof two specimens from the celebrity counter: Baby Phat Fabulosity and Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy. Couture Couture smells instead like some other sort of alcohol-based product scented with grape Kool-Aid. Perhaps hair spray?
I will give the last word to MakeupAlley reviewer nancybotwin, who says that "Couture Couture smells like a cheap knock off version of a Juicy fragrance". Yes, so it does.
Juicy Couture Couture Couture was developed by perfumer Honorine Blanc, and the notes include mandarin, orange blossom, pink grape accord, star jasmine, honeysuckle, blushed plum, amber, vanilla and creamy sandalwood. It is available in 30, 50 and 100 ml Eau de Parfum.
Ed Hardy Hearts & Daggers Women
Ed Hardy's first fragrance, Ed Hardy Woman, was a predictable enough fruity floral: competent, but neither interesting nor memorable. The line's second outing, Love & Luck, was something of a happy surprise: it stayed firmly within the "young and fun" boundaries that presumably define the Ed Hardy customer base, but it was more unusual — and fun — than your average youth-oriented fruity floral. I liked it, and was happy to see several people mention it when we did our recent shopping challenge poll.
The third women's fragrance from Ed Hardy, Hearts & Daggers, is described as a "tantalizing, abstract floral cocktail", and I'll vote for the abstract, at least. It's a mishmash of already well-explored trends: it's bright and fresh, with apple-dominated fruits, the usual blur of unrecognizable florals in the heart, and a clean, pale base (the notes: blood orange, violet leaf, apple, mango, apple blossoms, pink jasmine, cashmere musk, amber, benzoin and blond wood). It's pleasant enough, but has nothing to distinguish it from the umptillion other such things on the market other than the fun bottle. It's my least favorite Ed Hardy scent so far.
Ed Hardy Hearts & Daggers Women is available in 50 and 100 ml Eau de Parfum.
Christian Audigier for Women
Christian Audigier, the designer behind the Ed Hardy fashion brand (the official name of the line is Ed Hardy by Christian Audigier), launched his first fragrances under his own name earlier this year. I did not try the men's, but the women's is a puzzle, and the brand's ad copy ("inspired by the woman who can't get enough of Christian Audigier's designs so when she goes out at night her finishing touch is this fragrance") doesn't jive with the bland, vaguely coconut-ty juice. It's been widely compared to Juicy Couture's Viva La Juicy,1 but I'm willing to bet that Juicy Couture invested a few more pennies in the juice: the Christian Audigier version starts flat and goes downhill from there, and the low-end glam bottle can't compete with Juicy Couture's packaging (admittedly also low-end glam, but far better executed and way more fun).
Christian Audigier for Women is available in 100 ml Eau de Parfum.
1. Paris Hilton Siren was also widely compared to Viva La Juicy, and I meant to try Siren and Christian Audigier together, but life is short. I will note that Siren is ever so slightly cheaper than Christian Audigier, but if you shop the discounters, you can find the Viva La Juicy itself for a reasonable price — as of this writing, a 50 ml bottle is $51 at FragranceX. In this case, it might be worth saving your pennies for the real thing.
I can see the ads now: “Couture Couture: It has a smell.”
I smell quite a few perfumes that I don’t think smell *nice*, but I can’t think of the last one that didn’t smell like it was even perfume. I am quite surprised at JC, I do think they generally seem to know what they’re doing in terms of their perfume line.
LOL! Although the male model in the photo looks a little psychedelic for my taste. What is with that pose? He looks like he’s about to be crucified.
Sadly, none of the Juicy’s appealed to me. I did however like EH’s 1st scent. Haven’t had a chance to smell these others.
Yes, with glitter!
U r right on w/ Couture Couture! I have no idea what was going through the minds of the perfume and the company when they approved this crap!! Its awful! So pissed its probably gonna sell like hot cakes! Its so ugly and unpleasent!! Midnight was way better! I actually like Hearts & Daggers more then the original and Christian Audigier for women. CA is just another copycat of Viva and Siren. I guess theres really nothing else/new companies can do for a sweet fruity teen scent. Im sure well c tones more copycats. Paris’ new one will probably smell like Couture Couture! Gross! LOL!
Well, if anyone copies Couture Couture, more fool them! And I don’t know, maybe it will sell like hotcakes, but doubt it will have many repeat customers…it simply isn’t as good as most perfumes at that price.
Ure absolutely right about that. I think every girl will purchase it just cuz its the new Juicy Couture but it wont have staying power. There wont be as much repeat buyers at all. Which is a good thing for us who dont want to smell it everywhere!! : )
Guessing it will sell as gifts this year too. But it has a dismal “will buy again” rating at MUA — 23%, compared to 54% for the original JC and 62% for Viva La Juicy.
Yeah Viva is really good. Glad its no longer a limited edition. Well at least I think its not a LE seeing as how its been around for a while now. I need to get me a bottle of Love & Luck and Viva. Its to bad bcuz I really like the bottle of Couture Couture. : )
I would be very surprised if they phased out Viva La Juicy! Shame that one isn’t in this bottle.
You know, I wonder if these types of scents are meant to hit the trendy market – those who buy the latest release, wear it for a few months, then move on to the next hot release. Not many $ are put into the development cause they’re not meant to stay on the market for long. Cute bottle, cutesy scent, hit the market hard and fast, then disappear. If a scent continues to sell, keep it around for awhile; otherwise, can it.
I personally love the original JC, but have been disappointed with the follow-ons.
What’s with the Jim Morrison reference in the Couture Couture ad? I didn’t think the Juicy crowd were into The Doors.
A quote from the JC website:
Juicy Couture is all about feeling happy, comfortable and gorgeous. “Be happy, Wear Juicy!” is the Juicy philosophy.
“Rich Hippy” is the theme made convenient by a US tour stop at San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury. Their new logo’s fully represent THE GOLDEN AGE OF FREE LOVE and cheap acid………… Juicy’s resident psychedelic guru insisted on references to Aldous Huxley’s “The Doors of Perception” (from where the Jim Morrison combo took their name).
Ha!
And once again, William Blake is sadly overlooked and receives no credit for this phrase. *sigh*
😉
But hey, wouldn’t a William Blake line of perfumes be fun? Tyger Tyger, The Sick Rose, and so on!
Hey, in this case William Blake should be happy to be left out of it. But for anyone who wants more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doors_of_Perception
At least the names would be interesting! A few more possibilities: Red Dragon Who Eats the Sun. Heaven in a Wild Flower. Poison Tree. Road of Excess.
(Annie: “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom. William Blake.”
Crash: “Whaddya mean, William Blake?”
Annie: “I mean William Blake.”
Crash: “William Blake?!?”
Annie: “I mean William Blake!”)
I was just being pedantic, as usual! Hah. But I’d probably buy The Sick Rose and Poison Tree unsniffed, if they existed, just for the names!
It would be hard not to buy something called The Poison Tree.
That is a pretty catchy name. Mals- perhaps you might consider a side job naming fragrances.
Oh, that’s all William Blake…
I always thought a Nathaniel Hawthorne line would be interesting if someone hasn’t already tackled ‘Rappaccini’s Daughter.’ That would be great fun and you could base frags off all the toxic plants. 😉
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has a whole series of oils called Rappacini’s Garden:
http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/garden.html
(Just because somebody got to it first doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea, AS. Great minds and all that.)
uuugggghhhhhhhhh.
Or to be au courant with their target audience “Kootur Kootyer: It haz ah smel. An I seed what yu did ther.”
LOL! Excellent.
🙂
I want to call it “Juicy Couture, Couture, Couture”.
Oh, then please don’t let them stop you! (and since the tag line is “do the don’ts”, I think you should be able to call it whatever you please)
Every time I see that Couture Couture bottle I think of my late grandmother. She would have LOVED the thing.
Aw!
I still like the packaging for the 1st JC the best, but it’s a shame to put something so unhappy in that bottle.
That bottle is FAB TRASHY.
Exactly. It needs at the very least a fab trashy juice — this is not it.
I thought Couture smelled like a mix between the original JC and Viva… not creative in the least.
I didn’t think it smelled even as good as that…so you liked it better than I did!
From all 3 Juicies I become a headache the moment I smell them.
I’m lucky I guess — I rarely get a perfume-induced headache.
Oh, lucky you 🙂 I guess it has to do with my migraine that I am getting a headache from the smell of some perfumes. And also from a few perfumes I really like 🙁
Is FragranceX an actual, reliable, authentic perfume retailer? I actually just assumed it was all fake stuff. I know they advertise on your blog though..
You’re not likely to get fakes from any of the reputable discounters…and the best way to find out if any discounter is reputable is to go to the fragrance board at MakeupAlley.com and do a search on the store name.
I’ve had several bottles from FragranceX.com and have found them to be quite reliable. The name is a little off-putting, I’ll agree with that.
SwanMaiden- I have ordered from FragranceX.com and the service is very satisfactory. They are out of NY. The prices are good and you have much to choose from. They also have a samples page as well. The items I have received are bubble wrapped and packaged with care. They have it posted on their site that all fragrances are 100 % original and not knock offs. I also like Luckyscent.com as well. It’s a good way to broaden your fragrance palate.
I got the .25 oz roll on of Couture Couture free with purchase on Black Friday. I sent it to my 9 year old niece because it smell EXACTLY like the cheap-o Gummi Bear scented body spray I used to buy at walmart when I was still into Barbies. Gross! Avoid. I’m sure it will sell well though, bearing the Juicy name and all.
Ack, Gummi Bear body spray! Hope she liked it.
Ewwww, they make gummi bear body spray?!? Too funny.
As someone who owns and quite enjoys both Midnight Fantasy and Fabulosity for their blatent grape-ness though I rarely wear Fabulosity in public, I will likely give Couture Couture a try. I do love grape *anything* and actually really loved a grapesicle frag VS had a little while back and a YC candle that smells very similar. I think part of why I love the note is because it reminds me of the simple childhood pleasure of enjoying a fair amount of grape drink mix or soda, and I still do the soda bit on occasion now, but it’s just a fragrance I love and wish was more available/popular in bath and body care products.
I have a sample of the first JC release but don’t remember if I liked it much, which is probably an indicator that I didn’t. 🙂 I think I also have some EH samples somewhere, but I haven’t tried them yet.
I am not a fan of grape, but will say that I think Fabulosity and Midnight Fantasy are better fragrances than Couture Couture — if you try it, let me know if you disagree!
There’s an interesting grape note in a couple of CB I Hate Perfume scents…Under The Arbor is one, and A Room With A View.
I giggled through these reviews. Bleh. Will stay far far away. Sniffing SL Fleurs d’Oranger on my wrist as I type this. Now THAT is a perfume.
It doesn’t seem fair to consider that perfume in the same category as these, does it?
I met a marketing guy who was full of hatred for Christian Audigier… he felt CA was a rip off, con artist, exploiter, etc. and spoke at length about his business practices. He said there were lawsuits on the way and one (Ed Hardy) was settled earlier this year. I’m not surprised his fragrance his lame.
Possibly all true, I know nothing about CA…
Ack, there’s been several that have settled.
My mom purchased a bottle of the original JC a while back which I got such a kick out of. She used to be such a perfume snob back in the day. She used to say “Only French perfume for me”. In the 80’s she used to crinkle up her nose at my Calyx for goodness sake! [It gave me much pleasure to point out that it was deemed 5-star worthy in The Guide.]
Funny! But the Guide gave 4 stars to Juicy Couture (far higher than I’d rate it) so I guess she has that to back her up.
I hated JC for close to a year, and then one night I hugged a GF and she smelled great… it was JC! I had to re-evaluate my opinion after that. 🙂
It does smell nice, can’t argue with that! It just isn’t my style at all.
Nor mine, but I can appreciate it on others. 🙂
It totally took away the ‘db’ label for me, smelling it on her. 😉
Ha – but Calyx still got more stars! 😀
Calyx is a great scent…deserves many more stars than JC.
JC initially earned my distaste because of my associations of J Lo’s “juicy” booty… she was one of the first mega-celebrities to wear/endorse the JC line and I thought it was vulgar, coarse and shiteous and did I mention trashy? And I’m not a geographical snob – I got my marriage license in the Bronx (gorgeously marbled City Hall, btw).
And then the combination of melon and cream truly made my stomach turn. I didn’t get AT ALL the femmes that would turn a JC perfume purchase into a handbag purchase; of course I assisted them, and worked an $85 sale into a $385+ sale but I thought they were mindless db’s with a credit card.
That was until I impulsively kissed my MAC artist bf one night after gifting me with a particularly coveted lip liner… she smelled so pretty and feminine… she was wearing the original JC frag (that I had gifted her) and smelled so good that I was almost sorry I asked. Now I gift frequent hugger friends with the same scent, and enjoy how it smells on them.
The Viva La Juicy is a non-scent to me – fruity, funny, silly. Incredible that it sells at full price… an insider industry joke…. and the Couture Couture? HaHa. It’s made a new list of top 10 DB frags for femmes and unless there’s a *spiff going on, we don’t bother to show it.
*spiff: when we get a cash kickback for selling a particular perfume: regularly $5-10 per bottle. Hanae Mori has cornered the market on $5 spiffs/bottle – we get the cash Fed Exe’d and exchange the money in the parking lot. That’s the reason HM is always in the Top Ten – we get beyond our 3% commission for the sale.
Hi All! I’ve been stalking your posts for about a month now, and I’m finally going to post. I like the smell of grape anything as well. I think it is a “feel good” scent for me. But I did not care for Couture Couture. My fiancee was ga-ga over it when we got a scent card in the mail. So when we went to Macy’s, I promptly diverted his attention with a sniff of Coco madomoiselle!
Hi and welcome! And good work diverting your fiancee’s attention — hope he forgets about the CC.
I could not agree more with you on Couture Couture.To me it was a waste of a good bottle the fragrance was just watered down Juicy Couture.
Hope their next one will be better!
I’ve smelled all 3 JCs (I’ve been too scared to skin test them) and all 3 smell like various liquid kids’ bubble bath solutions I used when I was a wee thing (we’re talking 3 or 4 here). As much as I enjoy the memories the scents bring back, I’m not sure I’d want to wear them as an adult!
LOL! I don’t necessarily want to wear them either, but I do think they did a decent job on the first two.
Argh, must we be surrounded by more Ed Hardy fragrances????? I am so sick of it. It’s just on repeat constantly from that brand! Same thing, different day…
They’re not nearly so bad as some other brands though!
I love the new Couture Couture!!! I have never gotten so many compliments on a perfume in my life…besides Narciso Rodriguez Musc Oil. I love it especially because it is soft and warm at the same time….and I never have to re-apply. I almost didn’t buy it based on feedback here but it smells so different on your skin than on a piece of paper in the store.
So glad you like it!
So they have a new one coming out in August. Its gonna be called Peace, Love & Juicy Couture. Lets hope they redeem themselves from the horror that is Couture Couture!! The original is starting to grow on me. Id never get it for myself but I can stand it now. I still LUV VIVA!! : )
Oh, that name is silly but I like it. Yes, let’s hope it’s a huge improvement over CC.
Nordstrom has the rollerball for “P, L & JC” for pre-sale. The notes sound 100x better than Couture Couture!!! Theres no grape!!! Top notes: Meyer lemon tree blossom, wild hyacinth, sweet apple accord, black currant bud absolute. Middle notes: sambac jasmine absolute, star magnolia, Malibu poppy, honeysuckle, linden blossom. Drydown: orris extract, sheer patchouli flower, enveloping musks. : )
Oh, thanks…off to peek!
I tried Couture Couture today in Debenhams
it’s not really that strong, but people around you can definetly smell it.
it’s too sweet for me, and that’s saying something !
Here’s Couture Couture in a black bottle. Was hoping for a new scent but it’s the original. : ) http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=502434&CategoryID=30140
Oh, pretty! Thanks, will add to next collector bottle post.