At the Antonio Banderas perfume website, you can take a quiz to help you select one of the many Antonio Banderas fragrances. Accompanied by a photo of Banderas casting a smoldering gaze, the quiz asks, “Tell me about yourself and I will tell you which fragrance will best suit your personality.” I can hear Banderas’s accent now. And he wants me to tell him about myself! I know I’m blushing.
The first question asks simply whether I’m a man or a woman. Easy. The next — and final — question asks me to choose from one of seven adjectives to describe myself. (Men get nineteen options.) I’m a little disappointed he doesn’t want to know more about me — I could tell him about my childhood, share my love of macaroni and cheese, show him my scars — but I’m game anyway. What should it be? Am I “casual,” “magnetic,” “spontaneous”? With another glance at Antonio’s black-fringed eyes, I choose “sensuous.” The website spits out its suggestion: Blue Seduction for Women.
Ah, Antonio. I guess we were never meant to be.
Antonio Banderas Blue Seduction for Women was released in 2008. Perfumer Olivier Cresp developed it, and it has notes of bergamot, violet leaves, pear, melon, gardenia, peony, lily of the valley, Bulgarian rose, jasmine, raspberry, benzoin, patchouli and musk. The perfume’s website describes it more simply as a “woody, fruity, floral” fragrance with citrus notes, “watery fruits,” and a sugar note.
To me, Blue Seduction hints at the scent of an Ocean Fresh antiperspirant. I smell a lot of sweet, clean musk, spiked with aquatic notes and an assertive hit of bergamot. A little bit of juicy fruit shimmers over the top but never really settles into the fragrance’s heart. As the fragrance ages, the sweet musk takes center stage, but after a few hours — surprise! — a really nice vetiver steps to the forefront. The vetiver is herbal enough to remind me of marjoram, and it carries Blue Seduction through its last few hours, joined by patchouli right at the end. Two spritzes of the fragrance last a good nine hours on me.
Blue Seduction edges toward fougère. If it weren’t so sweet, I’d peg it as a masculine. As for calling Blue Seduction “sensual,” I have to pause at that, too. “Sporty” is more like it. Blue Seduction’s healthy cushion of musk might be considered sensual, but the perfume’s citrus-ozone body leads me to imagine someone swimming laps at the gym rather than lounging in a dimly lit boudoir. The perfume's vetiver-laden ending is also more invigorating than sensual to me.
Mark Spitz, I think we found you a good cologne. As for the rest of us, well, Antonio Banderas has dozens of fragrances in his line up. Maybe we’ll have better luck next time.
Antonio Banderas Blue Seduction for Women comes in 15 ml, 30 ml, and 50 ml Eau de Toilette and in bath and body products. It’s widely available at drugstores and online discounters.
Years ago, long before my foray into perfumistaland, I sniffed a magazine strip with Antonio Banderas perfume. It was a man’s scent, but now that you say he has so many, I’m not sure which one. In any case, I really liked it on the scent strip–spicy and assertive and a bit unusual (no hint of sportiness). So I went in search of some for my beau. I tried Macy’s first–they were polite, but said that they didn’t carry it. The SA at Nordy’s could barely contain her distaste. I found it at Sears, where there wasn’t a tester, but a nice SA agreed with me that a scent strip wasn’t enough to go on. We gave it a nice squirt . . . and UGH! No good at all!
I admitted to my misadventures to my fella a few weeks later and we decided to go together to find him a new scent. After much sniffing and testing, we bought him Bulgari Black, which I still strongly associate with him. Without that initial push from Senior Banderas, though, I don’t think I would have bought it! (And who knows, maybe that helped put one more foot towards perfumistaland?)
So, the Banderas perfume was really the beginning of a beautiful story!
Nice selection in Bulgari Black, too.
Yes, looking back on it, we had good taste! And the SA seemed really reticent to suggest it to us. We sniffed many more-traditional scents before he brought it out. We kept saying we wanted something spicier, and he was bringing out scents that were citrusy–again, I think the initial sniff of the AB was what set our brains to spicy, and we were holding out for a proper replacement. I think we did well!
I love the rubbery musk in Bulgari Black, but I can see where an SA might hesitate to sample it for some people because it might scare them away. But people who love it (me) really love it!
I read the whole review and enjoyed it, Angela. But am I the only one who can’t get past nineteen adjectives for men and seven for women? I can think of so many adjectives just for myself and when I consider the other women I know, I could publish a dictionary just on words to describe women. The webstie and quiz seem sexist.
I haven’t checked, but I wonder if Banderas has more fragrances for me? That would explain his need to shake out more adjectives for men. I thought it was funny that the first adjective a man could choose is “attractive.”
The list is in alphabetical order. I agree that it’s not right that women only have seven adjectives from which to choose!
It’s just funny that “attractive” is on the list at all!
He apparently doesn’t have many fragrances for women, at least… according to the quiz, if a woman is “casual,” “magnetic,” “natural,” “sensual,” or “spontaneous,” she should wear Blue Seduction for Women, and if she is “romantic” or “urban” she should wear Spirit for Women.
Oh! I thought for sure he had more fragrances for women than that!
I had no idea there were that many AB fragrances – did you try the quiz for men?
I always think of the SNL telenovela skit when I see Antonio Banderas; Angela may I place a video link here (and if so, will it work?):
http://www.veoh.com/watch/v6521212cADzbKX6?h1=%22Besos+y+Lagrimas%22+con+Antonio+Banderas
(It asks if you’re 18 but the material is PG. Go figure.)
I’m not sure what the video-posting rules are, but I watched the video (without sound) and it was hilarious! All those dropped dishes! Those sudden bursts of wind! (It was definitely only PG, too.)
I didn’t try the quiz for men, no. Maybe I will, and I’ll select “contemporaneous.”
oh god! Contemporaneous??? I’m laughing out loud here. Oh, Antonio!
It cracked me up, too.
Wow, that SNL skit is hilarious!
My mom has a friend who loves telenovelas, and that spoof was spot on. Thank you so much for posting it, Lys.
Hysterical! Oooooooh, Paulo!
Loved the first paragraph of this review, Angela!
“Tell me about yourself and I will tell you which fragrance will best suit your personality.” I can hear Banderas’s accent now. – When I read this, I have the image of Puss-in-Boots in my head. Antonio Banderas’ voice is so sexy, he makes women fantasize about wide-eyed, swashbuckling kittens!
The name Blue Seduction is quite silly, and an oxymoron. I love the color blue, but I would never associate it seduction or passion. Blue is cold, seduction is warm. I laughed at the thought of seduction being depressing.
Anyway, this perfume sounds like it is far from sensuous. The box and bottle remind my of Island Michael Kors. Though, from your description of the fragrance, Blue Seduction is probably a knock-off of Island.
That man does have a voice to die for, true.
Blue Seduction is kind of a strange little perfume. I thought I had it totally figured out–sweet musk with a “fresh” ozonic and barely fruity edge–then after several hours the musk shut off and a whopping vetiver took its place. I thought the fragrance was finished then, but no, patchouli kicked in, too.
Here is a Puss-in-Boots spoof of the Old Spice commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JsbSolUF5c
I swear, a lot of mileage has been squeezed out of those Old Spice commercials!
Did you see Puss in Boots? I brought my daughters and enjoyed Puss seducing Kitty Soft Paw (Salma Hayek) with his sexy dance moves! How can a fictional, animated, cat be sexy? I can’t believe I just typed that sentence!!
Sounds like some effective animation! Cats in heat aren’t particularly sexy, though.
Ha! I’m so glad I’m not the only one that saw/heard Puss!
Hey, for that matter, why doesn’t Puss have a perfume, AB? Cat fur, leather, metal…a milky note and some tobacco…you could earn some perf.cred with that, surely!
And the bottle would have to look like Puss’ boots, with a cap that looked like the hat, of course! I’M 36 AND I’D BUY IT!!!
There’s clearly a market for it (read on).
Dozens of fragrances you say? Yikes. What kind of crummy name is Blue Seduction anyway ? It immediately made me think of someone being seduced using ‘blue’ language -even Mr Sexy Voice Banderas couldn’t make that work!
Now, if he did a Puss in Boots fragrance- soft boot leather, spices, a ‘cream’ note and some civet-that I would smell.
Now you’re talking! And if the fragrance contained that elusive but irresistible “kitty fur” scent, it would sell by the tanker load.
Have you tried Winter Kitty from For Strange Women? Smells like the fur of a cat who has just come in from a nocturnal winter prowl ..with a touch of that same kitty after he has warmed up by the fire.
That sounds brilliant! They should do a whole year of Kitty seasons.
Bluh. Had a feeling I should have read the entire thread before posting. I stand by my bottle idea, though. ;p
Speaking of ‘seduction’ I just tried Lust by Lush and omgosh I loooove it! Hot spicy jasmine bomb!:D YA!
I’ve heard it’s a great one–enjoy!
The Banderas are sold here on a pharmacy/drugstore chain, Farmacity (kind of like CVS on the states) and even though they appear to be higher on the scale than the Adidas and Playboys colognes, I strongly believe that the cost of the juice might be even cheaper than Adidas or Playboy. To me they smell chemical in a really cheap way and blander than cologne… This is sugared water with a squirt of dishwashing fluid.
Sorry, but even the “secret” fragrance, which was supposed to be darker, fizzled in 20 minutes flat.
/rant mode OFF
Hey, but it sounds like you tried them, so I take my hat off to you!
Say what you like about celebrity scents – and we all have over the last few days on NST – they deliver value for money. If I could pick up a L’Artisan or an Annick Goutal in a 15 ml bottle and got 9 hours out of two spritzes, that would fulfill the last wish of my heart. And what about those those gauzy scents that Chanel puts out in its Les Excusifs line: nothing less than a 75 ml bottle and they last two hours tops, some of them, even if you bathe in them. Harrrumph.
I took the quiz but did not get very far, as sadly there was no option for ‘bookish’ or ‘nerdy’ or ‘boring’. Antonio doesn’t want to know me.
Oh yes, some of these fragrances wear like iron. NASA should study Hannah Montana and Blue Seduction. And there’s always the chance of finding a gem among the drugstore fragrances, too. I’m a big fan of the Jovans, Stetson Man, Tim McGraw, and some others. (I admit, though, I’ve barely sampled the tip of the celebrity scent iceberg!)
Why is it that the cheap stuff lasts and the pricey ones rarely do? I mean, my pocketbook loves that but it’s so depressing when you love something and it barely lasts two hours.
Maybe the more expensive stuff has more natural materials in it, so more expensive and less long-lasting?
Maybe. Maybe the absolutes don’t last as long or something. But I’d guess both drugstore and niche fragrances often have plenty of synthetic parts.
I know what you mean. I love Mythique, but it doesn’t have a whole lot of longevity–or sillage.
Sounds like you kind of took one for the team there.
I actually own a few celebuscents and they can be fairly tenacious, unless you want them to be. When it comes to the US, you should try to get some Dita Von Teese – it’s quite good. I also enjoy drugstore scents, and I think I may go put on a bit of Sand n Sable….
Oh you know I’ll need to try a few spritzes of La Dita!
I tried Dita and was bummed that it was just ‘meh’ . I hoped for a something vavavoom retro that someone wearing clothing from Boadcious Babes
could get into. Would you like my sample, Angela?
If we could arrange a swap, sure!
Oh, Angela, you sniff for our sins. Terrifically hilarious reviews this week, and I’m glad that things improved (somewhat) after Hannah Montana.
Also snorting tea out my nose over “contemporaneous.”
I’m glad the week is over! Although, of course, I really should be smelling more drugstore perfumes. Who knows what gems I’m missing?
It is indeed not seductive or sensual at all, but Blue Seduction (which I want to abbreviate to BS) has a place on my dresser for summer days when it is too unbearably hot to move, but I’m sick of citrus colognes. It’s sweet but cool and “wet,” it demands absolutely nothing from the wearer, it is pleasant without drawing any attention to itself, and it sits there doing its thing all day without my having to do anything else about it. Sometimes I want something intriguing and provocative and stimulating, but occasionally I want something that is equivalent in price and comfort to a pair of plastic flip-flops — and BS is pure drugstore flip-flop.
I forgot to add — and I LOVE herbaceous vetiver, so that’s always a bonus.
Yes, a plus!
I can completely imagine it being invigorating in the heat! Plus, for a drugstore perfume, it really does have a pretty amazing evolution on skin.