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Lolita Lempicka Elle L’Aime ~ perfume review

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Lolita Lempicka Elle L'Aime advert

Elle L’Aime is a timeless, universal and utterly feminine fragrance, a hymn to conquering love. — Harrods

Yadda, yadda, yadda. If I had a dime for every new timeless, universal and utterly feminine fragrance, I’d be at Harrods right now, buying one or two or ten of them. Plus, I tried Lolita Lempicka’s new Elle L’Aime very briefly on a blotter at Neiman Marcus right after it launched, and the fresh citrus-y top notes struck me as pretty much business as usual. So when I finally got a sample, I let it languish while I tried other, more potentially interesting fragrances.

Oops. Elle L’Aime is more fun than you’d think from a quick sniff of the top notes…

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Coqui Coqui Tabaco, Orange Blossom, Rosas Frescas, Rosas Secas & Coco-Coco ~ fragrance reviews

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Part of the Coqui Coqui Spa & Residence Resorts of the Yucatán (with hotels in Mérida, Tulum, Valladolid, Cobá), the Coqui Coqui Perfumería produces perfumes, massage and bath oils, bath salts, hand soap, shampoo/conditioner, body cream, linen spray, diffuser oils, candles…and mosquito repellant! The Coqui Coqui line of fragrances was inspired by the horticultural work of the Franciscan monks who came to Mexico following the Spanish conquest. These monks, guided by Mayan experts, used the fragrant plants of southern Mexico to create medicines and scented products for domestic use and export to Spain.

Coqui Coqui’s Eaux de Cologne and Eaux de Parfum are “simple;” the fragrances are streamlined (without being boring), and I imagine they would hit the spot in hot and steamy climates (like in Yucatán, where they are used to fragrance Coqui Coqui hotels). Today, I’m reviewing my favorite fragrances in the extensive perfume line-up…

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I Profumi di Firenze Frangipane e Cocco ~ fragrance review

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coconut

I remember being a big fan of the Italian niche line i Profumi di Firenze a number of years ago, but I have to confess that I’ve lost track of their recent activity. I don’t blame the brand; my ignorance is mostly a result of the fact that the line isn’t as widely available in New York as it once was, and I don’t always get around to placing online sample orders of new releases. I have fond memories of i Profumi’s Florentia 22, Violetta di Bosco, and Caterina de Medici, so when a sample vial of the Frangipane e Cocco came my way, I decided to give it a try.

Frangipane e Cocco has notes of coconut, blood orange, frangipani and frankincense and is billed as a feminine fragrance. After trying it a few times, I like it, although it wasn’t quite what I expected: it’s less floral and feminine than it sounds. Its opening phase is even a touch animalic, with some kind of musky note that has a dirty-hair effect. This bit of “skank” surprised me, especially since it shows up at the top of the fragrance. However, the rest of the fragrance is milder and more of a light gourmand. Its coconut accord is creamy, without any greenness or earthiness. There’s definitely some nutty, milky vanilla in the middle and base; i Profumi di Firenze has always done a nice job with vanilla scents, and they carry on that tradition in Frangipane e Cocco…

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Lush Furze ~ fragrance review, with an aside on Lush Sun

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Gorse bloom

If you’d asked me in, say, 2006, if I needed or wanted a beachy coconut sort of perfume, I probably would have laughed.1 That was the year that Estee Lauder launched Azuree Soleil Eau Fraiche in collaboration with Tom Ford, and I didn’t bother to smell it until they reintroduced it the next year, at which point I realized that yes, I did need a beachy coconut sort of perfume. Azuree Soleil turned into Bronze Goddess in 2008, and Estee Lauder has been releasing it in one form or another every spring since then (see this year’s entry here). It’s one of my summer go-to perfumes.

Even then, I would have guessed that my beachy coconut perfume needs were small enough that they’d be adequately covered by Bronze Goddess for the rest of my natural life. Nope — here comes Lush Furze to pile on. Furze is part of the latest crop of fragrances from Lush, all of which were inspired by the lore of the English countryside, and Stonehenge, and all sorts of related Englishness. Furze in particular was reportedly triggered by furze (gorse) bushes growing in the yard of Lush perfumer Simon Constantine. I don’t know the smell of gorse, although I think it’s botanically related to broom (which I do know), but anyway, Mr. Constantine thinks it smells a little like coconut and vanilla, and that’s where he went with the Furze fragrance: coconut, vanilla, mimosa, neroli…

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Sarah Horowitz Coconut Milk ~ fragrance review

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coconutSarah Horowitz Coconut Milk

I’m a city-loving, sun-averse individual who doesn’t even own a bathing suit, and I can’t remember my last visit to a beach. (Oh, wait, there was that weekend in Montauk. In April 2006.) Despite, or perhaps for, this very reason, I find myself testing beach-themed and tropics-themed perfumes more often than you might expect. The latest such fragrance to cross my desk was a sample of Sarah Horowitz Coconut Milk, a recent release from this California-based independent perfumer.

Coconut Milk, the latest addition to Sarah Horowitz’s “Perfect” line, includes top notes of coconut and almond, heart notes of orange blossom and gardenia, and base notes of tonka bean, vanilla, and Egyptian musk. It’s a fragrance that accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. Its coconut accord is milky with a hint of green, and it doesn’t remind me at all of the suntan lotions of my youth, thank goodness. The coconut, which lasts throughout the fragrance’s development on skin, is followed by just a hint of creamy gardenia…

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