Parfum d’Empire 3 Fleurs ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 28 September 2009 122 Comments

white-rose

Beauty is tricky. In Sunday’s New York Times, Barbra Streisand explained to a reporter that she doesn’t want her music to be straight and pure, “It has to rub. I want that slight rub there.” Regardless of what you think of Streisand, she has a point. For something to reach its full potential for beauty, it needs a flaw, an unexpected element to catch your attention. Parfum d’Empire 3 Fleurs Eau de Parfum is rich and lovely, and I know many people will wear it to lavish compliments. But it doesn’t have the rub.

Parfum d’Empire released 3 Fleurs (along with Wazamba) this summer. It has notes of Bulgarian rose, Egyptian jasmine, and Indian tuberose—the three flowers of its name—along with galbanum, mint, and white musk. Despite rose, jasmine, and tuberose having equal billing, to me 3 Fleurs is more of a heady rose fragrance with jasmine and tuberose playing strong supporting roles…

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Mariah Carey Forever ~ perfume review

Posted by Robin on 17 September 2009 80 Comments

Mariah Carey Forever fragrance advert

All those recent stories about how the celebrity fragrance trend is dying? Don’t believe ’em. They’ve been saying that every year that I’ve been writing this blog, and look around — do you see fewer celebrity fragrances? Au contraire. The pie might be shrinking, but apparently everyone still wants a slice. And here is Mariah Carey (you might not recognize her right away given the wildly enthusiastic photoshopping) with Forever, her third fragrance in two years (not counting one flanker and two collector bottles).

Forever hopes to reflect Carey’s satisfaction with how well her life is going:

I am in a wonderful place right now, surrounded by all the things I love, and Forever captures this moment in time.¹

Forever is supposed to be a “modern opulent floral”, and if you take modern opulence to be watery rather than full-bodied, that’s exactly what it is. The opening is crisp, fresh and watery, with tart apple plus some added greenery and citrus; the heart is a watery gardenia/tuberose floral blend with vaguely fruity undertones. The florals are strong and diffusive for a very short time, after that, they’re sheer, and need not scare anybody…

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Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia ~ fragrance review

Posted by Robin on 9 July 2007 73 Comments

Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia fragrance bottles

Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia is the brainchild of Aerin Lauder, Estee Lauder’s granddaughter and the Creative Director of the Estee Lauder line. It borrows its name from Private Collection, the 1973 release that was said to be based on a scent that Estee Lauder originally created for her own use. The new fragrance features neroli, lilac, rosewood, tuberose, gardenia, orange flower, jasmine, white lily, carnation and vanilla bourbon.

Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia opens sweet and bright, and seems to move rapidly from the mild touch of citrus in the opening into the white floral notes in the heart. The lilac softens the more exuberant floral notes in the early stages, but it is lush and full-bodied almost from the start, and it is almost linear after the first 20 minutes or so have passed. The tuberose and gardenia are the main players — you will catch glimpses of the other notes, especially the jasmine, but it starts out smelling like mostly tuberose and gardenia and hours later, it still does. The base is milky-creamy woods with a touch of vanilla, and is neither heady nor overly sweet…

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Prince 3121 ~ perfume review

Posted by Robin on 29 June 2007 37 Comments

Prince 3121 fragrance

We all know better by now than to expect celebrities who have done original or exciting work in their “areas of expertise” to carry that spirit of innovation over into fragrance. For most celebrities, perfume is a easy way to make money, plain and simple, and making a scent that appeals to as many consumers as possible is the logical outcome.

Still, many celebrity scents seem like reasonable olfactory representations of the stars in question, or at least, of their public personas. Despite their respective troubles, it seems fitting that Britney Spears Fantasy smells like cupcakes and musk, and that Paris Hilton gives us fruity bubble gum. Sometimes, of course, the concept is more of a stretch…

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White Flower Failure

Posted by Angela on 15 January 2007 47 Comments

Bella Donna by Georgia O'Keeffe

For most of us, certain perfume notes may not sit well on our skin. For instance, berry notes can sour on me. I have had the painful experience of standing at Aedes in New York, waiting for a spritz of Parfums DelRae Bois de Paradis to settle on my skin (“My favorite!” the salesman said), and then having the salesman lift his nose from my arm with a firm, “No”. Similarly, on me Molinard Nirmala might as well be bug spray.

But beyond the chemical aspects of perfume are its aesthetic properties, and some of these don’t sit well on some people, either. This is where I have White Flower Failure. Tuberose, gardenia, and lilies smell just fine on me, and I adore them when I smell them on others. But when I wear a tuberose-based perfume, what I see in the mirror doesn’t match up with what I smell. I smell delicious, creamy flowers, and depending on the perfume, maybe purity or maybe a sexy, ladylike aroma, or maybe something else. What I see in the mirror is a slightly messy redhead wearing a rumpled vintage cashmere sweater, with no makeup but for red lipstick — that is, what didn’t wear off with her morning coffee. What I experience is dissonance…

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Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Parfum d’Empire 3 Fleurs ~ fragrance review

Mariah Carey Forever ~ perfume review

Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia ~ fragrance review

Prince 3121 ~ perfume review

White Flower Failure