Roses, raspberry hard candies and leather.
Nice, but too clean. For me to get the “spontaneous energy and chic downtown style of NYC” of the ad, the musk and pepper need to be stronger to dirty it up.
Now this is the spontaneous energy of NYC.
fruity
Be Delicious
This one is pure kindergarten teacher.
Thirsty green apple juice boxes, cucumber slices and flowers on the desk–lily-of-the-valley and roses–with a base of amber and gnawed-on pencils.
Good sillage, lasts through noon recess, and never makes you stand in the corner.
I’d give it a B+.
My favorite cute schoolyard tune.
Dylan Blue
This one makes me feel like I’ve been to that fantastic salon I can’t really afford.
Apple shampoo and flowery conditioner at first, then gorgeous honey notes from peach and clover for an hour.
Dries down to sweet patchy detangler musk.
Not great sillage–three inches above the skin, at most–and not terribly long lasting. Also, oddly greasy on the skin; I’m guessing it would stain a scarf.
(And always remember to tip your stylist.)
Indigo Girls tangling up some Dylan blues.
Omnia Paraiba
Opens aquatic, sea-breeze shower fresh, with some transparent grapefruit-y citrus. Tropical sweetness ripens from underneath–passion flower and and passion fruit–but it’s glittery rather than juicy, with that faceted cut of all the Omnia line.
Settles comfortably into personal space for the afternoon, and leaves a woody residue on cuffs.
Fun fact: Brazilian Paraiba tourmalines get their gorgeous aquamarine color from copper.
Jimmy Choo Fever
Not bad.
The peelie gives me vanilla plums and creamy coffee, with some purple flowers tucked in there.
I’d look for a bottle, but I’ve still got half a Midnight Fantasy left, a few samples of Moonlight, minis of Black Tulip and Belle de Nuit to finish and a fresh J’adore, and maybe I’m a bit tired of the steady diet of prunes, y’know?
Edit — 3/4/21
Wound up with a (very pretty) mini bottle. The peelie was a reasonable match to the juice in person, though the real thing has less of the cafe-au-lait that I liked.
Very purple, very plummy, and very vanilla. Dries down to tonka woods on the skin in four hours or so.
Way too young for me.
Here’s another Fever, without plums.
Ciao
Ciao is a girly coming of age party with birthday cake and strawberry champagne and a bouquet of roses, but finishes with cheers and a beer at a pub.
Fun and sweet, but earthy at the end.
A good celebration song–
Mon Eau
This one bridges the gap between Lolita Lempicka L’Eau en Blanc and the original first scent, but somehow loses the vibrancy of both parents.
Pretty mixed-up berries in the beginning that eventually decide they’re black currants, then aniseed hits with the usual LL violet-iris notes before it settles in close with pleasant white musk and sandalwood powder.
A good bridesmaid perfume.
This is a lovely “first dance” wedding song–
White Peach & Coriander
From the 4711 Acqua Colonia line–
All the fruity citrus breakfast brunch drinks (garnished with parsley) in an instant spritz, and I love it.
The peach dries to powder in five minutes, and the green coriander lingers for another ten, and then it’s gone with no residue, leaving one refreshed in that magical burst that only 4711 has.
Beck is also magically refreshing.
Hummingbird
Honeysuckle nectar and lilac and more honey, then a mouthful of cherry and lily-of-the-valley cream, but always the pervasive tropical green note that is the Zoologist trademark.
Sits a few inches above the skin for several hours, but it’s too sweet for me.
This cover of Leon Russell’s Hummingbird (made famous by BB King) is also sweet but much less flighty–
My Burberry Black
I loved the rich fruity floral scent on the peelie, but when I tried it on in the store the amber punched me in the stomach and the patchouli hit me on the head with a hammer.
I got two compliments during my rush to the bathroom to scrub it off, and the guy said “ooh, nice,” when I got home–my shirt cuffs actually smelled wonderfully of peachy rose jam.
So I wouldn’t turn down a mini of this, to save for scarves, but not one for my skin.
*
Got this stuck in my head today–
kira a. gold 