David and I had a lovely lunch with the in-laws today. I generally find my need for their approval terrifying, but it was a really nice lunch of thai food and conversation. They recently retired to Washington State after a lifetime in Bakersfield, California, and the change seems to be treating them well as they were visibly happier than I'd ever seen them. In my rush out the door, I grabbed my sample tin so I could scent myself in the car. This is a risky proposition, generally, because who knows what you'll get or if you or anyone else around you will like it. My sample grab-bag lunching resulted in this post.
A soft, sultry, and voluptuous fragrance from British designerPaul Smith. Luscious lime and the naturally bitter note of neroli. Lilac leaf, jasmine, heliotrope, aniseed, and vanilla all soften the bouquet. Fresh seringa maintains a modern zappy-happiness. Amber deepens the base notes, woven through with green woodsy accents. In a cute, curvy apothecary bottle of crushed-cranberry colored glass.
and good gin, like you'd expect Joan Harris of Mad Men
to smell. It's a liquored smell that in my mind is all about juniper berries and a slice of lime. It's sharp and smells chemical, though not necessarily in a fake way. After about twenty minutes it becomes sort of thickly sweet, and I picture a G&T backed by a chaser of heavily sugared and milked coffee, served in a copper mug so it had a vague taste of pennies to it. There's also a kind of sharpness, like white pepper or red chili flakes. If there is a greenness to it, it's a bitter smell, that makes me think of the kind of reaction one might have to chewing large, wet, waxy leaves of a marginally poisonous plant. After an hour, whatever it has in the way of 'woodsy notes' is conveyed in a very sweet, powdery dry scent that reminds me of some of the very pink canisters of loose powder and fake fur puffs I got as a child.Looking through the reviews on MakeUp Alley, I saw people describe this as "amber vanilla," tabacoo-y," "cold medicine-y," "sultry," "creamy," and "cherry almond." I think there cherry almond is the description I see the most, in that there is definitely an Amaretto thing going on in there at times. The wildly divergent experiences of this one make me think that it's very different on a lot of people. If I get the cherry almond, it's definitely on the way between the Joan Harris scent and the syrupy sweet coffee thing...perhaps there's Amaretto Torani Syrup
in the coffee? It's a strange little puzzle of a fragrance to be sure.
Now all of this could, and in fact does, add up to some pretty mixed feelings on my part. On the one hand, the stinging opening, while unexpected, is nice once you get used to it. The middle is both so sticky sweet and bitter at the same time it seems like kind of a mess. The last bit isn't bad, but rather ho-hum in its boring indiscriminate powderiness. I liked the front despite it's assaulting nature; I didn't hate the end, I just thought it was boring. The middle is a rough transition between the two that makes me think that if a few notes had been swapped, this could have been excellent all the way through. Personally, I found it vaguely disappointing after such a unique open, but I can see how others might like it.You can buy Paul Smith London for Women in a lot of places, from department stores to retail outlets like Target and online vendors like Amazon
. You can get a mini
of this one for as little as $6.99, and I got my sample from Rei Rien for a mere 25 cents, so I know if like this one, you can get it for a discount price with very little effort. That said, it does look like this one has been discontinued, so grab it on its way out if you want it."Love, love.
You say that you want it,
but you won't change me."
- "Pretty," The Cranberries (You can listen to the song here)
Couldn't find any reviews of this one, so you'll just have to try it yourself.
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