Originally written May16, 2012:
Escada 2005 could be the separated-at-birth twin of Victoria’s Secret’s discontinued gem, Very Sexy 2. There’s less sweetness and the juice here is blue, asserting an upscale aquatic vibe, but they are essentially twins. This is great for fans—such as me—of one of the last of VS’s fragrance creations, before they traded in daring sophistication for cocktail cacophonic ‘fumes of late. Come to think of it, Escada could be accused of casting the same fate to their collection, too.
I’m not a fan of chypres but this is a pleasantly calm one. It’s not bombastic like most chypres that come to mind, but it has staying power comparable to any classic one, like Aromatics Elixir or Magie Noire. The sillage and projection are subdued for a chypre but it lets the wearer’s friends and acquaintances know you are wearing something lightly floral and somewhat leafy. Speaking of leafy, this is cassia-laden (and I love me some cassia). The blue color implies this is a weak, watery summer scent but Escada is perfect for any weather, any time of day or night.
If more chypres were like this I’d be a bigger fan of them.
Cringing some more on September 14, 2023:
"...daring sophistication..." Really? Victoria's Secret of the 1990s and 2000s was fun, maybe a little upscale for mall offerings, but they were hardly daring. VS of that time was less cloying but it was still the same store that provided generations of high school girls something to drown out their gym class funk. My VS EdPs and body sprays were "dumb reach" scents, something I could mindlessly spray on before work or a date, knowing I wouldn't offend anyone. But we're not talking about VS, now are we?
I bring up VS because I found likeness between
Very Sexy for Her² and
Escada (2005). Generally speaking, Escadas were like VS scents for a slightly more affluent crowd. They offered tropical fruity florals and flirty light vanillic juices, much like VS, but in oft uniform bottles from department stores, thus costing more. It might be me but I found most Escada scents correlated with VS scents. Back when I thought VS was daring, Escada was otherworldly.
I blindly purchased my
Escada (2005) bottle when I was running low on my
Very Sexy for Her². I was relieved to have found something similar. I loved
Very Sexy for Her² and
Escada (2005) because they were green-dominant scents at a time when green scents had fallen out of fashion and gourmands were taking over. Neither was mossy and chypre in the classical sense but they were unabashedly leafy and verdant.
Escada (2005) was more verdant, more bitter with black currant leaves, and more laden with patchouli. It was more complex than my
Very Sexy for Her² (which had more going on that what was listed, I'm sure). In 2005, I wasn't ready for something more complex than VS. See how I thought
Escada (2005) was a Rubik's Cube of a perfume?
I had it, I loved it, then I got tired of it. Since then, I've encountered more exciting green scents that have rendered
Escada (2005) pedestrian—check out
Koala or
Tucson for green scents that are actually daring or interesting. The learning curve is always bending—I'm sure I'll encounter something green that will genuinely intrigue and challenge me the way
Escada (2005) once did. But by today's standards,
Escada (2005) is green nostalgia and little else.
Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
