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01/08/2012
Asphaltblume
45 Reviews
Asphaltblume
Helpful Review
3
Hazelnut Chilli Flowers
Another blind buy, this time I was seduced by reviews speaking of hazelnut. A quick application, and yes, the nuts are there from the start, but make no mistake, this is not a gourmand fragrance!
The hazelnut is not roasted and not sweet, it's certainly no nougat, it's just nuts fresh from the shrub, still soft and moist and maybe even a bit green. Hazelnut forms the base to a clean, floral-fruity and a bit bland fragrance that is spiced up by very noticeable chilli. The chilli bites in the nose a bit and that for quite long.
The juice has potential, though. I soon notice plums and roses, but the black currant that is listed for the top note doesn't come out at all. Not now, not later either. The plum, indecisive at first, becomes plummier with time, including detours into stewed plums and plum butter. Almondblossom and lily-of-the-valley are too shy to come out as well; I smell lilac instead. Maybe lily-of-the-valley and almondblossom combined smells like lilac? Rose is still present as well.
The woody base shows up reluctantly and stays in the background. I know sandalwood, but I have no idea of the scent of mahogany. To my relief Escada S is not a musky fragrance.
Sadly there are episodes inbetween where I find S unpleasant: The sandalwood is unpleasantly scratchy for a time, maybe the chilli has a pod in it again.
Later on the fragrance turned unpleasantly synthetic: The lilac smells like a cheap drugstore room freshener, the sandalwood smells cheap and the hazelnut artificial. This doesn't hold on for long, luckily, and then the fragrance is a pleasure again.
Escada S's drydown I find utterly charming, a delicate, soft, slightly powdery rose is spacing out. Wood and hazelnut are now only a warm presence in the background. If there is musk in it, it is subordinated and serves to support or round out other scents: I can't detect it at all. The drydown reminds me of a sweet baby powder I know from the past, but I can't put a brand name to it. More likely Bebe than Penaten, I'd say.
My guess is that spring or summer are the best times for this fragrance. Not because it is particularly fresh or cool, but the fruity notes, the lilac and chilli are better suited to warmer days. I have worn and liked it in winter as well, though, and was complimented on it (which is unusual in Berlin and in my social environment).
Escada S is no typical Escada fragrance as it's not a sugary sweet fruit cocktail but quite wilful and comparatively acerbic. No, not acerbic but rather a bit headstrong and feisty and not particularly sweet.
The hazelnut is not roasted and not sweet, it's certainly no nougat, it's just nuts fresh from the shrub, still soft and moist and maybe even a bit green. Hazelnut forms the base to a clean, floral-fruity and a bit bland fragrance that is spiced up by very noticeable chilli. The chilli bites in the nose a bit and that for quite long.
The juice has potential, though. I soon notice plums and roses, but the black currant that is listed for the top note doesn't come out at all. Not now, not later either. The plum, indecisive at first, becomes plummier with time, including detours into stewed plums and plum butter. Almondblossom and lily-of-the-valley are too shy to come out as well; I smell lilac instead. Maybe lily-of-the-valley and almondblossom combined smells like lilac? Rose is still present as well.
The woody base shows up reluctantly and stays in the background. I know sandalwood, but I have no idea of the scent of mahogany. To my relief Escada S is not a musky fragrance.
Sadly there are episodes inbetween where I find S unpleasant: The sandalwood is unpleasantly scratchy for a time, maybe the chilli has a pod in it again.
Later on the fragrance turned unpleasantly synthetic: The lilac smells like a cheap drugstore room freshener, the sandalwood smells cheap and the hazelnut artificial. This doesn't hold on for long, luckily, and then the fragrance is a pleasure again.
Escada S's drydown I find utterly charming, a delicate, soft, slightly powdery rose is spacing out. Wood and hazelnut are now only a warm presence in the background. If there is musk in it, it is subordinated and serves to support or round out other scents: I can't detect it at all. The drydown reminds me of a sweet baby powder I know from the past, but I can't put a brand name to it. More likely Bebe than Penaten, I'd say.
My guess is that spring or summer are the best times for this fragrance. Not because it is particularly fresh or cool, but the fruity notes, the lilac and chilli are better suited to warmer days. I have worn and liked it in winter as well, though, and was complimented on it (which is unusual in Berlin and in my social environment).
Escada S is no typical Escada fragrance as it's not a sugary sweet fruit cocktail but quite wilful and comparatively acerbic. No, not acerbic but rather a bit headstrong and feisty and not particularly sweet.
