Love Don't Be Shy Kilian 2007 Perfume

I love vanilla, and this has a strong vanilla note. However, it also has a putrid stale-bubblegum note on me that comes pretty close to making me retch. I hoped it would pass but, after an hour of trying to breathe through my mouth (how sophisticated I looked!), I gave up, scrubbed my arm, and sprayed some Sula Vanilla Blossom on top of it to cancel out the residual smell. I try to give perfumes at least 2 tries, but this was one of my once-and-out ones. (072209)

By Kilian LOVE is a ridiculously sweet perfume. Had I tested this one blind, I'm sure that I would have guessed that it was launched by the house of Britney Spears. But no, it's a hoity-toity niche perfume which costs ten times the price of any celebrity scent.

The aesthetic of this composition is reminiscent of the house of Laurence Dumont, specifically the Senteurs Gourmandes collection (which, by the way, also cost a small fraction of this). Very, very sweet. Did I mention that this is sweet? Spun sugar flavored with vanilla is really the take away to my nose.

I cannot really recommend this perfume because, although it does smell natural, from start to finish, it seems too much like a dessert which could very well induce a diabetic coma. I simply cannot think of any good reason for buying LOVE given the panoply of similar fragrances, often associated with celebrities' names, available today.

For those who crave this level of sweetness in a natural-smelling perfume, I highly recommend that you investigate the house of Laurence Dumont.

When the cold weather rolls in, I have an irresistible urge to wear sweet and cozy scents. Love by Kilian is super sweet and could be rightfully called a sugar bomb filled with marshmallows, vanilla and all things sweet. It is fluffy, delicious, and a bit over the top. It reminds me of an enormous, over-decorated wedding cake with creamy frosting and cute cherubs.

There are flowers in this frosted, sugared bouquet but they are so much covered in sweetness that I barely can smell them. However, what I really like about this perfume is how smooth, creamy, and natural smelling it is. I own many overly sweet perfumes including tons of celebrity ones. The main difference between those one and Love by Kilian is the quality. I find that synthetic loudness of many celebrity scents are getting on my nerves, so though I do love perfumes with super sweet personality, I cannot bear to wear most of them. Love by Kilian is a different story. I love wearing it and it lasts for at least 10 hours on me.

Is it worth a hefty price tag? Still not sure. I would have liked to see more complexity in the dry down phase of this scent, something that would make it more dimensional and exciting instead of just a straightforward marshmallow vanilla. But it is still a lovely fragrance to wear and my rating is based on its comparison to other fragrances in this category. Overall score is 7.5/10.

How could you be shy while wearing this fragrance? One does not have to be a dog to track you down along the threads of this scent...

Neroli as top note? That would be a so-called „shy, tentative kiss given by fresh lips” – as it is written on the page of one seller. Pure and poor theory.
Do not bother with neroli, do not waste even a slight thought for it.
It can not do anything against the flood of jasmine and vanille, so freshness is absolutely not present here. The perfume is strong, stable, forms a wall around you, a wall of self-esteem and a bit violent kind of flirt. LOVE is indiscreet and tactless. Completely feminine.

Upon the waves of sweetness there is a weird, floating odor, most probably iris and vanille made an alliance against sobriety. The weirdness is the same kind as in VANILLE ABSOLUMENT, but executed in much higher quality.

The base: less jasmine, stable vanille. Musk is trying to push the fragrance towards demureness. Sorry, dear Musk, maybe another time, LOVE and love does not need too much rationality.

- Age: does not matter, just be enough brave to wear.
- Gender: woman!
- Season: summer. Such a strong and sweet perfume together with those who contain oud, are meant for heat.
- Warning: the liquid has an intensive red color, that can leave stains on your clothes, so portion it only on skin.

I've been pining for a bottle of Love Don't Be Shy for ages, and this year I finally got one for my birthday from my husband. Can't imagine a better gift.

Smelling it is like laying in a sea of orange blossoms and slowly sinking into a thick creamy caramel. Some other flowers like honeysuckle and a few rose petals might be present, also neroli and citrus notes to freshen things up a little, but orange blossom is the main star. In the beginning there is a marshmallow sweetness to this, but it soon turns into caramel. Not all websites list caramel as a note for this (Parfumo doesn't!), so I'm not sure if it's officially here or not, but I clearly smell it. In the drydown I also get an unlisted cinnamon spiciness.
I don't find this scent bubblegummy at all, despite the sweet white florals. It's warmer and not as high-pitched compared to a bubblegum scent.

I really don't get how anyone would complain about longevity and sillage with this one. I perceive it as an intense, gooey, all-embracing cocoon of caramelized flowers. Just the same as when I first tried it in January 2019 from an in-store tester and when I had a sample in 2020.
It's really bold in its sweetness, but not screechy and sugary, just opulent, sensual and sexy.
Surprisingly I liked it just as much in summer as in winter, it's a gourmand that works on warm skin for summer nights. Maybe due to the white floral notes.

I have tried a lot of fragrances that are considered similar to LDBS around the web. PdM Oriana, Memo Sintra, Micallef Watch, Berdoues Vanira Moorea, Prada Candy Kiss, Reminiscence Guimauve and so on. I have yet to meet one I dislike, but I think none of them is quite the same as the original. I'm so happy I finally got this!