Queen of Life La Rive 2014

My first encounters with the fragrances from La Rive were marked by little enthusiasm. After hearing that there were supposed to be some decent dupes of brand-name perfumes, I had to give them a sniff. Who doesn't like a great scent for little money? So I marched into the nearest big red R and took the brand's "flagships" for a test: Cash and Queen of Life. I sniffed the testers with dedication and wrinkled my nose. What was that? A really strong smell of alcohol hit me, followed by a piercingly sweet scent. You could sense the inspiration behind Queen of Life, but the entire fragrance was immediately flattened by a stinging intensity. Back on the shelf it went, and I grabbed Cash. But here too, the same game. First an alcohol smell, and then again an indefinable intensity that buried the scent of the original. A bit disappointed, I left the red R. I knew from other inexpensive drugstore fragrances that price does not necessarily indicate quality, but I couldn't understand all the positive reviews about the brand. I forgot about La Rive for a long time. But eventually, the brand came back to me.
I was browsing the WWW and looking for a dupe for "Love Chloé" and ended up here on Parfumo. I clicked from one link to another and eventually found fragrances from La Rive and many quite positive reviews. How can that be, I thought? Where are all these positive voices coming from? If everyone had smelled what I had, the positive reviews would surely have been significantly fewer. So I took a closer look at the fragrances again. Armed with a little note with my sniffing candidates, I headed to the drugstore and reliably made my way to the perfume shelf. I confidently grabbed Queen of Life and a paper strip and applied the scent. A few wild waves and then to the nose. And what can I say? Completely different from the first sniffing session. No alcohol smell, no stinging intensity! But before I broke into cheers, I sniffed the other potential candidates and got the same result. All presented themselves as fine fragrances, some matching my preferences more than others. I pondered that the first rather lackluster sniffing encounter was probably due to tipped testers. I can't explain this qualitative difference any other way.

A trophy to all those who made it this far. Now comes the review for Queen of Life, I promise;-)

Years ago, I owned the big sister of little Queen and back then I was very taken with it. I liked this sweet heaviness and the fine scent of roasted almonds and cotton candy. When I apply Queen of Life, I have exactly that scent back in my nose. To be honest, I can't really detect the fruity top note. I first smell a fresh sweetness, which, however (typical for top notes), doesn't last long. The scent soon transforms and becomes sweeter and heavier on my skin, but not so heavy that I feel overwhelmed. After about an hour, this wonderful scent of roasted almonds and cotton candy develops, and I also smell a slight vanilla note here. The scent then stays with me and perhaps gets a minimal bitter touch.

To what extent it is THE DUPE to its big sister, I can't say 100%. The time when I had the original was long ago. But from my scent memory, I would say they are very similar. Those who probably don't engage intensively with perfume in general might not smell a difference.

I've been wearing the scent for about five hours now, and I can still perceive it well on myself. The wear time is therefore decent. To what extent others perceive the scent on me, I can't say for sure as always. Tests with my husband only resulted in a "Yes, it smells good!" Since I can still perceive it well on myself, I think others can still catch a whiff of it when they stand behind me at the checkout without getting too close to me:-)

If one were to assign a seasonal classification, I would place it more in the autumn/winter months. I, who really likes such sweet and gourmand fragrances, wear it year-round. With one spray, you are actually quite safe from overdoing it. Still, there will always be someone for whom even that is too much. But that's all a matter of taste:-D

Since I bought a small 30 ml version, the bottle is small and handy. So it's good for the handbag.

Conclusion: I am convinced by both the scent and the longevity of little Queen. I really like this cozy warm cotton candy note. For the little money, it is highly recommended. I would also recommend it to those who are eyeing its big sister but are still hesitant to spend that much money.

Ah yes, I am so glad I gave La Rive another chance, thank you!