In search of a good grapefruit scent for the upcoming warm season, I first landed on 4711 "Pink Pepper & Grapefruit," as can be read. Since this Eau de Cologne did not convince me, I have now tested another candidate: "Pink Grapefruit," an EdT from The Body Shop.
I already own a rather pleasant scent from The Body Shop, namely the sweet-floral "White Musk," a long-time popular classic that also has a fairly extensive care line.
"Pink Grapefruit" is also available as Body Butter, Body Mist, Shower Gel, Body Scrub, Body Yogurt, Soap, Hand Lotion, Body Lotion, and Bath Bubble. Interestingly, there is no deodorant in this series.
I like to use body care products that have the same scent as my perfume. This way, the fragrance lasts much longer. However, the care lines of major fragrances are usually very expensive. At The Body Shop, the pleasure of enveloping oneself from head to toe in a single scent is relatively affordable.
The EdT is only available in a very small size - namely, in a spray of a mere 30 ml. At least it's "handbag-friendly." At € 16.50 or € 55,- / 100 ml, it is not really cheap within its price range.
However, the scent is considered a bestseller. The manufacturer promises a long-lasting, uniquely fresh fragrance with fruity-floral aroma and gentle grapefruit notes.
The EdT has been on the market for 7 years. I had tested it in the shop years ago and had a good memory of it.
Whether it has changed since then, I do not know. The bottle has certainly changed. It is still pale pink. But instead of the rather bland-looking silver cap, there is now a black one. And the pink grapefruit on the label has received green leaves as welcome color accents. Overall, the new bottle seems trendier, more appealing, and more likable to me.
I remembered the scent as very refreshing and powerfully citrusy. However, when testing it on my skin this time, it seems surprisingly weak to me.
I have not found any exact information about the scent composition anywhere. I can imagine that the fragrance consists solely of pink grapefruit. No problem for me. But since it is described by the manufacturer as "fruity-floral," there must be some flowers accompanying the citrus fruit. However, I cannot figure out which ones they might be.
What I do notice, of course, is that the scent does not change. I can neither detect a top, nor a heart, nor a base note. The fragrance remains this pale grapefruit - somehow arbitrary, not very distinctive, without refinement. A very light summer scent, but for my taste, it is too lacking in brightness and zest.
Grapefruit scents usually convey a lot of joy for life. They sparkle like champagne, refresh and invigorate, bring good cheer, and have something like a radiant, euphoric youthfulness.
But I search in vain for all of that here.
I also notice little of the promised long-lasting effect. The EdT lasts longer than the grapefruit scent from 4711, which is not too difficult, but after a maximum of an hour, it is also virtually non-existent.
I am not really sad about it. Compared to "White Musk" with its very feminine, sensual note that conjures up a sea of white flowers and a hint of erotically appealing musk, "Pink Grapefruit" seems almost uninspired, lacking in distinctive character, without a strong personality. What disappoints me most is that the sparkling freshness of the grapefruit is hardly perceptible here. The scent is and remains weak, inconspicuous, banal. If it were a woman, hardly anyone would turn to look at her.
I wonder: What can one do wrong with a grapefruit scent? Or am I just spoiled - by "O oui" from Lancome and the wonderfully fresh grapefruit scents from Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria "Pamplelune" and "Pera Granita," which I love to use?
I think grapefruit scents have undergone a transformation since 2012, the year "Pink Grapefruit" was created, which has not been without consequences. We now expect more from grapefruit - perhaps an exciting combination with floral aromas and above all a harmonious balance between citrusy bitterness and fruity sweetness.
In my opinion, "Pink Grapefruit" has too little of both. It’s as if the scent cannot decide what it really wants to be. That does not do it any good.
The fact that "Pink Grapefruit" is listed neither under "Fragrances for Him" nor under "Fragrances for Her" on The Body Shop's website fits this indecision. There is no "unisex" category at The Body Shop. Even under "Eau de Toilette," one searches in vain for the pink grapefruit, although it has been a regular in The Body Shop's repertoire for 7 years. Strange, isn't it? You only find it under "Series" and "All Fragrances."
Perhaps with this scent, they wanted too much to please everyone and therefore hesitated to give the EdT a contour with stronger recognition value. One could also say they took the easy way out. That a certain arbitrariness has resulted is not surprising in this sense. It is still a shame. Perhaps the time for a reformulation has come, one that refreshes the scent in the true sense of the word, just as has already been achieved with the bottle.
Pink grapefruit
Czarcasm
Gold
Emuletipsi
Heikeso
Himberry
Jennytammy
Serafina
