I love Pina Colada, Malibu, and the taste of coconut. This also applies to perfumes, of course. The summery vibe and the images of sun, beach, and sea that I associate with it are simply wonderful. That's why I am always on the lookout for fragrance waters that can showcase coconut well. My absolute favorite and King or Queen of the Hill so far is
Virgin Island Water by Creed.
Admittedly, I haven't been able to test many other perfumes with dominant coconut. I have tried "Le Beau | Jean Paul Gaultier," which is good, but it doesn't compare to VIW.
Paula's Ibiza has no coconut scent for me, and with "Boss Bottled Pacific | Hugo Boss," I can only faintly sense it.
Today, I was able to test Blanc Ensoleillé by Zara. I ordered and bought the perfume as a blind buy. One thing right away: VIW remains on the throne for me, but that was to be expected.
There will be no direct comparison here, although I did spray VIW on one wrist and Blanc Ensoleillé on the other for the test.
Blanc Ensoleillé starts off for me with a brutal alcohol content. So penetrating that it almost stings my nose when I get too close to my skin. The bergamot is also clearly noticeable, which defines the top note. Together with the strong alcohol taste, I initially get the scent profile of a Caipirinha.
Fortunately, the alcohol evaporates quickly, and alongside a slightly receding bergamot, the coconut (milk) slowly reveals itself along with a fig taste. I find it somewhat irritating that I smell fig here, and it only fits in somewhat, but I also don't really like fig.
Perhaps a quarter of an hour after spraying, the creamy coconut flavor slowly emerges clearly and immediately makes me think of the white round balls. I find the taste quite strikingly similar. Meanwhile, a bit of musk is already present. Interestingly, at this stage, the fig is clearly more dominant on the testing paper than on my skin, where it has faded into the background and adds a somewhat "dull" component to the flavor cocktail.
In the drydown, not much new happens for me. It may be that the musk and some woodiness come more to the forefront. However, the scent that developed in the heart note simply recedes and disappears after about 3-4 hours.
Conclusion: Fresh from the bottle, Blanc Ensoleillé is good, especially for the price, but it doesn't exactly blow me away at the moment. The main reason for this is the lack of refinement and the rather disappointing longevity. While I am writing this, VIW is performing brilliantly while Blanc Ensoleillé is just meandering along.
However, I also had to let VIW mature (fresh from the bottle, the performance was rather mediocre), and I will do the same with Zara's scent. And: summer is yet to come. So it could very well be that I adjust the ratings upwards and possibly add a text supplement.
Coconut milk
Musk
Bergamot
Woods
Tracershy
LeMaleExtra
Ergoproxy
CharlAmbre
Heikeso
FrauMieze
Scherbelini
Deanbck
Peppernator
VegaOcean
