Bottleginge

I have been privileged enough to be able to visit many great museums and look at the masters of paint and sculptures. My favorite though, is the Van Gogh Museum. It has many of the factors that make you feel like you just saw into the soul of love and the vision of two men who walked thru this world together, with one woman bringing that beauty to the world when both men had passed with little note of importance at the time.

So, you name your perfume after a man who was strange, mercurial and driven to insanity but still saw beauty in all around him? A man who learned to set the mood with vivid color? Bold yet refined? A mix of styles that seems disjointed, but actually comes together in an otherworldly way that makes one stop and realize they have yet to see anything like it? Achieved.

When people speak about a perfume being a color, I had not had the opportunity to experience that till this fragrance. This fragrance is the essence purple with a touch of citrus. It has the bold strokes of strong notes holding the more muted ones together, and it feels like I have not smelled anything like it before. It is beautiful yet strange to my nose, as if from another era or time. I love that it paints a landscape in my mind that does not exist anywhere else. A great introduction to this perfume house and a beautiful ode to Van Gogh.

I had a review on this fragrance I deleted. Honestly the other reviewers do it much more justice than I ever will. However, I notice a trend that I want to buck, for others using reviews to make a decision to try this or not. Most of the reviewers are male. I can see why that is, but this perfume is for a woman too. Often, I see terms about a perfume that "leans male" but often with a caveat that it could be for a woman if they are bold enough to wear it. I don't think that is the case here, or I don't want that to be the case- I am not sure which scenario is occurring. Bold is not required in my opinion.

When I first tested this fragrance, it was in my face; and I was not sure in a good way. After sitting with it and then buying the bottle, it has its place in my collection. It is absolutely one of my favorites. For me, this fragrance conveys a cold night in the woods a bit away from a group of people huddled by a fire, but the smoke is still there while the warmth is mostly missing. I have cocoa in my cup, looking up at the stars while having a long, deep discussion with someone I am enjoying getting to know on a level much deeper than pleasantries. It's the earth in all it's cold beauty infused with plenty wafts of smoke and perfect refined cocoa drifting by. It's comforting in a way that the notes read on a screen simply don't convey.

It's not "pretty girl". It is not even "girl". And unfortunately, it is not for everyone. I am used to a perfume not being for everyone as I am generally that "everyone". For the women looking at reviews and wondering if this is too masculine to try, do yourself a favor and try it. I feel like I have found my nice little comfortable spot in the universe, observing it in the black of night, when I have this fragrance on.

I picked up a travel spray of this scent. I always enjoy it when I put it on. It is a fresh, light tropical fragrance. It is pretty simple and while I like it, I don't crave it at all. I see it's pretty blue glass vile and think "I really need to use this up before summer ends". I don't plan to repurchase. However, as a pale white older woman who prefers mountains to the beach, I am probably not the target audience for this fragrance either. If you love the beach, summer and/or tropical scents, I would imagine you would love this.

I really enjoy the opening of this fragrance. Slightly sweet fruit that is very light and airy. If it lasted longer, it would be a love. The dry down does nothing for me and does not last long. It stays close to the skin and that is OK. If not for the price, I would just tolerate spraying it more to get the opening. Unfortunately for me, it lasts too short a time for me to purchase a full bottle unless I find a bargain. I might do another travel spray. I am glad I got my nose on it, regardless. It is different in a pretty way.

I seem to be striking out with every "your skin but better" type of perfume. I am putting Glossier You in the same category as AnOther 13 and Not a Perfume, albeit it is not as off-putting as the other two. I am not sure what I smell except as next-to-nothing barely-there scent. The other two are screechy but this does not even attempt that. Some say pencil shavings and I can buy wet shavings along with a chemical smell that accompanies the other two fragrances as well. I wish I knew exactly what my nose refuses to repackage as the glorious perfume others smell but as Tommy Lee Jones told Jim Carrey: "I cannot sanction your buffoonery".