Nemorosa

... walked past you for years and completely ignored you? During my hundreds, no thousands, of visits to drugstores, I passed you by without a second thought. You were just there, always have been, somewhat inconspicuous, suitable for every budget, thus uninteresting. New = better? Cheap = bad? No, not at all! You taught me otherwise. Fortunately, during my last shopping spree, curiosity overcame me and I caught a whiff of you and your 2 sisters. Et voilà - you, the middle one, were a hit!

Enough of the praise, now to the scent: Woman No. 2 gives me a feeling of security without being boring. Clean, freshly washed comes to mind, without me thinking of laundry detergent. A straightforward, feminine powderiness. Present, but not overpowering. High recognition value. For an everyday scent, it's actually too good! I can hardly pick out individual notes, maybe sandalwood, a bit of vanilla. The scent hardly changes, but it doesn't need to, because the whole is a perfect blend. The longevity is good.

Conclusion: Betty Barclay's Woman No. 2 can definitely compete with much more expensive fragrances! It's a shame I only discovered it now!

As a Yves Rocher collector, I absolutely had to have the miniature bottle of Voile d'Ambre. I had mainly read good things about it, so my expectations were quite high. So was my disappointment... I first detected a musty, powdery scent, then a piercing acidity, and immediately relegated the mini bottle to the shelf, not wanting to think about it for a long, long time. As a novice perfume junkie, I didn't think to give the fragrance a little time to fully develop.

A few months later, I gave it a second chance. I applied it and sniffed at my wrist. Baaahh! Another disappointment. Time for a gin and tonic as a consolation. While I sat there sipping my drink, something warm and comforting wafted into my nose... no, it couldn't possibly be the gin and tonic! I sniffed at my wrist again and was delighted! Myrrh and incense had vanished, leaving behind vanilla, patchouli, and sandalwood. I was especially taken with the vanilla. It is lovely, only subtly sweet, and exudes a heavenly warmth. A perfect companion on gray days. The name is fitting, as this fragrance truly wraps itself like a veil around the spirit! The cold is gone, and suddenly, oriental nights and fireplace flames appear before my inner eye...

Like Blauemaus, I managed to snag a bottle for free during the White Night promotion. Thanks to the dreary weather and bad moods, Voile d'Ambre has accompanied me these last few days. It takes quite a while for it to become what I love so much. But the patience pays off!