Zofi

Unfortunately, classic women's perfumes don't smell good on me.
I've come to terms with it, but it still makes my perfume heart bleed a little. :D

On Friday, I was at the green D.
Unfortunately, my "regular saleswoman" wasn't there; she knows that she shouldn't give me women's fragrance samples because they just gather dust with me. I always get the best-of men's samples instead.

The new colleague meant well and gave me a handful of women's fragrances, which I only realized later, but it doesn't matter because a gift is a gift.

Paradoxe, hmm.
Maybe the name is the program, I thought, and I sprayed it tentatively, fearing that I would again be hit by that urine-sweat mix.

But:

Paradoxe actually smells nice.
Not too fresh, not musty.
At first, I can pleasantly sense the bergamot and also the orange blossom on me, of course with the classic hairspray note that such fragrances like to bring.
But pleasantly!
Then a floral note (jasmine?) sneaks in, subtle but clean.

Longevity is actually okay, still well perceivable after 5 hours.

All in all, however, it still feels like a follower to me and somehow unremarkable; there are just too many of these perfumes.

Nevertheless, my mother, whom I met in the afternoon, asked me several times what fragrance this was - she says it smells nice.

It really does smell nice, I think.

I believe each of us has had a bottle of Armani Code.

I was enchanted back then, of course. Armani Code pour Femme Eau de Parfum, Alien Eau de Parfum, Boss Orange Eau de Toilette, Trésor (1990) Eau de Parfum were all lined up on my shelf.

At some point, I completely moved away from it. The heavy sweetness was no longer my thing.
But recently, I was at our perfumery, actually wanting to try a men's fragrance.
But there it was.
Armani Code pour Femme Eau de Parfum
On sale.
Directly cheap.

With a smile, I picked up the bottle, one or two spritzes on my wrist, and I was back in my teenage years.
"Oh..." I thought to myself, "we won't be getting together this cheaply again!".
Said and done, I bought it.

Then, for some reason, the unopened bottle was placed on the shelf.
And there it stood for the last few months.

Last night after showering, I had to try it.
Applied discreetly, one spray on the nape of my neck, got ready for bed, and snuggled in.

"Wow! What did you spray on?"
"Too much? :-("
"No! Amazing! Genius!"

Excuse me?
Yes, I thought.
This composition of orange blossom paired with jasmine and the sweetness of honey was actually beautiful. The scent hardly changes on me.
On me, the full breadth of vanilla and honey hits right away, but not too cloying, as the orange blossom and the actually somewhat fresh bitter orange mix in as well.

I find Armani Code pour Femme Eau de Parfum to be rounded and complete.
I think it works, apart from 30 degrees and above, always and for almost any occasion.
Today, I'm sitting in the office with it at 15 degrees and I like it a lot.
I smell sweet, but also clean.
Like being freshly showered while nibbling on honey bread, and I really like that.

Oh how sad, I love saffron so much - in food and on the skin :-)

I am an absolute Baccarat Rouge 540 Eau de Parfum fangirl, I admit. It might also be because no one in my vicinity wears it except my mother and a lady here in town while grocery shopping.

Now I also got a sample of Instant Crush at home.

With great joy, I spritzed some on my wrist, one on my décolletage, another on my wrist and… yes, and what?

For a brief moment, saffron was here, loud, heavy, sweet. Oh yes, exactly my thing.
But then, as quickly as it appeared, it was gone again.
Now an old powder box from the 50s is sticking to me, just like it smells.

A little flower or two are still there, a bit of rose, maybe some jasmine, but that’s about it.

By the way, this is a live report, because I sprayed the fragrance 5 minutes ago and now it’s gone. What a shame!

Conclusion: a little can be sensed, as if I had been wearing the fragrance for 5 or 6 hours, but that’s it.
It actually makes me sad, because from the bottle, freshly sprayed, it really smells grand. But my skin is a greedy little brat that swallows the scent like a black hole and leaves me with a hint of nothing. That stupid cow.

Leather scents fascinate me, no question about it.

A few years ago, I fell head over heels for "Hallucinogenic Pearl | What We Do Is Secret / A Lab on Fire." Quote: “I feel like I’m sitting in an expensive leather handbag.”.

Here comes that association again. Leather, beautifully dark, fitting the name.
But there's something else. Black Afgano Extrait de Parfum has leaked in the Chanel bag!

A wonderful combination of the dark herb from Black Afgano Extrait de Parfum together with the beautiful, clean leather from "Hallucinogenic Pearl | What We Do Is Secret / A Lab on Fire," I really like both very much.

And for the image in my mind: a tall, beautiful dominatrix, lacquer and leather, wicked and sexy, that’s how The Dark Side is for me.

Unisex, but not for the faint-hearted - one should be able to handle a bit of the dominatrix too.

Longevity is unfortunately just okay on me, contrary to the good reviews regarding this.
Sillage is good.

As soon as it gets a bit cooler, I will take this scent out for a spin, let’s see how the surroundings react.

Please hold the pitchforks and burning torches for a moment!
I’m not saying that Lost Cherry and Hot Cherry are the same, how could I, but there is undeniably a similarity in my nose.

I believe I am the first to want to say something positive about Hot Cherry here.
I haven't worn sweet fragrances for years, but somehow I was suddenly captivated.

Sweet, no question.
Synthetic? Absolutely!

But still, it doesn’t let me go.
Longevity is definitely okay for 15€.
Sillage is also good.

Certainly not for everyday wear, especially since it has a rather hidden note that would be too much for me throughout the day, but still... *shrug* It’s fine, as we say here in Austria :-)