Valentina by Valentino and how to avoid being captured by salespeople in a frangrance department

I like to sample new fragrances but I can't stand when SA would try to pounce on you and not give you a chance to even look around before starting to push the newest whatever. That is probably true of most department stores but my local Macy's takes the cake. I usually avoid it like the plague but unfortunately, some scents are only available at Macy's so the other day I ventured in, hoping to sample a scent. Before doing it, I had to conduct a plan simular to a military raid-travel in stealth(by the way of the other deparments), circle the target while keeping an eye out for the enemy(salespeople) and when the coast is clear, make a beeline for your target, spray and make a quick getaway.  I succeeded this time but last time, when I wanted to sample Truth or Dare, which is exclusive to Macy's, I was captured by the enemy and had to endure 15 minutes of torture(listening to her salespitch about why I should buy the gift set of Truth or Dare, never mind the fact that I haven't even sampled it yet). Ugh...
I do like Nordstrom's because even though SA will approach  you, they will leave you in peace if you ask them to, and always give you samples as well(we all know that its easier to find a Holy Grail than to get samples from Neiman Marcus or Macys).

This weekend I sampled Valentina by Valentino and well...I am not impressed. Notes according to Fragrantica are: bergamot, orange blossom, jasmine, strawberries, wild tuberose, cedar, vanilla and amber. Sounds good, right? I smell orange blossom fairly strongly in this and in my opinion, it overpowers all the other notes other than vanilla and amber.
It really doesn't smell like anything new or different. Lasting power is terrible-30 minutes later, I couldn't smell a thing. What is with all the perfumers lately, giving us watered down stuff that doesn't even last?!  This is a "meh" kind of scent for me..oh, well, on to the next

Wishes & Dreams by BEBE

Notes from Fragrantica:  opening bursts with juicy notes of bergamot, coral freesia and French pear. Voluptuous flowers in the heart include jasmine, wild violet and osmanthus. Opulent notes of exotic woods, musk and patchouli form a trail in the base.
I sampled it yesterday at Bebe's store-bottle is gorgeous but I was underwhelmed by this scent. When I first sprayed it, the initial notes of bergamot, freesia and pear produced this nice citrusy yet musky floral scent. However, as few minutes went by it started turning into rather warm citrusy floral that bears more than a passing resemblence to Sexual by Michel Germain. I really can't smell patchouli in this at all which is unusual because my nose seem to be finely tuned to it normally. I guess patchouli accounts for its lasting power on my skin because even after I took a shower I could still smell it on my hand. Its a nice scent but if you have Sexual, I wouldn't bother with Wishes and Dreams

Rosewood by Banana Republic and Curve Crush by Liz Claiborne

ROSEWOOD BY BANANA REPUBLIC
I smelled this couple of years ago for the first time on my brother-in-law's girfriend and had to try it for myself. Yes, it was nice but powdery scents are not my thing so I never bought it. Fast forward to this weekend when I was at BR and saw some travel sizes of their fragrances and there were few Rosewood left. Sold!
Bergamot, tea and amber? I would have never guessed. I thought vanilla had to be in the notes but I guess not. Essentially it smells like powdery vanilla with woodsy undertones. There is a hint of bergamot on the top but honestly, if I didn't see it in the notes, I don't think I would have detected it. This is very cozy and comforting scent, kind of like wrapping a plush blanket around yourself on a cold winter day. Someone mentioned it reminds them of Cashmere Mist and I can see that-its the same kind of cosy, soft, powdery scent. I was surprised to find out that its rather long lasting since most of fragrances nowdays end up dissappearing very quickly but Rosewood has great lasting power and siliage(while its not overpowering, it did last 4-5 hours on me). Incidentally, it also reminds me of Curve Crush bY Liz Claiborne except Rosewood is more sophisticated and elegant smelling. Its a really nice scent and I certainly wasn't expecting it coming out of Banana Republic.



CURVE CRUSH BY LIZ CLAIBORNE


Unfortunately, I couldn't find out what the notes were in this but this scent can be described in two words-baby powder. This is soft and clean baby powder scent that is not overwhelming but it has a decent siliage and lasts much longer than I expected. Its a perfect scent for work because its not loud and in your face and scent of baby powder is hardly likely to bother any sensetive people out there. Not to mention that you can find it at incredibly cheap prices at places like Walmart, CVS and Target. I got my small bottle at Walmart for just over $10 which is a pretty good bargain especially if you are on a budget

DREAMS UNLIMITED AND LOVE ETC FROM THE BODY SHOP

I don't normall shop at The Body Shop but I was passing by when I saw they were having a deal-buy one full size perfume and get lotion free. So I went in and tried these two scents.

DREAMS UNLIMITED FROM THE BODY SHOP

Notes listed: Currant, iris, cedar

I am really suprised that so many people disliking it-this is fresh floral that has a slightly aquatic feeling. I think its perfect for summer. Now discountinued Aqua Lily did bear some simularities to Dreams Unlimited but I think I like Dreams Unlimited better. Someone mentioned Cool Water as well-I have small bottle of Cool Water and Cool Water is much more unisex, citrusy and zesty to my nose. When I purchased my bottle of edp, I was given matching lotion for free. However, even layered, it doesn't last more than 1.5 hour. I find also that it doesn't project much or have much siliage. I like it but don't love it.

LOVE ETC

Notes listed: Notes listed:

Neroli, pear, bergamot, jasmine, heliotrope, lily-of-the-valley, vanilla, sandalwood, musk

I tried it this weekend along with Love Unlimited. I don't know why but I was feeling kind of meh about this scent. Unlike the other reviewers I couldn't smell vanilla at all. I get sort of warm citrusy top notes, and then musky slightly peppery floral. The end. This just didn't wow me

Aimez-Moi by Caron-oh, yes, its divine!

Aimez-Moi came out back in 1996 and it wasn’t a love at first sight, more like a love after a second sniff. I remember sampling it at Nordstrom’s and thinking “wow, this is not good”. Now I know what notes are in this, I realized that it was the initial notes of cardamom, star anise and mint that almost knocked me off my feet and led to my negative reaction. I went home not giving it another thought, not realizing that some of the Aimez-Moi gotten on the sleeve of my winter coat I was wearing. Next morning I was putting on my coat and I realized that something smelled wonderful-warm, rich and slightly green but what was it? I realized that this was the only scent I sampled that day and figured if it smelled this good later, I had to try it again. I did and this time I let it mellow out on my hand and yes, there it was, that wonderful scent. I bought it, used it all up and went through several bottles of it until one sad day I couldn’t find it anymore.

Few years later, I managed to find it online and not only it had a different bottle, I heard that it was reformulated. I just bought another bottle online and it seemed like the same scent.

I find it hard to describe because it’s a floral and yet, its not like any other floral that I smelled before-its lightly green, warm, rich with a hint of woods and had just enough sweetness to stop it venturing into bitter territory. The best word to describe this scent is “golden”-its rich, elegant, and classy. For me, this is the most elegant scent I have ever smelled. I am not a floral lover, usually preferring sweet candy, fruity and gourmand fragrances but this scent have captured my heart.

Notes from Fragrantica-star anise, mint, violet, cardamom, bergamot

Iris, jasmine, magnolia, rose, wood, amber, musk
this is what Aimez-Moi bottle looked like back in 1996

Unfortunately, now its in plain clear glass bottle that most Caron perfumes are now housed. This bottle was beautiful, the new one is just plain

Weekend sniffings-New Garden Collection from Bath and Body Works and Love is Heavenly from Victoria Secret

This weekend I finally sampled the new Garden Collection from Bath and Body Works which include Wild Berry Tulips, Wild Apple Daffodil and Wild Citrus Sunflower. The verdict? All three are nice fresh floral scents with slight variation-Wild Citrus Sunflower has more citrusy notes, Wild Berry Tulips has berry notes as well as floral and Wild Apple Daffodil is a combination of fruity and fresh floral. I think these scents are great for the summer. Will I be buying any of these? No. Does it smell good? Sure. Is it anything unique? No. I still liked Wild Poppy from Bodycology much better for the simple reason that it was a fresh floral as well but not as generic as BBW latest offerings.

Unfortunately, the one scent I really wanted to try in a body spray, Malibu Heat, still wasn’t available at my store even though they were supposed to have it on the 20^th. I was told by SA that because we are in HI, its taking longer to get to our store but once again, no one seemed to know exactly when it going to be here. “sign”

I also had the opportunity to try new Victoria Secret scent, Love is Heavenly. Now, before we go any further, I want to say that Victoria Secret is one of my favorite stores and I own tons of their stuff. However, I was really disappointed with their fragrance offerings lately. Everything new lately seems to be generic clones of each other. That’s what happened with Love is Heavenly-notes supposed to include waterlily, mandarin flower and musk. As soon as I sprayed it on, I realized that it smells very similar to Bombshell even though notes are different. Common, Victoria Secret, can we have something different already? I can understand that they want the scents generic enough so they would sell but at least can they do something different from the scent they already have? Because if I had to do blind smell test, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two. Yes, it smells nice but if you already have Bombshell, do not bother with this.

White Musk Libertine and White Gardenia from The Body Shop

I was killing some time yesterday so I stepped into The Body Shop to check out their fragrances. I normally stick with Victoria Secret and Bath and Body Works because they have so much more variety of scents. But I heard about White Musk Libertine on Fragrantica and notes sounded so appealing that I wanted to try it. Notes listed: musk, rose, almond, honey, whipped cream. Sounds divine, right?
I thought I would love this based on the notes. Lord no!

While I didn't think it was a complete scrubber, I would never wear this. I wonder if my nose can't smell certain notes or something because what I smelled bears no resemblance to the perfume reviewers on Fragrantica raving about. Rose, almond, honey, whipped cream?! Where are all these wondeful notes? Perhaps I am especially sensitive to musk because that's all I could smell-musk with a hint of rose, which ended up smelling sort of very musty floral, sort of "grandma's closet" type of smell. (no offense to anyone's grandmas).
 I sprayed it on a paperstrip so I know its not my skin chemistry but I can't imagine how it smells so different from the notes listed. I actually liked the regular White Musk well enough but this I would never wear. I would try before you buy it blindly because you may end up being dissappointed.

I always wanted to try the White Gardenia but as my bad luck would have it, they were out of everything but body mist which is superlight. I still sprayed it on my hand and its quite delightful, slightly fruity gardenia that bears some resemblance to Marc Jacobs. Notes listed-lotus, gardenia, bergamot and musk. Very light, young and almost innocent scent. My store should be getting more of edt which i hope to smell and see if its worth buying because body mist dissapeared from my skin in less than 15 minutes. Not worth it.