Smell great, offend no one!

As much as we fragrance people would love to smell bold and daring, there are times and places where beast frags are not allowed, and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it. Work, office, hospital, whatever. We all know THESE PLACES. The point is, we still want to smell good and I am here to help. I have five scents that are appropriate in places where you are not supposed to wear anything! Fragrance-wise. So, here they are in no particular order. Smell amazing and offend no one!

Infusion d’Iris Prada
If you have not heard about Infusion d’Iris, you are living under a rock. Infusion d’Iris is THE ICON of Prada’s private collection. It is not your girly girl but rather a classy lady in a clean white linen T-shirt. She just washed her hair, feels refreshed and looking forward to a new exciting day. It is also your woody powdery old school smell at its prime. Totally harmless.

Flora Botanica Balenciaga
Where Infusion d’Iris is old school, there Flora Botanica is timeless. Flora Botanica has the ability to give an impression you are not wearing anything. It is your silent companion, your partner in crime. The note profile is fresh, slightly spicy with mint carnation, rose, cannabis, vetiver and amber blended so carefully in small doses, leaving a green, crisp and clean finish. Top work fragrance.

White Tea Elizabeth Arden
Tea fragrances are made for an office-friendly environment. White Tea has the same effect as Flora Botanica but is a little bit sharper and more aromatic, giving out marine vibes. The notes are sea, fern, sage, white tea, iris, woods, tonka bean and amber. It is the most unisex option.

Narciso Narciso Rodriquez
There is nothing wrong with a hint of musk at a workplace. Narciso’s musk melts into your skin and creates this slightly sweet baby like woody composition, a natural skin smell giving an aroma. Give it some wear test to see if it clicks with your body chemistry. Narciso Rodriquez knows how to make musk in all its forms.

O d’Azur Lancome
Old school citrus that fit the scenario perfectly. Casual, free-spirited, evoking French countryside. You get to sniff your citruses, pine trees, sea breeze … all in a light peaceful way. It is a summer vacay scent with no traces of terrible sun tanning coconut gourmands that I cannot stand.

Infusion d’Iris, White Tea and Narciso fall into a floral woody musk category. Flora Botanica is green floral and O d’Azur floral-fruity. Good luck to you all. I hope you find a scent that you can pull off at work without ruining your colleague’s day.

Vintage Fragrances

In this video, I talk about six perfumes that stood the test of time and made a great impact in my life. You will find out about a dupe for Angel by Mugler, a fragrance that has an iconic plastic feel, a scent tided to so many great memories, femme fatale one or my signature scent twelve years ago. Start watching and enjoy the ride 🙂

Tresor Lancome

Amber Floral
Perfumer: Sophia Grojsman

Tresor is a classic, iconic for its stunning modern rose in the middle of the blend. Apart from that, you will find fruits, flowers together with vanilla, amber, sandalwood and musk. I also feel a sweet plastic note. I reckon it is the pineapple. The feeling you get from Tresor is fruity rosy goodness that has an expensive soap touch. It is a convenient benchmark in your collection.

Tresor is a fruity amber rose – a staple that is always deserving our attention. 70/100

Hypnôse Lancome

Amber Vanilla
Perfumer: Annick Menardo, Thierry Wasser

Passion flower, jasmine, gardenia, vanilla and vetiver. I count five!

A scent of few notes, yet those notes are unusual in the perfume industry so it is enough to create an interesting composition. Hypnôse is also a unique take on vanilla. It is rather cold vanilla that creates a calm aura. We have been saturated by ultra feminine sweet patchouli scents hence it is refreshing to see something different. I like Hypnôse! It is vanilla-like sweet but soft and inoffensive. For any season really.

A simplistic relaxing vanilla aroma for a day-time with a twist. 80/100

La Vie Est Belle and La Vie est Belle L’Éclat Lancome

La Vie Est Belle LancomeLa Vie est Belle L’Éclat Lancome

La Vie est Belle Lancome

Floral Fruity Gourmand
Perfumer: Anne Flipo, Dominique Ropion, Olivier Polge

La Vie Est Belle has been a bestseller for quite a number of years and is still being massively sold even today. It’s on the same side as Thierry Mugler’s fragrances, especially Angel Nova. It’s a sweet gourmand scent. You have to like your praline to fall in love with La Vie Est Belle. Because of that factor, it has become very polarizing. You either love it, or dislike it straight away. I fall into the latter category.

Strong gourmands have never been my thing. I find them overpowering and headache inflicting. On top of that, I don’t enjoy smelling La Vie Est Belle on other people either. I don’t know what bothers me more – the frequency of how often you feel it in the air due to its popularity, or the sweetness and heaviness of its nature. On the other hand, I must admit, if you are a gourmand girl, you are going to fancy it and be ecstatic by its performance and projection. Moreover, the scent is pretty sexy, we cannot forget about that.

La Vie Est Belle is for all sweet gourmand lovers out there. Can also serve as a seductive night time scent for someone who does not give a damn about perfume. 30/100

La Vie est Belle L’Éclat Lancome

Amber Floral
Perfumer: Anne Flipo, Dominique Ropion

La Vie est Belle L’Éclat is a citrusy, lighter version of the original. I quite like this one. It smells like a typical female scent but in a good way. We have a solid bergamot and orange opening, white floral and iris in the middle, and vanilla, sandalwood and patchouli as a base. It’s a change from La Vie est Belle. L’Éclat is still powerful and sweet but is definitely more crowd pleasing.

A strong universal feminine composition of citrus, flowers and vanilla. 40/100

Discovery Box: New Arrivals 2020

Find the perfect fragrance …

Idole Lancome

I was very excited to try out Idole. The notes and the flacon were just luring me in.

Photo: douglas.cz

After the trial, the first words that came to my mind were soft, comfortable, intimate, girly; by no means fresh and crispy as you can read elsewhere. I felt subtle fruits, white flowers and vanilla right away. Later on, Idole gets a little bit more powdery, rosy and sweet what I like. It is a beautiful combo: The top consists of pear and bergamot, the heart of different types of roses and jasmine, the base of white musk and vanilla.

It is quite easy for Idole to please me because I love rose fragrances. To give you an example, Chloé Roses is not too much for me. However, the rose note is not dominant in Idole; on the contrary, it is in nice harmony with the rest. It lasts about six hours on my skin, on clothes more. Idole could be a wedding scent of a young bride, softer and milkier than the original Coach or Amarige Givenchy.

Fruits, roses and vanilla in hazy doses. Nicely done, harmonic, “non-harassing” yet ultimately feminine. 80/100

My way Giorgio Armani

I thought that My Way Armani would be similar to Idole. Nope! It is indeed a very pleasant fragrance but it is competing in a different field.

Photo: douglas.cz

It is easy to wear, light yet modern and exotic. The opening is sharper, the orange blossom is dominant. The dry down is less sweet but nicely exotic and curious. The lasting power is good.

The composition is made of orange blossom and bergamot at the top, tuberose and jasmine in the heart and white musk, vanilla and cedar as a base.

Recently, I don’t wear many night scents. I tend to concentrate on the office-friendly daytimers. My way is right in this alley. Although I think that this perfume is more suitable for spring and summer, I wore it predominantly in winter and it was so fine. No compliments were coming my way. This bottle is all about feeling in your element, free and fearless. It does not aim to attract the opposite sex.

My way can be easily anybody’s favourite daytimer. Like a breath, you cannot live without or your second skin. It is that addictive! 90/100

Angel Nova Mugler

So far, Mugler house fragrances haven’t been my cup of tea. I’ve found only Womanity quite wearable. Let’s see what this Angel Nova brings to the party.

Photo: douglas.cz

The first spray feels like delicious bubblegum; however, raspberry and litchi fade away quickly and the perfume is left with rose and wood. It is definitely not sickly sweet or cloying, just heavy. Angel Nova is a Woody Floral Fruity perfume. The vibe is almost masculine. I expected a better lasting though. I wore in outside in winter and the scent was gone surprisingly soon.

Nonetheless, can we compare Angel Nova to any other female/unisex fragrance? Can we compare any other Mugler scents to anything? I don’t think so. Their uniqueness is extraordinary and so is Angel Nova.

Practical? No, pretty hard to wear but one of a kind certainly yes. 30/100

Voce Viva Valentino

Photo: douglas.cz

What you get from Voce Viva (My voice) when you first sniffing it is orange, white flowers, vanilla and wood. Although the opening is sharp and elegant due to the explosion of orange, the scent settles to a  sweet, powdery and woody smell. You can’t help the feeling that you have smelled this combination before. Maybe The One by Dolce&Gabbana? Or a bit from Decadence by Marc Jacobs? It’s pleasant, don’t get me wrong but a bit too generic. It belongs to the Floral Woody Musk perfume family but still, it does not linger to my skin. The scent was gone in a couple of hours. It is not something I would personally buy but if I got it as a gift, I could wear it to work on a daily basis to use it up.

Voce Viva is an elegant fragrance for a lady who doesn’t give a damn about the fashion and beauty industry. She has more important things to do. If she wants to dress up, she puts on a nice smelling perfume like Voce Viva and is out the door. 40/100

Libre Yves Saint Laurent

It is obvious that Libre is a heavy and musky fragrance right from the first spray. I neither detect orange nor black currant. White flowers are dominant as well as lavender. I m not a fan of lavender but it can be a hit in a nice combo. Let’s see what this Oriental Fougere brings to the table.

Photo: douglas.cz

I must admit that the first hour is almost uncomfortable with Libre but when it settles, it becomes softer, sweeter and warmer. It takes time to develop and it is definitely an interesting one. The composition is similar to funky and underground Brit Rhythm Burberry, however, Libre takes itself more seriously.

This scent sends a message to people out there. It is about a strong, courageous and powerful woman. Nonetheless, I don’t see myself finding much use of it. It is too bold for me as a daytime fragrance and too unromantic as a nighttime one.

A boss feminine, nauseating, lavender scent for women with balls. 30/100

LaNuit Trésor Lancome

Photo: tendance-parfums.com

LaNuit is a dark and strong fragrance. It is perfect for a woman who loves sweet and sexy perfumes. It is incredibly complex: fruity top, black rose, vanilla orchid, praline and incense middle, very sweeeet base – vanilla, caramel, liquorice, coumarin and coffee.

Are you asking if it is one of those sickly sweet fragrances? Yes, but somehow more bearable than others in this category. I wore it around small children and even got compliments on it. Do I like LaNuit? I would say not my cup of tea as to me, the sweetness is a bit too much.

LaNuit is for a powerful, mysterious woman who celebrates her undoubted femininity. 40/100

Hypnose Senses Lancome

Hypnose Senses is a fragrance from a chypre family which means that it doesn’t contain sweet flowers, the smell is sharper, different, some people could say classic or even old-fashioned. Moos, needles, small branches are detectable.

Photo: Hypnose Senses Lancome

In general, I’m very excited about chypre perfumes. I usually find them quite unique, strong, sexy and elegant. Hypnose Senses contains a big portion of orange. It’s also a sweet scent and I found out that honey stands behind this sweetness.

It’s a strong one, long-lasting, sweet but has this deeper undertone which comes to light later on. Unfortunately, it sets a bit heavy and powdery on me. In summer time? I think it could be a bit too much.

Hypnose Senses is a daily scent but not for a beginner. Should be used with wit and caution. 50/100

O de L`Orangerie Lancome

Photo: http://www.lancome.co.uk

O de L’ Orangerie smells like a garden full of citrus trees during the summer. You can feel orange in both forms fruit and blossom. It’s fresh, actually smells like a sweet orange in the nicest possible way. This fragrance fits a hot summer evening and is worn by a beautiful fine lady who wears a white dress. That’s the picture I have in my head when I think of O de L’ Orangerie.

A Mediterranean orange cocktail ideal for summer. 70/100

Miracle Lancôme

Photo: http://www.ulta.com

Miracle is an oriental perfume which can spice up any situation. If you like ginger in fragrances, you will like this one. It’s a win win quiet fragrance for you as well as for your surroundings.

Miracle is convenient for a lady who doesn’t strive to be the center of attention but doesn’t want to be overlooked either. It offers just the right amount of aroma to get a tiny bit of attention without stirring the environment.

Miracle can also come in handy if you find yourself in a situation when too much fuss is unnecessary / unwanted, for example if you’re a mother or teacher.

Miracle is an oriental quiet friend, unique without being showy. 70/100