Review of Stella Sheer Perfume for Women by Stella McCartney

I was curious to try her new scent, "Sheer", since I'd heard so many hype reviews of her classic "Stella" and it's considered a best-seller. Ok, so the conclusion is: I am totally in love. I usually am quite critical of perfumes in the past, but this scent epitomizes the quite perfect and unique balance between florals and citrus, and ultimately feminine and playful *without* smelling too immature, or cheap drugstore material. I think what also makes it so unique, is the fact that Stella uses harvested Persian roses from a mountain in the middle east. It's a rose scent for sure, but it's a very delicate and beautiful, unique-scented rose.

The first words that come to my mind, after smelling this on my skin: Fresh, feminine, Mediterranean blue, summer picnics, sea breeze, flowers. Imagine summertime under a canopy by the beach. Your love has brought you pink roses and the scent still lingers in the air. Sipping on sugary lemon and green apple teas. Your fresh cotton tunic catching the breeze and smelling of clean laundry. Just beautiful, youthful, feminine. This scent transforms beautifully. It starts off quite energetic, with citrus notes dancing, but then gradually settles into a softer floral amber (still with the citrus detectable-- lovely!).

I really love this scent. I recommend it especially for the summer.

Kim Kardashian Eau De Parfum Rollerball

I was pleasantly surprised with this scent, but it's nothing incredibly memorable, in my opinion. It's supposed to smell sultry and sensual, and sure, it sort of does, but a little too generic. It definitely smells feminine without being "over the top," though.

I had tried another rose-rich scent before, the popular one by Stella, but it smells like rotten roses on my skin. However, the KK (Kim Kardashian) scent ended up smelling like actual roses on my skin, with a hint of soft vanilla tuberose.

This seems like a more toned-down version of the Victoria's Secret "Sexy Little Things." It is jam-packed with a bunch of different scents, like jasmine, tuberose, orange blossom, orchid mandarin and gardenia (mainly florals), and for the musky undertones: tonka bean, jacaranda wood, and sandalwood. Usually, scents will evolve over time, smelling the top notes first (usually citruses), then middle notes (usually florals), then the heavy undertones (musks, vanillas, etc). However, this scent seemed to smell the same way on my skin over some hours, which is sort of boring, in my opinion. Additionally, this is not a very long-lasting scent, at least in the rollerball form. It's a nice, "safe" female scent, but may turn out more sensual and exotic on other skins.

Here's the full version:

Review of Cartier, Delices de Cartier Eau Fruitee

This scent initially screams "RHUBARB!" -- a tart, hot spicy scent you'd be more likely to find in an Asian Mongolian desert tent during a religious ritualistic offering rather than on the streets of Paris. Rhubarb is a plant that's native to Asia, even though it's commonly used in pie. Ok, even though the scent claims to have other included notes such as Bergamot, Mandarin, Rhubarb, Morello-Jasmine Accord, Sandalwood, Amber Accord-- the Rhubarb completely overpowers them, in my opinion. It's the main thing that really stands out! Honestly, I see this more as a unisex scent leaning toward the "male" category rather than female. Don't be deceived by the very female sounding perfume name! This is how it smelled mixed with body chemistry, and I am half Asian... so maybe it would smell different on others, but seriously, they need to go easy on the Rhubarb! It's definitely unique to me, but has a very incense-like smell to it.

Review of Gucci, Flora

This perfume is marketed as being for the sophisticated, classic and refined young woman, who also has a bit of sensuality and elegance. It's also classified as a "floral" scent. PLEASE! The pink pepper, citrus, and a hint of rose stand out the most in this scent...

I really like this scent a lot because it reminds me of this amazing Japanese fruity girls scent that my sister had when we were younger. It was cheap, I think, but it smelled amazingly fruity, spicy and playful. It was also a pink color and amazing. I could never remember the name of it, but I loved it dearly. I was so delighted to find that Gucci's Flora smells almost exactly like my old childhood fave.

It reminds me of carefree days playing with Barbie(R) dolls, and smelling cotton candy-ish after a day of amusement park romping. The featured scents are Citrus Accord, Peony, Rose, Osmanthus Flower, Pink Pepper, Sandalwood, but honestly I cannot really smell the Sandalwood -- it's very much in the background, as it should be, but that is fine with me. I don't think I'd prefer the often musky and rich Sandalwood to dominate this bright and cheery scent.

The only drawback (to me) is that it lacks a solid base-note, one that doesn't overpower it, like maybe a coconut or vanilla. Also, the staying power doesn't seem that great. This is a scent that doesn't seem to "evolve" over time while you wear it (i.e. top fragrance notes (like the fruits) wear out after a while, then the middle notes show up more prominently, and then lastly, the base notes step up). The same fruity scent continues on and on. Which can make some people get a little sick after a while. So, it's a little bit of a one-dimensional or two-dimensional scent... Not much more. Cute, optimistic and cheery, but I wouldn't exactly say "mysterious" or "sensual."

Review of Christian Dior, Miss Dior Cherie

This is classified as a "mossy woods" scent, but I beg to differ. It smells like an island mix of exotic fresh fruits and playful but feminine flowers. Early to mid-20s, but seems too "exotic" and mildly mature for a young teenager. Very unique upon first smelling it, and definitely has a distinct "Wow!" factor (the good kind that makes you do a double-take). Feminine, but mysterious. The young lady in an upscale fusion restaurant at a fashion event, who still has that youthful sparkle while maintaining an air of mystery.

The scents which are wrapped into this beautiful concoction are: Green Tangerine, Violette, Pink Jasmine, Patchouli, Crystalline Musk, Strawberry Leaves, Caramelized Popcorn, Strawberry Sorbet. Amazingly, I can smell all of these quite clearly (except the caramelized popcorn), and it doesn't smell like a hot mess. The scents actually complement each other very well. The musk is just enough to tone down the fruits and florals. This is an amazing scent; not very subtle, but certainly exotic. It smells so unique and exotic without smelling too musky, herbal or rancid...

BUT... after the first 15 minutes or so, the fruits almost completely disappear, and you're left with a unisex-type scent of strong musk with just a hint of flowers. In that case, it would be almost indistinguishable compared to another scent I own which is much cheaper (Danielle Steele's perfume), so I'm not that impressed... I wish Dior would re-vamp this perfume to make the top and middle notes last longer. Otherwise, I am not a huge fan.

Review of Emilio Pucci's SABBIA167

This fragrance company describes its scent as "a powdery floral fragrance, an escape to warm sandy shores." But it does not smell like warm sandy shores and does not really smell floral. This smells almost exactly like one of Bvlgari's signature female scents (I think it's called Crystalline or Omnia), except lacking some aspect. It has that baby powder scent laced in with a hint of delicate floral iris, but the floral scent is so light it's hard to detect. It lists as having tangerine as a contained scent also, but I smelled absolutely nothing citrusy in it. It also lists as having sandalwood (the base musk), which is one of my favorite scents ever, but I could not detect it in this fragrance, at least in my bottle. It smells like a watered down version of baby powder, and if you like very delicate scents, you may like this, and I do admit that it is my favorite of the Emilio Pucci trio of scents I've tried thus far (SOLE149 and ACQUA330 being the two others).

Review of Emilio Pucci's SOLE149

Why is this marketed as a women's fragrance? It's described by the company as "an aromatic floral, an escapade to sun-drenched island landscapes." However, it must be noted that there is an overbearing scent of vetiver which is used in this concotion. Vetiver is primarily used as a man's scent and is reminiscent of men's cologne or aftershave. If used as a women's scent, it needs to be paired carefully with the right scents, otherwise it will come out smelling awkward. This smell turns me off very much, because it evokes the image of a muscle man donning a yellow biker's suit and heavily drenched in grandma's musty floral perfume. Sorry, but I will not be wearing this perfume again. At least Emilio Pucci's other scent, ACQUA330, smells very freshly masculine, but this one is a blend between the two (masculine/feminine) which just does not seem to work for my nose.