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Post by Katrina

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Today’s perfume is often mentioned by perfumistas as one of the rare, extremely good Celebrity Scents, often put next to Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely and Covet, and above Kate Walsh Boyfriend and Queen Latifah’s Queen. That’s pretty high praise and at this price would make an excellent add on gift for the younger crew around you.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Hilary Duff With Love by Hilary Duff 2006

Rodrigo Flores-Roux and Stephen Nilsen

With Love by Hilary Duff is a warm oriental fragrance with loads of character. It evolves over time to reveal layers of different fragrant ingredients. Don’t be fooled by its celebrity ties with expectation that With Love will be a girly perfume. It is an oriental spicy fragrance and not sweet, fruity or floral.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives the following notes:
Top: Spices, mango
Heart: Cocobolo, mango blossom
Base: Amber, musk.

However, in this case Fragrantica has given a cut down list of notes and the mango and mango blossom should be mangosteen fruit and blossom. Other sources include Now Smell This where you can find a review of With Love by Hilary Duff gives notes of mangosteen fruit, exotic spices, chai latte, mangosteen blossom, cocobolo wood, balsam, incense, amber milk and amber musk.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Mangosteen should not be confused with mango. Mangosteen is an exotic fruit from South East Asia and is used in traditional medicine. With Love starts with top notes of mangosteen and spices. The mangosteen is quite intense and not very sweet or fruity. The astringent smell is a bit like cough medicine or liquor. In time the fragrance becomes creamy and the perfume evolves with musk, wood and smoky incense. As the layers fall away I’m left with a creamy vanilla musk on my skin and it smells beautiful.

Photo Stolen Flickr

I think the Scented Salamander says it amazingly: The perfume starts with the sparkling fruity notes of Mangosteen and Champagne then becomes very langourous and creamy. It soon smells like buttersctoch topping crystallized pineapple. Then the milky accord changes its nuances from butterscotch to coconut milk. A lush tropical bouquet of flowers makes its nuances felt. The sumptuousness and piquancy of sandalwood and Cocobolo wood make their entry. The base notes develop a warm Oriental accord. The very realistic and fine cedar wood becomes more prominent in the longer dry down as well as the musk and amber.

Hilary Duff’s With Love is a unique perfume and definitely worth a try, especially if you like spicy oriental fragrances.

FragranceNet has $11/ 30ml (unboxed)
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/2 ml

Come and visit Celebrity Perfumes for more celebrity perfume news and reviews.

Thanks Katrina x