When I was a younger person Calvin Klein always had a great diffusion line of clothes. I would often choose a Calvin Klein T-Shirt, jumper or belt and his frags were what my friends wore. I loved to smell them and really liked the advertising etc but never did I think I wanted to wear the Calvin Klein fragrant dream. To be honest a part of me was a little sneery at their oh-so-mainstream tastes. It’s only now, when everyone has moved on from the scents that I am finding my way to wearing them. NOW I really like a whole bunch and they bring back fabulous fragrant memories of friends long gone, and some still in my circle who don’t smell like this anymore.
Grossmith, Axe and Avon. From the royal houses of the middle east to the ghettos of Brazil we are taken on a tour of innovation through some very different price points and customer bases. I particularly enjoy this very glammed up go to whoa fragrance build as we follow Ann Gottleib the AXE fragrance evaluator as she tries to predict a Brazillian blockbuster. Cool video.
Enjoy,
Portia xx
BBC Perfume Documentary Part 3 “The Smell Of The Future”
This is not really a review but rather a tale of a perfume that I never thought I’d wear, never mind own.
Hubby went on a trip and got me a fragrant souvenir. I know I should have told him what to get but I was curious to see what he’d pick if left to his own devices. Well, he went to a Sephora and with some help from the SA, left with one of the newest releases at the time. Dot. Yes, the Marc Jacobs one.
Dot by Annie Buzantian and Ann Gottlieb for Marc Jacobs 2012
Fragrantica gives these featured accords (different in words & pics): Top: Red berries, honeysuckle, pitaya fruit (dragon fruit) Heart: Coconut, jasmine, orange blossom Base: Vanilla, driftwood, musk
So there I sat with a polka dotted bottle of my very own dreading the thought that I might have to wear it. I thought perhaps I could wear it once or twice and when he didn’t notice it I could shove it to the back of the shelf and forget about it.
I bravely spritzed one morning before work. When I stepped into the kitchen after getting ready, hubby noticed immediately and commented on my fragrance. I told him it was the one he bought and he was so pleased that he picked out something that smelled so good. Of course I was not thinking that. This was not what I wanted to smell like. Not. At. All.
At work there was a random comment that something smelled good in the office but I knew it couldn’t be me so I dismissed it. Then I was followed down the hall by a coworker who wanted to know if it was me she was smelling. It was. She had to know what my perfume was. I was forced to admit I was wearing Dot. I even brought her a sample the next day.
The next time I wore it I received similar reactions and hubby comments on it every time.
To this day Dot continues to be one of the perfumes that I get the most compliments on.I’ve accepted that fact now even though I don’t understand it.
There’s no point in trying to dissect the perfume note by note. It smells like a lot of other fruity florals to me. I would not be able to pick it out of a scented line up. It’s sweet and dripping with red berries, white flowers, and vanilla. It’s girly and a bit loud at first. Yet people seem to love it on me. It’s not “me”, but I guess I’m not wearing it for me. I’m wearing it because hubby bought it for me and it makes him happy. Once in a while you have to take one for the team I guess.
Do you have perfumes you wear because someone gave them to you or because they like them on you even though they’re not favorites of yours? Please tell me I’m not the only one.
When I was a squirt bitch back in the late 80’s and early 90’s I was on the counter that housed Guerlain, Worth, Nina Ricci and Oscar de la Renta. His fragrances sold equally to Guerlain and the women that bought them were more often than not very well put together. They looked professional, tailored, hair neat and a lot of chignons and they were busy. Oscar de la Renta must have been doing some great aspirational marketing at the time because they’d come in and buy big bottles, often a soap and body moisturiser and not even look at their receipts as they swished out with their purchases. They were the easiest customers ever and my figures looked excellent because of them. I have ever since had a fondness for Oscar de la Renta and his fragrances.
Photon Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Linden blossom (lime blossom), mandarin
Heart: Stephanotis
Base: Musk, vanilla
Have you tried Something Blue yet? What did you think? I can’t wait.
Till tomorrow big kisses and a smooch.
Portia xx
Oscar De La Renta Something Blue Fragrance 2013 Ad Campaign
Buying for tweens, teens and young adults can be hard. Perfume buying for same a NIGHTMARE! Not only because they are mainly so indoctrinated and brain washed to think that sweet, fruity, patchouli and clean musks are the only things that smell good but also because they are often so damn ungrateful about the time you’ve taken to get something that you feel is just right. In the end it’s easier to go with the flow.
Dot by Marc Jacobs 2012
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pitahaya (Dragon Fruit), red berries, honeysuckle
Heart: Coconut, orange blossom, jasmine
Base: Musk, vanilla, driftwood
When I first saw that Marc Jacobs was doing Dot with the super crazy bottle I was all, ” Oh Gawd! What a freakin’ SHOCKER! Why bother with that gimmicky CRAPOLA! He has insulted our intelligence with BLEAGH!” And then I read the note list and thought maybe this will be a little different. Still I only gave it a mini spritz as I was wandering the department store counters and smelled sweet fruits, went immediately to the bathroom and after that washed my hands, so the only impression I got of Marc Jacob’s Dot was the Gawd awful bottle and sweet fruit. Then I saw the below interview and read a bit about the 2 perfumers responsible for Dot who between them are responsible for some super great fragrances, Annie Buzantian, Pleasures & Puredistance 1 and Ann Gottlieb, CK Contradiction & SJP Covet. Maybe it’s time to revisit Dot with Christmas coming up because if I buy the young ones fragrance that I would wear then it will sit unused forever.
So it was with great trepidation I decided to go back to the mall. At this point I just finished reading PerfumePosseHATEList and guess what? Dot was #2 after Marc Jacobs Lola. Oh Dear!
OK. Dot was nice, but not amazing, and not something I could imagine myself wearing. I can see the youth market enjoying it and it lasted about 5 hours before I lost it completely. Opens big and bright and fruity, calms quickly and then pretty linear but the fruity sweetness becomes more vanilla towards the dry down. I did not hate it and can’t imagine anyone being offended by your wearing it.
I hope this has been some help when searching for a more youthful fragrance and idea. It’s pretty and safe but will be an excellent gateway product for budding perfumistas, they will have a cut above their peer celebuscents but not be out of their league.
Good luck,
Portia xx
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Australian Perfume Junkies 