Heliotrope Eau de Toilette by Etro Review

Collage of Etro's Heliotrope and its notes, including vanilla, rose, iris, tonka bean, jasmine, ylang, bergamot, and almond.

This is the ultimate playdough vanilla.At first whiff, Etro's iconic Heliotrope is all ice cream cherries. [...]

Fils de Joie Eau de Parfum by Serge Lutens Review

Collage of Fils de Joie Eau de Parfum by Serge Lutens, along with its notes: night blooming jasmine, honey, and ylang ylang.

Fils de Joie is blooming night jasmine and honey.That's it. Either you like jasmine and honey or you don't. If [...]

French Lilac Perfume by Pacifica Review

Collage of French Lilac by Pacifica and its notes, including lilac, ylang-ylang, heliotrope, hyacinth, and nectarine.

I'm not a florals person. Categorically.When I look for new scents to try, I don't tend to seek out and sample [...]

Mitsouko Eau de Toilette by Guerlain Review

Collage of Mitsouko and its notes, including peach, rose, oakmoss, spices, vetiver, lilac, amber, ylang ylang, and jasmine.

It's so hard to write about our favorites, isn't it?Though I now favor the Eau de Parfum, the Eau de Toilette [...]

Jessica McClintock Eau de Parfum by Jessica McClintock Review

Collage of Jessica McClintock perfume and its notes, including basil, lemon, lily of the valley, bergamot, jasmine and ylang.

Here's an unsweet perfume perfectly suited to a very sweet girl.Herbal and fresh, this is a perfect first [...]

Paloma Picasso Eau de Parfum by Paloma Picasso Review

Collage of Paloma Picasso perfume and its notes, including carnation, rose, mimosa, castoreum, lemon, amber, and civet.

Paloma reminds me of a stanza from one of my favorite poems, T. S. Eliot's "Rhapsody on a Windy Night":"The [...]

Black Orchid Eau de Parfum by Tom Ford Review

Collage of Black Orchid by Tom Ford and its notes, including chocolate, truffle, spice, flowers, sandalwood, amber and fruit.

On me, Black Orchid has an absolutely bizarre, disjointed opening of many disparate fresh and fruity notes. It [...]

White Diamonds Eau de Toilette by Elizabeth Taylor Review

A collage of White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor and its notes, including aldehydes, powder, amber, rose, tuberose, and lily.

White Diamonds is an overpowering, soapy, artificial mess of aldehydes and waxy lily. Beneath these, faint [...]

Devil’s Nightcap Eau de Parfum by Lush Review

A collage of Devil's Nightcap by Lush and its notes, including oakmoss, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, oak, and clary sage.

This fragrance reminds me of a particular William Wordsworth sonnet, "The World Is Too Much With Us":The world [...]

The Scentaur

The Scentaur