I occasionally have a week when I just can’t keep up mentally with all the new fragrance releases, or I’m running short on time and haven’t ordered any samples or visited any stores lately. This was one of those weeks. However, I did share a much-needed coffee catch-up with an old friend, and she surprised me by handing me a little bag of Frédéric Malle samples that she said she longer needed (!). This serendipitous gift seemed like an opportunity for my next review topic, especially when I realized that a few fragrances in the range are still relative strangers to me.

Spritzing on some Outrageous, described as “a cocktail of clean sex appeal” with notes of bergamot, tangerine, green apple, cinnamon, musk and ambroxan, I realized that I’ve never really spent time with this scent before. It was developed for Malle’s Editions des Parfums by perfumer Sophia Grojsman and was originally released in 2007 as an exclusive to Barneys Co-Op, the younger, edgier spin-off of upscale department store Barneys New York. It was then called Outrageous! (with exclamation point, shown above left) and had special, snazzy blue-and-orange packaging…

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