• About
  • Login to comment
    • Bluesky
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Archives
Browsing by tag: cheap thrills

Crazylibellule and The Poppies Chere Louise, Hommage a Gabrielle ~ perfume reviews

Posted by Robin on 9 July 2009 64 Comments

Crazylibellule and The Poppies Chere LouiseLouise Brooks

As a kind of unicorn chaser to the very expensive Un Coeur en Mai I discussed on Tuesday, today I’m looking at a couple of guilt-free bargains from Les Garçonnes, the most recent collection of “CrazySticks” from Crazylibellule and The Poppies. They’ve recently* raised the price of these (adorable) solid twist-up perfumes, but the jump from $16 to $18 is one I can live with.

My hands down favorite of the new bunch is Chère Louise, which was reportedly inspired by silent film actress Louise Brooks. It’s a lovely darkish woods (the notes: hyacinth, rose, pepper, iris, saffron, patchouli and gaiac wood). The hyacinth and rose stand out most in the very opening, after that, it’s mostly about the woods (Louise or no, I think a man could easily wear this). It’s slightly peppery, with a very clean patchouli, and the iris and saffron together add a soft, creamy spiciness. It’s not quite in the wood pudding category, but very nearly…

Read the rest of this article »

Yves Rocher Iris Noir ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 6 July 2009 125 Comments

Yves Rocher Iris Noir

Maybe more than any other flower used in perfumery, iris is a chameleon. In Chanel No. 19 or Hermès Hiris, iris is as elegant as a beautifully dressed woman in a Mercedes sedan you admire from your seat in the bus. In Le Labo Iris 39, iris is as earthy and inviting as a rundown house with a wild garden and The Decemberists playing in the background. In Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist or Prada Infusion d’Iris, iris is intellectual and absorbing. Annick Goutal Heure Exquise and Guerlain L’Heure Bleue feature moody iris, and Frédéric Malle Iris Poudre and Gianfranco Ferré Ferré are infused with iris that oozes dressing room glamour. Yves Rocher Iris Noir is Party Girl iris.

With so many perfume lines to explore, I never spent much time with Yves Rocher. Yves Rocher fell between the cracks of the high-end niche lines and fêted perfume houses that are so alluring and the drugstore fragrances with their bargain prices and reverse snob appeal…

Read the rest of this article »

A ring of roses ~ scented body products

Posted by Jessica on 28 June 2009 108 Comments

Dr. Bronner's Rose Pure Castile Soaprose-slice-2Thayers Rose Petal Witch Hazel Toner

The rose has probably received more tributes in writing and song than any other flower; without even trying, anyone can easily think of a famous rose quotation or two. I recently realized that my own formative literary encounter with rose imagery was the classic children’s book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The Rose is an important secondary character in the story: she is vain and coquettish but secretly vulnerable, and her relationship with the Prince symbolizes some of the complexities of love. (As a child, I was also very impressed by the depiction of the rose in the film version of The Little Prince.)

Although rose is my favorite note in perfumery, I try not to discuss rose-scented products too often, just because I don’t want to be monotonous. However, June is the month of roses, so I’m going to indulge myself by mentioning a few recent favorites here. And, because we should still stop and smell the proverbial roses even (or especially) during a difficult economy, all of these products are available for $10 or less…

Read the rest of this article »

Benefit Laugh With Me Lee Lee, Something About Sofia & My Place or Yours Gina ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Robin on 25 June 2009 58 Comments

Benefit Crescent row trio of perfumes

Laugh With Me Lee Lee, Something About Sofia and My Place or Yours Gina make up Benefit’s new Crescent Row fragrance trio. They’re a perfect fit with Benefit’s kitschy / humorous aesthetic: they’ve got silly names, adorable cocktail-shaker inspired bottles, and outer boxes that look like row houses and fold open to show the home interior (see below; the scents were reportedly inspired by a row of Georgian townhouses in Bath, England). Benefit has wisely packaged them in small sizes (30 ml) at a reasonable price ($36). Benefit doesn’t have the pull of Gwen Stefani and these aren’t nearly as cute as the Harajuku Lovers dolls (and I’d guess they’re geared to a slightly older audience), but still, I should think the same logic applies: everything about the project is so likable that so long as the scents themselves aren’t repulsive, it’s hard to see why they shouldn’t succeed.

Laugh With Me Lee Lee is the lightweight of the bunch, and I’d guess it will be the biggest seller. It’s designated as a “fun and feminine woody floral” but wears like your basic young fruity floral…

Read the rest of this article »

MAC Africanimal & Naked Honey ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 17 June 2009 152 Comments

MAC Naked Honey and Africanimal perfumes

I’m a “honey-child.” I love to eat honey; I love the scent of honey in soaps, shampoos, lotions, candles; and I am a PROUD admirer of Serge Lutens Miel de Bois. I’ve been looking for a fragrance that showcases honey for a long time (Miel de Bois is as much about wood as it is honey), so I was happy to read the announcement of MAC’s two new honey fragrances.

MAC (Make-Up Art Cosmetics Inc.) has not been on my perfume “radar”; I didn’t even know the company produced perfumes. Africanimal and Naked Honey (in MAC’s Creations Hue line) were developed, perfumer(s) unknown, to showcase different aspects of honey aroma: spicy and floral.

I know many people who think ‘honey’ smells neither spicy nor floral, but “piss-y.” My friend Hilda who sampled Africanimal with me at Nordstrom exclaimed: “Cat pee!” about 30 minutes after spraying her arm with the fragrance. I don’t have any problem with honey notes in perfumes and never think “urine” when I smell honey accords! If you hate the scent of honey, you’ll probably want to ignore these new MAC fragrances…

Read the rest of this article »

« Newer articles
Older articles »

Advertisement

Search

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

6 January ~ damage poll

31 January ~ winter reading poll

Back to Top

Home
Archives
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Books

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2026 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.