Plum Crazy: A Plum Fragrance Guide

I love plums. We have a plum tree in the backyard and this spring brought us the most amazing aroma of plum blossoms. Plus, the tree has been just beautiful when covered with blossoms. It’s been quite a view from my pink boudoir. I also love the aroma of the juicy fruit. Stone fruits really add to a fragrance. A plum has a richness that others do not, plus it lacks the “fuzziness” of peaches. It mixes well with florals and spices. Hey, it even mixes well with seaweed. I would love a fragrance that smells like plum furikake. I’ve compiled a brief “collage” of various plum heavy fragrances. Feel free to add.

Budget Plum Scents (under $50): TokyoMilk Parfum Sugar Plum Solid Perfume is a sweet plum as the name implies. It retails for $18. Bath and Body Works has 2 fruity plum floral EDTs: Cherry Blossom and Blushing  Cherry Blossom. Both retail for $26.50 for over 2 ounces. An “oriental” plum is Avon Imari Seduction EDT. This is a “purple” seductive fragrance with vanilla, plum, and orchids. The 1.7 oz. goes for $22.50. Crazylibellule & The Poppies 26 Juin ile d’Yeu Solid Cologne is a refreshing plum/fruity chypre. The crazystick goes for about $18. To me it smells like a plum tree full of ripe fruit on a hot summer day. I really do love that stick. Aroma M Geisha Pink Roll-On is a frivolous sweet, sugared plum fragrance oil in an adorable package. It retails for $40.

More Expensive Plum Scents: Juicy Couture Couture Couture EDP is a very sweet fruity-floral with plum. It’s a bit too sweet for my taste, but it does have candied plums. The bottle is beautiful. The 1.7 ounce goes for $65. Creed Aqua Florentine is a light-hearted fruity floral with dessert plums, flirty blossoms, and cedar. The smallest spray retails for $130. Parfums des Beaux Arts by DSH Quincridone Violet EDP (not pictured) is an energetic plum/fruity violet floral. The 1 oz. EDP spray retails for $65. If a plum based fragrance could be an edgy fashionista, it would be Editions de Parfums Le Parfum de Therese. This is a blend of stone fruits, citrus, cedar, and leather. Love it. The 1.7 ounce retails for $155. If you are looking for a dried plum AKA prune fragrance, more appropriate for fall/winter, give Serge Lutens Bois et Fruits EDP a try. It’s woodsy and powdery sweet. It retails for $200 for 1.7 ounces.

 

A Cheery Cherry Fragrance Guide

I can’t wear cherry fragrances because my husband says that I smell like a urinal cake if I do. Since I spend no time in a men’s restroom, I can’t contest. I just have to take his word for it. Fortunately, you don’t just have to smell like a cherry jolly rancher when it comes to cherry. There are many cherry blends and cherry blossom fragrances on the market. I’ve made a list of cherry fruit and cherry blossom fragrances in many price points.

Bargain Cherry Scents (under $40): The Body Shop Japanese Cherry Blossom EDT is a green, fresh floral bouquet. The 1.7 oz spray retails for $25. Avon Fire Me Up EDT is a fruity blend of black cherry, citrus, and pomegranate. The 1.7 oz retails for $16. Melissa Flagg Sadie’s Perfume Roll-On is a romantic blend of cherry and plum blossoms floating on white tea. I think this is my favorite cherry blossom scent. The roll-on goes for $28. Bath and Body Works has a few cherry blossom scents but I’d say their most popular is Cherry Blossom EDT. It is a blend of juicy fruits and delicate flowers with cherry blossom. The 2.5 oz goes for $26.50. Demeter PMU in Cherry Blossom is a light-wearing cherry blossom scent. The 1 oz cologne goes for $20.

More Expensive Cherry Scents: L’Occitane Cherry Blossom EDT is a light, springy floral fragrance. It’s light, airy, and soft. The 3.4 oz retails for about $46. Cartier Délices de Cartier is a sweet, gourmand like fragrance. The top not is Morello cherry. It is then followed by jasmine, vanilla, and tonka bean. The 1.6 oz EDP goes for $100. Annick Goutal Quel Amour EDT is a bubbley, fruity, rose floral with Morello cherry. The 3.4 oz goes for $115. Ed Hardy Love & Luck is a sweet fruity fragrance with cherry blossom, sake, plum, and blood orange. The 1.7 oz goes for $55. Victoria’s Secret Sexy Little Things Ooh La La EDP is a fruity floral with citrus, cherry blossom, and sweet vanilla. I think the 3.4 oz goes for $49. Hilde Soliani Doolciiisssimo is an interesting guilty pleasure of mine. It is a blend of cherry tobacco, which I have always thought smelled great, with vanilla and patchouli. The 3.4 EDP goes for $175.

 

Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Desire EDP Fragrance Review

The Mainstream Monday: Sniffing A Popular Fragrance

Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Desire is a generic floral, not much of a surprise. This was the 2007 FiFi Award Winner of Fragrance of the Year. I would say that the FiFi Awards don’t really give out awards to interesting blends. Dream Angels Desire isn’t offensive or gross. It is just so dull and boring. It seriously just smells like “modern” perfume. Something that you would wear just to smell “good”, you really aren’t interested in your options.

At first spritz, Dream Angels Desire is a humid freesia and ivy leaf bomb. I do love freesia but I find that the freesia that Victoria’s Secrets uses in most of their juice is pretty lame. I can definitely pick up on the ivy leaf. To my surprise ivy actually smells good: green and floral. I have learned this since my back yard has been completely taken over by the lush green pest. Actually, ivy smells much like freesia in real life. And in this blend the “ivy” is the only thing making this seem like real freesia. The other top note listed by the company is “white star magnolia”. This ivy and humidity only lasts for about 5-10 minutes. It then becomes a more fruity floral. I can smell “fruit” but I can’t identify it. I mainly just smell lots and lots of peony. The other middle notes listed include frangipani and yellow plum. I guess that clarifies the “fruit” aroma. The dry down is very generic and soft. It smells of modern woods and musk. Victoria’s Secret calls this “angelique wood, crystal musk, and angora accord”.

Overall this fragrance is very feminine and girly. It’s playful with all of the freesia, ivy, and peony. The dry down is the most generic thing ever. It isn’t offensive, I just don’t find it worth wearing with so many other beautiful fruity-florals out there. I would say that you may want to give this a try if you like fruity-florals like Usher UR EDP, Salvatore Ferragamo Incanto Shine, Benefit B Spot EDT, Vera Wang Truly Pink EDP, Versace Bright Crystal EDP, MAC Pinkaura, Britney Spears Curious, Carolina Herrera 212, and/or Elizabeth Arden Mediterranean (it really, really reminds me of this one during its dry down).

It comes in three sizes ranging from 1 oz to 4.2 oz with prices ranging from $39 to $59.

Dream Angels Desire Perfume for Women Eau De Parfum Spray 4.2 Oz by Victoria’s Secret
From: BigDiscountFragrances.com

 

Burt’s Bees Peach & Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub Review

I am aware that writing a review of a skincare item is a bit of a waste of time. Skin types and needs vary so much from person to person. This scrub just did not work for me at all. I have normal skin. I do feel like my skin gets a bit “dull” so I use a scrub a few times a week. If I am using a foaming cleanser, I use my Shisiedo brush for exfoliation. One thing that I learned from doing makeup was that people that exfoliated frequently always had younger and healthier looking skin. It didn’t really matter what cream they used or skincare line. It just mattered that they exfoliated and it didn’t hurt to stay out of the sun 🙂

Anyways, I thought I would give this Burt’s Bees Peach and Willowbark Deep Pore Scrub a try. I really didn’t like it. It is in a super creamy lotion type base. There are a few “scrubbers” in there, very few. They are rough little peach stone pieces. They really don’t do anything but scratch my skin. This reminds me more of a cream cleanser with a few jagged edges in it. After rinsing, I can still feel an uncomfortable film that even toner can’t remove. I would use the scrub, then my normal cleanser, then use a toner and I still couldn’t the dirty feeling “moisture” off my face. I find this odd because it appears that this product is marketed to the normal to oily skin client. The scent is slightly sweet like peach and almond oil. I like the fragrance because it is neutral enough. But, the fragrance can’t disguise that this is a less than great product.

This product didn’t leave my skin feeling smoother. It didn’t leave it looking more radiant. It really didn’t do anything. There are much better scrubs for me out there in the $8 price range. If you do want to give it a try, it is available at drugstore.com.

 

Aromatique Citrus Plum Berry Home Fragrance Refresher Oil

If you are a fan of Victoria’s Secret Garden Collection Love Spell then you should love this. This home oil totally reminds me of that loud VS blend of berries, peach, cherries, and jasmine. It’s the Secret Garden Body Spray for your home. Aromatique Citrus Plum Berry is a fruity-floral heavy on synthetic smelling stone fruits and berries with a hint of white flowers. It’s strong. I use it in my oil burner. I’m sure it is actually for refreshing potpourri but I’m not a potpourri kind of gal. A little of this oil mixed with water will make your home very fragrant for a long time. That is a great thing if you like the odor. I personally hate VS Love Spell. I’m so burnt out with it. Every girl my age used to use that stuff. It reminds me of high school girl’s locker rooms. That is a place I never want to return to, even if it is only a fragrance journey.

Like I said, if you are into the whole VS Secret Garden line or if you are a mega fan of Love Spell or you just want your home to spell like a berry heavy fruity-floral, then this is for you. It isn’t a horrible fragrance. It does smell pretty and girly, I just don’t want my home to smell this way. It is very fragrant, a little goes a long way, and it retails for about $9. I’m not wild about the bottle. It doesn’t have a dropper top and you have to use a seperate dropper that is included. I then always get Citrus Plum Berry all over my hands. This product is available at some department stores, specialty home stores, and Aromatique’s website.

 

Crazylibellule & The Poppies 26 Juin Île d’Yeu Perfume Review

I am loving the new Crazylibellule & The Poppies 26 Juin Île d’Yeu solid fragrance (it is now available not only in a cologne but a Crazystick that is equal to 1.7 oz of liquid perfume). It is a must have for summer. It’s the kind of scent I put on and then I can’t stop sniffing myself. I find it very refreshing and very pretty. The new formula is awesome. This product is a winner.

This scent is described as “An exuberant composition fruity aldehyde fragrances, harboring a diaphanous olfactive folly“. It is a fruity aldehyde fragrance that truly embodies summer with it’s productive fruit trees, greenness, and flowering rose bushes. If I had to remember my summer in one scent, this would be it. This is how I want to remember it. Fruiting, productive, lush, green, and romantic. Also, I love this blend because it is truly a modern French aldehyde. It has the class of a classic French aldehyde by Chanel or Rochas but it is truly modern, light, and wearable at any time. I don’t think this is an easy task to pull off but Crazylibellule has done it. This scent has a complexity and for a solid it wears like a spray.

First the fragrance is fruity but not in a typical fruity way. It isn’t like most of the “fruit” fragrances on the market. It doesn’t smell like a lollipop. It is more like fruit, unripe, but ripening on the tree. It is very green and effervescent thanks to the aldehydes. I can smell unripe plums, ripe peaches and oranges, a mix of mouth watering fuzziness and bitter orange peel. I can smell those like they are still on the trees. You get a leafy, green note. It’s a refreshing fruity fragrance, almost champagne like at times. I get the faintness of rose. The rose is not stealing the show and it doesn’t wear like an old-fashioned or heavy rose scent. Enough rose is there to make it romantic and feminine. The rose is accompanied by the faintest of citrus blossoms. The dry down after about 2 hours of wear is soft, slightly fruity but with more woods and musk. But, not heavy, still very appropriate for summer. Like leaves and tree bark and a hint of “skin”.

The formula is awesome. I bought a green tea and jasmine solid perfume in Germany with this base and I loved it and couldn’t find it in the U.S. It is a transparent formula, not waxy at all. It is ultra-smooth and wears for a long time. It is less “balmy” and more “glossy” but not a bit heavy or greasy. I love this new formula which is also paraben and alcohol free. The packaging ,like all the line’s other products, is adorable. Described as “a landscape garden scenery where words and flowers tangle.”The packaging has a bit of sheen unlike the other Crazysticks.

I love this scent. I’ve been getting compliments on it all week. It’s pleasant, light, effervescent. It’s perfect for summer. It reminds me of our backyard which has rose bushes filled with blooms, ripening plum and peach trees, and lots of foliage and bit of sea air. This is how I want to remember summer, plentiful. This is the kind of fragrance that I will take out in mid-winter to remind me of the pleasures of summer. It retails for under $20 and it is available at b-glowing.com.

 

Elizabeth Arden Mediterranean EDP Fragrance Review

The Mainstream Monday: Sniffing A Popular Fragrance

Elizabeth Arden explains this fragrance as a “radiant woody floral and a modern expression of sparkling radiance“. I would definitely say that this fits into that category of “modern woody floral”. It is woody but not in a super masculine way. At first it comes on as a bit fruity with hints of citrus and stone fruits such as plum. This lasts a very short time on me. It then smells of spicy wood, like a mix of sandalwood and dry cedar. But, it floral in an “aquatic” fragrance sense of the word. It is floral with the hissy notes of “orchid” and “wisteria”. But, it is all blended together so if it is very difficult to go “oh, there is the wisteria and here is the sandalwood”. It is all blended together and this wears on me for a long time. At times I’ll sniff and smell the woods and then again I’ll sniff and pick up a certain floral sharpness that makes this smell almost soapy fresh. Eventually, all I smell is warm sun-baked woods with generic “clean” musk. It isn’t a horrible fragrance it just doesn’t have a lasting impression on me. I find it boring for a “Mediterranean” fragrance but find it interesting for a “sea” scent if this makes sense. I think this fragrance could of really benefited from a fig hint and herbs, but then again, I can find that elsewhere because that already exists. But for a “sea” scent,  I can appreciate that this scent is clean and fresh without being “aquatic” and overly hissy.  Overall the fragrance is a very clean “wood” scent that can be worn all year round. It’s “easy” to wear and it is a nice fragrance if you can’t stand the thought of wearing something sweet, foody, or overly floral. ( I have to love it for that).

I do find the bottle pretty for a mainstream fragrance. It has smooth cerulean blue glass. The glass feels heavy and it feels expensive. The cap is a hammered silver-ish something. To be honest, I can’t remember if it was metal or plastic. So, if it is plastic, then it did a good job of tricking me. It really looks like a pretty piece of resort wear jewelry and I have to give Elizabeth Arden props for this one.

I would say that you may like this if you like Michael Kors Island, Estee Lauder Sensuous, Avon U by Ungaro, Versace Versense, Demeter Laundromat, Pucci Vivara, and/or Dolce and Gabbana Sicily or Feminine.

The 1.7 ounce retails for $47.50 and the 3.3 ounce retails for $57.50. And there are extras like a shimmery body powder (very cool), body cream, and body lotion. A good time to pick this up is when Elizabeth Arden offers one of their GWP specials.

 

New Crazylibellule & The Poppies Crazystick: 26 Juin Ile d’Yeu

Crazylibellule and The Poppies are launching a new crazystick, 26 Juin Ile d’Yeu on July 15th (it will be available at beautyhabit.com and b-glowing.com). This is a solid form based on those L’Eau de CrazyCologne sprays. I’m siked because not only is the packaging adorable, romantic, and vintage but because there is a new formula that is supposed to be less waxy than the other sticks. It is a transparent and smooth formula that is still good for the skin paraben and alcohol-free. I love all of my Craylibellule sticks, but they do have a tendency to get “waxy” especially when they are almost gone. It doesn’t bother me, I’ll just rub it in with my fingertips. It has never affected the lovely fragrance of the products. But, it would be nice to have a product be smooth. That is what makes the packaging of Crazylibellule tops, you don’t have to use your fingers like you do with other solid perfumes.

It sounds like a lovely blend for summer with all of the notes present below on the olfactory star. But, it is heaviest on rose, wild peach, blood orange, and juicy plum. Sounds like it would make a tasty sorbet! P.S. I just got a new ice cream maker and I’m always thinking about what to turn into a frozen treat!

When I get my hands on one of these you will definitely find a review here!