By Designer

9 Best Smelling Carolina Herrera Perfumes

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Carolina Herrera is known in the luxury fashion world for designing elegant clothing for women, including First Ladies of the United States. The fragrance line is no different in terms of its scope and accomplishments.

Herrera provides scents for all personality types, fashion tastes, and occasions. For this list, I have selected nine perfumes which I feel are the best of the bunch.

Favorite Carolina Herrera Perfumes for Her

Most Popular CH Perfume

Good Girl– Good Girl has been out for a few years now and has become a best seller for Carolina Herrera. Also, one of the bigger sellers in popular women’s fragrances.

Obviously, the high heel bottle grabs attention from the start, but its powdery aroma is also quite captivating. Is it wholly unique? Probably not, but it is distinct enough to carve out a niche for itself.

Good Girl is sexy and versatile, with a balance between a spicy opening and a sweeter later act. Floral notes of jasmine and tuberose, sits underneath sweeter notes of cacao, coffee, and tonka bean. This is a safe wear and one that will definitely spur further flanker releases. My Good Girl Review

Blushing Beauty

Good Girl Blush– This Good Girl flanker came out in 2023 and has already become a fan favorite and best-seller. 

Blush is more floral and doesn’t have the same cacao influence as the original. Though, there is a vanilla and tonka bean combination in the mix.

Yet, this one is clean and fresh rather than just being heavy and sweet. Although, it does have a sweetness to it. Early on, the peony and ylang-ylang are balanced, but the peony seems to get the upper hand later in the wear.

Bergamot, vanilla, and almond are the main support for the flowers. Each has its time to shine in the mix.

There is also an Elixir version of this scent. I haven’t tried it out, but it’s supposedly heavier on patchouli and vanilla. Possibly, even more ylang-ylang.

Top High End Perfume

Saffron Lazuli– This one can be tough to find in a retail environment it seems. But, I linked to the Herrera website, as they still carry it right now.

Saffron Lazuli is a part of the expensive Herrera Confidential Collection of unisex fragrances. A lot of them skew more masculine, but this one is the most interesting to me, that I’ve come across.

Saffron is obviously the main note. But, you get a fruity top, with smooth warmth and woody spicy touches (cardamom). Notes like iris, vanilla, tonka, and the namesake saffron are excellent. The black currant up top gives it a nice sweetness with some tart. Not too heavy, though.

It starts off bold, but it will settle into something more moderate. The performance is excellent, as it should be with this type of scent, at this price point (around $260).

best herrera perfume

Best Classic Floral Perfume

Carolina Herrera– A smart and versatile fragrance that can be worn on almost any occasion. This perfume is fresh, light, and clean. Plus, it tends to get a lady noticed.

The Carolina Herrera namesake scent kicks off with the light freshness of citrus and orange blossom. The other floral notes, quickly follow, and are led by: jasmine, ylang-ylang, and tuberose.

Later on, it really becomes about the tuberose, but I also have detected hyacinth in this. It’s got enough of that fruitiness, to keep it from becoming overly ‘green’ and plant like. Nonetheless, this is a great little pickup for those who want a throwback floral perfume.

carolina

Chic in the Warmth

Chic– Chic is a sophisticated and feminine fragrance that is probably best served in the warmer months of the year. However, this blend of floral and woodsy notes is a long-lasting and fashionable perfume to be worn with confidence.

Update: Unfortunately, it looks like Chic was changed from its original formula. It was a really nice clean floral. More of a pure rose and freesia scent, versus the option above. I think you can still find older bottles, so, I’ll leave it up here.

chic

Top Nightlife Pick

212 VIP– This one beckons the exclusivity of the NYC nightlife along with all of its excitement and energy. Rum, vanilla, passion fruit, and others combine to give the notes a unique spirit and beautifully youthful vibe. Great stuff.

The men’s version of this namesake is a vodka and gin mixed drink. It’s also bold and unique. 212 VIP for Her, is a great rum mixed drink with fruity undertones up top. Then, as it dries down, the perfume gets smoothed out by a mix of vanilla and tonka bean.

This is a nice boozy scent, with fantastic longevity, but not as much of a powerhouse as the men’s version. Still pretty strong sillage, just not a monster.

vip

Best Sexy Fragrance

212 Sexy– A sweet blend of seductive fruit notes and cotton candy, 212 Sexy is a playful and passionate formula bound to put one in the mood. An excellent choice for romantic evenings out.

Beyond the sweetness of this scent, 212 Sexy also features a warm and slightly spicy pepper note. Vanilla and musk act as supports and help to give this its attractive aroma.

As it dries down, it falls more into that warm pink pepper aroma, with light floral notes and the remaining sweetness. Good performance overall and can be worn in plenty of situations outside the nightlife, too.

212

Smooth Fatale 

Very light fruit and spices from cinnamon and patchouli, dot the perimeter of this fragrance. Good Girl Velvet Fatale might still be a bit difficult to find, but it is a really pleasant example of a warm and gourmand blend of notes, done right.

For me, it is among the top of the Good Girl line. Better than the original and at least the Very Good Girl variants of this perfume. 

As of this update, it’s probably only available online, since I believe that it was a limited edition run a few years back.

 

Very Good Girl

I’m adding this to the list, as it is one of the better newer options. But, I will say it’s not my favorite of the Good Girl perfumes. Actually, a similar one to this that I prefer is from Mugler.

That being said, Very Good Girl has enough to recommend about it. The litchi note is powerful up front, when combined with the red currant, the fragrance is sweet and tart. Then, it will shift to a more powdery scent with the rose note.

It is a fresher fragrance, when it dries down. Not as tart, with a nice rose, and the vanilla note. The performance is solid, this lasted 7-8 hours on my skin with a quite noticeable sillage. Very Good Girl Review

7 Best Smelling Cartier Perfumes for Her

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Cartier has been in existence as a company since the 19th century when it served as jewelers to royal families in Europe. Nowadays, Cartier still caters to the jewelry crowd but also produces some wonderful scents for both men and women.  

Cartier’s perfumes have a certain amount of elegance to them but unlike some companies, it produces fragrances that can be worn casually and won’t stick out like a sore thumb.

For this list, I have chosen what I consider to be the seven best ladies perfumes by Cartier.

Favorite Perfumes by Cartier for Her

Lily Led Greenish-Floral

Cartier Baiser Vole Eau De Perfume Spray for Women, 3.3 Ounce
A fresh and clean floral scent with spicy undertones from Cartier. Baiser Vole is a beautiful and elegant perfume that never overpowers.

Baiser Vole is a lily heavy fragrance, so, enjoying this floral note is a requirement for this one.

It starts out with a green, somewhat watery lily, with citrus notes playing a support role. Then, it becomes much more of the petals of the flower itself, with a sweet creamy undertone. It’s a lightly projecting fragrance, with naturalistic notes, and solid longevity.

Baiser Vole keeps things extremely simple, but it still makes the cut as one of the best from this brand. Lots of lily petal and stem, with a watery quality and the citrus influences coming in. Baiser Vole review

Clean Unisex Citrus

Eau De Cartier By Cartier For Men and Women, Eau De Toilette Spray, 6.75-Ounce Bottle
Eau De Cartier is a unisex fragrance, so it doesn’t fall into the purely feminine category of scents.

It opens with the citrus freshness of yuzu and violet notes from both the leaf and the petals. The first part of the wear, is especially a citrus fragrance, a character that it will retain to some extent. 

Fresh with that yuzu and lavender with floral and cedar notes at the base of the scent. The dry down gets woodier and earthy with patchouli and musk coming in.

Fairly straightforward and linear, but a clean scent, with a pleasing appeal. In its simplicity, Eau de Cartier covers a lot of bases: citrus, spice, fresh, clean, and floral. The notes can appear subtly, but still provides some depth of experience.  

Floral Spice by Cartier

Cartier De Lune Eau de Toilette Spray for Women, 4.2 Ounce
This fragrance is an exotic and playful mix of florals and spice. Cartier De Lune is good for casual, everyday use, and is a light and unique perfume.

De Lune is a floral musk mix with rose and lily of the valley.

It opens with a familiar juniper berry note that is paired with that lily-of-the-valley floral aroma, that is both interesting and delicious, and not a pairing that I’ve come across before.

Then, the rose not comes along to pair with the lily, and the juniper fades in favor of musk and wood. Has a light sweetness and a bit of green spiciness that comes through, Cartier De Lune, is good for daily wear and isn’t an absolute bomb that will choke out a room.

Best Rivieres de Cartier Scent

Luxuriance EDP by Cartier– Wasn’t too crazy about the majority of this line, when I encountered them. However, I did like Luxuriance. That being said, it is quite herbal and green, so may not be for everyone.

Fern, oak, rosemary, wild herbs, geranium…yep, a very natural smelling aroma. It is a light freshness without much of a cold crisp to it. 

Early on, the geranium leads the way and there may also be a touch of a citrus (lemon?) note in there too. I get some Le Jardin de Monsieur Li vibes, stripped of any aquatic touches.

Later, Luxuriance is an woody blend with fern, geranium, and some generic floral aromas. It’s not a super complex fragrance, but it is a fairly unique and lovely unisex wear. 

Intricate Floral Fruity Perfume

Cartier EDP Spray for Women, La Panthere, 2.5 Ounce
Like its name suggests, La Panthere, is a bolder type of perfume than the others on this list. Panthere is a rebranding, of a Cartier fragrance that dates back to the 1980s. 

It’s got a rich and rather complex aroma which is a blends oakmoss, strawberry, gardenia, and dried fruits.

Long lasting and can seem a bit heavy at first but it does mellow out into a wonderful scent. The notes have a tendency to blend together, but the opening is fairly sweet, when compared to the rest of the wear.

This is best served in the colder to moderate temperatures, avoiding the heat of summer. 

Then, gardenia and musk, do come through clearly with one another after a little while. The fruit notes, play the background, and the dry oak moss  flanks the floral note and musk. Strong sillage and lasts for 10+ hours.

La Panthere is a great option for those who want a gardenia perfume, that delivers something a bit different.  La Panthere Full Review

Another Panthere

La Panthere Parfum– Parfum is a newer edition of the Panthere lineup. Obviously, it’s going to have plenty of overlap with the one above. However, it is actually a rather distinct fragrance.

You get more of a fruity note up top. In this case, it’s apricot that is paired with a much greater smoothness, and use of the osmanthus note.

Later, you will get that mossy aroma and a nice big dose of gardenia. Overall, it’s a cleaner and dynamic chypre fragrance. The opening act is juicy and La Panthere Parfum is easy to wear and enjoy. Warm with some herbal qualities. Plus, the performance holds up in this edition. 

 

 

1980s Classic Cartier

Must De Cartier By Cartier For Women. Eau De Toilette Spray 3.3 oz
Must is a warm and beautifully sweet fragrance that is great for casual wear and is long-lasting. Must De Cartier is a softer perfume but one that is well-crafted and has many admirers.

Must de Cartier features plenty of wood dipped in amber with vanilla and tonka bean playing support roles.

However, this perfume is not that simple, as there is also floral notes and sweet floral notes involved too. At times it is green, sweet, spicy, but it all settles into something refined and classic.

The sandalwood and rosewood, really seem to come into their own, in the later stages of this perfume’s life. It is very rich and brings a classic 1980s scent to the table, very reminiscent of Obsession for Her. 

cartier vole edp review

 

 

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8 Best Smelling Paco Rabanne Perfumes for Her

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I have already done a list of the top men’s fragrances by Paco Rabanne and as such, I thought that it was time to take on the ladies perfumes from this house.

1 Million and now Invictus are two of the highly popular and best selling scents from Paco Rabanne but the women’s line also has some popular choices as well as some hidden gems. Including, Lady Million.

I’ve been continually updating this page for years, as new releases that are worthy of a try, come out. As of now, these are what I think are the best Rabanne perfumes.

Favorite Paco Rabanne Fragrances for Ladies

Dark, Sweet, with some Spice

Paco Rabanne Black Xs By Paco Rabanne For Women. Eau De Toilette Spray 2.7-Ounces
Very fresh and sexy scent with floral and gourmand notes such as cacao and vanilla. It’s somewhat sweet, but not candy-like with fruity cranberry notes.

It also is centered by a hint of spice and a dry woodsy heart. It opens up with the tart cranberry and patchouli, before it is pulled together with cacao and rose. However, as it moves along, Black XS does indeed get darker.

The rose note dissipates and the cranberry begins to get superseded by the other ingredients. The drydown is cacao, vanilla, patchouli, pink pepper, and some musk. Black XS develops quite nicely and features a solid performance.   Black XS Review

Best Winter Wear

Olympea Intense– This one is an offering for the wintertime and is pretty simple in its presentation. However, Olympea Intense is quite charming and one of the better perfumes from Paco Rabanne.

This scent kicks off with a blend of vanilla and salt, giving it a sort of toffee aroma at first.

This is joined by the very nice orange blossom note, along with a warm amber heart. The amber feels thick and enveloping while wearing. That’s pretty much what most of this fragrance is a vanilla/floral combination with amber and additional saltiness.

Olympea Intense is very much in the Black Opium or Bon Bon vein of ladies’ perfumes. It is a powerful fragrance, so it won’t let you down in that department. Plus, I got 10 hours-plus on my skin during testing. Olympea Intense Review

The Fame I Like

Fame Parfum– The original Fame, I thought was pretty good. Fame Parfum is better. I still don’t think it’s the greatest, but I still think that it deserves a spot on the list.

Sweet and spicy in the opening act, Fame Parfum gives you a stronger and longer lasting mango note, than the original. Pink pepper is there, but I really start to pick up the jasmine note and patchouli, especially once the mango tones down.

It’s a stronger scent, but not an absolute monster, just a fragrance that gives you a good performance.

Nice overall, clean and a warm tropical aroma, that dries down with jasmine and sandalwood. Fame Parfum review

Clean Floral Scent

Paco Rabanne Ultraviolet Eau De Parfum Spray for Women, 2.7 Ounce– A floral/exotic fragrance that is highlighted by, as the name suggests, violet. It’s a soft to moderate blend with a unique sweet/spicy profile that lasts for a long time.

The opening can be a bit intense with the spice, as you get a few different peppers and coriander, coming through. Definitely interesting, though not for everyone.

However, it’s not all spice in the beginning, as there is a nice apricot and some vanilla to help calm things. Obviously, the star of the show comes more apparent in the dry down. You get a fresh, fairly sweet, and powdery violet with some dry undertones.

Most Popular/Best Seller

Lady Million by Paco Rabanne Eau De Parfum Spray for Women, 2.70 Ounce– 1 Million is an insanely popular men’s cologne, and its female counterpart, is also quite the bestseller in its own right. Lady Million has more of a feminine floral sweetness along with raspberry and honey.

The floral notes open with a strong gardenia, light orange blossom, and some jasmine. As it moves along, the situation reverses, and jasmine becomes the dominant floral note. While jasmine leads the floral aspect, the main attraction is the honey, which takes over for the nice raspberry note after about 30 minutes.

It’s sweet and floral with a nice amber base. This is a good choice for daily wear, definitely not as bold an enveloping, as the men’s version. Nonetheless, a very pleasant fragrance.   Lady Million Review

Classic Style Rabanne

Calandre By Paco Rabanne For Women. Eau De Toilette Spray 3.4 Oz.– A very old fragrance which dates back to the late 1960s. Calandre is another floral but one that is paired with soft green and woodsy notes. A more refined and classical offering.

You will get a nice bit of rose up top, which will later pair with lily of the valley. It also has some of that classic vetiver aroma, which gives Calandre a somewhat soapy quality. It is very balanced and has a bright and clean character.

Later on, it does have a bit of powder to it, not super heavy but orris and jasmine are coming into play with the other floral notes. Again, it does shift into more of a woody/green dry down. Calandre flies under the radar and is quite different from the others here.

Top Bold/Unique Paco Perfume

Black Xs L exces by Paco Rabanne 2.7 oz Eau De Parfum Spray for Women– A dark sweetness that is paired with vanilla and other floral notes. There is a whiff of fruitiness to it, but L’exces is definitely a perfume with an edge.

L’Exces opens with a peppery bouquet of floral notes led by neroli and hints of jasmine or rose. The pepper note is intense, but it simply works well with the sweetness of vanilla, and the neroli. L’Exces really has a multiple sides to it. At times, it’s very pepper and bold.

Then, sweet and creamy. Then, floral. Ultimately, you get a vanilla and pepper blend sitting on cashmere wood and surrounded by flowers. At the very least, it’ll be something different than you’re probably used to, but in a good way.

Legend Gourmand

Olympea Legend– This one is a beast with a super plum note up top, syrupy sweetness, and a salty near aquatic aroma at times also. Just from that alone, you should probably gather that this is another perfume, which won’t be for everyone.

That plum is joined by an apricot, that will pretty quickly fade. Then, the vanilla and amber finish, which the Olympea series is known for.

It’s a heavy, sweet, and long-lasting fragrance. Olympea Legend is a gourmand that is near tropical with how the fruits can come across, but finishes with more of a creamy baked goods scent.

8 Best Smelling Lacoste Perfumes for Women

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Lacoste is a brand known for its historical roots in tennis and of course for that world famous polo shirt with the little alligator on the chest. However, it has expanded way beyond that into a complete fashion brand which naturally includes a perfume line.

Lacoste does have some very good scents for both men and women.  In this post, I want to put forth to you, the eight best smelling options for ladies from this French brand.

Favorite Smelling Ladies’ Perfumes by Lacoste

Magnetic Scent

Eau de Lacoste L.12.12 Pour Elle Magnetic- This is one the came out after the original incarnation of the list, but might be the best overall perfume, from Lacoste. It’s kind of a toss up between Magnetic and Fraiche.

Nonetheless, Pour Elle Magnetic gives you a wonderful and pretty unique blend of mango, citrus, vanilla, and other sweet notes. It’s fruity with a base of light floral touches, a somewhat tropical fragrance, that is a great addition to the summer months.

Fraiche 1

Lacoste L.12.12 Eau Fraiche, Pour Elle, 1.7 oz- Eau Fraiche fragrances can be really hit or miss. I am especially hesitant with one from Lacoste, as the brand doesn’t always have the best longevity in their scents.

Even with that being the case, Eau Fraiche Pour Elle, is a really lovely fresh summery aquatic. Citrus, light floral notes, and that great refreshing watery vibe.

I really like the smell, but won’t put it at number 1, as the lightness and longevity are a concern. However, at the right price, this is a awesome little warm weather perfume.

Fraiche 2

Lacoste Rose Eau Fraiche– Lacoste hasn’t been putting out many new fragrances the past few years, but this is one of them. Rose Eau Fraiche is a good alternative, if you cannot find a bottle of Elle Fraiche, above.

It actually might be better, depending on your preference in style.

The rose note is light, sort of like a rose water, and has the most prominence during the back half of the wear.

Early on, you get an ozonic fragrance powered by fruit notes like black currant, grapefruit, and blood orange. It’s more tart early, then, it will start to become a sweeter and somewhat sugary kind of fruitiness.

It’s soft and dries down into a fresh rose water and woody scent. Very nice.

Just a Touch

Lacoste Touch Of Pink Eau De Toilette Spray for Women 3.0 fl.oz– Touch of Pink isn’t some stolid or heavy-scented mature fragrance. No, it is a clean and lively scent that projects a sexiness and youthful vibe that really grabs attention. Notes include: blood orange, jasmine, vanilla, coriander, cardamom, violet, and jasmine.

That’s not to say that this is a loud fragrance, it isn’t, just quite attractive with what it does. The peach and blood orange combination is great, but the fruits aren’t allowed to get too bold. Each is held in check, by wood, musk, and vanilla.

Very clean, easy to wear, lightly spiced, and was always a best seller. Touch of pink is a great daily wear, especially for younger women.

Intense Femme

Lacoste Pour Femme Intense Eau de Parfum For Women, 1 Fl Oz- The Intense name is a bit of a misnomer as this Lacoste fragrance really doesn’t bring much of it. However, the aroma itself is actually very nice and has a rather unique blend of sandalwood and caramel.

The caramel is a nice warm sweetness up top, with a dry creamy/powdery quality coming through from the sandalwood. The dry down feels more musky, but it’s still a very attractive fragrance through the entirety.

Not a completely sweet gourmand, but more of a woody sweet blend overall, with hints of spice coming through. I like it, this does have something about it that I find attractive, even without being super complex or a powerhouse.

Floral and Light

Lacoste Pour Femme Eau de Parfum for Women, 3.0 fl. oz. – The namesake of the brand, Pour Femme, is a noticeably feminine fragrance with plenty of floral notes and a hint of spice that helps bring it all together. This is a very good option for an everyday or signature fragrance.

Lacoste Pour Femme opens up with pineapple, citrus, and jasmine. It is juicy and light, without much of a sharp aroma from the fruity notes. As it moves along, the fruits take a backseat and you get more of a woody/floral scent.

Lacoste Pour Femme is a versatile scent, that eventually is highlighted by the jasmine, sandalwood, and vanilla. A very straightforward perfume, but one that still stands out as one of the brand’s best. Lacoste Pour Femme Review

Simple Love

Lacosté Love of Pink 3.0 fl. oz Eau de Toilette for Women – A bit of a different experience from Touch of Pink, this one changes up the notes a bit to include more woodsy/floral scents, which help to give it a beautiful and unique profile.

It still has the blood orange, found in Touch of Pink, but with added passion fruit. The dry down period, shies away from the citrus more so, and the floral notes really begin to emerge. Magnolia and particular.

Love of Pink is a simple and clean scent, not as good as Touch, but still worthy of a spot on this list.

Inspired Scent

Inspiration- This is a light and fresh scent, that, while airy is not weak and does have the ability to last far into the day. Pink pepper, mandarin orange, peony, vanilla, sandalwood, jasmine, and more.

Inspiration isn’t as well known and I don’t even think that it’s produced anymore. However, it was an underrated perfume, with a different style from the fruitier options from Lacoste.

Inspiration delivers a great iris and vanilla blend, with a tart plum, and nice sandalwood base. It gives you a powdery sweetness, while not being overwhelming, and a solid performance overall.

Update: This has been discontinued for a while now. So, you might not be able to easily find a bottle anymore.

7 Best Viktor & Rolf Perfumes for Women

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Viktor & Rolf are a design house which adds plenty of uniqueness to the world of fashion and that unique attitude and presentation extends itself to their fragrance line.

The massive success of Flowerbomb has propelled it into the world of best sellers year after year and it almost trades solely on its reputation alone.

However, that is not the only scent available from the designers and while their catalog in this realm isn’t too extensive their are still some wonderful parfums to be had.

Favorite Viktor & Rolf Perfumes for Her

Most Popular

Flowerbomb By Viktor & Rolf For Women – EDP Spray 1 oz– A hugely popular ladies perfume and for good reason. Flowerbomb blends notes of bergamot, rose, jasmine, and tea to create a fragrance which is truly wonderful.

It is clean, warm, and versatile for all occasions and age groups.

Flowerbomb opens up with its great tea note, which is one of the highlights of this fragrance. It is paired with a light but somewhat sharp bergamot citrus note. Next, comes the flower part of the ‘bomb’.

Orchid, jasmine, rose, freesia, among others. It’s a beautiful array, with a lively freshness provided by the top notes.

Finally, you get to the patchouli, which is the star of the show and brings it together. Flowerbomb brings the power and performance, with an awesome aroma. It’s no wonder why it is a best seller. Flowerbomb review

 

Fortunate Aroma

Good Fortune Elixir Intense– The original Good Fortune got mixed reviews from people, it seems. Personally, I liked the perfume, I just didn’t think that it was great.

Elixir Intense is a better version of the EDP. It seems to have lost or at least way toned down the fennel note. Which, wasn’t bad, but gave things a bittersweet smell early on in the wear.

Elixir really leans into the vanilla and jasmine as the lead notes. Add to that, a slight smokiness from incense, and a big increase in the amount of wood in the composition.

Warmth from those ‘solar notes’, that all of the brands seem to go with. Just more of a density than the original, while still having aspects of that perfume.

The performance here is really good. Elixir Intense lives up to the name and has a pretty massive radius to where it will project to. 

Aquatic Floral

Eau Mega by Viktor & Rolf Eau De Parfum Spray 1.7 oz– A scent that services a particular niche of aquatic florals and features notes of cedar, peony, musk, citron, pear, sandalwood, among others.

Eau Mega is a fresh scent and delivers a unique experience from that of Flowerbomb.

For me, Eau Mega starts off as a water floral mix, mainly of peony, with a crisp pear note. It’s nice and simple, with a somewhat soapy quality to it. Honestly, this is my least favorite of these Viktor & Rolf perfumes. Nonetheless, it deserves a spot on the list.

It’s a musky floral, with green cleanliness, and hints of fruit throughout. This is a good option for daily wear or casual wear during the spring and summer months. Gives you a fresh scent to spray on, without any worries. Eau Mega Full Review

Top Sweet Pick

Victor & Rolf Bonbon Eau de Parfum Spray, 1.7 Fluid Ounce– Bonbon is a perfume for women who enjoy a bit of sweetness to their fragrance and one that is light and subtle. Jasmine, mandarin, caramel and amber notes give it an amazing blend of sweetness from candy to fruity to flowery. Excellent scent.

Bonbon kicks off things with a bright and delicious aroma of mandarin orange mixed with peach. Of course, there is the caramel note, which is present throughout but it’s a fruity affair up top. Next, I tend to pick up on plenty of orange blossom.

When the caramel comes in fully, it is joined by a warm and salty amber note. This pairing gets creamy with an added sandalwood, along with the peach note still floating around.

The performance on this one will give one an 8 or so hour wear. A lovely sweet gourmand scent.  Bonbon Full Review

Best Flowerbomb Flanker

Viktor & Rolf Flower Bomb Nectar Intense for Women Eau De Parfum, 3.04 Fl Oz– Nectar shares plenty of DNA with the original Flowerbomb, but goes in more of a different direction. The opening is a blend of candy-like fruity sweetness and the floral notes.

Jasmine and orange blossom without the rose, freesia, and orchid of the original. The dry down is a blend of vanilla and patchouli mainly, but also flanked by the enveloping creaminess of tonka bean and a nice benzoin touch.

There are also some metallic and greenish aspects, which sets it apart from the others in the series from V&R.

The performance here is great with plenty of sillage and it will last pretty much all day. It will go for up to 8.5 hours, on my skin.

Don’t go for this one, if you aren’t in the market for something loud and sweet, because that’s what you’ll get here. Flowerbomb Nectar review

nectar review

 

Top Newer Release

Flowerbomb Ruby Orchid– Ruby Orchid has become one of the more popular fragrances from this line and it’s quite good. Maybe a notch below Nectar, but it sort of depends on your own style.

This one is sweet, with a solid dose of vanilla orchid and peach to go into the composition. You can tell that it’s a Flowerbomb flanker, as it shares enough overlap with the original.

The sillage here is lighter but does have a certain thickness to it, with a fruity sweet blend that has a seductive quality to it.

The opening fruitiness does lean hard towards the peach note, but it kind of comes across as a jammy fruity mix. The dry down is a vanilla, floral, musk trio with some of that sweetness sticking around. Ruby Orchid review

 

After Midnight

Flowerbomb Midnight– Here’s another one that ranks right alongside both Nectar and Ruby Orchid, in terms of my own enjoyment. 

Midnight actually isn’t a ‘dark’ kind of scent. It’s jasmine based and is referring to the bloom of the flower at night.

It starts off with a sweet and tart mix of pomegranate and black currant. The pomegranate is really quite juicy in the opening act, before the perfume moves into the middle with a jam-like aroma. 

Peony and jasmine dominate the back half of the wear, along with musk. A musky floral finish. Okay performance, but not as good as the original or Nectar. Midnight review

Update: This has been discontinued, but I’ve still seen bottles around online.