Best Perfumes for Women

7 Best Smelling Donna Karan DKNY Perfumes

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Donna Karan became a force to be reckoned with in the fashion world during the 1980s. Towards the end of the decade, she introduced the DKNY brand which provided a more affordable fashion and accessories line to the masses. Among the fashion houses many achievements are the lineup of fragrances for women.

The seven perfumes listed below are among the very best by Donna Karan and as always I have linked them out to where they can be purchased at a good price online.

What are the Best Donna Karan DKNY Perfumes for Women?

Most Popular DKNY

Dkny Be Delicious By Donna Karan For Women. Eau De Parfum Spray 3.4-Ounce Bottle– This Donna Karan perfume is a very enjoyable sensory experience. It has a rich fruity and floral profile that gives off a playful and seductive energy throughout the day.

Be Delicious opens up with its dominant apple note, along with, grapefruit and cucumber.

It is fresh, cool, and crisp from the start. The dry down is less tart and juicy, with the floral notes and some sandalwood coming through. Easy to wear and pleasant all around. Notes include: apple, violet, grapefruit, cucumber and more.

Light and Energetic for Summer

Donna Karan Nectar Love Eau De Parfum Spray for Women, 3.4 Ounce– Nectar Love gives you a different sort of wear for the summertime.

Yes, you get the usual fruitiness for much of the development, particularly in the opening. However, you also get a bright and upbeat aroma full of honey and beeswax.

This one is very sweet, but also very light and playful. This is an easy to wear perfume that won’t overpower but will have one feeling attractive during the day or the evening. Nectarine with citrus, with a variety of delicate floral touches, throughout.

A Lighter Apple Floral

Be Delicious Fresh Blossom– This Be Delicious flanker is a simple one, but a perfume that is easy to wear and can be a great low key daily wear scent. Won’t provide a huge sillage.

The apple is more crisp and sheer in this one, with a delightful grapefruit note coming in as support. Cassis and apricot round out the fruity lineup. Fresh Blossom is closer to the original in terms of how it smells.

However, it does separate itself with more of a jasmine and rose influence in the dry down. Plus, the whole citrus element up top. It’s a spring and summer wear, Fresh Blossom does seem to have a bit of a aquatic aroma to it, but not overwhelming.

Vanilla, Floral, and Amber

Cashmere Mist By Donna Karan For Women. Eau De Parfum Spray 3.4-Ounces– Cashmere Mist is a bit more understated and refined than is Be Delicious. It’s a great casual fragrance that is light and clean, with floral notes and a hint of vanilla.

Cashmere Mist EDP gives you a warm opening where the vanilla begins to waft through the composition. What’s noticeable, is the embrace of the amber note, with a smooth and familiar suede note.

Further along, it becomes a lighter floral with jasmine and lily, sitting among the musk. This is all on top of a base of sandalwood. Not too heavy of a fragrance, but one that is an excellent choice for a daily wear.

The Apple Alternative

Donna Karan Be Delicious Eau So Intense Women Eau De Parfum Spray, 3.4 Ounce– A different take on the Be Delicious concept. This one has more of a spiciness to it while still remaining clean, warm, and feminine. Still has the apple and grapefruit notes along with rose, lily of the valley and sandalwood.

Eau So Intense opens with that same apple note, paired with a bit of grapefruit, and a floral accord led by magnolia. It’s fresh and not as sweet but has a somewhat sour scent, as the original, but with a bolder sillage and performance overall.

Still, this one dries down more moderate, than intense. The apple is the star but violet, magnolia, and lily help to mix things up and give it appeal.

Best Newer Perfume

Be Extra Delicious– Be Extra Delicious is a nice change of pace, while still sticking to the theme of the line. With this perfume, you’ll be getting more pear than apple. Fresh, sugary, with a slight watery element provided by the freesia note.

The apple note smells like its still there, but it’s more of a general fruitiness joined by caramel and the aforementioned pear note. It’s upbeat and sparkling with a warm gourmand heart.

Gardenia and freesia give this one its floral touches. However, it is much more about the fruit notes and caramel. Definitely a sweet one, dessert quality, if that’s your thing.

Herbal Verbena and Peony

Donna Karan pureDKNY Verbena, 100ml/3.4 oz.– Not an overwhelming scent, rather, a citrus blend that is subtle and memorable. A good addition for the late spring and summer months.

Lemon verbena is the star of the show, giving you that gorgeous citrus aroma, that so often gets paired with other floral notes. Here it is going to be peony, mainly. However, pureDKNY Verbena, has a very interesting addition of seaweed as an ingredient.

This sits underneath to provide the perfume with an intriguing scent, but the basil comes into to play off the verbena. Greenish herbal spice. This one is really fresh and gives women a rather unique option, while still maintaining a sense that it’s been done before.

5 Best Sarah Jessica Parker Perfumes

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Sarah Jessica Parker has been a well known actress for decades now. She also happens to have her own line of fragrances for women, which have become quite successful in their own right. These scents are not the expensive design fair that price many people out of the perfume market. SJP’s scents are affordable, wearable, and are quite attractive as a whole.

What are the Top SJP Perfumes?

Best Seller

Lovely– The most popular of the perfumes by Sarah Jessica Parker. It is a mature and moderate scent with notes of musk and apple martini as its main attraction. A great all-around fragrance for everyday wear that is elegant and refined.

It opens up with mostly musk and lavender. This is paired with the apple, mandarin orange, and a nice orchid note. Musk is prevalent throughout, but the patchouli, grows in strength later on. Finally, it’s floral/musky with smooth woods and lavender.

The fragrance is affordable and has good performance, I found it to stick around for 6-7 hours during my testing of it. Does indeed smell similar to Narciso Rodriguez EDP, but a notch below in terms of quality. Lovely Full Review

lovely perfume parker

Fruity Summer Perfume

SJP NYC– Notes of rose, mandarin, honeysuckle, strawberry, rum, and more. SJP NYC is a sweet, fruity, and fun fragrance for those warm days of the year. It is bright, cheerful, and not an overbearing affair. Delicious scent.

NYC starts off with the sweetness pretty strong, for the first hour or so. Strawberry is the main attraction. Then, it will shift to have a more noticeable floral profile, with rum and musky undertones.

The strawberry sticks around, but it isn’t nearly as strong as it once was. Good amount of honeysuckle, which is a plus, if you dig that ingredient.

sjp

Uplifting Lovely

Lovely Sheer– The best of the flanker fragrances from the Lovely perfume lineup. Actually pretty similar to the original, but with its own distinct differences.

Up top, you’re going to get more citrus notes and for a longer lasting time, then with the original Lovely. The apple martini is gone. White floral notes like gardenia and orange blossom are in and to a greater degree.

It has a more energetic feel and the opening is fairly sharp until it settles down. The dry down is clean and musky, but the floral and citrus notes hang around for a long while. Not a massive sillage (sheer), but the longevity is actually great for this price point.

best jessica parker scent

Refreshing Floral Scent

Dawn– Dawn is a very clean floral fragrance with underlying notes of citrus. It’s mostly a soft violet influenced fragrance that is refreshing and crisp. This is a good floral, that is sometimes dewy, and then has a powdery finish.

Underneath the floral and musk notes, this does have a somewhat watery feeling. Orchid and violet leaf, can produce that sort of aroma, in a fragrance.

This is a great subtle daily wear, if you can find a bottle. I think that it’s been discontinued, but bottles, can be picked up online still.

dawn

Woody Gourmand

Covet– Chocolate note with lemon and some florals give Covet a darker and richer mood. The scent has some woodsy notes as well, which help to take the sharpness of the lemon away, and leave something that is smooth and unique.

The opening act can be quite a zesty experience, though, the lavender will prevent it from going too far. But, different people’s skin, will lead to differing effects. The drydown is the highlight of Covet.

This SJP fragrance, becomes creamy and have a luscious almost dessert-like quality. Not super sweet, but the chocolate/lemon pairing with the woods and musk highlights gives you some beautiful moments.

covet

6 Best Smelling Roberto Cavalli Perfumes

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Roberto Cavalli has been a major force in fashion design, dating a far way’s back into the 20th century. Nowadays, the brand is still going strong and has also ventured deep into the world of fragrances, for both men and women.

In this post, I want to focus on the women’s line of perfumes, in order to present six of the best options from that lineup. There were plenty of choices, but in the end, these were the one’s left standing as the greatest of them.

What are the Best Roberto Cavalli Perfumes for Her?

Best Winter Fragrance

ROBERTO CAVALLI Nero Assoluto Eau de Parfum, 2.5 Fl Oz– Nero Assoluto is a very warm fragrance which uses wood notes, mainly sandalwood and ebony, to create a unique and inviting perfume for women. The black bottle that contains the fragrance looks awesome.

The wood notes are prominent but smooth, think wood that’s been refined and not a forest. Sitting on top of this base is the standard vanilla and a very nice orchid note. This one is dark and sexy and can be a go to fragrance for evening wear.

Nero Assoluto is a good wintertime scent, but it isn’t overbearing or heavy. you get the right amount of sweetness that is smoothed out by the base notes.

Desired Gourmand

Deep Desire– Deep Desire is a great fragrance that came out a few years back, but it seemingly already difficult to find and sold out on Cavalli’s site.

This one has notes of orange, tonka bean, bezoin, cacao, and peppercorn. A very warm and sweet gourmand perfume, that has quite a syrupy aroma to it at times. The opening is juicy and somewhat tart with a berry-like aroma coming out of the mandarin mixing with the other notes.

But, that sweetness isn’t completely sugary. The cacao definitely brings a slight bitterness to the mix, as it feels like the unprocessed note instead of refined chocolate. Definitely one to check out, if you can find a bottle and like seductive gourmands.

Most Popular

Roberto Cavalli Eau de Parfum Spray 2.5 oz New Spray– Roberto Cavalli EDP is probably the best selling scent on this list. It is led by orange flower and vanilla. It is a sweet fragrance, but has an underlying smoothness and freshness.

Pink pepper sits underneath and gives it that warm sweet spice and there is an amber enveloping it all. Bold and versatile scent with a sophisticated air about it.

The amber and pink pepper really do give this an undeniable warmth and cozy feeling. The orange blossom is great here and one of my personal favorite floral notes. The dry down does take on a somewhat lotion-like vibe.

The notes would suggest that this would be another winter scent, but it comes across as a spring/summer. It reminds me of L’Homme Parfum Intense, in many ways, just more feminine.

Best Summertime Wear

Roberto Cavalli Exotica EDT Spray for Women, 2.5 Ounce– Exotica lives up to its name by being a blend of tropical fruit (mango) and flowers. All of this resides on a base of smooth/creamy sandalwood.

It’s a very simple fragrance, but one that is deliciously sweet and juicy. Exotica is a very good casual fragrance for summertime to refresh one’s skin.

This isn’t a very well known scent, even for this line, but it’s one of the best. The mango note is great and Exotica gives a good performance for a summer perfume.

Sweet, Woody, Nutty

Roberto Cavalli Just Cavalli Gold– Just Cavalli Gold is a fantastic take on the Just Cavalli name. It features notes such as rosewood and hazelnut to provide that outdoorsy and nutty aroma.

Then, adds rich leather and marshmallow notes to make it really interesting. It is dry, sweet, and warm. Gold kind of morphs into a different smelling scent, during each phase of the wear. Sometimes, more leather.

While other times, it can seem powdery and sweet. A perfect addition to a perfume collection in the colder months of the year.

Lovely Floral Perfume

Just Cavalli Pink by Roberto Cavalli 60ml 2.0oz EDT Spray– Just Cavalli Pink is a change of pace really, from the rest of the perfumes on this list. It is a floral laden scent, with a bouquet of notes including, peony, hibiscus, rose, and lily.

Plus, there is a very nice peach note to give it that fruit infusion. At least at first. Pink is soft, smooth, and with a powdery finish. This is a solid choice for an everyday wear, as it is versatile, and also gives a good performance. A very pretty and clean fragrance.

7 Best Smelling Perfumes by Rihanna

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Rihanna is one of the biggest pop stars in the world and as such also has a fragrance line to take advantage of this fame.  While it is limited in its selection and scope, Rihanna’s line of fragrances do a great job of representing her personality and also smell very good.

For this, list I have chosen the top seven perfumes by Rihanna, and I’ll continue to change and update as needed, when the newer Fenty fragrances are released.

Update: The main line of fragrances seems to be done with. There hasn’t been a new release in many years. Fenty EDP is the only release from that brand thus far, a few years since I’ve update this page. Maybe more will come along, but who knows?

Favorite Perfumes from Rihanna

 

Most Popular Perfume

Reb’L Fleur by Rihanna, 3.4 Ounce, Eau De Parfum Spray– A moderate, feminine scent from Rihanna  that works well for all occasions. It’s a clean fragrance that blends sweet and spice.

Yet, it has a dark juiciness, floral notes, and just an overall sexy feel to it. Hibiscus and some tuberose provide the floral aspect to Reb’l. Though, it’s never all that powerful, within the mix.

Reb’l Fleur is the best selling of these perfumes and for good reason, it smells wonderful. The top is made up of fruits, but you get vanilla and coconut-infused creaminess, underneath it all. These two notes, eventually take over the composition during the dry down.

The peach, berries, and plum are delicious up front and then you get enough patchouli to make it interesting. Notes include: red berries, hibiscus, plum, vanilla, peach and coconut water.

reb'l

Top Summer Fragrance

Crush– Crush is a citrus berry blend, with some light floral/woody highlights. This one is ideal for the warmer months, it is not too heavy, and has a sweet profile. But, with moments that are more toward being tart.

Up top, you get the citrus blend. As it moves forward, ylang-ylang and berries become more prominent. In that opening and transition to the next phase, it really has a nice yellow floral and citrus profile…though, that will fade. 

Towards the end, you get some fresh woods, paired with the berries and some lingering orange from the opening.

Crush has a unique aroma, that is delicious, and put together well. It isn’t a sugary or the run of the mill celebrity perfume. Crush is an absolutely great value pick for summer.

Best Floral Rihanna Perfume

Kiss- Peony, gardenia, and freesia come together along with a somewhat tart plum note to create Kiss by Rihanna.  Up top, the plum really shines along with peony.

However, as you move along, the other floral notes emerge fully. Gardenia is the most noticeable, but you will also pick up on neroli and the freesia.

It is a soft bouquet scent, that never becomes too ‘green’, but keeps a sweet lightness throughout. It is a bit of a floral gourmand with a caramel kind of aroma, but one that doesn’t get heavy and cloying.

Kiss isn’t all that complex, just well blended, and a great deal for the price. The plum and orange blossom note, bring enough fruitiness to keep it from being just another straight floral scent.

Best Bold and Spicy Scent

Rogue By Rihanna Eau de Parfum Spray, 4.2 Ounce– Rogue is a more complex and mature fragrance than the others on the Rihanna line. It is a spicy and outgoing perfume for women that is definitely for the bold.

It is interesting that it shares a few notes with Reb’l Fleur (vanilla, plum, and patchouli), and yet, is such a different scent. The patchouli is a bit heavier, but it is really dominated by a suede note.

Rogue is smooth, fresh, and dries down with a musky powder aroma. The patchouli with the sweeter notes, gives off a bit of a warm baked goods aroma, at times during the wear. 

Notes include: lemon blossom, cyclamen, plum.

rogue

Daily Casual Wear Fragrance

Rihanna Nude Eau de Parfum Spray for Women, 3.4 Ounce– Nude is a great floral/fruity perfume that works well for the spring and summer months of the year. It’s soft and perfect for casual wear.

The fruits have a semi-sweet aroma, with vanilla and orchid, holding them back from becoming overly dominant in the mix. It opens with a clean and somewhat juicy tropical fruit blend with guava leading the way.

I found this one to be quite attractive, I really enjoy the opening act with the blend or guava, orange, and other fruits. Smells similar to some other scents on the market, but this is a nice affordable option.

The orchid is quite noticeable at this stage, as well. The latter stages are more floral, with a bit of musk, to add some depth. Notes include: guava, mandarin orange, pear. My Full Review of Nude 

 

Tropical Vibes

Rihanna Riri Eau De Parfum Spray for Women, 3.4 Fluid Ounce– RiRi is another tropical fruit fragrance, with passion fruit, playing a major role. However, this one is sweeter with a boozy note of rum, which really helps to set it apart.

Also, it’s not really a summertime tropical fragrance, which makes it more interesting in my eyes.

It isn’t an overbearing rum, but lightly there, adding the blend of sweet and spice. Riri has a sugary sweet disposition, with additional notes of mandarin orange, and particularly vanilla.

Simple overall, but with some interesting additions, to the sweetness which make it smell really nice. The vanilla and rum, give it enough to be a moderate to colder weather sort of perfume. The passion fruit brings a fantastic sweetness and makes Riri a joy to wear.

Rihanna’s Luxury Fragrance

Fenty EDP by Fenty– Fenty Eau de Parfum is currently a difficult one to get a hold of. As of posting, it’s sold out everywhere except eBay, it seems. Hopefully, that changes because this is a worthwhile perfume to try.

It starts with a beautiful citrus and blueberry top. Blueberry is all to underutilized in fragrances, but it is great here. The main star is going to be the rose note. It’s soft, musky, with hints of vanilla floating around at times.

Sweet and warm without the heavy or cloying feeling that can come with many scents like this. The geranium and magnolia play well off of the rose note. 

Overall, Fenty EDP is enjoyable and pretty. I will say, that it is probably best to get hold of a decanted sample on eBay or some other source, and test it out for yourself.

The limited supply has pushed prices to insane levels, beyond what this should be priced at, even if it’s a nice perfume.

9 Best Smelling Jimmy Choo Perfumes

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Jimmy Choo has been a huge name in ladies’ footwear for the past few decades. However, in the last decade the brand has expanded itself into fragrances as well, among other things. Nowadays, they have released many perfumes under the banner, and with so many options its time for me to present a list of the best to review.

So, below are a list of the nine top smelling fragrances by Jimmy Choo, thus far. I will update this as needed and more worthwhile additions come to market.

Favorite  Jimmy Choo Fragrances for Women

Top Overall Choo Perfume

JIMMY CHOO Illicit Eau de Parfum Spray, 2.0 Fl Oz– Illict starts off with a blend of honey, orange, and a touch of ginger for a light spice. It is sweet, warm, and citrusy. That is only ramped up with the inclusion of vanilla and amber.

As it dries down, Illict becomes more floral and smooth (jasmine and sandalwood). The sweet start is fairly strong but this Jimmy Choo settles down and becomes a subtle scent for the winter.

Illict does have some limitations to colder to moderate climates, but the scent itself is really quite great. I just would go with something else, if you happen to live in a more tropical region of the planet.

I Want Choo

JIMMY CHOO I Want Choo Eau de Parfum Spray 2.0 ounces, 2 fl. oz.– This came out in 2020, but I recently had a chance to smell it and it certainly is a crowd pleaser. I Want Choo EDP opens up with a juicy citrus and peach mix, with some of its vanilla wafting up from the base.

The opening is a nice fruity sweetness, with the peach being the strongest notable scent from that accord. It’s more or a less a general citrus (orange) aroma beyond that. 

Then, the red lily and mostly jasmine will provide a floral heart. The jasmine actually seems heavier, but Jimmy Choo’s site says the fragrance was built around the lily. Nonetheless, it comes across as sweet and creamy with lighter floral notes.

As a blind buy, this one is simple and inoffensive. I Want Choo shares commonalities with other popular perfumes of the day, but so what? It works well and can be a joy to wear. A pretty, gourmand, white floral perfume.

top choo fragrance

Plum, Vanilla, Floral

JIMMY CHOO FEVER 1.3oz Eau de Parfum Spray– I’m adding Fever to this list, as it’s one that I’ve come to enjoy more and more recently. It is a sweet (but not overly sugary) gourmand floral fragrance. Fever opens up with plum, lychee, and grapefruit.

The tart plum is the strongest of the bunch for me. Fever has a very rich depth and seemingly a lot of different facets, that I pick up during different trials.

Sometimes, the heliotrope feels stronger and Fever takes on a more powdery aroma. Other times, it’s a lot of vanilla and benzoin.

It’s a dark push and pull between jasmine and the heliotrope in the middle act. Finally, the tonka bean and vanilla take over, with the fruity top still lingering.

This has become a top seller over the past few years, has solid performance, and is enjoyable to wear. If you don’t like the sweet scents, it can be too much for some, so maybe skip it.

Most Popular Jimmy Choo Scent

JIMMY CHOO Eau de Parfum Spray, 2.0 fl. oz.– A sweet patchouli fragrance led by pear and then is joined by orchid and toffee. As it dries down, it gets less fruity and the patchouli fully develops into a spicier version of itself.

The patchouli is the main attraction throughout, but up top the pear first takes on the dominant role, with a little touch of orange. From there, the toffee note will gain in strength and become second behind the patchouli.

It actually is a clean and inviting fragrance that offers versatility and nice performance with this EDP edition. Just an absolute joy to wear and be around. Great mass appeal.

It is warm, sweet, with a nice spicy and orchid floral touch in the latter stages. Jimmy Choo EDP has wonderful staying power and a fairly strong sillage.  My Full Review of Jimmy Choo EDP

Want Parfum

I Want Choo Le Parfum– Between this and Forever, I think that this is the better I Want Choo flanker. Forever is pretty dense and powdery in comparison.

I Want Choo Le Parfum is also sweet and fruity up top, like the original. This time, though, we are greeted with a pear note and blackberry.

Gardenia adds to the sweet perception, along with praline in the base. But, it’s not a sweet or juvenile smelling mess of a scent. Nope, we get a fun initial opening act with a spicier and floral finish.

Gardenia, patchouli, moss, jasmine, and the praline really shine. Fruity then fruit-chouli perfume with a dark berry and pear opening and a nice bit of depth to it.

Unique Springtime Fruity Floral Option

Jimmy Choo Flash Perfume For Women 3.4 oz Eau De Parfum Spray– A floral bouquet is joined by that familiar warm spiciness of pink pepper and a juicy strawberry note.

Lily, tuberose, and jasmine are the floral ingredients which form the heart of Flash. Sweet, floral, and a bit of a musky undertone.

Flash has a really nice strawberry note, if you happen to be a fan of that as an ingredient. However, the pink pepper is the standout, and sits perfectly within the composition when the floral notes emerge later on in the dry down.

The perfume doesn’t have any parallels, that I can think of which smell similar to it. Maybe not for everyone, but still ranks as one of the top Jimmy Choo fragrances.

Awesome Fragrance for Winter Wear

Jimmy Choo Stars Perfume for Women 2.0 fl oz Eau de Parfum– Stars has a lot in common with the original Jimmy Choo EDP, mentioned above. However, this adds candied orange to toffee and patchouli. It’s sweet and delicious with less of the patchouli note.

It’s super warm, enveloping, and a great wear for the colder months of the year. Stars also has a bit of orchid and sandalwood sitting underneath it all and adding to the beauty.

It can be a bit hard to find at times (was a limited edition), but if you like the original EDP, this can give you a similar experience with an additional boost of that great sweet orange. They don’t make this one anymore and I haven’t really seen any bottles of late.

 

Great Summer Perfume

JIMMY CHOO Blossom Eau De Parfum, Floral Fruity, 2 fl. oz.– The name would suggest that Blossom is more of a floral scent, but it leans much more towards fruity. Berries, citrus, and raspberry lead the way with rose added for that floral aroma.

So, essentially berries with floral notes supporting throughout.

Note: If you can’t find a bottle of this, Dua has their take on this formula: In Full Bloom.

A pretty straightforward fragrance but with good performance, sillage, and a nice option for summertime. The mix of berries and citrus is very upbeat and will brighten up any day.

Can be sugary at some points during the wear, but it eventually evens out and the raspberry takes a solid hold on the composition.

Awesome Vanilla Perfume

Vanilla Love– Vanilla Love is going to be a great one for those who love a good vanilla fragrance. However, that’s not all there is to it. It kicks off with the spicy punch of black pepper and a nice bit of smokiness coming through, as well.

Then, the vanilla sits on top of a sea of amber and there’s a patchouli note, giving Vanilla Love a further gourmand type of aroma. Finally, there is the total creaminess of vanilla and I’m pretty sure tonka bean is floating around here also. 

Seductive and lively, this Jimmy Choo perfume, isn’t a complete bomb…but the performance isn’t terrible either. Has a pretty thick and creamy wear, though. It just doesn’t have the massive projection and will envelope the wearer instead.