God is a Woman by Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande’s perfume line has been growing steadily with new releases in the past year or so. Here in 2021, God is a Woman has been brought to market, along with a few others. Since I’m making my way through full reviews of Ariana’s fragrances, I grabbed a decant of this one, as I hadn’t actually smelled it before. How does it smell? Perform? Is it worth a buy?

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God is a Woman Perfume Overview

Notes include: juicy pear, ambrette, orris, Turkish rose, cedar, vanilla

Buy it from Ulta: God is a Woman by Ariana Grande

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My Full Review

Here’s how the scent is described: Empowered. Breathtaking. Natural. A breath of fresh air for the senses.

The advert for God is a Woman:

God is a Woman starts off with the juicy pear note, really shining through. It is basically the same one that is found in Thank U, Next; just this time it is paired with a mellowing ambrette instead of the coconut and raspberry mix.

It’s a juicy fruit aroma with a musky clean and some additional freshness coming from the cedar note, in the base. The muskiness from the ambrette isn’t overwhelming at all and is tempered from taking over by the rose and orris root notes.

The orris does add that slight powdery smell to God is a Woman, but it’s limited in both its size and scope.

The next phase to my nose, is when the rose shows up. It’s a seemingly brief appearance at the top of the ticket, but it is there. For some time, it actually smells like the second strongest note to me.  Mostly, the floral aromas are going to play third or forth fiddle in the composition.

God is a Woman isn’t a very complex scent. You pretty much know what you’re going to get for the rest of the wear, an hour or two in.

The pear is dominant throughout. The musky ambrette and cedar provide the secondary freshness. A light vanilla note for a bit of creamy sweetness.

This one isn’t heavy the juiciness and freshness give it a semi-aquatic wateriness, which keeps God is a Woman light and enjoyable.

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Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Sillage wise, this isn’t a powerhouse. It does stick close to the skin for most of the wear, but the performance issues that I’ve seen people talking about are overblown. At least on me.

After the initial sprays, it will have nice radius of fragrance. This will quickly move in and stick to around 2-3 feet from the wearer. Testing it out on t-shirts and I get the same results. It’s a softer scent, though, not weak.

The longevity is a bit better than the sillage. I get it to stick around for just over 7 hours on my skin. Now, that last hour or so…is a skin scent. Yet, it is still there and this Ariana Grande perfume didn’t just vanish after a few hours.

Seasonally, this will be best in the spring and summer months. However, it wouldn’t feel out of place elsewhere. I wore it outside in the mid-50s Fahrenheit and it actually hung beautifully in the crispy air.

This is one of Ariana Grande’s most versatile perfumes that she has released. Previous releases have been too sweet or too youthful for many women to full enjoy. This one has the sweetness without it being overwhelming.

It’s got a fairly candy-like pear note, plus vanilla, but it doesn’t run wild with the sugary qualities. God is a Woman stays clean and doesn’t have a heaviness that many gourmands get.

This is a good daily wear. Still probably not a formal fragrance, but you could wear it in a wide variety of scenarios. It’s attractive, not a sexy night club beast. The pear note is a nice draw, though.

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Overall Impressions of God is a Woman

Overall, do I like this perfume. I do. It’s an attractive fruity/musky/floral scent that is versatile and has a fairly unique smell (even if it has a similar structure to others).

I like that the pear note got a chance to shine by itself, after being used in another (1, at least) Ariana perfume. It’s juicy and very sweet with a nice wrapping from the vanilla. It has the powdery/creaminess with the vanilla and orris, but those qualities stick in the background.

You’re going to get a fresh heavily fruity weighted fruity/floral. Actually, more of a fruity/musk perfume with floral highlights and a woodsy cedar base.

God is a Woman does have a lighter, somewhat sheer sillage to it. Still, I think people have been unfair in the performance criticisms. For me, it performs just fine. It’s not a bomb or a marathon performer. 7 hours is good enough for what this is.

This Ariana scent offers a change of pace and some more maturity versus other fragrances, released earlier in the catalogue.

Is it a must have? Probably not for most people. But it would absolutely be enjoyable for a wide range of people. This does have mass appeal, in a subtle and easy to wear way.

The percentage of early negative reviews have kind of skewed the perception of this perfume, it’s not bad at all. It’s good to very good, depending on your enjoyment of pear. Worth trying.