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With Light Blue’s massive popularity in the perfume space, it was only natural for people to start looking for similar scents. One option that has emerged is Cheap & Chic I Love Love by Moschino, which delivers a similar smell, at a lower price point.
However, which fragrance is actually better? Which has the better performance? Smell? Which should you buy?
Quick Overview
Moschino I Love Love is the overall winner because its citrus opening is brighter, sweeter, and more balanced. Orange leads the way over lemon, grapefruit, redcurrant, and a light sugary touch, creating a cheerful scent that stays simple and easy to enjoy.
Light Blue has the advantage in performance and depth. Its sharp lemon-and-apple opening develops into a more layered blend of rose, florals, cedar, and aquatic freshness.
Light Blue is the stronger performer, but I Love Love wins overall because its cleaner citrus profile is more enjoyable and it is usually available for less.
| Category | D&G Light Blue | Moschino I Love Love | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening | Opens with sharp lemon, crisp apple, light rose, and a juicy aquatic freshness. Attractive and more layered, but also sharper at first. | Starts with orange, lemon, grapefruit, redcurrant, and a light sugary sweetness. Brighter, softer, and more evenly balanced. | I Love Love |
| Projection | Moderate projection with a noticeable scent trail. It remains near its peak strength for slightly longer. | Also projects moderately and stays noticeable without overwhelming a room. Peak strength fades somewhat sooner. | Push |
| Longevity | Can last around 10 hours and easily makes it through a normal workday. Clearly the stronger performer. | Usually lasts around 6–8 hours. Solid for its price, but not as long-lasting as Light Blue. | Light Blue |
| Versatility | Well suited to warm-weather daily wear, casual situations, work, and semi-formal occasions. Not ideal for formal events or nightlife. | Fills essentially the same role as Light Blue, working best for warm-weather daily wear and casual through semi-formal settings. | Push |
| Overall Scent | More complex and nuanced, with lemon, apple, rose, florals, and cedar. The later earthy floral-woody stage is less appealing than the opening. | A simple, bright citrus fragrance with light cinnamon, musk, and restrained woods. Less complex, but cleaner and more enjoyable overall. | I Love Love |
Tale of the Tape
Light Blue
Notes include: rose, apple, musk, lemon, jasmine, and more
Click here to try: Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue By Dolce & Gabbana For Women. Eau De Toilette Spray 3.3 Oz
Read my original review: D&G Light Blue Review
I Love Love
Notes include: orange, lemon, grapefruit, redcurrant, rush, lily of the valley, tea rose, cinnamon leaves, tanaka wood, musk, cedar
Click here to try: I Love Love Cheap and Chic by Moschino for Women 3.4 oz Eau de Toilette Spray
Read my original review: I Love Love
Opening
Light Blue opens up with a sharp lemon note, blended with a crisp apple. It is juicy and has a somewhat aquatic feeling to it. The rose note is lighter in the opening act, but it presents itself, and is noticeable to the overall composition.
I Love Love starts off with a juicy and upbeat citrus mix. At first the orange, is the strongest of the lot, followed by the lemon, and grapefruit. There is also a bit of redcurrant and a sugary pinch, to give this perfume some sweetness.
Which one is better? I actually prefer the Cheap and Chic beginning to the D&G’s. The citrus is more balanced, lighter, and has a sweeter finish to it.
Edge: I Love Love
Projection
Neither of these perfumes has a monster sillage. They will project themselves moderately away from the skin, but nothing that is going to overwhelm a room.
The scent trail will be noticeable and the peak strength of each will last for a few hours at least. I think Light Blue sticks to that higher level for a longer period of time and that may be where an advantage comes in.
To me, there was no real difference between them in this aspect, other than the time each spent there.
Edge: Push
Longevity
I Love Love has pretty good longevity on my skin. It lasts in the 6-8 hour range, pretty consistently. The longevity was never great with this Moschino perfume. Though, for the price, I think you generally get a good deal out of it.
Light Blue, on the other hand, would go for 10 hours. The Dolce is the better performer. It’s always been a really good performing mainstream designer fragrance. Nothing spectacular, but it gets through the workday easily.
Edge: Light Blue
Versatility
Since these two perfumes are pretty much the same type of fragrance, there really isn’t any difference in when they can be worn. Daily wears, that are suited for warmer weather. Good casual scent to semi-formal.
Neither is formal or a nightclub type of wear. Mass appealing fragrances that can find a spot in almost anyone’s rotation and get plenty of use in the process.
Edge: Push
Overall Scent
I like Light Blue. The opening of the lemon, rose, and apple is quite good and is attractive. The performance is definitely better than the Moschino, and it has more depth. The floral notes and the cedar, have a greater presence, and more nuance.
However, I’m not that much of a fan, of its latter stages. The cedar and floral notes, give it an earthy sort of freshness, that is paired with the lemon. I enjoy the citrus, but not so much the other stuff.
I do think it’s one of the better D&G fragrances for women, though. Not the best, but very useful to have on hand in your collection.
I Love Love is pretty straightforward. The citrus is light and beautiful. This is a very happy and bright scent. It doesn’t have the rose note, nor the apple, and the cedar is toned way down.
To me, that’s a plus. There is a light cinnamon and musk, but this perfume really keeps it simple.
The more I compare the two, the more I’d rather smell the Moschino. Plus, I Love Love is usually available for much cheaper. With all things considered, it’s my pick.
Winner: I Love Love
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Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with the different fragrances that I’ve owned, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, that new hobby grew into a consistent passion, helping millions of readers along the way. I have personally test out and written reviews for well over 800 perfumes and colognes for both men and women. This is along with writing hundreds of other in-depth fragrance guides. You can also follow me on: YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok!