Nude by Rihanna

It seems as if almost every celebrity eventually releases a fragrance or a line of fragrances. With pop stars, it’s pretty much a given that it’s going to happen, and not always successfully. However, Rihanna is one notable exception, who has put out well received perfumes over the years. In this post, I want to do a full review of Nude. What does this fragrance smell like? How does it perform? Is it worth a try?

What does Nude by Rihanna Smell Like?

Notes include: pear, guava, orchid, mandarin orange, gardenia, sandalwood, orange blossom, musk

Click here to try: Rihanna Nude Eau de Parfum Spray for Women, 3.4 Ounce

My Full Review

Nude opens up with a gorgeous array of fruit notes, led by guava, with pear and orange following.  The orange is a blend of mandarin and a rather distinct orange blossom aroma, which will come into play more, later on.

The guava is the real star, up front, and it provides a juicy sweet and tropical sort of smell. The overall fragrance, probably isn’t tropical per se, but the opening act sure feels like its heading that way.

Nonetheless, it starts out as a fruity floral, which will later reverse more into the floral/fruity arena. For me, the start is mostly a guava and pear affair with an emerging gardenia and orange blossom.

As it moves along, I do start to get much more of a floral smell, as I said. It comes in waves. First, is the gardenia and orange blossom. Then, it is more about the vanilla orchid.  When the gardenia comes in, there is a bit of creaminess from the sandalwood, with a hint of vanilla. 

Finally, the dry down is a blend of orchid, guava, sandalwood, musk, and the other floral notes. It is clean and still pretty sweet, but not nearly the same intensity, as the sweetness at the start.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

The sillage isn’t all that heavy, but the initial sweetness, can project itself fairly well. However, I don’t think you’ll bomb out a room, unless you severely over-spray this perfume.

The good news is, that it does leave a nice scent trail and create a fairly substantial scent bubble. For a celebrity perfume, the performance here is actually quite good, if somewhat inconsistent. 

It seems to hit a max of around 7 feet in projection, when I sprayed it on a shirt in my room. It’ll move in closer, but wasn’t ever a skin scent, until the very late stages. 

The longevity is good here, not amazing. On my skin, it’ll hit somewhere in the range of 5-8 hours, at varying strengths. It’s kind of a wide mark, but this Rihanna scent, does linger around.

Seasonally, I cannot really place it exactly. I’d lean more toward the warmer weather, due to the fruits, but it really wouldn’t be terrible in the cold. Trying it outside, on a fairly mild day, it held up well and never felt cloying. 

This perfume does, skew towards the younger set. Like around college age, through the mid-20s. More of a casual or something to wear out and about, rather than, a formal or office type of setting. Nude is attractive, but has a playful vibe about it.

Overall Impression

Do I like this perfume? I really do. Now, some may not care for the sweetness of such a scent, but I like it. I especially like the guava, pear, and orange opening. I think that it’s great.

It’s a fairly simple, clean, upbeat, and fruity celebrity perfume. Nude probably won’t end up being a daily wear, for an older woman, but could very well be for someone younger.  As far as celebrity fragrances go, this is one of the better examples, and it’s pretty hard to go wrong with.

The performance is pretty good, and the value for the price, is quite high. It smells very attractive. Is it completely unique? Not really, but it is distinct enough and highly enjoyable. 

Nude is a perfume that I don’t think has any glaring weaknesses, while also not being the most amazing fragrance out there. That being said, it is worthy of trying out, and safe enough for a blind buy.

Best Men's Colognes

Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with different fragrances, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, I have written hundreds of reviews and other pages about perfumes and colognes.