Terre d’Hermes Eau Intense Vetiver by Hermes

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Eau Intense Vetiver is a Terre d’Hermes flanker fragrance that was released back in 2018. I’ve thought it was the best of the line, back when I originally tried it, and I recently bought a sample to try and confirm that opinion. I’ve been testing Intense Vetiver out for a full review, as of late. How does it smell? Does it last long? Is it worth a try?

What does Terre d’Hermes Eau Intense Vetiver Smell Like?

Notes include: bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, Sichuan pepper, vetiver, geranium, amberwood, patchouli, olibanum

Click here to try: Eau Intense Vetiver

My Full Review

A nice mix of citrus, but not as noticeable as in the original or Tres Fraiche. It’s a balance between grapefruit, lemon, and bergamot. Not orange like the others in the series, but it actually still seems to have an orangey aroma, at times.

That citrus top is blended with the geranium note and the already peaking through star of the show, vetiver. Fresh and a minty sort of geranium as found in Tres Fraiche.

You also do get that peppery kick pretty early on. The citrus notes will already start backing off in favor of the woodsier notes and the Sichuan pepper.

For me, it’s after about 15 minutes and this one smells like a clean and peppery woods cologne, with an old school style to it. Very crisp and cooling.

The citrus doesn’t fade away completely per se, it just sort of adds a further brightness to the feeling of this one. Eventually, it becomes less peppery, you get more wood, and a touch of olibanum smoke.

But really, this is a big hefty dose of vetiver. Vetiver with a refreshing additional woodsy style, built more for the warmer weather. Not super complex with its composition.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

The opening hour has a good reach with its projection. It’s not a fragrance that feels heavy, substantial enough to leave a trail in your wake, and not a light mist around you. Above average with its sillage and doesn’t evaporate quickly into a skin scent.

On my skin, Intense Vetiver lasted just over 7 hours. Maybe, 7.5. It’s pretty solid with the performance, not a marathon wear or complete beast. Though, it basically gives you what you’d need from it.

This is one of the Terre d’Hermes flankers that works well in the cooler weather. I’d stick to this autumn through early springtime. I tried it out in the summer heat on day, wasn’t great, took on a slightly weird smell.

This is one that you can wear casually or as a daily wear to the office. Intense Vetiver is going to be mostly a daytime fragrance. Not a sexy nightlife beast or one that’s super formal (though, it’s fine when dressed up). It’s clean and fresh, not too much of an attention grabber.

Overall Impressions of Eau Intense Vetiver

Overall, do I like Intense Vetiver? Yes. I’m not in love with any of the Terre d’Hermes fragrances, but I think that this is my favorite of the bunch. Was never the one that I would’ve picked out based on the notes alone, but it’s quite good.

I think that Eau Intense Vetiver has a nice balance in the notes, until the vetiver fully emerges. Even, if it’s not my favorite note ever, it all works well in conjunction with everything else.

Yet, this is one of the best Hermes fragrances for men, even as a flanker of the brand’s most popular release.

You get a light citrus, smokiness, earthiness, woods all wrapped up in a classic styling. Others in the series have been too sharp with the citrus or even too much of the earthy/dirtiness. This has a more even distribution.

If you liked the original Terre d’Hermes, you’ll almost certainly enjoy this one too. There are better vetiver colognes out there, but I think this is a very nice example, that has enough depth and other notes to make it not be a one tone fragrance.

Soleil Blanc vs Virgin Island Water Comparison

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In this post, I want to do a comparison between to popular unisex summertime fragrances, Virgin Island Water vs. Soleil Blanc. Now, these two perfumes get compared to one another a whole lot, but are they actually that similar? Which one is better? Creed or the Tom Ford release? As usual, I will compare them in different ways, and declare a winner. Plus, I have linked to my individual reviews of each below.

Tale of the Tape: VIW vs. Soleil Blanc

Virgin Island Water

Notes include: bergamot, lime, rum, sugar cane, coconut, ylang-ylang, and ginger

Click here to try: Creed Virgin Island Water by Creed for Unisex – 4 oz Millesime Spray

Read my Original VIW Review

Soleil Blanc

Notes include: coconut, bergamot, pink pepper, ylang ylang, cardamom, pistachio, jasmine, tonka bean, amber, benzoin, tuberose

Click here to try: Tom Ford Private Blend Soleil Blanc Eau De Parfum Spray for Unisex 3.4 Oz / 100ml

Read my review: Soleil Blanc

Opening

Virgin Island Water starts off with lime, coconut, and bergamot. This is my favorite part of the fragrance, when it is so tropical and juicy, at the top. I really enjoy how the citrus and coconut play off of one another.

Coming back to it after a while, the opening of VIW is truly great. Very beachy and delightful.

Soleil Blanc has a similar start, it is coconut and bergamot, but is flanked by floral notes including tuberose. It then, shifts toward including pink pepper and cardamom, and other floral scents.

Which is better? I prefer VIW, as it is less floral, and more of just that pure tropical juice that I like. Soleil also has that kind of start but the tuberose, distracts from it somewhat.

Edge: VIW

Projection

Neither scent has huge sillage. VIW is pretty moderate and gets lighter, as the wear moves on. I’d say that the Tom Ford perfume, is stronger and more consistently projecting itself throughout.

Edge: Soleil Blanc

Longevity

Virgin Island Water, lasts for 4-6 hours on my skin. It’s pretty disappointing, not useless, but not as good as it should be. It’s among the worst performing Creed fragrances, in my experience.

Meanwhile, Soleil Blanc will lasts for over 10 hours for me. It is a performer and won’t quit early. Really top notch.

I’ve tested VIW many times and it simply never sticks around on my skin for any great length of time. Blanc, crushes it.

Edge: Soleil

Versatility

So, do these scents occupy the same space? Sort of. They are both listed as unisex, but honestly, Soleil Blanc is pretty much a women’s perfume. VIW can be worn by either gender, much more universally.

However, both of these fragrances are spring/summer wears, mostly. VIW is much more of a casual fragrance.

Whereas, Soleil Blanc can venture into an office environment, for women at least. It’s tough to see a clear winner here, because of the nature of the fragrances, but I’ll say their about equal.

Edge: Push

Overall Scent

Which fragrance smells better? When I get down to it, I like Soleil Blanc more than the Creed. It is smooth, creamy, with tropical notes and a spicy undertone.

The start of VIW is better, but not by much, and that’s the best part. Soleil, on the other hand, gets better as it goes along and has more depth. Virgin Island Water isn’t one that I particularly enjoy, once the opening act has burned off. It’s fine, but Soleil is much better to me.

Each has that beachy suntan lotion aroma. VIW has it in a more prevalent way and has the boozy rum note added. Soleil is more floral and feminine.

I like Soleil, but I can’t wear it really, as it is much too feminine for me. It’s great, though. One of my favorite Tom Ford scents for women.

So, I’d say most guys should go with VIW (if you must have one of them). Women, go with Soleil Blanc, unless you really don’t like the floral notes.

Winner: Soleil Blanc

Terre d’Hermes Eau Tres Fraiche by Hermes

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Eau Tres Fraiche is a Terre d’Hermes flanker that was released in 2014. This was one of the variants of the original cologne, that I wanted to test out, as it sounded like something that I might like. I recently bought a sample of Eau Tres Fraiche for review. How does it smell? Does it last long? Is it worth a try?

What does Terre D’Hermes Eau Tres Fraiche Smell Like?

Notes include: orange, citrus, water notes, geranium, cedar, patchouli, woods

My Full Review

Hermes’ tag-line: From the Earth springs a new freshness

Tres Fraiche kicks things off with an initial blast of the orange note and sharp citruses. The orange actually smells less like the fruit itself and more of a rind, to my nose.

The other citrus notes are more of a generic sort of aroma. But, they do really pack a punch. Light and clean, just sharp.

Underneath it, has a greenish/woodsy aroma. Fresh quite mint-like geranium. All of this combined into a watery base. There’s a definite spiciness here, especially in the early stages.

The citrus will thankfully begin to receded somewhat as it moves into the middle act. Once it does, the cedar and patchouli emerge and the earthy aspects to the fragrance are more apparent.

However, to me the citrus still hasn’t burned off enough at this point. Yes, it does have that extremely fresh cooling sensation when all put together, but it’s pretty irritating and has a distinct earthy/dirty accord, at this stage.

Once more of the citrus burns off, this is a better scent. I wouldn’t have thought that would be the case before testing it out, but, the woods taking control really improves Tres Fraiche’s likeability.

The dry woodiness aspect has a heavier weighting, while the earthiness isn’t as pronounced. It’s like a cedar clean soaking in orange water. Nice and refreshing for summer.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

This one actually does start off projecting very well. It’s not a heavy scent obviously, but it’s got some reach at 6+ feet from where you spray.

That does wear off pretty quickly, though. For the rest of the wear past maybe 30 minutes, it’ll be within three feet, if not much closer. Not terrible, just not consistently strong.

On my skin, it lasts maybe 6-6.5 hours maximum. Even with that, the last few hours a pretty much skin scent territory. It’s slightly above average in its longevity, not much beyond that.

For a summer fragrance of this sort, it’s good enough.

Seasonally, spring and summertime. It’s something to wear during the daytime in the heat, when you want a refreshing feeling. It does give you that, at least. It can work casually or just as a daily wear during the hottest parts of the year.

Overall Impressions of Eau Tres Fraiche

Overall, do I like this scent? Not really. That opening and the next early phase just kills my interest in wearing it.

I’m already not much of a fan of this Terre d’Hermes series (I know, I’m in the minority), but this is one of my least favorite of the line. Based on the notes, I thought that I was really going to enjoy this, but that’s not how it worked out at all.

The dry down is better and much more of a pleasant warm weather wear, but it takes too long to get there, and the journey isn’t worth it for me.

Sharp sort of sour and watery citrus, intense freshness, and a very earthy base…it’s too much.

Fans of this series, will probably enjoy this. So, if that’s you, it’s probably worth a try. Or, if you’re someone who likes a little dirtiness to their scents, here’s a summer option for you.

Eau Tres Fraiche has been discontinued since it was released back in 2014. Those who are interested will have to find it online from a third party discount seller.

10 Best Christian Dior Perfumes for Women

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Christian Dior has been an iconic brand since the start of the 20th century. After Christian Dior, died Yves Saint Laurent took over as head designer at the company before launching his own iconic fashion house. Dior makes beautiful and classy perfumes for women and ones which either fit specific occasions or more broad everyday usage.

For this list, I have selected what I feel are the top choices from their women’s line of perfumes or the unisex options. Keep in mind, some do get discontinued from the main lineup, but are still available at some places.

Also, Dior does change up the formula’s of some perfumes every once in a while, but keeps the same name. So, you might get a different experience depending on which year you get it. I’ve tried to update, as needed.

What Are the Best Smelling Ladies Dior Fragrances?

Bold Best Seller

Hypnotic Poison by Christian Dior for Women 3.4 oz Eau de Toilette Spray
Warm, complex. seductive. This is one sexy fragrance and includes notes of sandalwood, vanilla, musk, almonds, moss, and many more. There are many flankers from the Poison line of perfumes and this is the best of the bunch, in my opinion.

Yes, the others are also very nice too, and should be considered if you don’t want a warm gourmand-like fragrance such as Hypnotic Poison.

The vanilla and almond lead the way and offer a sweet, creamy, and nutty aroma. Sandalwood provides the main support, along with another sweet creamy note, in coconut.

Hypnotic Poison is quite bold and will last all day on one’s skin, without any issue. This is a warm and enveloping scent, so, be careful with over-spraying at the office or such places.

Delicious Dior Privee

Fève Délicieuse– This is a unisex option from Dior’s Privee line of fragrances. I gave the nod to Ambre Nuit in my men’s list of the best Dior colognes, as I think that one would appeal to more men than Feve. But, that’s another awesome choice for ladies.

This one is sweet, warm, and has an awesome tonka bean note. Well, that, along with: caramel, vanilla, cherry, coffee, praline, and chocolate among floral notes. It’s sweet, but it never comes across as a baked goods gourmand, on my skin.

There are powdery qualities, lavender and rose touches, and a rather distinct herbal spiciness in the dry down. This one is kind of different, but feels familiar.

I never tried the older version of Fève Délicieuse, so I’m not entirely sure if it changed a great deal or what. But, this is a great little perfume.

Unique Woody Spiced Perfume

Dune By Christian Dior For Women. Eau De Toilette Spray 3.4 Ounces
A lovely and elegant scent dating back to the early 1990s. It is fresh, sensual, and great for the warmer months.

Dune is dry and woody with sandalwood, rosewood, and amber being the main highlights. There are spiced notes and undertones of vanilla, which keep it sweet.

Dune is a very smooth and a pretty low key scent. It doesn’t have the same intense sillage, as Hypnotic Poison, but is still solid throughout.

This one could be a unisex fragrance, with its woody tones, and serves as a great change of pace from the usual popular fare.

However, there is enough of a feeling of brightness and some great floral additions that keep Dune far enough in the feminine camp. Mostly, it’s about amber, spices, and wood…just tied together in a more complex package. Dune Review

dune

Dark Vanilla Floral

Dior Addict by Christian Dior for Women – 3.4 Ounce EDP Spray
Mandarin, rose, and vanilla give this a sweet oriental aroma that is sure to please. A refreshing, slightly spicy, and feminine perfume. There are of course two versions of Addict, an Eau de Parfum, and EDT.

The EDP is more of the vanilla note, leading the way, within the composition. It doesn’t have the jasmine, of the EDT version.

The EDT is much more floral than the EDP, which is more focused on the vanilla note. The EDT opens up with jasmine and mandarin orange being the most noticeable ingredients. It’s clean and has a soapy quality.

The mandarin isn’t a juicy sort of scent, it’s not fully ripe, and has green edge to it. The composition comes across as fairly dry.

Then, the vanilla and sandalwood notes come out later., but play a background role. The performance is quite good, and Addict EDT, is versatile.

I’ve linked the EDP version above, as that is the more popular of the two, and smells better to me. My full review of the EDT version: Dior Addict Review

addict

The Fun and Youthful Poison Girl

Poison Girl Unexpected– Yes, Poison Girl has been the more popular pick. However, I enjoyed this flanker to a greater extent than the original. Update: I think this is discontinued now. I wouldn’t overpay for it, but grab a bottle if it’s reasonable.

Poison Girl Unexpected kicks things off with a pair of citrus fruit notes: lemon and blood orange. These a paired with tonka bean, vanilla, and ginger. It has a creamy and candy-like smell, with an additional saltiness provided by the ginger note.

What’s great about this, is how it transitions. Damascus Rose and ginger become the leaders and an almond/hazelnut blend gives this a nice underlying nuttiness.

Sweet, but not annoyingly so, and a really nice creaminess and overall performance. Poison Girl Unexpected Full Review

Sweet Honey, Fruit, Tobacco

Tobacolor by Dior– This is another unisex wear from the La Collection Privee. Tobacolor is a very sweet, warm, smoky, and rich perfume.

It is led by notes of plum and peach up top. Warm, ambery, thick with honey, almost like a jam.  The sweetness and smoky aspects here can pack quite a punch, early on, but Tobacolor will settle down…while retaining that essence.

As it dries down, the aroma actually does get drier. Dried fruits, cured tobacco, some spice, that smoke, and all wrapped up in the amber note. The performance delivers and that sillage stays pretty darn strong, even after the big open.

Warm and Sweet Peaches

Dolce Vita By Christian Dior For Women. Eau De Toilette Spray 3.4 Oz.– Dolce Vita was a 1990s release from Christian Dior. This one is a bit spicy, but not overbearing, while also being warm and sweet. Peach, sandalwood, cinnamon, and cardamom help to create this effect among other notes.

The base is very woody with rosewood to go along with the aforementioned sandalwood note. Layered on top of that is cardamom and cinnamon, which give it the spicy kick and warmth.

Finally, the peach note gives Dolce Vita, its sucrose sweetness. It’s all sort of a modern take on a classic kind of formula. The sandalwood note is really great, when it has its time, within the composition.

dolcevita

Dior Floral/Fruity Perfume

J’adore By Christian Dior For Women. Eau De Parfum Spray 3.4 Ounces
A very popular and great choice for daytime wear. Floral notes including jasmine, freesia, and ylang-ylang blend with slight fruity undertones to create a clean and bright perfume.

The floral notes open up with a bit of a water aroma attached to them. I get lots of ylang-ylang, jasmine, orchid, and freesia.

The rose really never was noticeable to me in this fragrance. While the flowers dominate the fragrance overall, there are fruit notes in here to help balance things out.

Mainly, plum and melon. J’adore is a softer perfume, though, not weak and it will indeed last 8+ hours on one’s skin. This is the type of perfume that has versatility and can serve as an everyday wear for a woman.  Read my full J’adore review

jadore

Ever-Changing, Still Popular

Miss Dior for Women by Dior 3.4 oz EDP Spray– So, Miss Dior EDP is one of the fragrances that keeps being updated. As of writing, the latest is the 2021 edition. See below, for more historical updates to this post.

Anyway, the newer 2021 version is a pinkish coloring highlighted by iris and rose notes. It’s powdery with plenty of vanilla and other sweetness. To me, it doesn’t stray way too much in any direction, Miss Dior remains classy and beautiful…just with a different style.

The dry down is more about the rose and peony than it is the iris. But, with the tonka bean, vanilla, iris, and musk combination this does retain some of its powdery qualities. Peach and apricot are really light, but present in the start of the wear.

Old version: A very feminine and versatile fragrance which feature Natalie Portman in the ads for it. It is a sweet scent for a woman who likes to carry herself with a certain level of class. Notes include: pink jasmine, strawberry sorbet, green mandarin.

Note: Dior has reformulated this perfume and released a newer version in 2017. It’s different now, here is my review on the 2017 update.

missdior

Top Miss Dior Pick

Christian Dior Miss Dior Absolutely Blooming Women’s Eau de Parfum Spray, 3.4 Ounce– This is currently the best Miss Dior perfume that they have released to date. It’s got an opening of pomegranate and raspberry to go along with musk.

Later, the floral notes of peony and rose emerge, with the semi-sharp black currant.

Absolutely Blooming becomes more rose dominated later on, but its not overly so. It works within the blend of fruit notes and musk. The sillage on this one is strong and will last for over 10 hours on the skin.

The fruit notes go from the main attraction, to being a complement, to the floral ingredients that give the scent its name.

Absolutely Blooming is a very good choice for the spring and summertime. It is highly versatile, attractive, and performs well all around. Read my full Review

Purr by Katy Perry

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Katy Perry went the usual pop star route of achieving success in music, then, launching a fragrances line shortly thereafter. She has kept with it over the years, actually releasing several very good scents. One of them, is the subject of today’s review, Purr. What does this one smell like? When should it be worn? Is it worth a try?

What does Purr by Katy Perry Smell Like?

Notes include: apple, gardenia, peach, vanilla, coconut, bamboo, orchid, jasmine, musk, rose

Click here to try: Kate Perry Purr Eau De Parfum Spray for Women, 3.4 Ounce 

My Review

The opening minutes of Purr consists of a lot of the apple note, gardenia, and peach. For me, the peach takes on a stronger role, a short time later. However, at first, it’s more about the apple.

Underneath this is an odd yet somewhat familiar note. It’s the bamboo, which smells a bit off to me in this, but I’ve come across it in other fragrances and it’s close to that experience.

So, the second stage is a peach floral blend. Coconut and vanilla are creeping up also, but still sit behind the gardenia and jasmine. There’s a bit of orchid, though, it doesn’t seem to come through on my skin much.

Finally, what I’m left with for the rest of the wear is a nice juicy peach with creamy coconut and vanilla. All of this sits on a bed of flowers, with some light apple floating around in the composition.

All in all, it doesn’t come across as a complete teenager targeted fragrance. This does have level of maturity to it, but more of a sultry and nighttime kind of fragrance.

Sillage, Longevity, and Versatility

Purr projects itself decently. It’s by no means a bomb, but it hangs around on my skin pretty well. The sillage is moderate, but totally usable.

That’s especially true in the first few hours. After that, it’ll become more of an intimate fragrance, but it actually holds up pretty well

The longevity is also decent. But, for the price, I’d say it’s actually a good performer. It lasts on me for 5-6 hours, with solid sillage. Not amazing, though, completely passable.

If you’ve tried any of the other scents released by this line, Purr is at the same level as the rest of them. Doesn’t exceed expectations.

This Katy Perry perfume does have a great deal of versatility. It’s attractive enough to be worn out at night, while still being light enough to wear in the daytime.

Probably not the best formal fragrance, but as an easy to love casual scent? Absolutely. It’s another one that is fun and sweet.

Seasonally, I’d say it can go year round. Maybe not during summer days, heat and humidity, may very well overrun this fragrance. Ideally, Purr should be worn when its mild to slightly chilly out.

Overall Impression of Purr

Do I like this perfume? Yes. I think it starts off kind of messy, like it’s deciding what it wants to be exactly. However, once it settles down and the peach firmly takes control, it’s a lovely little scent.

Though, I do prefer Meow! a bit more to this, which is another Katy perfume that I tested out during this same timeframe. It’s more vanilla based, but it is better at the start and for the duration.

It’s not the most incredible or super well put together designer perfume. What it is, is a very competent, and pretty scent that you can pick up for super cheap. It’s a celebrity fragrance with some level of personality and distinction.

Great? No. Fun and attractive? Yes. This is absolutely one that you should consider giving a try, if you’re on a budget.