Njdeb

I really don't get much juniper from this. Oddly, what I do pick up is the distinct smell of Juicy Fruit gum. Whatever juniper is in here really takes a backseat to this sort of mixed-fruit smell.

While I've been impressed with how Pacifica does floral and fruity smells, the woody scents just don't seem that woody to me. Some sort of fruit always seems to be the dominant note.

On the other hand, I got Avalon Juniper as part of a set of 9 solid perfumes for $45US. For $5, I really can't complain.

This is so bad that it makes me wonder if my sample has turned. What I get is hairspray, straight-up hairspray. Honestly, I don't even want to rate this since I can't image someone liking what I smell, and yet people do apparently like this perfume, even a lot. I will be interested to see, once there are more reviews posted, if anyone experiences what I have.

For reference, I sampled the EDT which was hand decanted by someone who is familiar with perfume and someone I would expect to have noticed if the perfume had gone bad. Really puzzling.

Orange Star starts off with the fresh, sweet/tart smell of mandarin. Like the essential oils of the bitter and blood orange, the orange in Orange Star has a warmer, richer and slightly more spicy/floral feel to it than the more common "sweet" orange. I also feel like I am not only smelling the juice of the fruit in this perfume, but also a bit of the orange tree's leaves and green wood.

This is not a light eau de cologne-type citrus scent, but a more substantial "perfumy" interpretation. Of course, the scent of orange blossom is a natural accompaniment to the fruity mandarin note and I find the amber base to mesh well with fruit's delicate warmth and spiciness.

Unfortunately, this perfume becomes much soapier as time goes on and the natural orange top note disipates (as citrus top notes tend to do). At about the ten or fifteen minute mark, this perfume really starts to smell like an orange/orange flower scented laundry soap on my skin. In fact, I was wearing this in the car with my daughter and her friend, and they both said I smelled like a soap and candle store (out of the mouths of babes..)

I'm not saying Orange Star smells bad per se. But I really think I could have gotten the same effect by layering some Clean Fresh Laundry with some Pacifica Blood Orange for a lot less money. Too bad, I do appreciate a perfumer taking an atypical approach to a citrus-based scent. Just didn't work for me.

I always find it difficult to write a review of a scent that prominently features a note I don't care for. I don't want to knock a perfume just because that note and I don't get on well. Such is the case with incense and me. Try as I might to like it, I just don't. I can appreciate it's role as a perfume ingredient, but the smell does not appeal to me. There is this musty camphor-like aspect to it that turns me off. Nevertheless, I don't want to rule out the possibility that maybe, just maybe, there is an incense prominent perfume I could like.

And so I approach Incense Rose, a perfume I've heard many good things about. At first spray, I think, 'Oh I do not like this at all.' It strikes me as very medicinal and I have the fleeting thought that I might have to scrub it off (something I rarely do). Luckily, this camphorous, almost sickly sweet and medicinal smell softens and a green/woody and deep rose smell emerges. This is a lovely, realistic red rose smell (albeit fairly faint). There is also something very intriguing about how this dark rose plays hide and seek with the incense.

I wait a bit longer and the scent settles into something a bit more powdery and woody (think Guerlain's Vol de Nuit). Still, this is an incense heavy scent, and the distinct smell of incense persists throughout the life of the scent. (Btw, I also wore this to bed, and smelled in on my sheets the next day. It was less incense and more spicy rose, woods and amber. Now that I like. Maybe if I sprayed it on my clothes...)

I wish I could say that, yes, I have found it, an incense I love. It isn't, but you know what, the artistry in this perfume is evident as is the superb quality of the ingredients. If you are a fan of incense, this could very well make you swoon.

Could it be that a fragrance marketed to men ends up being my favorite of the Lolita Lempickas? Well yes, I think it could. This is just a delightful and unique fragrance, and one that could very easily be worn by a woman or a man. In fact, if I didn't know how it was marketed, I would have taken Au Masculin for a unisex or even feminine scent.

There are distinct layers to this fragrance. The beginning offers a really yummy blast of sweet candy licorice with a hint of violet. Of course, a violet/licorice accord is the trademark of the Lolita Lempicka series. Here, though, instead of going the incense route as does the feminine, Au Masculin takes a fresh green turn. I love how the basil nicely augments the licorice/aniseseed with it's own anisic quality, as well as lending it's distinctive herbal green aroma. Then comes the ivy, which I think gives this scent a dewy green quality. I love this combination of top notes and find it quite magical.

The middle phase is woodier, with cedar being the dominant note to my nose. I find this phase, while certainly still good, to be the least interesting of the three and as well as the most stereotypically masculine.

Unexpectedly, the middle woodiness dissipates fairly quickly, leaving the base with a clearly gourmand character. This phase is definitely on the sweet side, but not overly so. I find the vetiver a welcome addition, as I believe it works to mitigate the sweetness of the vanilla and praline. In fact, this could be the best use of a praline note I've encountered - not sticky-sweet or gooey, just cozy and enticing. The drydown here is truly cuddle-worthy.

Lolita Lempicka Au Masculine is a scent that doesn't smell like anything else I've encountered. As others have mentioned, it really does have a sort of ethereal, magical quality. I feel that it would be a great choice for a man OR a woman looking for a unique, not too heavy, not too sweet gourmand.