Top Notes 
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Base Notes 
10/10/2023
Exciter76
78 Reviews
Exciter76
2
Tropical, But Make It Ginger Chews And Corn Syrup
Originally reviewed on February 28, 2012:
I bought this one completely, utterly, totally blind. I did not have a smart phone on which to confer with Fragrantica when I bought this. My criteria for bringing this home were (a.) it had a tropical name, thus, it must be a tropical scent and (b.) it was an Estee Lauder fragrance. I’ll buy a fragrance blindly so long as it alludes to being tropical. It isn’t really a very good litmus test but alas, I still employ it.
Bali Dream is a satisfying tropical fragrance but its tropical nature isn’t immediately apparent upon first spray. It starts out syrupy sweet and gingery. Nice but not exactly the kind of tropical I had in mind. That was my second mistake (the first being blind-buying scents based on the word ‘tropical’)—there are more tropical environments besides the obvious coconuts-and-fruit-salad ones I had envisioned. [Redacted online user] once mentioned a trip to Bali and the scents of the land itself, not the beaches. Once I read that I realized this was a uniquely exotic trip to Bali, not a seaside seat on a generic tropical beach. Thanks to [redacted online user] I had a new appreciation for this scent.
The syrupy sweet ginger quickly gives way to a fizzy-with-a-kick ginger ale that is refreshing and cool. About a half hour later the scent of orchid unfolds and stays consistently lovely for the entire ride. Anyone smitten with BBW’s Enchanted Orchid will fall in love with this fragrance. The sillage tastefully trails with medium strength and the fragrance last for quite a long time, staying even post-shower. I love most Estee Lauder creations, this one being no exception, but this one is different from the average EL creation. This one seems to be more carefree and untraditional, like Beyond Paradise’s eccentric little sister. It is completely enjoyable!
It's October 10, 2023 and I have a better grasp of the meaning of the word 'tropical':
Yes, I've since learned that 'tropical' doesn't always mean something coconutty and gourmand and 'holiday' is another word for 'vacation' (forgive me, I'm an American). Bali Dream was an education for me. There were elements of other familiar Estee Lauder perfumes—namely Sensuous Nude and Beyond Paradíse, something sweet, woody, and floral—thrown in the mix. In the end, it was too sweet. I think I also had Mambo Eau de Parfum, which was a tamer, drier ginger; I preferred the less saccharine ginger root of Mambo Eau de Parfum to the ginger chews of Bali Dream. This had unmistakable Estee Lauder DNA but it wasn't enough for me to keep it.
I bought this one completely, utterly, totally blind. I did not have a smart phone on which to confer with Fragrantica when I bought this. My criteria for bringing this home were (a.) it had a tropical name, thus, it must be a tropical scent and (b.) it was an Estee Lauder fragrance. I’ll buy a fragrance blindly so long as it alludes to being tropical. It isn’t really a very good litmus test but alas, I still employ it.
Bali Dream is a satisfying tropical fragrance but its tropical nature isn’t immediately apparent upon first spray. It starts out syrupy sweet and gingery. Nice but not exactly the kind of tropical I had in mind. That was my second mistake (the first being blind-buying scents based on the word ‘tropical’)—there are more tropical environments besides the obvious coconuts-and-fruit-salad ones I had envisioned. [Redacted online user] once mentioned a trip to Bali and the scents of the land itself, not the beaches. Once I read that I realized this was a uniquely exotic trip to Bali, not a seaside seat on a generic tropical beach. Thanks to [redacted online user] I had a new appreciation for this scent.
The syrupy sweet ginger quickly gives way to a fizzy-with-a-kick ginger ale that is refreshing and cool. About a half hour later the scent of orchid unfolds and stays consistently lovely for the entire ride. Anyone smitten with BBW’s Enchanted Orchid will fall in love with this fragrance. The sillage tastefully trails with medium strength and the fragrance last for quite a long time, staying even post-shower. I love most Estee Lauder creations, this one being no exception, but this one is different from the average EL creation. This one seems to be more carefree and untraditional, like Beyond Paradise’s eccentric little sister. It is completely enjoyable!
It's October 10, 2023 and I have a better grasp of the meaning of the word 'tropical':
Yes, I've since learned that 'tropical' doesn't always mean something coconutty and gourmand and 'holiday' is another word for 'vacation' (forgive me, I'm an American). Bali Dream was an education for me. There were elements of other familiar Estee Lauder perfumes—namely Sensuous Nude and Beyond Paradíse, something sweet, woody, and floral—thrown in the mix. In the end, it was too sweet. I think I also had Mambo Eau de Parfum, which was a tamer, drier ginger; I preferred the less saccharine ginger root of Mambo Eau de Parfum to the ginger chews of Bali Dream. This had unmistakable Estee Lauder DNA but it wasn't enough for me to keep it.
