DarkMatter

My daughter wanted a perfume that had both cinnamon and cigarettes. I did a bit of research and thought she might like this. So I bought her a bottle. When she first put it on I was shocked...in a good way! "Oh my god, let me smell that!" I said to her as I got a whiff as she walked by. It smelt so smooth and deep, I just had to have it for myself. So, instead of borrowing her bottle all the time, I bought my own.

What can I say? I am not a lover of cinnamon. Most of the incarnations of this spice in perfume have been far too harsh for my palate. None of the famous cinnamon perfumes have changed my mind, Poison, Opium, Cinnabar to name a few. So I was intrigued by Ms Westwood's creation. I already have three of her perfumes and I adore all three (Anglomania, Naughty Alice and Let it Rock). I had previously owned Boudoir Sin Garden but hadn't been impressed with it, finding it rather boring and generic. Sin Garden is so different from the original Boudoir which is sexy and in your face, but in an alluring and seductive way.

Boudoir is extremely well blended, I can make out the marigold and bergamot slightly in the opening along with the cinnamon and a touch of patchouli. As this warms to my skin it blooms into a smooth, rich slightly sweet tobacco scent. It reminds me of when I drank rum a few years ago when I still smoked cigarettes. There is no rum in this beautiful concoction, but the sweetness of the rum with the tobacco is somehow the memory it evokes. A dark, tobacco filled room in a brothel, brimming with ladies of the night and their various perfumes. At the centre of this scene is the Madame who is the most magnificent in burgundy velvet and a low decolletage. Around her is a cloud of fragrance that is: Boudoir.

I had avoided buying any of the Play line from Givenchy because I assumed, wrongly, that they were just going to be generic fruity/floral creations. My assumption came from the look of the bottle, which I felt was aimed at the teen demographic. I shall say now that I was very wrong and that, although I don't really understand the link between the fragrances and the MP3 player style bottle, these are beautiful and complex perfumes.

I bought this version as I have a penchant for intense, dark fragrances and this delivers! There is a slight vibe of Very Irresistible L'Intense by Givenchy and I get the similarity between Play Intense and La Perla J'aime La Nuit, both of these are favourites of mine too. I had always shied away from perfumes with pepper expecting them to be too harsh, so I am glad I didn't check the notes for this perfume before I bought it.

Play Intense opens with sharp Orange blossom/black pepper medley which quickly settles down getting darker as the patchouli and benzoin deepen. I can't smell much magnolia at all but definitely get the tiare and orchid which stop this being too masculine. The tonka bean rounds the fragrance off beautifully making it smooth and slightly creamy. Overall, I find Play Intense mysterious and gothic, yet elegant and feminine. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys the darker side of perfumes!

I was looking for a perfume that had a strong pomegranate note for spring and summer. I had toyed with the idea of Bvlgari's Omnia Coral, but for some reason Bvlgari's fragrances are never very long lasting on my skin. So I decided on Bright Crystal instead. I tried it today for the first time and was intrigued. I had expected it to be sugary sweet after I read the other reviews here. Baby Doll by YSL is very candy-like to my nose, although it does settle down after a while it still remains very sweet.

Bright Crystal wasn't sugary to my nose at all. The sweetness was of a fresh pomegranate with a slightly tart edge to it. I can see this being perfect for a hot day as there is a cold quality to it, perhaps this is the "frozen accords". I don't have an expert nose by any means and the other floral notes aren't that discernible from each other apart from the Lotus which I definitely smell every so often. After a while it develops a depth which must be due to the amber and musk and it is extremely pleasant as it never loses it's tart pomegranate top note but just blooms into a deeper tart juiciness.

Whereas I can only wear Baby Doll if it's not too hot as it is overly sweet to my nose and I have to be in the mood for something sugary. With Bright Crystal, I can see myself reaching for it on a hot day with as much regularity as for Oui by Lancome or A Scent by Issey Miyake. This is definitely one of my favourite summer fragrances and I'm a very happy bunny!

In the summer or on a warm spring day, I love nothing more than to wear a citrus based perfume. Bergamot is usually crisp and refreshing when the weather is hot. When I first sprayed Fleurs d'Ombre Bergamote onto my skin I could mainly get the bitter orange, which was very sour and sharp. But quite quickly this morphed into a extremely sweet lemon fragrance. I was hoping that the oakmoss or patchouli would give this more depth, but unfortunately it remained extremely linear. The overall impression is of powdered lemon sherbet, very sweet with a slight tang. If there had been more depth to it, I think I would have enjoyed it more, but it became too sweet for me in the warm weather.