Flavorite

I detect a prominent puff of saw dusty or cardboard note followed by a pinch of peppery ginger buffered in a afterthought of soft amber resin and powdery musk. This also has a modern hopeful note threaded through the middle that must be coming from the mandarin and vetiver together. This scent gives me a Professional, smart, Tailored but somber feeling, boosting my inner courage like a early morning brisk walk through Central Park on the way to a cheerless staff meeting on chilly Autumn day. From my tester, the sillage is restrained and hovers about 1-3 inches off my skin with no intention of invading anyone else's personal space. I would describe this as gender neutral and on the right person, totally appropriate for business/day wear on a man, woman, other. Admittedly, is not my kind of fragrance comfort zone, but if you like Diptyque's Vetyverio's use of Rose, powdery musk, Mandarin around a resinous dry wood and spice bundle, you may want to sample this one.

Clean Skin is accurately named from a technical standpoint. light flowery fresh start giving the impression of another in the long list of soapy-clean light sillage economical fragrances currently on the market. The second wave settles into a powdery rendition of a solid women's sports deodorant stick. These are not unpleasant accords, just unexceptional. Lastly, a scratchy sweaty unwashed bit of, let's call it "Egyptian musk-style" musk appears. My hypothesis is that most people might achieve this same experience by 1. Walking through a steamy Women's Locker room at a gym. Or conversely, by showering with any over-the-counter deodorant soap bar, followed by the application of a powdery over-the-counter deodorant stick and then just going for a jog/hot yoga class and not showering again until the next morning. C'est tout!

This was a free gift with my purchase, thank goodness! Demeter has some truly astounding single note essences that capture the soul of the subject in the bottle. Some of the library offerings, such as "Dirt", "Holy Smoke", "Thunderstorm" and the now discontinued "Crust of Bread" are legendary. The beauty of these scents is their excellent mimicry, economy, perfect for blending and layering your own unique scents and their whimsical reach into the human subconscious, delicately teasing out the best of childhood memories, glorious travel adventure fantasies and miscellaneous peculiar fetishes. However, this is sickly synthetic red fruity scent that reminds me of Red Zinger hibiscus tea blended with Cherry Jolly Rancher or Cherry Kool-Aid mix and Tuscan Blood Orange by Pacifica. The notes I perceive are hibiscus- juicy blood orange and a synth-strawberry-cherry complex. My Red Roibos tea has never smelled anything like this, fortunately. The intensity of cutie-fruitiness on this makes it difficult for me to image where or why I would need this scent as it is being done in so many better more refined and/or interesting formulations. I would rename this one "Red Popsicle". I should mention as a side note, this is also slightly headache inducing. On the brightside, this has light sillage and poor longevity.

I have a jar which holds the most delicious, luscious decadent light green hand cream I've ever purchased. It is Laura Mercier's Crème de Pistache and when I open this jar- usually during the Winter Months inhale deeply and my mouth waters. Logically, I know this is not edible, but my nose sends that "yummy alert" message. The second inhalation is still pleasing, yet perhaps a little voice starts to say "Whoa...ease up on that for a second". The third inhalation is typically the last and that point my nose has sent the follow-up message "Sorry folks...false alarm- not pistachio ice cream." Several times I have exuberantly slathered this crème on my freshly showered warm skin thinking, "Oh, who will possibly be able to resist? Some one will surely gobble me up before dawn, but it will be worth it!" only to run back to the shower within two hour for a complete redo... always annoyed with myself for putting on that incessant nutty cherry smell; delectable at first and then relentlessly gourmand and trite. Well, I also tried to purchase the matching eau de parfum from Laura M. for layering years ago and returned it as it was not a match at all for the cream and also was putrid. For years I thought wistfully, if I can just get the layering correct and go all in- this will be the most unusual and memorable winter scent ever. I have now concluded that the whole concept of smelling like pistachio ice cream is a daunting task, best left for Sugar Plum Fairies and Santa's Elves, however, if you find the need and you want to go right for the spot-on olfactory memory of a big green cream scoop of nutty Amaretto cherry and crunchy pistachio heaven, this will do the job nicely. As with most Demeter single note scents, longevity is poor but the initial silage and realism of the scent will blow your mind!

This is not a complex scent. Truly, if you are looking for a lighter scent with about 4-6 hours of longevity and low-medium sillage that is innocent, fresh and fun- this should be tested. It is very specifically centered around Tangerines- not oranges, not bitter orange rinds, not lemons...those little easy to peel, juicy bite size tangerines that come in crates- tempting you to eat the whole crate- because "what the heck, they are fat free!" (Spoiler alert: don't eat the whole crate at once unless you want to be sick). Too much of anything is just too much. Over apply this and you will notice a slightly synthetic-dry cleaning note in the middle- par for the course with The Body Shop and my nose. Satsuma walks that fine line between too sweet (for my taste) and juicy fruity fresh, I've had this in my travel bag for over a year, I wear it occasionally, but forget about it when it is out of sight. I love this on certain days- especially while traveling for work when nerves are frayed and minds are weary...this is very uplifting and uncomplicated. It gives you a feeling of simple cheery hope and asks for nothing in return. There is a little clean musky base, but not noticeable unless you sit and contemplate the scent for a few hours. If you wear this around others- they will simply register that you smelled "nice"- without registering any effort. When I compare this to my other citrusy scent by Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange",Satsuma is much more syrupy like the difference between "Tang orange flavored drink" and real fresh pressed orange-tangerine juice. Satsuma is a good recommendation for a 16 year old girl gift, but also appropriate for a 65 year old woman daily-going to the grocery shop kind of scent. The first and second impressions are very simply, Juicy tangerines, childlike happiness and all that is sweet in the world.