Flavorite

Full disclosure: I tested 4 Tom Fords last week within 2 hours. This was the first applied and I was wild for it at the beginning! Springlike magnolia breeze and just a tiny wisp of buttery gardenia, with a gentleness and never overwhelming Earl Grey note. I sensed a dull steady woody backbone, wearing a spicy ginger suit. My initial reaction was "Ummm...creamy, yet fresh...definitely Unisex, easily a 3-season signature scent...sold!" Then as I contemplated the infamous Tom Ford price tags, and let the scent open up on my arm, that cashmere and sandalwood base became louder and more insistent "Hey Girl, Can I have your number?", it began to shout. I felt that sudden sense of annoyance I have experienced with Illuminum's "Bergamot Blossom" and Lubin's "Nuit de Longchamp". None of these are bombastic, cheaply acquired, all are substantial and display masterful work...but as inexplicably as a heartfelt ballad by Michael Bolton, these three scents just get on my nerves, literally. What was happening to my 'Precious' was it a malvolent Sauron in disguise? I wondered on to test TF's "Shanghai Lily" on paper and then gave "Champaca Absolute" a second testing on my other arm. Meanwhile chatting away about fragrance with the SR and how "Neroli Portofino" is my go-to summer fragrance but I can't bare it when it is cold and grey and I am filled with bitter tears...30 minutes flew by like 10. Back to the Venetian Bergamot, now fully warm and fully developed on my arm, I went from Love to definitely not happening in the span of an hour. But you can't knock a guy for trying. The good news is that if you are looking for an effervescent splash of ginger, not unlike Origins "Ginger Essence", to chaperon a dry woody bergamot-centric main event with notes of light fresh magnolia dancing about, this will provide adequate sillage of 6-8 hours, fairly close to the skin and without compromising on quality ingredients. It's perfectly fine really, just not perfect enough for me.

Everything & Nothing No. 10 is probably my favorite scent in this collection, of which, I have now tried all. It may have something to do with my unquenchable craving for fresh citrus and sunshine in my vitamin D. during this dreary soggy depleted, Winter Solstice time frame, but no-matter, 'where ever we find ourselves, that is where we are.' This fragrance is a mood enhancer, easy to wear, uncomplicated but satisfying. The citrus is very orange/tangerine-centric without the bitterness of the pith or rinds and lacking the overt sickening sweetness of candy. Everything % Nothing No.10 is a dead-on ringer for a now defunct, mellow, happy orange body wash from Origins that was replaced by a zestier grapefruit scented product called "Gloom-Away". Compared to some of the other mixtures in this line that are more intriguing, audacious but perhaps not as smoothly executed, this scent is just content and comfortable. The miscellaneous floral notes indicated are Lily-of-the-Valley, soft clean rose, white jasmine and a wispy peony which gives the top a very fresh, breezy feel. The middle warms with a scant trace of white, a delicate golden leaf breakfast tea note and juicy edible orange sections that figuratively squirt tiny beads of fragrance into the air. The sillage on this fragrance is low to moderate, which makes it delightful because it can be a personal skin scent or layered with some of Margot's sweeter, denser or spicier offerings - I recommend "Arsenic No. 17", "Tainted Love No. 62" or "La Vie, La Mort No 90". Longevity on this was sorely lacking, but again, no-matter- the line comes with a complete set of travel sizes, combo roller ball packs, intensely scented hand crèmes and full-size atomizers for a bounty of layering options- so just sit back & relax.

Let them Eat Cake is a fantastic name and a thrilling concept in gourmand scents. However, it falls short of my expectations of being an enticing edible fragrance. Looking at the core notes which are gratefully printed on the bottle, I was mentally preparing to want to eat my own arm off after applying. Seemed to me, this would be a fabulous, uplifting & cozy scent for winter going along with holiday cookies, hot cocoa and visions of sugar plum nymphs dancing in snowy forest scenes. Instead, my initial inhalation produced a scratchy olfactory sensation of a very low quality vanilla musk which gradually sweetened as it warmed on my skin to a powdery, cottony cloud. The net effect after 30 minutes was the impression of warm spun cotton candy drenched in Coty Vanilla musk and extra firm hold hairspray and left outside in a drizzling gray rain storm to produce a soggy stale note in the final dry down. Although the sillage was decent (about 3-inches/7.62 cm radius) for about 4 hours I found this scratchy, cloying and pretentious- like a "birthday cake" scented candle from the dollar store. In this genre, I suggest Demeter's "Birthday Cake" or "Cake Batter" as a reasonable alternative for sweet puffery fluffery.

Mouth watering "Lemonhead" candy on top, causing my mouth to pucker as I sniff my arm. The initial burst gives way to a vibrant electric lemon zest with a spearmint/herbal green twist. This scent is light sillage, not like Pledge lemon oil, more like lemonade/Limonata over ice all shiny and stay simple and citrusy clean. After about 15 minutes I detect a little cosmetic rose note. This dries down to a subtle flowery unsweetened concoction. In summary: Malibu Lemon Blossom is a righteous tasty, albeit brief scent lasting 1-2 hours on me. But I can not protest too much; it is as relaxing as a stroll down Venice Beach after a long plane ride from the gritty and bitter gray urban jungle of New York city. Malibu Lemon Blossom wants you to meditate on the cool seabreeze, sun and the seagulls for awhile, warm you bones and bronze your skin and just be at one with the world. This is a fragrance that just wants to chill, to hang loose and soak up the good vibes while making you feel good, Dude! Everything is gonna be alright, because it comes in a solid and travel roller format for your beach bag- so you can just mellow out and get sand between your toes...its all good!

Last night my father wore this for his birthday party which involved a long drive into the city and back sitting down wind of him and also a hug, which transferred it onto my new sweater...and also it was every wear in the car. After several glasses of wine, oysters on the half shell, Duck L'orange, arugula salad with caprese and tomatoes, double espresso and a delectably smooth plum brandy at our favorite Austrian Restaurant...I nearly barfed inside my own wind shield on the way home...I was sure it was all coming up, and it was the smell of this fragrance driving my nausea on...taunting me, whispering..."how many oysters did you just suck down?" and , "Gee, isn't this a bumpy car ride?". First thing I did was shower...but my husband smelled like it to- a contact " Versace high", if you will. As I sat in the car with my Dad, I wondered why he did not hear my previous recommendation to find a more appealing cologne...over 2 years ago...also I wondered, what in the heck is the problem with this fragrance for me- let me deconstruct for a moment...this is synthetic my Egyptian musk- strongly adhered to the backbone, boldly asserting it's Manly funk...with a plethora of green herbal almost sweet tarragon, lemon and limeness. I do not, i principle dislike any of these notes on their own. but everything about this fragrance screams "I am trying to cover up either the awful smell of the world or the awful smell of the human body. " (that is the end of my psyche eval. on Dad) but really...this is a monster truck sillage of "sure fire" current winners Man-musk, citrus and synthetically derived cedarwood and rosewood---that smells, well, totally synthetic, like a rodenticide of some sort. Versace Man Eau Fraiche gives very little thought on the long-term implications for the rest of the kids buckled in for the long road trip. I thought when I found my own signature scent after nearly 10 years of hunting, my fragrance addition would subside...but no, no...I must take up the gauntlet once again. I am going to start with a couple by Byredo to address the sillage problem, then a couple by Serge Lutens or even Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille to get some more variety in the dialogue of skin and notes...finally, forbidding the synthetic musk and Cedarwood aspect- I will site "Migraines, nausea or Ebola" to justify this if necessary! I must find my father a less disgusting signature scent or I can never ride in a vehicle with him again without a full hazmat suit and ventilator. Summary: this fragrance nearly killed me last night.