valandria

I do love my beachy scents, but Aura Maris was a big let down for me. True, it is not sweet. It is a burst of citrus, with wood and more wood. I don't pick up any other fruits other than the citrus. I got looking at the notes and then smelling it on my skin, which led me to get out my bottle of Eau sOleil by Parfums de Nicolai. The two are very similar in structure, but I much prefer Eau sOleil (much brighter and complex) over the Aura Maris. There is something kind of flat about Aura Maris to my nose. I had high hopes for this one, but on me it just fizzled out.

Denise Richards is a big tropical white floral in it's opening. It reminds me of some of the perfumes you can purchase at gift stores in Hawaii. I don't get much coconut water at all, but I do get lots of fragipani and gardenia and after a bit, the lily. The dry down is soft and nice with a little powder in there. On my skin, it is not real long lasting. The opening is big, and I sprayed cautiously, but ultimately I think I should spray heavily and wait 30 minutes before leaving the house.

I like this because it reminds me of the tropics in a very big way and I miss going there. So to me this is like a vacation in a bottle. This is something I would wear for an evening out, while walking barefoot in the sand as the warm tropical breeze gently blows against my skin. It is reasonably priced and certainly worthy of a try if you like those tropical white florals!

Oh my. Yes it's true, Lily and Orchid got in a big fight about who would outshine who. So neither won, they are both just strong and overpowering b*tches. I have never smelled anything so off-putting and vile in my life. I literally ran back to where I purchased this from and got my money back. I'm surprised Jeanne Arthes is a french perfume house. So far out of her many offerings, the two I've tried have left me kind of speechless.

I have been curious about the Jeanne Arthes line, so I recently blindly purchased Love Generation Sexy. It opens with a sweet lemon sorbet smell and I kind of like it. After about 30 minutes, the only thing I can strongly smell is the intensified lemon that now smells like some sort of lemon furniture polish. Pledge to be exact. There is some combination in this that just turned horrible on my skin. Unfortunately I got no raspberry or apple - which could have helped save it a little I think. Just not for me and luckily I was able to return it. Moving right along ....

I love the Tommy Bahama bottles! They are easy to hold in my hand and spray, and they would be pretty on the vanity. But it ends there for me. Very Cool has too much citrus for my taste and went from pretty, to loud, to burning nostril strong soap smell in virtually 15 minutes. It's very generic and is reminiscent of several other blue aquatics out there. If aquatic frags are your thing, this is very long lasting and would be worthy of a spot on your vanity. I will now remain content to stare at husband's beautiful blue bottle of Set Sail St. Bart's and marvel at how great it smells on him, and forget about the women's line for myself.