The Naked Bee

A gift!  A gift!  I've been given a gift!  A friend was wandering around a shop checking out their inventory when she came across something she thought I'd love.  The next time I saw her she excitedly presented me with it:  The Naked Bee Orange Blossom Honey Moisturizing Hand & Body Lotion.

I looked quizzically at the spartan packaging of the brown pump bottle as she enthusiastically jumped around.  "You have to use it right now and tell me what you think it smells like," she encouraged.  I shrugged my shoulders, took a small amount of the 70% certified organic product, massaged it into my hands, and indulged in its scent.

She insisted on immediately knowing what I thought.  "Smarties!" I replied, suddenly craving the childhood candy.  But she disagreed, pulling out something from her cupboard.  "It is completely PEZ," the mother of two PEZ-loving kids argued, handing me a full dispenser.  As I munched away I agreed with her that it definitely had PEZ aromatics, but I still favored the overall smell to be Smarties-esque.

As the debate continued, I kept reapplying the lotion because those sweet, loud, nostalgic top notes quickly quietened (though did not completely disappear) to reveal a warmth in the heart.  It mellowed the candy top notes and enriched them to reveal a bouquet of citrus, soft floral, and honey.  It's a clean and comforting scent, as well as The Naked Bee's best selling variant!

The debate still continues, PEZ or Smarties, but it doesn't really matter because it's a fabulous fragrance (in a great lotion)!

Have you tried this scent?  Do you love it, do you hate it?  Make sure to leave a comment below!

Purbliss: Killer Kandles

This week we're experiencing pure bliss!  Wait a second, I spelled that wrong!  We're experiencing PurBliss, all natural soy wax candles.  Purbliss is a family run business out of California.  Their candles are sustainable and eco friendly, which is great news for the environment!  I've been lucky enough to receive some samples of two of their ranges and today we're focusing on PurBliss's Killer Kandle range because, as I've just learned, it's being phased out!  So, since they'll only be around a short while longer, let's get started.

First up we've got Cherry Bomb, which smells exactly how you'd expect!  Taking the lid off of the candle tin I'm met with a sweet explosion of cherry candy.  Delish!  The scent is strong and I have to fight to keep myself from tasting it since it smells so yummy.  In use, the scent is delicate and soft, but still sweet cherry candy.  It is a flavorsome aroma, but, truthfully, the hot throw could be stronger!

Next we've got Desert Passion.  It's got a great cold throw strength of dry cedarwood and warm, yet fresh, aromatic pine, which is lifted by lemon top notes.  This guy's got a lot going on in its earthy aromas!  In use, the fragrance calms into a light citrus scent, gently warmed by its aromatic-woody dimensions.  It is a sophisticated fragrance with a great cold throw, but could definitely be a bit more robust in use.

Finally, Killer Kandle number three: Lemon Drop Pop.  The strength of this candle's cold throw is, yet again, fantastic!  It fills the nose with lemon drop (go figure!) sweetness, pledge cleanliness and herbal warmth.  It isn't as tasty smelling as Cherry Bomb, but I'm not bothered by that as the scent is much more dynamic overall.  In use, the bouquet is very linear and fills the room with a pleasant and gentle citral aroma.  Like with the others, its hot throw could also benefit from a tad more strength!

All in all these candles have great scents with fabulous cold throws that draw you in, yet (as noted) the hot throw could offer a little bit more to keep you coming back!

Have you tried these scents?  Love them, hate them?  Make sure to leave a comment below!

Flanker Alert! Dior Addict Eau (not so) Sensuelle

I'm just going to jump right in and say it: this fragrance is a complete deviation from Dior Addict.  There are no hints of the luscious vanilla or the heady jasmine that so enraptured me in the original juice.  I'm not sure why Dior (other than for pure marketing reasons) attached this scent to the Addict line.  It truly is its own fragrance.  But, enough of my ranting.  Let's get on to the evaluating...

Dior Addict Eau Sensuelle is an extremely soapy-clean fragrance.  It opens with light rose aromas that subtly warm into fresh, light, and clean lilac notes.  They blend together flawlessly with the clean dry down of white musk which defines this scent and gives it a powdery-soapy-clean depth.  It triggers memory cues of Ivory soap... Did I mention this fragrance was clean?

If you read Scents n Scentsibility's post on Dior Addict Eau Fraiche, you'll know there's some confusion regarding these flankers.  Reviewers on Fragrantica overwhelming think Eau Sensuelle is only Addict to Life rebottled.*  Or if it's not Addict to Life they are comparing it to then they say it's a reincarnation of Forever and Ever Dior, which they prefer.

As for me, I'm wondering if this is Dior's take on Estee Lauder's groundbreaking 1996 pure and soapy-clean Pleasures.  And now that just leaves you - what do you think?

Have you tried this scent?  Do you love it, do you hate it?  Make sure to leave a comment below!

*I've never smelled Addict to Life, but the olfactive triangle tells me it is a Floral-Musky-Spicy scent (much different to what I've just smelled in Eau Sensuelle)

A year on, Givenchy Dahlia Noir still not so noir

The advert for Givenchy's Dahlia Noir is intoxicating.  Did you watch it?  If not, take a second and enjoy...

Scents n Scentsibility looked at this fragrance last year at its launch; a year on I thought it would be good to revisit it.  Instead of merely testing the fragrance in store, I was able to snag myself a sample so I could properly evaluate this scent at home.  With the ability to analyze over time and re-test, do I still find the fragrance a 'Flower Soixante Plus' - a fragrance for the over 60s?

Hmmm.  I believe it could best be described as "a delicate powdery note as subtle and sensual as the velvety texture of a newly opened flower blossom."  Which, unfortunately for Dahlia Noir, is the product description for Glade's (yes, Glade the air freshener) Soft Petals variant (available in the UK).  It is a heavy powdery-floral-vanilla-musk scent that immediately triggered scent memory cues of grandmothers and old skool aerosol air fresheners à la Soft Petals.  So, to answer the earlier question, yes, I still find the fragrance one for the older generations.

But, that's not to say that you will!  I decided to research Dahlia Noir reviews to see if others had the same opinion.  Some did, but there were many positive comments as well.  For example at Fragrantica, reviewers found the fragrance sophisticated, soft and feminine, and also romantic.

After reading these reviews I decided to give the juice another chance.  I sprayed it afresh and while evaluating the fragrance I watched the advert to get the full impact of the scent.

Doing this definitely altered my experience; it allowed me to ignore my memory cues and appreciate the depth of the fragrance.  The powder, the tiny hints of citrus in the top notes, the soft floral notes in the heart of the fragrance, the warmth of the dry down.

For forty-five seconds I was able to understand how it could be defined as sophisticated, feminine, romantic.  And then the advert ended and it was all grandmothers and air fresheners.  Completely unappealing and absolutely disappointing!

Oh well, at least I tried!

Have you tried this scent?  Do you love it, do you hate it?  Make sure to leave a comment below.