Flanker Alert! Dior Addict Eau (so) Fraiche

Dior Addict is a sensual floriental which was originally launched in 2002 to great success.  Since then flanker after flanker* has been rolled out and this summer is no exception!  The Dior Addict range has expanded by two, the first of which we'll be looking at today.

Dior Addict Eau Fraiche opens with a delightfully bright bergamot hit entwined with juicy mandarin hints.  It quickly warms and as the fragrance progresses to the heart a vibrant musk and quiet rose character emerge.

The fragrance is quite linear once the citrus dimensions settle.  What remains is the heart, which is a refreshingly luminous (dare I say, fraiche!) citrus-floral-musk aroma.

In truth, I wasn't expecting much from this fragrance, but it's not the first time I've been proven wrong.  Dior Addict Eau Fraiche is simply a great fragrance!

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

*After doing some research, it's clear that the range of Dior Addict flankers is actually getting quite confusing!  Dior launched an Addict Eau Fraiche in 2004, but, looking at the 2012 Eau Fraiche olfactive triangle, it is a completely different fragrance.  That said, if you compare this review to the 2004's olfactive triangle it appears that the fragrances are quite closely related to one another, if not in fact one and the same!

Also, one comment on NST noted that a salesperson at the Dior counter informed that past fragrances, Addict to Life and Addict 2, have been reconceptualized (new bottle, name, marketing, but same fragrance) and are now Addict Sensuelle and Eau Fraiche.

Do you have clarity on this confusing situation?  Make sure to leave a comment below!

DKNY London Olympics - Oops! Be Delicious

Today begins the quest for gold medals as the first of the Olympic competitions kicked off in the United Kingdom.  Yes, Friday is the official opening ceremony in London, but because the soccer competition takes so long to complete the first women's soccer matches were played today in Wales.  If you're wondering, GB beat NZ 1-0, and the US beat France 4-2.  Not a bad start, I'd say.  Well, that is depending on who you're supporting!

But, does it really matter who you're rooting for?  I'm not sure it does for DKNY's latest flankers in the Be Delicious range - aptly called DKNY Hearts The World.

The DKNY Be Delicious range first came into being with the launch of Be Delicious in 2004.  Since then the apple shaped bottle has graced fragrance shelves in a multitude of variations - Be Delicious Men, Golden Delicious, Delicious Night, Delicious Candy Apples, Red Delicious, Red Delicious Men... The list is long and has not stopped growing; the newest fragrances in the DKNY Hearts The World range all 'heart' a major city: NYC, Paris, Rio, and, of course, London.

So, what does DKNY think London's scent should smell like?  Sweat in honor of the athletes participating in the Olympics?  Rose in honor of England's national flower? Let's find out.

DKNY Be Delicious Heart London opens with a bright sweet citrus scent tinged with the tiniest hint of bubble gum.  It quickly warms to a gentle aroma of white floral and (yep!) rose.  The dry down remains rose-y and settles on the skin well due to its creamy amber and soft musk undertones.

It is an uncomplicated fragrance that is fresh, pretty and a perfect accessory for a sunny summer day... or a rainy one if you're in London!

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

Yankee Candle Fall 2012: Harvest Welcome

Spicy Chicken Vindaloo
http://www.currytastic.com/category/vindaloo/ 

You know what I love?  I absolutely love an Indian curry.  My taste buds delight in the exotic cardamom, cumin, and chili pepper flavors.  I think it is one of my favorite foods, if not my most favorite food of all time.  Hmmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

But unfortunately this love has a draw back.  After a delectable curry the cardamom, cumin and chili pepper aromas suddenly aren't so pleasingly exotic, but are desperately, overwhelmingly strong and, yes, even malodorous.  Shirts, pants, jackets are all in need of either a good Febreze dousing or heavy duty washing!

Now, you must be asking yourself, why the heck is Scents n Scentsibility carrying on about Indian curry?  Aren't we were here to learn about the new fall scents from Yankee Candle?!

Right you are!  And Yankee Candle's new fall scent Harvest Welcome smells of ... can you guess?  Indian curry!!  I have no idea how this one got past the evaluation team unless YC marketing truly wanted a fragrance ripe with cumin, cardamom seed, and curry powder.  And this is no over-exaggeration!

Upon first indulging in the aroma you're greeted with a punch in the face of Big Red cinnamon, spicy cardamom, and also, disturbingly, a dirty note in the undertones reminiscent of vomit.  A person dear to my heart described it very elaborately as "gross".

Interested to see what the fragrance would progress to in use, I lit it and anxiously waited to see what would happen.

And what happened is my evaluation room smelled like curry!  It is strong - the scent seeping through the cracks in the door and infiltrating the outside space.  It is pure cumin, curry and cardamom seed and I immediately snuffed the candle out!

The only time I want my house smelling of curry is when I am cooking it, and even then, after the delicious meal, I do malodor control and open windows and spray air fresheners and light candles.

Wow, Yankee Candle.  I have no idea what you were thinking when you ok'd this fragrance for production!  'Farm fresh pumpkins spiced with just the right amount of brisk autumn air' it is not - Indian curry it definitely is!

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

Yankee Candle Fall 2012: Whoopie Pie

Find the recipe here: epicurious
(photo by: Mary Ellen Bartley)

whoopie pie (n):   a confection of two small and flat chocolate cakes with cream frosting in the middle; also called whoopee pie, black-and-white.

This delicious goodness originates from the New England area of the United States.  Although, interestingly, there is controversy as to which state this scrumptious treat hails from.  Is Maine its home, or is it Pennsylvania?  Or possibly New Hampshire or even Massachusetts?

Unbelievably, this is such a heated debate that Maine proposed legislature in 2011 to make the Whoopie Pie its official state pie, and thus staking claim to it!

I don't know the answer to its origins, but it is unsurprising, knowing Yankee Candle's New England roots, that they have a Whoopie Pie variant in their Fall 2012 candle range!  And my! What a heavenly Whoopie Pie they have created!

The first experience of the candle is intoxicating!  Its scent is rich with dry cocoa notes which blend seamlessly with soft mint tones and creamy marshmallow hints.  It is chocolate cake batter in a candle.  Delish!

In use a pleasant mouth-watering chocolate scent fills the room.  Infused within these chocolatey notes is the creamy marshmallow aroma which was present in the cold throw.  The mint notes disappear when the candle is burned, but it doesn't lessen the loveliness of the fragrance, just makes it less mint-chocolate-y.

As a chocolate lover myself, I can see only one problem with this scent - in use it isn't very strong!  What a pity - warm chocolate cake is one thing I don't mind my house smelling of!

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

Yankee Candle Fall 2012: Apple Pumpkin

Have you ever eaten an Apple Cinnamon Nutri Grain bar?  If so, then you can perfectly imagine the aroma of the new Apple Pumpkin variant from Yankee Candle's Fall 2012 candle range.  It is an instantly recognizable apple-cinnamon-crumble-y-pie crust scent.  It's pleasant,  but disturbingly 'foody'.  Nutri Grains are definitely tasty, but to be honest, I'm not quite sure I'd want my home smelling of 'em!

With trepidation I wondered, would the foodiness aspect of the fragrance be present in use?  I had to find out, so I hurried to my evaluation area and anxiously lit the candle.

Sadly, the strong notes that are easily perceived in Apple Pumpkin's cold throw are all but missing in the hot throw!  Yes, the disliked foody-Nutri-Grain aspects have disappeared to leave a soft apple-cinnamon scent behind, but the fragrance itself is completely unexciting and boringly status quo.  Where is the pumpkin?  Where is the clove and ginger the website claims is in there?!  What a (wholly unsurprising) bummer that Apple Pumpkin isn't as dynamic as the marketing portrays it to be!

Oh well...despite the disappointment in what Apple Pumpkin could have been, at least it is an overall decent apple-cinnamon scent!

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

Yankee Candle Fall 2012: Treehouse Memories

I don't know about you, but for me tree houses are a thing of folk lore - I've never had one, nor have I ever seen one!  To me, they are the special places that kids on TV retreat to, and also where they have their secret club meetings.  They are the coolest thing ever and to this day I'm jealous of Bart Simpson for having one!

Unfortunately, what this means is that Bart Simpson is way more qualified than I when it comes to knowing what Treehouse Memories could possibly smell like.  But, of course, I'm going to give it a go despite my deficiencies in this area!

Treehouse Memories from Yankee Candle's Fall 2012 range is warmly masculine.  It has a generic clean-woody-musc-y essence, much like a traditional men's cologne, but it is also intensely smoky, making it a more modern scent.

In use, Treehouse Memories is not very strong, but it does still manage to fill the room with a wonderfully woody-earthy-smoky aroma.

This fragrance is a mature scent and I'd be surprised if it reminded anyone of their own tree house memories.  But hey, what's in a name?

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

Yankee Candle Fall 2012: Season's Blessings

I love that purple is the color of Season's Blessings, the next variant in our search for the best new fall fragrance from Yankee Candle.  Really, how often do you see a rich and sumptuous plum colored candle?  Not too often, which has got Yankee earning some brownie points!

Season's Blessings is a scent targeted at oriental-woody lovers.  The cold throw is an intricate mixture of berry, clove, and cardamom.  This sweet-spicy concoction is not at all food-y in nature, but is rather complex and enticing due to its base note of dry cedarwood.

In use, it is immediately apparent that the fragrance has lost a lot of its original strength.  A waxiness comes through and distracts away from the fruity sweet-spicy-woody tinged notes that should be taking center stage.  It is a shame that this happens because the scent would otherwise be warmly intoxicating!

The hot throw of Season's Blessing has really let this fragrance down, which is unfortunate because the cold throw implied it would be an aroma abundant in opulent notes.  Oh well, maybe we'll have better luck with the others!


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

Yankee Candle Fall 2012: Caramel Pecan Pie

We begin our quest for Yankee Candle's best new fall fragrance with the scent that the sales assistant preferred the most: Caramel Pecan Pie.  She thought it was absolutely delectable; let's see if we do, too!

Yankee Candle describes Caramel Pecan Pie as 'a mouthwatering invitation . . . serve up a buttery slice of gooey goodness with this scrumptious recipe of walnuts, pecans and creamy caramel.'  I'm not too sure about the gooey goodness, but buttery it definitely is!

Upon first indulging in this scent a gourmand mixture greets your nose: creamy butter, soft wisps of cinnamon, hints of fresh red apple skin ... and popcorn.  Wait - what?!  Popcorn??  Maybe they made this scent a little too buttery!

In use the aroma is not heavy or overpowering.  It is a pleasantly sweet, cinnamon, buttery fragrance which fills the room and pleases the senses.

Caramel Pecan Pie is an inviting fragrance which gourmand lovers will easily approve of.  That said, with the lack of walnut, pecan and creamy caramel and the presence of cinnamon, red apple and popcorn, maybe they should have named this Cinnamon Apple Snack instead!

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

It's that time already: Yankee Candle launches 2012 seasonal scents

Fall scents already?  I haven't even perfected my tan yet?!  Little bit of déjà vu there for you?  That's because last July Scents n Scentsibility's inaugural post was a review of Yankee Candles' fall scents for 2011!  As I had only begun working on my tan, I couldn't believe that the warming scents of clove and cinnamon were already on the shelves.  But this year, being more seasoned (pardon the pun!), I was prepared, mentally at least, for the launch of Yankee's 2012 Fall Fragrances.

The next six posts will focus on their newly launched scents: Caramel Pecan Pie, Season's Blessings, Treehouse Memories, Apple Pumpkin, Whoopie Pie, and Harvest Welcome.

Now, I am of the opinion that it is still too hot to be concerned with pumpkin pie, leaves falling off trees, and snow arriving ...but which fall scent do you think your favorite will be?