2 stars: 62 posts

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Guerlain Love is All released exclusively for duty free stores in 2005 features a combination of iris, mimosa and passionfruit.  Tart red berry opening makes for a familiar fruity accord, which becomes even more ubiquitous when a tropical sharpness of passionfruit contributes to the top notes. The rest of the story is as interesting as watching the grass grow–pleasant but forgettable flirty floral facets against treacly and at the same time sharp fruity notes.

The best feature of Christian Dior Dior Star is its lovely gilded flacon, made in the classic Dior shape and embellished with small stars against matted gold. The fragrance has notes of bergamot, mandarin petitgrain, honeysuckle, peony, sugared almonds and musk. At first, it smells not unlike green chestnuts, which is a scent of sugary verdant sap, talcum powder and unopened flower buds. However, before I had a chance to fully enjoy the vision of prickly green chestnut shell, the fragrance took a turn for a dull unoffensive floral.

Although it is not a duty-free exclusive, I would also like to mention a new Yves Saint Laurent In Love Again limited edition called “Fleur de la Passion”.  Out of all summer limited editions (Van Cleef et Arpels, Lancôme, etc.), it is definitely the most interesting, even though this is not saying much. It is a straightforward fruit salad, with passion fruit and raspberry dominating. In the top notes, it reminds me of the original, with the sharp blast of pink grapefruit and a rainfall of rose petals. Here, sharpness of grapefruit is somewhat muted by raspberries and sweet-sour aspect of passion fruit (not passion flower as I was expecting, even though later it does soften into a floral aspect more like passion flower, which raspberries manage to choke). The development is similiar to In Love Again, but all of the stages are permeated by raspberries.

Update: Mea Culpa has been discontinued.

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Marie-Hélène Rogeon reintroduced Les Parfums de Rosine in 1991. The house created several unusual rose fragrances. Mea Culpa which debuted in the 1990s is a departure from this tradition as it is classified as a tuberose scent, and after Rogeon decided to revert to rose scents exclusively, this fragrance was discontinued. Mea Culpa opens up with creamy white roses and a hint of tuberose before losing some of the sweetness and gaining an aquatic quality. Tuberose is never pronounced, although it does become more apparent in the middle. It hides in the background and adds a lush quality to other notes. Jasmine appears soon thereafter adding its rich fruity note. Contrary to expectations, this fragrance is not what I would consider a heady floral, it is understated with floral notes intertwining beautifully. The final result reminds me of aquatic flowers–water lilies resting on the dark surface of a pond, pink lotus raised above the dark surface–due to the cool and fresh notes of the dry down which completely surprised me. Although Mea Culpa deserves a merit of the lightest tuberose fragrance I have tried, after a while it starts to lose its multifaceted quality, softening into a pleasant, but flat floral.

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