Paco Rabanne Ultrared and Usher UR Review

Ultrared is the summer flanker to Ultraviolet from 2008, that has been relaunched for 2009. In my opinion, Puig should launch it as a permanent addition to the line, because they’ve nailed the crowd pleasing sugar-sweet masculine fragrances with Black XS, 1 Million and now Ultrared.

The opening is juicy. Oranges with some berry-like tanginess, which has been dusted with icing sugar in some odd-desert confection.
The fruity note moves into a light Chocolate Praline accord, which is still coated with the icing sugar, with a quiet Antaeus-esque Leather in the background, and stays that way for the rest of the day. For a summer fragrance, it has fantastic longevity.
From my description, you’d probably imagine it to be a winter fragrance, but by some marvel it’s wearable in the heat and doesn’t become overbearing or cloying.

Top: Blood Orange
Middle: Praline, Tonka Bean
Base: Vanilla, Patchouli

Usher’s second fragrance, UR, is described as fresh and aromatic. UR is very much in the style of soapy clean scents, such as Prada Amber, Infusion d’Homme et al. One thing I’ve certainly noticed about many Celebuscents is the long notes list from which nothing can actually be distinguished.

UR opens on shower-fresh Lemon scented soap, and for the most part, stays there. This is the kind of fragrance that is meant to be used after a shower to confirm how very scrubbed clean you are. And in a clever and unexpected twist, it even smells of steam for a while.
The ’sortof’ drydown is the Lemon-soap accord, with some Violet Leaf and a fuzzy Woody note, which could be any of the listed ‘woods’. It’s really quite a well-done fragrance and is a massive improvement on his first scent (which smelled of the Banana milkshake in Marc Jacobs Daisy but slightly woodier) even if it reminds me of the Shower scene in American Psycho.

Top: Melon, Granny Smith Apple, Sea Breeze Accord, Bergamot
Middle: Artemisia, Bay Oil, Thai Basil, Nutmeg, Violet Leaf
Base: Guaiac Wood, Cashmere Wood, Sandalwood

3 Recent Feminines – Mini Reviews

Last week saw the first new releases of the year in my store. I wasn’t particularly drawn to any of the new feminines. None-the-less, I felt the need to sniff them!

Britney Spears Hidden Fantasy: The flanker resembles the original in this case. It’s essentially Fantasy with the rough cotton candy note removed. A relatively polite fruity-floral of no discernable interest, aside from the fruits are more tropical smelling than sugary. Drydown is creamy and woodsy, with a fruit cocktail dessert – straight from the tin.
Top: Grapefruit Tree Blossom, Sweet Orange, Tangerine, Verbena
Middle: Sambac Jasmine, Star Gazer Lillies, Clove
Base: Vanilla Bean, Amber, Jacaranda Wood, Fluid Sandalwood Accord

Kylie Minogue Couture: Kylie’s releases have mostly sugary sweet messes – Showtime was a strawberry jam oddball and the less said about Sweet Darling the better. This is probably her most grown-up release so far, that said, why is someone who isn’t really a fashion designer using Couture for a name? For a brief moment in the top-notes, it smells like a slightly sweet Flower by Kenzo. Then a strange citrus note takes us into distinct “Kylie territory” – sugary floral. However this is much lighter than the other fragrances bearing her name – think icing sugar not cane sugar. Reminds me of a sweet I ate as a child, but can’t really remember what it was or when. Into the heart it feels like Insolence would smell if it had taken sleeping pills, a quiet (but louder than the rest of the fragrance) Violet-Berry-Vanilla-Musk accord. Dries into a Vanilla-Musk-Woody scent.
Top: Amarena Cherry, Lemon Flower, Violet
Middle: Ylang Ylang, Jasmine, Passionflower
Base: Musk, Vanilla Sorbet, White Cedarwood

Lacoste Love of Pink: Last years Touch of Pink flanker (Dream) smelled of cherry drop sweets. This years limited edition flanker has a very short-lived fruity topnote, which turns into a cheap-smelling sugary Musk really quickly and stays there. Wish it smelled as good as the ad looks, rather than frosted and fuzzy like the bottle.
Top: Blood Orange, Passion fruit, Citron
Middle: Pink Magnolia, Quince Blossom, Stephanotis
Base: White cedar, Musk, Vanilla

The Offenders of ‘08 – Mini Reviews (Ladies)

Several feminines have been released this past year and only a few were sufficiently interesting to me. The flankers of flankers, the Poison Elixirs, are fantastic variations on the theme. The following (among many) I did not enjoy at all.

Marc Jacobs Daisy EdP – The original, EdT, annoyed me. I loved the cutesy lid, with it’s rubbery Daisies. I wanted to like the perfume. I wanted it to smell like Daisy perfumes we used to make as kids, mashing up the daisies in water with petals from other flowers (also known as ‘not terribly successful experiments’). Unfortunately, liking the packaging isn’t a good enough reason to like this generic fragrance. Could the EdP improve on the letdown that was the EdT? No. Banana Milkshake and the cheap soaps that were sold in the chemist by our house when we were kids. Should evoke good memories, but instead grates on me.

Diesel Fuel for Life Unlimited – Fruity Musk. Not as good or original as Fuel for Life.

Christina Aguilera Inspire – Perhaps it could do with some inspiration. A dull fruity floral for dull girls.

Kelly Brook Vivacious – Like opening a bag of Haribo starmix, there could be some promise here. Kelly said she wanted a glamorous and sophisticated perfume. That should make a change, I thought. Maybe this time there’ll be more than 3 “fried eggs” in the bag. But I always seem to feel let down by celebuscents. The fragrance smells so sweet and sickly that your teeth would probably rot if you wore it. And the starmix didn’t have any fried eggs for me.

Kate Moss Velvet Hour – Steals it’s marketing from Armani Code, and it’s name from L’Heure Bleue. Bland Floral Musk. It has no taste or much of an interesting smell.

Givenchy Ange ou Demon EdT – Powdery Cough syrup. At least the EdP has a slightly enjoyable bubblegum note.