Fragrances of the Week
• Al Rehab Caramello
• V.V. Love Soul Journey
• Bath & Body Works Pistachio Glaze
• Roxelis Pistachio Perfume Dubai Chocolate
• Body Sprays: Lattafa Khamrah, Bodycology Cozy Fireside S’more, Bath & Body Works Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte, scentXscent Solar Flare Brazilian Caramel Dreams
• Body Wash: Bodycology Cozy Fireside S’more
• Shampoo: Suave Tropical Coconut
This week’s fragrances were a lot more fun than last week’s. The star of the week was Caramello, which is definitely in my top 5 at the moment. It’s warm, it’s nutty, it lasts a long time. I really don’t expect less from Al Rehab than stellar performance. There will be a lot of folks who don’t like this one, and since it’s new I haven’t seen any reviews for it yet. I’m not expecting tons of love, but for me it was nearly perfect when I wore it. That said, it wasn’t my first choice on warmer days or if I was going to be around a lot of people. It’s inoffensive, but strong.
The mists did a lot of heavy lifting throughout the week, particularly the Cozy Fireside S’more. The other two are quite weak in comparison, and sitting on the tray together, there was comparison. Soul Journey is also pretty weak overall. It’s nice, but fades. It’s supposedly a dupe of Carolina Herrera’s Bad Boy, which I’ve never smelled. I do get citrus, pepper, tonka…I’m not sure if the cocoa comes through. I’m not bothered though; I think it’s a nice traditionally masculine fragrance. Pistachio Glaze didn’t get too much use. It’s one of my favorites, sure, but I was enamored by Caramello this week, and I think they would be worn in the same settings. I did try layering the two at one point. It was nice, but not as effective as I would have liked. It just sort of smoothed out the Caramello; I can see good reasons to do that, but it isn’t a good use of a fragrance I love on its own.
While I had put the cheap dupe of Dubai Chocolate on the tray just as a decoration (it’s in a nice frosted green bottle), I did attempt to wear it once. Justin had commented a couple of weeks ago that it smelled like sewer water, and I have to agree with what he’s getting. It isn’t sewer, but it has a restroom quality. There’s a hint of cocoa, and it just came across as a newly cleaned public restroom in a candy store. I wouldn’t exactly call it repulsive, but I didn’t want the experience to go on for too long. I had to overspray mists to mask it. Fortunately, it also is extremely fleeting. I might remove the label and empty the bottle. I still like the little green bottle; it looked good on the tray.
While I loved my fragrances this week, particularly Caramello, the whole tray did come across feeling low budget. I don’t mind that, but it is worth noting. I also think it was helpful to coordinate body wash and shampoo. I have other options available, but kept using the Suave Coconut because it was in the shower already. But it didn’t exactly fit in, and I can see how a more carefully considered shampoo would have elevated everything a little bit. I’ll be working on making those things more accessible this next week.
Justin had a curious sort of fragrance week, but I don’t know how I feel about it. I don’t actually know how he feels about it either. He started the week out with Al Rehab Tooty Musk, which he had liked over the summer, but confessed that he didn’t really care for it after wearing it on the first day. He switched it out for Gimaibugraff Hei Ya Ya, which I believe is a cheap dupe of YSL Black Opium. For me, I can’t tell where I land on that one. The pink pepper note is so prominent at first that it overwhelms me. The coffee note is a little too bitter, and the florals don’t really remind me of white florals. There is a rounded nature to the whole thing, probably smoothed out by vanilla, but if the vanilla ever took prominence, I didn’t smell it. Maybe as it dried down on his skin, but I wasn’t close enough for that. It reminded me of perfumes worn by really old women at church when I was a kid. My grandma’s generation all smelled like flowers; my mom’s generation were lighter or sometimes sweet-spicy. But the older ladies would smell sharply spicy, peppery, heavy florals. Justin liked it though, and that’s what really matters. Maybe I’ll try wearing it on my skin one of these days and see how it is in the dry down. He also had a couple of mists to use, but overall didn’t really use them much. That makes sense though; I had chosen for him mists that coordinated with Tooty Musk, not with Hei Ya Ya. BBW Blue Raspberry Burst & BBW Vampire Blood were never touched to my knowledge. He did use a little of BBW Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte. That one is losing the fight against time. It was once such a great scent, but both bottles have but a whisper of fragrance, a memory. This might have been their final week.
New acquisitions this week: Mémoire Archives 09 Let’s Bake EDP; Mémoire Archives 09 Let’s Bake Fragrance Mist; Mémoire Archives 09 Let’s Bake Body Lotion; Bodycology Caramel Indulgence Fragrance Mist; Bodycology Caramel Indulgence Body Cream; Bodycology Caramel Indulgence Body Wash; BBW To the Moon Deo Body Spray; BBW Milk Bar Birthday Cake Fragrance Mist; BBW Milk Bar Cereal Milk Soft Serve Fragrance Mist; BBW Milk Bar Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Cookie Fragrance Mist; BBW Milk Bar Peppermint Bark Truffle Fragrance Mist; BBW Infinite Radiance Fragrance Mist