Designer Fragrance
My new obsession
I haven't babbled about fragrance in a while, so here I go! I'm on a designer kick (as opposed to niche), thanks primarily to a reduced fragrance budget but also because I have just been feeling them lately. If you have no idea what I mean by designer vs. niche in this context, here's a quick rundown. Niche fragrances, which are what I normally buy, are created in smaller batches (often of higher quality ingredients), tend to be significantly more expensive, often smell more "natural," and are made up of notes that can often be very easy to parse. Designer fragrances are generally released by large fashion houses - think Dior, Chanel, Valentino, etc. They have mass market appeal that many niche fragrances lack (like, I don't think millions of people would get behind Miss Tranchant, my beloved Hilde Soliani blend of butter and oysters). Often, a note or two will pop - like vanilla, or rose - but the rest of the scent is a bit of a blur. You might end up smelling like a shampoo or a cleaning product. But maybe that's a good thing! Here are the designer scents I've bought recently and what I think of them:
Narciso Rodriguez For Her EDP (2006)
In 2006 I was blindly devoted to Stella by Stella McCartney, so my aughts fragrance knowledge is quite limited. I can pick up on Juicy Couture or Pink Sugar but can't necessarily identify much else. So this extremely popular scent is new to me in 2024. And I'm obsessed! This is a beast mode fragrance on me - it projects, so I use it sparingly. The key note here is a somewhat bracing musk, but I also pick up on the rose. I looooove all the Narciso bottles, but this simple pale pink one is my favorite of the bunch.
Narciso Rodriguez Narciso Rouge (2018)
More musk, more rose, but with a fruity intensity that gives this spinoff its own special vibe. It actually smells just a little bit like drugstore lipstick. It's sweet, but not in a way that hurts your throat. An easy reach for most occasions.
Cherie Kate Spade (2023)
These next four are venturing into what I consider trashier territory. This fragrance (a flanker of the scent to follow) was only released last year, but if you told me it came out 20 years prior I'd believe you without hesitation. I smell berries and a touch of orange and just overall sweetness. It's synthetic and a bit cloying but I like it anyway!
Kate Spade New York (2020)
All I smell here is plasticky strawberries with a touch of ambroxan. And again, I like it regardless. This would probably be best on a teenager but I certainly do not care. It'll be fun once the weather warms up.
Coach Wild Rose (2022)
This is a lovely wash of rose with a touch of jasmine and ambroxan peeking through. It's not a "mature" scent at all, like many rose fragrances. It's just soft and pretty and inoffensive. It doesn't project too much, so it's ideal for a workplace that's a little uptight about scent.
Coach Dreams Sunset (2021)
And finally, we've reached the trashiest of the bunch. The top notes listed on Fragrantica are pear ice cream and bergamot, and the pear is certainly what packs a punch. It's a little screechy, quite fake, and very sweet. But as you may have guessed…I like it! Blame the soothing Victoria's Secret Pear Glace flashbacks.
I will add that all of these (with the exception of the Narciso Rodriguez For Her EDP, which I smelled at my friend Jocelyn's place while digging through her collection recently) were...gasp...blind buys!! Many people are opposed to blind buys because they can go very, very wrong. I am not one of those people. I buy blind only on FragranceNet (a website with very deep discounts) and Mercari (a marketplace for resellers). Many are available in mini bottles for under $20. If I don't like something, I just give it away or resell it.
And that is all for now! Thanks for reading.
