Elie Saab Le Parfum

This is the first perfume from Elie Saab, the designer responsible for some of the last decade's most beautiful couture gowns. He is the man behind Halle Berry's Oscar dress and Katy Perry's wedding dress. His couture house sells more gowns than any other couture designer. I love the flowing gown featured in the advertising campaign for the scent, which looks gorgeous against the urban landscape.

This perfume has been two years in the conception, and went through 279 trial versions before the 'nose' behind the scent, Francis Kurkdjian settled on the final version. Kurkdjian has created some of the most well-known and iconic scents on the market: Narciso Rodriguez for Her and Le Male by Jean Paul Gaultier.

Kurkdjian wanted to try and capture some of Saab's  design philosophy when creating the scent: "With Elie Saab, it's about the mixture of opulence and light effervescence. His gowns are sophisticated, but almost immaterial. The fragrance needed to radiate that same airy, solar, warm feeling with that same big trail."

The scent contains the following notes: orange blossom; jasmine; patchouli; cedar and rose-honey. I am not a fan of overly floral scents, as I like a fragrance with some depth. Therefore I really liked the fact that this was a woody-floral, thanks to the cedar in the blend. I found that this scent was a great mix of floral and woody notes, with a definite warmth to it. I had planned on wearing this for a couple of days to trial it, but ended up wearing it all week. I found that this also had good longevity and lasted approximately 6 hours.

I am a sucker for gorgeous packaging, and I *loved* the Elie Saab bottle. The scent is in a glass bottle which at first glance has a classic vintage feel, but on closer inspection has a contemporary feel, with it's cube-like shape. This ties in with the scent, which I think has a classic feel to it.  The bottle looks beautiful on my dressing table, especially when the light catches it, and certainly ties in with the "radiant femininity"  and "ode to light" concepts that Kurkdjian has spoken of.

The scent comes in 30ml, 50ml and 90ml sizes. If you would like to try this scent, then you can purchase it from most perfume retailers, including Escentual. At the moment, Escentual are offering a free 30ml body lotion with the purchase of any Elie Saab fragrance over 50ml.

The vintage feel of the bottle inspired me to take a photo of a couple of pieces of vintage jewellery that I recently re-discovered in my closet.

Have you tried this scent? If yes, what did you think?

Fine Print: I was sent this perfume by Escentual for review purposes.

Roger & Gallet Fleur D'Osmanthus Eau Fraiche

I don’t know about you, but I for one have never heard of the Chinese Osmanthus Blossom. So when Escentual.com gave me a bottle of Roger & Gallet’s  new ‘Fleur d’Osmanthus Eau Fraiche’ to review I was intrigued. Although I had heard of the brand, I didn’t really know much about them, the detail of their 139 year heritage having passed me by! The roots of the company go back to 1695, so it’s fair to say they know more than a little bit about fragrance.

The product immediately grabbed my attention  as a result of its lime green and white packaging which is really fresh, the modern colour of the box is juxtaposed with the Roger & Gallet logo which screams ‘classic brand’.

Here is what the brand has to say about the product:

“Inspired by a Chinese Garden of Eden, Osmanthus Blossom fresh fragrant water reveals a cascade of sweet floral notes, with facets of citrus and wood. Osmanthus Blossom is fresh and joyful, containing a heart of mandarin, grapefruit and benzoin essential oils. It offers an exhilarating sensory experience for the body and mind.”

Although I love fragrance, I am the first to admit that I am a total novice when it comes to discussing fragrances in detail, but it’s always been one of those areas that I would love to know more about but never got around to studying (Perfumes: The A to Z Guide has been on my ‘to read’ list ever since it came out!). So if you are expecting a ‘technical’ review of this fragrance, then I’d click away now if I was you!

So although I might not know all any of the terminology that should probably be used in a fragrance review, I do know what I like. And I like this fragrance a lot! When Spring/Summer comes (and goes and comes and goes again in the UK!) I want something lighter and fresher for my fragrance, in the day at least. I tend to wear slightly ‘heavier’ scents in the evening – but that’s another blog post. This fragrance fits the bill perfectly with its citrusy mandarin and grapefruit notes. However, sometimes I find fragrances with citrus notes too fruity. One of the things I loved about this was the woody notes that gave it a bit of depth, above and beyond (or should that be below and beyond?) the fruity notes.

I couldn’t help but keep spraying this, as each spray seemed to reveal a new aspect of the fragrance. It is a really interesting combination of floral, fruity and woody notes which is perfect for any occasion. And if I wasn’t impressed enough already, once I found out the price I was even more impressed. You can buy the 100ml of this for £30 whilst the 50ml retails for £15 which compares really favourably with other fragrances. If you like to layer your fragrance products then you can also purchase a 200ml body lotion for £11.50; a 250ml shower foam for £11.50, and a 100g soap for £5.25. If you want to bring a spritz of Summer into your world then you can purchase this fragrance from Escentual.com

Have you tried this fragrance? What kind of scents do you like to wear in the Summertime?