I know lately this has been where the snacktime posts would go while the perfume review is on Wednesday, but two things happened to bump this up. The first is that we are still trying to finish out left overs from having company this week (Snacktime will be posted tomorrow) and the second thing that occurred is that i couldn’t take this perfume for another day.
I suppose I should have said spoiler alert. But this was not my favorite scent. Let’s look at what Este Lauder has to say about it before we get into it.
Dare to love. A hypnotic blend with signature notes of lush Magnolia, solar Gardenia, warm Woods and luminous Musk. Romantic, feminine and radiant.
Each note draws you deeper into a love story, from beginning to end.Dare to Dream: Magnolia Petals, Maté, Water Lotus The lightning bolt moment you saw each other for the first time. A sensation like no other. The emotional rush of the magnolia, a symbol of loyalty in love, is balanced with crisp herbaceous Maté and the lush transparency of Water Lotus, as fresh as new love itself.
Dare to Desire: Magnolia Oil, Solar Gardenia, Turkish Rose, The swirl of contradictory feelings, an explosion of passion, are reflected in the hypnotic nectar-like scent of Magnolia Oil, sensuous and feminine, irresistibly swept away by dazzling notes of Solar Gardenia and deep Turkish Rose.
Este Lauder website
Dare to Believe: Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Illumina Musk Smooth, rich Cedarwood, Sandalwood and Illumina Musk add their warmth, power and sensuality to the breathless instant when, fearlessly, finally and forever, you know they’re the one you dare to love.
That is such a fantastic perfume description I really hate to destroy the image. The bottle is lovely looking and I wish that I could add it to my collection because it is lovely. But this scent is not for me. This is a sweet floral explosion. There is no underlying musk, no sandlewood depth, no cedarwood backing. This is unrelieved, unabashedly a sweet floral punch to the nose.
I will say it is an adult sweet floral rather than a little girl sweet floral so if that is your sort of thing then this might be for you. I applied it and wore it, but the thing is that all last week the scent kept reminding me of something. i finally figured out what it was.
This is the scent of the department store perfume and makeup section circa 1985. This is exactly what this perfume smells like. It isn’t a bad scent, but it is a distinctive one and not one I am particularly fond of. While I like florals I need something to ground them a little bit more and add a spicier or earthier note. This really doesn’t have that.
It stays close to the skin, so it isn’t a perfume that will travel out and annoy your companions. It comes on a bit strong when you first spray it, but after a minute or two it hugs the skin to become more of a personal scent. It is very long lasting too. I applied it in the morning (post workout) and it was still detectable on my wrist when I started getting ready for bed. One spritz on the wrist lasted all day.
It was a really well performing perfume. It has all of the features I like (personal rather than traveling scent, longevity…) I simply can’t wear something so sweetly floral without a deeper back note. Which is a shame. I have a friend who favors sweet florals so I will be passing the rest of the sample on to her and hopefully she will make a better match with it.
This was a strange review for me to write. After all perfumes are mostly about scent and for me, in the end, that was the only part of this perfume i didn’t care for.
Ms. Mimsy Reviews 