Scent of a Dream

Well I love it. There's a retro vibe going on. At first whiff it reminded me of the discontinued Avon fragrance called Sonnet I wore back in the 70's, then it reminded me of Estée Lauder Azuree. I love chypre, I love patchouli, and I love complicated florals. I'm sick to death of sweet and fruity. This smells like a sophisticated grown up former hippy - so basically me.

I love what CT does in makeup, even have one of her lipstick (only one because of their price, would have more items otherwise) and it's fabulous, nice formula, great colour, good staying power all in a luxe packaging. So I really wanted to like this perfume and was very interested on trying it, but a tiny voice inside my head kept popping up saying: "this might be a huge disappointment", so I didn't actively went looking for it. In the end I got the occasion when an eager salesgirl came up to me inside a House of Fraser last winter. Biggest mistake ever. I ended up with this thing on my wrist that assaulted my nose and not in a good way. It smelled cheap and conventional and took a lot of scrubbing to leave my skin. Not only that but the fragrance literally stuck to the woollen jumper and coat I was wearing for daaaaaaays so that I had to wash the jumper and air the coat to get rid of it. Not a fan. I even got a sample one day and spritzed it again to see if anything had changed, but I still dislike it. But of course it's a very personal thing and I actually thought that I remember having smelled something similar on a lot of women in the past, so I'm sure there is a market for it.

I do not understand why this perfume has received so much criticism! I think it is beautiful. This is a bit of a shocker upon first spray and I will admit that I was initially turned off by this fragrance as it is quite harsh and synthetic with a cheap lavender-ish aromatherapy type smell upon first sniff. However 10 mins on my skin and it developed beautifully. I can not stop sniffing my wrists, I love it! It is not groundbreaking in any way and it definitely is not unique as it reminds me of three fragrances I already have in my collection but it is still a very nice fragrance. Once this has dried down on my skin it shares similarities with Agent Provocateur, Lady Vengeance and after one or two hours on my skin It smells vaguely similar to my much loved Frederic Malle POAL! Overall I really enjoy this fragrance and will be purchasing a full bottle soon. Great job Charlotte!

I have been wanting to try this based on the notes listed, but was weary of the negative reviews and the fact that it is now discontinued. I purchased a 30 ml bottle from eBay to sample; the bottle itself is so lovely, so I figured I would at least display it if I didn't like it. On a blotter: I really like this so far! The opening is super fresh and sharp. The black pepper note stands out the most, but it is nicely paired with the citrus fruits. The middle notes are floral, and just a touch powdery but not in a dusty way. Despite the patchouli and incense, this middle feels very "clean". For me, it is reminiscent of a realistic floral bouquet. The base takes a while to develop, but it's great. A very familiar skin musk that is somewhere in between classic and modern. I am a fan of both Iso E Super and Ambroxan, so the base checks the boxes for me. On skin: Ouch! It is just a different beast on me. Unwearable unfortunately. I am not typically sensitive to fragrance but one spray of this on my chest triggered an allergic asthma response. The sillage is big, and it might work if you are planning to be outside for an event. I actually appreciated it when I was outside walking, but desperately wanted to scrub when I was stuck in the car.

I have this for over two years now and I don't know why I haven't reviewed it yet. This surprised me when it came out because it bucked the trends of the time (fig, oudh etc). It is a chypre patchouli in the vein of Paloma Picasso, Halston and La Perla but with a slight modern twist with the help of Iso E. A few years on you don't hear much about it anymore but I still enjoy it.