Top 6 Spring Fragrances

Hey Ladies! I thought I would do my very first blog post on Spring fragrances.

I am a perfume-a-holic. Now that you know this and it's out in the open, I don't feel like I'm hiding it from you!

In my collection I would say I have maybe 30 bottles ranging from reasonably priced to very high end. I keep them all in rotation and out of sunlight. I haven't found that they 'go off' at all. In fact quite to the contrary.

A famous perfumer once said 'A good fragrance much like wine, develops with age and often matures into something more complex and beautiful than how it began'

I have to say... I like this idea. Mainly because I have a 6 year old bottle of Cinema by Yves Saint Laurent that has turned the colour of Captain Morgan's rum and I just can't bear to part with it!

So without further delay and in no particular order here is the first on my Top 6!

Yves Saint Laurent - Parisienne EDT

To me the fragrance starts very sweet and fresh, and the scent is packed with the juicy sweetness of berries. The heart of it is built on several flowers, rose and lily of the valley.The drydown contains musk, and iris, which give the fragrance a powdery feel. I think this fragrance is glamorous, very modern, romantic but with an edgy twist at the same time.I read somewhere when it was first launched in 2010, that YSL stated it contained notes of Vinyl and high heels. Call me crazy but I don't get that from this fragrance! NOT that Im one to go around sniffing peoples high heels but, I could be wrong! All that aside, it is a firm favourite in my Spring favourite's.

Ralph Lauren - Ralph

This fresh, fruity fragrance was launched in 2000. I don't mind admitting I was the tender age of 14 (flashback to chubby shorthaired specky braces girl agghhhh!) I was on an AerLingus flight to Italy for our 5th year school trip browsing through the in flight catalogue when i saw this perfume. I bought it and fell in love. I am happy to report it is a love affair which has lasted through the years, and now it reminds me of Italy and a time when things were a lot simpler. Top notes are Japanese osmanthus, apple leaf and Italian mandarin; middle notes are magnolia, boronia and yellow freesia; base notes are musk and white iris.

Ralph Lauren have discontinued the 100ml size of this which annoys me to be honest. But love reigns supreme and this is something that will always be in my collection.

Vivienne Westwood - Naughty Alice

Naughty Alice? I'm not quite sure where the 'naughty' comes from. Perhaps it's a play on words. There is nothing naughty about its fragrance. This is another one of my all time favourites. I adore this scent. Admittedly it's not for everyone, but it's right up my street. It was a gift from my other half earlier this year. He said it reminded him of me, when i asked why, I got the typical male response 'I dunno, it just does.' To me this scent reminds me of innocence, it's powdery, clean, inoffensive and gentle. It makes me feel safe. Strange, I know but its the equivalent of a security blanket in perfume form and i cannot tell you how many compliments I receive when I wear this. The notes of this are violet, musk, black rose and ylang ylang. Its spring perfection in a bottle.

Emporio Armani - Diamonds

To me, Armani fragrances are amazing. This is no exception. It's fresh, watery, floral, fruity and totally intoxicating. The notes in this are bergamont, pink pepper, rose petals, musk and vetiver. This smells of holidays to me, its refreshing but at the same time very seductive. I think that the entire Armani Diamonds range is great, this is the eau de toilette but the staying power on this is actually a lot longer lasting than the EDP which i used own. Truly a beautiful Spring scent.

Chanel - Chance

Done to death I know, but I could not have done my favourites without including this. What can I say about it that has not already been said? It reminds me of Oscar De Larenta's Live in Love just a better version. I find it a very elegant classy perfume although I have heard a lot of different opinions on this one, not all good. I like the idea of veering away from the classic rectangular bottles for this, which is no accident. Chance literal translation from French to English is of course Luck so the bottle was modelled after the wheel of fortune. Take a Chance and spin the wheel with this fragrance this Spring... You might get lucky!

Yves Saint Laurent - Belle D'Opium

Last but not least is Belle D'Opium. First let me say I am crazy about the bottle! I know YSL have struggled to try and rebrand the whole Opium range. General consensus was that it was perceived as an older woman's fragrance. I personally love Opium but it's not everyones cup of tea. Hence the massive ad campaign featuring Emily Blunt. So rooted is the stigma attached to the Opium range that some time after Belle D'Opium was released YSL expressed that it should not be referred to as Belle D'Opium anymore but just Belle. It saddens me that this fragrance is so often overlooked because of her supposedly offensive older sister. Containing notes of Casablanca lily, sandalwood, gardenia, white pepper, jasmine absolute and hookah its a very youthful fresh scent. A younger fresher model of Opium yes, but both equally special.

So that's it, my Top 6 Spring Fragrances, I hope you enjoyed!

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you all again soon.

xxx