Jardins Romantiques And Other Rose Fragrances

If you had asked me a few years ago if I liked rose fragrances, I'd have said no, not really, other than Paris by Yves Saint Laurent, and Lancome's 2000 Et Une Rose. Any other rose perfumes just did not appeal to me. But then I started to discover that I was liking, and even buying, fragrances containing rose notes. I can't explain it, and I won't fight it.

Recently the Cleveland Gang got together for hunting, gathering, sniffing, clothes shopping, makeup testing, lip-gloss ogling, laughing and lunching, our usual day at our favorite mall. I knew I wanted to test out the new Paris Springtime 2007, since all but one of the previous Springtime Limited Editions have been love at first sniff for me. Jardins Romantiques is the latest of the LE's, and the addition of violets to the Paris scent had me instantly. It's lovely and light and breezy, true to the original but with the sweetness of violet, plus lilac. Whenever rose and violet meet, I am in love.

We stopped at the Nordstrom fragrance area to see what was new there. Our favorite SA, Denise, who is a Certified Fragrance Sales Specialist, led me over to a lovely display of three elegant black cube-shaped boxes and even more lovely, heavy glass bottles in a familiar shape. These are the new Limited Editions by Givenchy, and I tried them all and found them all to be charming. But the rose was the one I chose. Or, it chose me. Very Irresistible Rose Centifolia is a heady, spicy rose scent made from a special harvest of the Centifolia rose from Grasse, France. The scent contains a touch of patchouli, according to the box, but don't think of hippie-scent. All it adds is depth to the spiciness of the scent. You won't find the patch you know in this one.
This may be the most intensely rich rose scent I have ever tried.

The Gang was heading into H&M so I took a brief detour to Bath & Body Works. On an endcap marked 50% off, I saw some cute Hello Kitty bracelets and thought I'd start the Christmas shopping for my granddaughters right then and there. Cute things all, even cuter at half price! I sniffed the tester of the Hello Kitty EDT, absent-mindedly spraying a little on the back of my hand, and continued to dig around for gifts for the grands. And then, to my surprise, I found myself sniffing my hand. And again. How could a scent called "Hello Kitty" be so -- so GOOD! I almost laughed audibly. I laughed all the way to the checkout with the lone remaining bottle of the scent, along with the bracelets. I presented my scented hand to the Cleveland Gang without telling them what it was, and they all were amazed and delighed, nodding approval and of course wanting to know what this was. And they laughed when I told them, and they didn't believe me. Hello Kitty EDT is fruity, to be sure, but lush fruits, not crispy citrusy bitter fruits. According to the B&BW site, the notes are tropical fruits, orchid, and chocolate. My nose tells me there is more here than just these notes. I'm smelling woods and vanilla in this scent, and the orchid is womanly, not girly. Maybe Hello Kitty is growing up. The Granddaughers will get the bracelets, but Grandma is keeping the fragrance all to herself.

Photos: Cavewoman

Disclosure: The products reviewed in this blog post were purchased by the reviewer, Cavewoman.