Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

Review by Cavewoman

Emporio Armani Diamonds is the latest addition to the Armani group of fragrances, and the beautiful and talented Beyonce is the spokesperson for this scent. I personally find her to be absolutely stunning, a perfect beauty. I had high expectations for a scent named Armani and a spokesperson named Beyonce. Neither of them failed me. Just look at her.

The scent itself is presented in a faceted clear glass bottle that resembles a cut gem. Notes listed for Diamonds are raspberry, lychee, rose, freesia (sorry, Miranda,) lily of the valley, patchouli, amber, vetiver, cedarwood, and vanilla. I was surprised to see this list, because half of it is base notes. But I had a feeling that I'd like the scent, on that basis plus the rose note.

What I love about the lychee note is that it kind of has a plummy feeling to it. It combines with the raspberry to give a very fleeting fruity top note to the scent. Don't worry if you're not a fan of the fruit notes, they don't stay more than a minute or two. The rose comes softly, the freesia keeps it from being too overpoweringly rose, and the lily of the valley adds a lightness to the flowers. The mid notes are well-balanced, mellow, and gentle. I applaud the perfumer for holding back on the patchouli as well as he or she did. Patch tends to dominate base notes most of the time, and it is hard to keep the patch subtle, but it is in Diamonds. The amber is warm and cozy, not the usual powdery amber that I'm not very fond of these days. The cedar is mysterious and sophisticated, and the vanilla keeps the base notes of woods and vetiver from becoming too masculine.

We fragrance fanatics tend to turn our noses up (literally) at the plethora of fruity-floral department store scents that have dominated the launches in the past several years. One after another, nothing different about them, citrusy, in-your-nose, crispy, thin, synthetic, these scents seem to be cut from the same mold. Now Armani presents something substantial, something well-designed, womanly, elegant, and pretty! Rose-patch fans won't find this as patchy as Voleur De Roses by L'Artisan, nor will they find it as rosy as Rose Barbare by Guerlain, but still, rose-patchouli fans could find another addition to their collections with Emporio Armani Diamonds. I am thrilled with this scent, and even more thrilled that it might be the beginning of more of these deeper, richer scents at the department store fragrance counters. I feel hope.

Disclaimer: This product was purchased by the reviewer, Cavewoman