[unpaid/sample] Oh my! Because of my love-hate reaction to Tom Ford’s Lost Cherry fragrance, I was really keen to try this cherryfied offering from Banana Republic. I initially had intended to make this post about Father’s Day which is always difficult because it means different things to different people and can be as sad as it can be happy, so at the bottom I’ve got a couple of Banana Republic suggestions for that but don’t read past the Cherry review if you don’t want to go there.
Blimey – this is punchy! If you love a fruited amber you’ll be in 7th heaven. The initial spritz is all about the cherry and thereafter it becomes all about the amber. It’s a floriental with a bit of praline (which I swear I can smell to the very word!) that settles to a deep, amber and woods laden, kind of sweet, kind of heady aroma. The last is good on this and I think it’s another love-hate fragrance for me! I can see it being somewhat addictive, but it’s not a dupe for Tom Ford – similar story with completely different endings. It’s £55 HERE.
Designed to be unisex, Linen Vetiver is a gentle and clean wash of citrus and green notes – it is soft and fresh with a little bit of zing that’s just lovely and wearable. I’m not great at picking out individual notes so I’ve just cut and paste the official notes list as follows – Italian Bergamot, Sparkling Petitgrain, Cardamom, Hyacinth, Wild Iris, Watery Jasmine, Crystal Amber, Oakmoss, Vetiver, Musk – but evident is the bergamot, petitgrain, jasmine, oakmoss and musk. Definitely unisex, definitely summery and an absolute crowd pleaser.
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Neroli Woods is a riot of orange and my favourite of the three – the creator talks of orange blossom flavoured yoghurt cake and I totally get that – a blossomy sweetness cut with something sharp or tart so it’s pleasing rather than cloying. The notes are as follows: Mandarin Leaves, Neroli, Coconut Water, Peony, Orange Flower, Solar Frangipani, Ebony Woods, Amber, Sandalwood, Cedar. I can pick out the mandarin, neroli, orange flower and frangipani – there’s something a bit beachy about it with a cologne style backdrop – I can easily be transported to the South of France with this which is probably as close as I’ll get this year! I’ll take it. I’ve found them both for £12.99 for the 15ml versions HERE and £25 for the 75mls at Fragrance Direct but that’s not a site I’ve used before – there’s a bit of a distribution issue I think because these crop up in different places at different prices but that doesn’t take away from the fact that they’re pretty damn good.
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