Fragrance Notes

Warmer months bring new spring wardrobes but none can be complete without a signature scent. Many people underestimate the power of fragrances. They have the ability transform a personality. Choosing a signature scent can be extremely difficult. The key to trying out perfumes is sniffing coffee beans after trying each scent. Coffee beans neutralize one’s sense of smell so you are able to experience every note in each perfume. When trying to find the perfect fragrance always test them in the morning or afternoon when your sense of smell is at its best. A spring fragrance should be refreshing and never too powerful. 

These are some of the fragrances I reviewed for Spring / Summer 2013. 

Manifesto by YSL starts off with fresh green wave, bergamot, and black currant. The heart has accords of white flowers such as Sambac jasmine, and lily of the valley. The base is woody and slightly oriental and captures notes of cedar, sandalwood, vanilla, and tonka bean. It seems overly sweet when first put on but after a few minutes it warms up and the flower notes really come through. It has all day staying power. 

BVLGARI Mon Jasmin Noir L'Eau Exquise is made of pink pomelo and fresh green almond notes in the top of the composition. The heart celebrates jasmine and white tea, laid on the wood & musky base.  It has a delicate, romantic, and fresh style. A retake on the classic, Mon Jasmin Noir, this scent is lighter and fresher for spring. It is a very pretty and feminine fragrance. 

Dolce & Gabbana Rose the one, a retake on D&G the one, is made softer by having a rose base instead of a mandaris & vanilla base. Notes of pink grapefruit, mandarin, peach, muguet, Bulgarian rose, peony, geranium, madonna lily, plum, ambrette seed, vanilla, amber, & musk create an elegant and classic scent. It is sexy yet soft. It does not have ideal staying power but it can be worn for day or night. 

Prada Infusion d'Iris, blends orange blossom, wet-smelling iris, mandarin, vetiver, and incense for a charming, light, bright scent. This floral fragrance has a citrus scent that makes it ideal for spring and summer. It has magnificent staying power and a little goes a long way. 

Vera Wang Lovestruck Floral Rush combines sparkling champagne and apricot blossom with a heart of white freesia and a base of cashmere woods, sheer musk, and white amber. This fragrance brings to mind sunsets on the beach and tropical drinks. It is a more floral and lighter version than the original Vera Wang Lovestruck. The scent is a sparkling floral bouquet fruit scented notes. 

When choosing your signature scent always remember that perfumes are as complex as personalities, what works for one person may not work for you. But with hundreds of choices, there is at least one that will suit each distinct individual.

- Jordana 

Lady Gaga Confirms Blood and Semen Fragrance

by Tara Chang

Why not finish what I started?

Couple months ago I mentioned that Lady Gaga’s first fragrance would smell like blood and semen. Well now I can confirm it!

Lady Gaga has confirmed to Australian radio hosts saying, “I wanted to extract the feeling and the scent of blood and semen from molecular structures, so that’s where that [report] came from.” Gaga goes on to explain, “[Blood and semen] is in the perfume but it doesn’t smell like that-you just get the after feeling of sex from the semen and the blood is primal.”

Now here is where it gets interesting. The “blood” part of her fragrance has actually been taken from her own blood. “It was taken out of my own blood sample so it’s a sense of having me on your skin.” Now it makes sense, anyone can finally have a piece of Gaga with them.

When asked what Gaga thought the fragrance smelled like overall she replied, “the perfume smells like an expensive hooker.” Well where do I sign up for that?

Think Your Sh*t Don’t Stink?

by: Melissa Laborie


Well it does. And now you have a chance to wear it.

Evidently there is a new craze of obscure bodily excretions being paired up with commercial products. Following along the lines of breast milk ice cream and blood and semen fragrances, sh*t is the next new smell.

Self-proclaimed perfumer Jammie Nicholas has bottled it up and is charging $80 for it. The History of Shit by Dominique Laporte apparently inspired Nicholas’ stinky fragrance, entitled Surplus.

According to the book, Laporte suggested “pleasant smells were used to cover bad smells, so it could be suggested that a bad smell could be used to cover pleasant smells.”
Maybe it’s just me but I was under the impression that perfume and colognes were designed to make you smell better, not worse.

Nicholas told Vice magazine “it took about a week to extract the essential oils from the various raw materials to create jars of eau de shit”.

Perhaps even more surprising then creating such a scent, is the fact that there are actual buyers out there. Surplus has already sold 25 bottles of the 85 created.

For those of you interested in finding out more about this perfume check it out at www.surplusperfume.com

Lady Gaga's Bodily Fluid Fragrance

by Tara Chang

You know celebrities mean business when they break out into the beauty industry and launch their own fragrance. Many opt for a floral scent that is sweet and innocent to really capture the overall image of their particular personality. So I am not sure why I was so surprised in hearing that Lady Gaga's upcoming new fragrance wasn't at all going to portray "sweet and innocent", but rather "semen and blood."

Yes, you read it right the first time.

According to fragrance insiders, the pop star has reportedly requested that her new fragrance smell of "semen and blood”. While I am very interested in finding out what this bodily fluid concoction will be named, I also have to wonder where the scents will come from? While I ponder that graphic thought, I can't seem to picture myself wearing the fragrance to work, to dinner, on a date or presenting it as a gift (to really show how much I care).

Now who is to say blood and semen scents won’t be the new fragrance of beauty? I personally, might just consider trying it if she throws in a body lotion!