REVIEW: VERSACE - YELLOW DIAMOND

In my last post I wrote about Paco Rabanne - '1 Million', well on the same day I also treated myself to Versace - 'Yellow Diamond'. I've never bought a women's fragrance before, most that I have smelled have been too sweet and 'girly' for my liking, but recently I came across 'Yellow Diamond' and fell in love with it.

It has of course a feminine scent to it, but in a very fresh, sunny way.. not just the typical 'flowery' smells that are usually associated with female fragrances. Again I was wary of buying it (I'm so indecisive about purchases such as fragrance as it's a daily thing which I need to love enough to wear it everyday) but now I am so happy that I did buy it.

"Yellow Diamond is crafted as a pure, transparent and airy floral fragrance, sparkling and intense as the yellow color, while being luxurious and feminine like a diamond. Its composition opens with luminous freshness of lemon, bergamot, neroli and pear sorbet. The heart features airy orange blossom, freesia, mimosa and water lily. The base is made of amber, precious musk and guaiac wood."

As you all know I am quite an androgynous guy, some days I'm more feminine and some days I'm more masculine.. my outfits and the way I style my hair play a huge role in this and now so can what fragrance I am wearing. I now have a very masculine fragrance in '1 Million' for nights out, dVb will always be part of my collection and 'Yellow Diamond' will be the perfect fragrance to compliment my androgynous days.

I absolutely love the packaging and the bottle! The box it came in was a bright citrus yellow with a gold Baroque pattern, so very Versace darhling! The bottle is a gorgeous shape, with its sharp cut lines and facets just like a exquisite gems tone. The top is a large bright yellow (although the color has been drained from this photo unfortunately) crystal which matches the color of the liquid sunshine inside, in the centre of the crystal is the Versace medusa logo in gold.. all together it is a very well designed bottle that would look great on any dressing table.

I bought it from Boots, 30ml on sale for £20.99.. also included in the box is a 50ml perfumed body lotion which I think is a nice extra. I recommend this fragrance and especially at this price it's a perfect little treat for yourself or a loved one.

ex.oh.ex.oh

REVIEW: PACO RABANNE - 1 MILLION

As it's the new year it's the perfect time to change up a few things and one of those is what fragrances I wear, I've worn nothing but dVb fragrances for almost four years now and I really do fancy a change, I fancy mixing it up a little!

So, I've been interested in Paco Rabanne -  '1 Million' since it came out a few years ago, but when I initially smelt it (as much as I actually loved it) it reminded me of someone who'd I'd rather forget and as I said in one of my previous fragrance posts when a memory get attached to a particular smell it's very hard to get over/forget that. But a few months ago I smelt it again, on a passer-by in a club and I was absolutely blown away.. I knew straight away what it was and it smelt incredible.

I was wary of buying it at first, but for me now this fragrance doesn't remind me of the past, it signals the future.. an intoxicating future. That's the best word to describe '1 Million' - intoxicating - when I smell it it's like a world of seductive indulgence, sex, power and exquisite decadence in a beautiful bottle shaped like a gold bullion bar.

"The fragrance opens with sparkling fresh fruits, including notes of frosted grapefruit, blood mandarin and peppermint. The heart is spicy and masculine with rose absolute, musk and cinnamon bark. In the base, sensual leather notes of blond leather, tonka bean and amber ketal round out the fragrance."

I bought the 50ml bottle which was £35.99 from Superdrug, prices don't really vary across the shops for this fragrance, but from what I've heard from sales assistants it's one of every store's bestsellers and I did notice over the Christmas period it was sold out in Boots. I highly recommend '1 Million' to any guy out there who's looking for a new fragrance that will really make them stand out from the crowd and drive your senses wild with desire.

ex.oh.ex.oh

THE SCENT OF MY MEMORIES

What does fragrance mean to you?

For some it's something you spray on to make yourself smell nice, for some it's a tool used for attraction and for some it can evoke strong memories of times gone past.

I watched a documentary called 'Perfume' on BBC FOUR, it was so interesting. It took us behind the scenes of the very elusive and not very well known world of perfumery, following some of the top perfumers in America and Paris. It showed the creative process of how a fragrance is created and it was quite different from what I expected, I thought it would all be big factories and laboratories. Yes, this was involved in the later stages (mass production) but at the start of the process they were in flower fields, gardens and almost bizarrely pubs, busses and old book stores.

The scents associated with these places mean a lot to some people, like I absolutely love the smell of old books. That old, musky scent is oddly pleasing. In this episode (part 2 of a 3 part series) they touched upon the effect fragrance has on our memory, for instance just by smelling a scent your drawn right back to a certain time/experience and/or people. Like it sounds silly but 1 Million by Paco Rabanne takes me back to when I was 14, it wasn't around then but for some reason it reminds me of that time. The scent of a pint of Guinness reminds me of my grandfather, it was his favorite drink.. he personally didn't smell of it, but it reminds me of him.

One day I want to release my own line of fragrances alongside my clothing line, it's just another branch of my creativity and something I'm quite passionate about achieving.

ex.oh.ex.oh