Illuminum White Gardenia Petals - Review

Top Notes: Gardenia, coconut
Middle Notes: Jasmine, ylang-ylang, lily-of-the-valley
Base Notes: Light Wood, Amber

Application method: 2 dabs on wrists (one for each wrist)

Upon first application the floral note is strong, a bit astringent even.

During drydown I could smell

coconut, tuberose, gardenia Lily-of-the-valley, and Jasmin.

Of them all, I smell the gardenia and Jasmine quite a bit. The coconut is there, but very much in the background. The tuberose was one of the first notes I smelled (but then again I really love tuberose, and thankfully it dosen't duke it out with the gardenia.

This was mixed artfully so that they complimented each other well.

The scent itself though can be a bit flighty.

4 hours in I start to get a bit of a soap smell and a very light amber in the background. Again, not unpleasant at all. but the amber is way way in the back of this scent. The scent maintains if freshness without turning bitter or sour which some big florals can do.

6 hours in I finally smell some powder but my God those flowers.... I'm starting to feel like someone tied a bouquet of flowers around my face that I can't get off.

Sillage and Longevity:

Now, on me the sillage is just crazy. Nothing personal about this scent!!

I went out to retrieve the mail and the UPS guy noticed. He asked all types of questions about it and wanted the name so he could get a bottle for his wife, so yes a scent that will get noticed for the right reasons as long as you don't overdo.

I'm a bit over 6 hours in. Its killing me. Though I actually like the scent, its making me a bit nutty as I have a nose full of flowers that I can't turn off.

In conclusion: a few observations:

The scent dosen't smell artificial, to the contrary you get a very well rounded white floral bouquet. But, I can see this one as being headache inducing because it really is that big of a perfume.

This is NOT a perfume to wear to work!!

Go light with this one, I seriously mean 1-2 sprays and thats it. Its big enough to not disappear unless your skin just eats perfumes.

The Dutches of Cambridge chose this for her wedding perfume, and I'm sure she had plenty to choose from! After trying this one out, I can certainly see why this was her pick.

The florals just go on and on (and on!!) its very artfully crafted and you get a blast of florals from everywhere with this.

If you love big round florals yes, you will really enjoy this mix.

-A