Buying fragrances as a gift is a very very risky present in my opinion. Buying these types of presents for me is even more risky as I have very specific tastes. Mr Lools refuses to choose something off his own back and if either him or my Mum are thinking about buying me a perfume as a gift they will drag me around the perfume section of a department store and watch my reaction as they spray me with different scents. So when one of my friends handed me a birthday present which felt very much like a bottle of perfume alarm bells started ringing and I prepared myself for the false very grateful smile I may have to give My stomach dropped as I opened the wrapping. She had purchased the Coleen EDT for me. As an aside I'm not going to go into the reasons why I dislike this particular "celeb" so much as it could take me a while but all I can say I had very low expectations from the perfume.


***Coleen EDT***
The description of the Coleen EDT is
"Coleen is the signature fragrance of Coleen Rooney. Coleen is a soft citrus floral with stunning yet delicate notices of sweet orange and soft citrus. Heart notes of lily of the valley and a soft rose wrapped in a marine accord. The base has sensual undertones of patchouli, amber, musk and cedar wood. Coleen is a young, fun and fresh scent"

From reading the description my negative of the opinion of the perfume did change and this did sound like the type of perfume I do like. Some of my favourite perfumes are Gucci II, Armani Night, DKNY Woman, Hugo Boss Woman, Hugo Boss Intense. Most of the fragrances I like are fresh and fruity so reading the description I did feel quite positive. I do find that I do not like overly floral perfumes so because this perfume described it was citrus I was encouraged but then slightly concerned that when described on perfume websites it was put within the "floral" scent category.


This is a lower priced fragrance if compared to other scents and EDT products. The RRP for the 100ml sized bottle is £18.95 however most perfume retailers online including www.cheapscents.co.uk and www.perfumepoint.co.uk are selling this product for £9.99 which is extremely cheap. You can also buy this fragrance in Boots, Superdrug, Asda, Tesco and The Perfume Shop. The perfume tends to be slightly more expensive when bought in store (but is still cheap as far as fragrance goes) and retails for around £14 for a 100ml bottle.

You can also purchase this fragrance in a smaller 50ml sized bottle. This retails for around £7 a bottle.


***Coleen EDT - The Bottle***
The fragrance comes in quite a simple bottle. This is a liliac coloured long rectangular bottle. The colour is a block colour so you can't see the liquid inside of the bottle. Coleen is written in black font which is made to look handwritten with a kiss at the end. The bottle has a shiny square lid which fits onto the end of the rectangular bottle. The bottle itself is not the prettiest bottle of fragrance on my dressing table however it is not an unattractive bottle and its simplicity is probably a plus point.

The fragrance comes with outer packaging which is a small rectangular cardboard box. This is a box white with an image of Coleen Rooney kneeling down on the front. As someone who dislikes Coleen this is not favourable however to most people this is hardly offensive!


***Wearing It***
Although I'm not a fan of celebrity endorsed fragrances I did have an open mind when it came to trying the Coleen EDT. In the past I had been given the Katie Price "Stunning" fragrance and was pleasantly surprised that this scent was actually ok despite being endorsed by a plastic Barbie doll.

After reading the description of the Coleen fragrance I did actually think that I might like it. The description of it being "soft citrus" and "sweet orange" made me imagine this is a light fresh and fruity fragrance which I generally like. However I was very disappointed. When I first sprayed this on myself I did notice a sweet orange scent but the most noticeable scent was very floral and very much like lilies. I was very disappointed as the initial sweet orange burst was a lot nicer and had a much fruitier and fresh scent.

After being on my skin for 5 minutes the fruity orange and citrus scent had completely vanished and although there was still a sweetness I found the scent was far too sickly and I did not like the floral scent it was a little too flowery and powdery. My only positive about the fragrance at this point is that although I did not like the scent at all it was not an overpowering scent and was quite a light scent; great for those that do not like overpowering fragrances and made it more suited to daytime and every day wear rather than for special occasions.

When I sprayed this on my skin initially I sprayed two sprays on my wrist and then rubbed into my neck. Generally I find with most fragrances two sprays is ample. I would say with the Coleen EDT even for someone who likes a light fragrance it is probably best to spray three sprays as this is a very light fragrance.

Although a cheaper fragrance price wise I do not think it is the most economical choice as it does not have much staying power. I noticed after two hours of wear I really had to sniff my skin to notice the scent. As the fragrance developed on my skin I just found it became more floral and the sweet scent of lilies just developed. I was hoping for orange citrus burst to be noticeable again but this fresh and fruity scent is only noticeable initially on my skin which is a shame as I think this is the nicest part of the Coleen scent.


***Overall***
Obviously as this was a gift I am grateful for my friend taking the time purchasing this for me and putting thought into this gift. However the Coleen EDT is definitely not to my taste and I will not be replacing the bottle I have. In fact I have probably only tried this scent three or four times and then decided it definitely was not for me!

What is very disappointing about the fragrance (aside from it being endorsed by this particular "celebrity") is that if you read the description of the fragrance it sounds a favourable fragrance for someone that likes fresh and fruity scents but it is nothing like the description. Instead the scent is too sickly sweet and floral. Although this is a "value for money" fragrance at £10 for a 100ml bottle it smells like a cheap overly sweet perfume which has very little staying power. For those that like this perfume I found that the scent dies down quickly so you would regularly need to re-spray this perfume for a lasting scent.

I would prefer if the scent was citrusy with the hints of orange being apparent rather than the floral lily scents being the more predominant scent. I like the fact the fragrance is a lighter scent which makes it more suitable for day time wear but with Mr Lools describing this fragrance like "a flowery plug in air freshener" it definitely put me off wearing this for any occasion.
And yes my friend is well aware of my thoughts on the fragrance and finds it very amusing now! And to all those Coleen fans out there, I'm sorry for my rant/ criticisms! : )