Holiday In A Bottle (Estée Lauder: Pleasures Exotic, Eau de Parfum)

Member Name: venice105

Product:	Estée Lauder: Pleasures Exotic, Eau de Parfum
Date:	15/06/07 (530 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Crisp,fruity floral that is easy on the nose

Disadvantages: Staying power a little weak

I was recently on a search for a new summer perfume, last year's was lovely but I am always looking for a new fragrance. I hunted high and low (but no sign of Morten Hackett! oh dear sorry). I read about all of the jazzy new "summer" fragrances, the marketing people have definitely tapped into the (female) consumer desire to have something new in the summer to spritz, something lighter perhaps than their cold weather months fragrance.

I sniffed quite a few, most of them ponging. "Fruity, young, fresh!", they promised but more often delivered cheap, nasty, sugary sweet hits of malodour. I found myself drifting over to old loves, sweet but musky, heady, deep -but No, I told myself, you are not yet old enough to walk around year round knocking people out with your scent. Why does nearly everything described as summery smell like what I imagine a Blackpool nightclub in August at 2a.m. to be?

Maybe I am not a summer person, well I suspected this anyway, but this only confirmed my suspicions. No doubt part of the problem was I was looking for cheap, I did not want to spend £50+ on something I wasn't sure I would like in a few months time. I wandered over from the Guerlain to the Givenchy, slowly getting wooed back by the expensive but at least inoffensive scents. Finally I came upon Estee Lauder, that old classic. I trusted Ms. Lauder, having worn Pleasures quite happily a few years ago. I knew if nothing else I would not come away smelling like a slapper, this was a place of class and refinement. "Smell this new Tom Ford limited edition!" chirped the saleslady. It was...nice, light and coconutty, but not feminine enough for me. I walked over to the main perfume section, determined to find something. Pleasures...mmm it's so light and nice, but I am fickle, I want something new. Pleasures Intense...hm nooo too intense! Pleasures Exotic - Exotic? Uh oh we could be entering Jordan territory here!

Only no. It's fruity, yes, no question. And quite sweet. But those things fade into something more subtle rather quickly, crisply floral, a hint of Pleasures, but with more bite. Nicely feminine, this fruity floral settles into a rather fizzy bouquet of light aroma. I was tired of looking, this hit all the right notes, enough so for me to purchase the large bottle as for £10 more you get almost twice as much. A good thing, too, as I have realized this doesn't have great staying power on me. I've had worse (Jo Malone fragrances, while divine, just disappear on me), and I'd rather reapply this than have a scent I didn't like lingering too long.

This is not a brand new fragrance, it was launched by Estee Lauder in 2004. It has the same simple yet pretty clear glass bottle as Pleasures, only with pink lettering and packaging to distinguish it. I had smelled it in the past and passed it by as I am not normally drawn to fruity florals. This is such a sheer one though and I had not accounted for the top notes settling so well into something rather nice. Reading the various scents involved in this it is a right cacophony of ingredients, but it smells cleanly zingy and sleek to me.

It is decribed as a tropical floral, with top notes of Mango, Passion Fruit Cocktail, Green Leaves, Pink Grapefruit, Orange and Lemongrass, middle notes of Island Bamboo Flowers, Hibiscus Flower and Orangeblossom with Lychee and Cassis, Bougainvillea Vine, Peony, Green Leaves, Rose Petals and the spice Baie Rose. Finally, the dry down is Indian Sandalwood, Amber and Violet Woods. Well, there had to be some sandalwood in there for me to like it!

As I said those multiple ingredients create confusion (for me), if I had not already sniffed it, and I really don't think it's a very busy scent. The dry down is barely perceptible so it's definitely not earthy. The violet is undetectable, which for me is a good thing as I find all of these new violet scents cloying; here it must combine well with something or other. The middle and top notes are the most noticeable. It is a green floral, with a hint of a tropical breeze. The sweeter fruits don't overpower it the way they do some other fruity florals, there is clearly a lot of greenery in the composition to alleviate this.

Because of the staying power I would say this has less of an impact than it might otherwise, that said it's not the lightest fragrance I've ever smelled. The fragrance is distinctive enough to leave an impression, it could be worn day or night due to its sheerness. It is sexy in a lazy sunset, swirly tangerine, beachy day kind of way - the tropical notes do lend it this allure. That said it's not overpowering in the slightest. I am still getting to know this fragrance so can't say for sure if we'll end up together long term, but our initial infatuation is pretty strong, much like a holiday romance I suppose!

It's not cheap at £30 for the smallest size, 30ml, £40 for 50ml, but if you want to treat yourself you could do far worse than this fun yet polished perfume. It is available in eau de parfum and also as a scented lotion.

Summary: Lovely summer perfume with a fun fruitiness that is not sickly