Wednesday, February 08, 2006

REVIEW: Armani Prive, Pierre de Lune

Notes: Cassia, violet, green notes, iris, belambre

Pros: Soft and light with a scent reminiscent of fabric softener. Beautiful bottle.

Cons: At $185 a bottle I'd rather bathe in Downy.

Bottleworthy: As a luxury, designer item and a way to pamper a loved one who needs some spoiling, sure. As one more bottle for the collection, no way! I'll look for a decant.

Where can I buy it? $185 for a 50ml edp spray at GiorgioArmaniBeauty

The Bottom Line: A whisper of Hermes Amazone, a tinge of synthetic amber, a mere hour of lasting power, a beautiful Armani bottle, a reference to Goutal Duel's iris note,a pretty composition, and did I mention $185?

Rating (out of 10): 5 For originality, price and sillage

I admit that it smells good, and I love (and own) Eau de Jade (shared a bottle with a friend), but $185 is just too much money for an Armani scent. If it were $65 for a 100ml, I would gladly buy it and enjoy it in spring and summer. Any other scents that you think are just silly for the prices asked?

10 comments:

lilybp said...

Can you say "Shalini"? It's a lovely scent, but the only advertised version comes in a limited edition Lalique bottle and costs $900! (2.2 oz) Someone on MUA fell in love with it and begged Aedes until they allowed that they MIGHT be able to obtain a regular bottle of maybe an ounce for a mere $400. A veritable bargain! (I think she bought it).
Judith

marlen said...

Judith - Yikes! That IS a lot of money! And I thought the Clive Christian scents were crazy.

Marina said...

I would rate the whole Prive fragrance line as a 5, for all the reasons you mention.

Other silly priced scent...well, what J. said- Shalini. Plus Clive Christian's line. I also think that DSH's fragrances are also priced basically above rubies.

marlen said...

C - I do find the entire line quite mediocre...I was hoping to be wowed and instead was simply sated.

marchlion said...

Well, I haven't smelled it yet, but the new Guerlain Voilette pour Madame is $1300 a bottle! I don't care if it smells like the Right Hand of God, that's just... absurd.

Anonymous said...

Well, Creed comes to mind - their stuff is awfully spendy for what you get, and it only comes in the one large size, not that I don't like big bottles, (I do!), but maybe they should consider that not everyone wants a VAT of the stuff every time. I could buy TWO bottles if they were smaller...

Laura said...

My issue with the Creed fragrances is more the packaging than the price. I think $300 for 8 oz. of fragrance (or whatever it is) is actually a heckuva deal ... except who wants 8 oz. of Fleur de The Rose Bulgarie? It'd go bad before I could manage to use it all up! If you can find a group of friends to go in with you to buy one of those vats 'o' fragrance it becomes quite affordable, but otherwise it just doesn't make sense.

I love Jo Malone's Grapefruit but I think the price point is a bit silly considering what's in it. I feel the same way about most expensive citrus scents. Floral absolutes are expensive. Grapefruit essential oil is not. It must cost the Estee Lauder company only pennies to crank out a bottle of JM Grapefruit ... so why does it cost the same as JM Tuberose, which almost surely contains more expensive ingredients?

marlen said...

March - $1300? WHAT? My wallet hurts...

marlen said...

Flora - I hear you! 8 ozs and it would surely go bad rather quickly as a splash bottle, but as Laura mentioned, sharing it with others makes it a pretty good deal.

marlen said...

Laura - I hear you...I think JM's price points are pretty high considering the poor longevity of most of them. If only scents were priced according to the ingredients (like Malle or Ormonde Jayne)...