Product Review: 10 New Fragrances For Fall / Winter 2014

Winter is around the corner – time to switch over to your snugly knitwear and prepare for the numerous Christmas parties. No fall/winter wardrobe is complete without a new fragrance. Your light, citrus summer scent simply won’t do.

Here, we found the top 10 perfect scent to spray on for the winter season

For Her

1. DKNY MYNY Eau de Parfum
A new DKNY fragrance that's as eclectic and passionate as New York, the city we all love. Urban, carefree, spirited. Be a part of it!

Fragrance Category: Fruity Floral
Top notes: Raspberry, Galbanum, and Pink Pepper
Heart notes: Egyptian Jasmine, Freesia, and Orris
Bottom notes: Patchouli Heart, Vanilla Absolute, Creamy Musks, and Ambergris

2. Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Pink Diamond Eau de Parfum
A new addition to the Bombshell collection, this irresistibly lush limited-edition fragrance announces the upcoming holidays in a glittery way. The bottle body is shaped like a pink gem, and decorated with a metal bow ribbon embellished with pink crystals.

Fragrance type: Fruity Floral
Notes: Seductive Citrus Note of Pink Grapefruit, and Exotic Passion Flower

3. Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy Gold Couture Eau de Parfum
Couture Overdose. She is couture all the way. Spinning an addictive web of glamour and decadence at the center of her golden world. The bottle takes golden color, decorated with pink letters and logos.

Fragrance Category: Fruity Floral
Top notes: Luscious Wild Berries
Heart notes: Sambac Jasmine and Honeysuckle
Base notes: Sandalwood, Golden Amber, Caramel and Vanilla Elixir

4. Burberry My Burberry Limited Edition Eau de Parfum
Inspired by the trench coat and its heritage of British design and craftsmanship, My Burberry captures the fragrance of a London garden after the rain. The scent is a contemporary British grand floral. The bottle is decorated with red gabardine bow.

Fragrance Category: Citrus Floral
Top notes: Sweet Pea, Bergamot and Mandarin
Heart notes: Geranium, Freesia and Quince
Base notes: Patchouli, Centifolia Rose and Damascus Rose

5. Calvin Klein Reveal Eau de Parfum
Reveal embodies the thrilling game of seduction between a man and a woman - the erotic possibility of a game between equals. Sensual. desirable. inviting - with a touch of the unexpected.

Fragrance Category: Fruity Woody
Top notes: Raw Salt Signature, Pink Pepper, Black Pepper, and White Pepper
Heart notes: Orris, Ambergris, and Solar Accord
Base notes: Sandalwood, Cashmeran, and Musk

6. Jimmy Choo Stars Eau De Parfum
A chypre fragrance with sweet orange accords, this perfume is empowered, ethereal; audacious yet cool and collected; daring but tender at the heart. Like she who wears it, the fragrance is a complex, intriguing, playful and heady cocktail punctuated by candied orange, toffee and patchouli.

Fragrance Category: Fruity Chypre
Top notes: Candied Orange
Heart notes: Tiger Orchid
Base notes: Toffee, Sandalwood, Patchouli

7. Repetto Eau de Parfum
As the heiress of the original Eau de Toilette, Repetto Eau de Parfum is a new creation that expresses even more intense femininity. The elegance of her presence, the powdery pink of her toe shoes and the flowing movement of an adagio, this perfume was inspired by a gala evening, conveying a concentrate of emotions like those a prima ballerina feels just before the start of a ballet.

Fragrance Category: Floral-Fruity and Oriental-Woody
Top notes: Plum and Cherry Blossom
Heart notes: Rose and Orange Blossom
Base notes: Patchouli and Amber Elixir

8. Narciso Eau de Parfum
An extremely sexy fragrance that would turn a man’s head. This fragrance defines sensuality with elegance. Assertive woody notes meet tender white florals in a daring and feminine duality.

Fragrance Category: Fruity Woody
Top notes: White Rose and Gardenia
Heart notes: Musk
Base notes: Vetiver, White Cedar Extract and Cedar
For Her 

9. Tom Ford Grey Vetiver Eau de Toilette
A fresher, more luminous and lighter version of the masculine woody-spicy Grey Vetiver launched in 2009. This fragrance is enlivened with compelling warmth and heightened freshness, and gives an olfactory equivalent of a navy blue blazer, a nice watch, or brogues shoes.

Fragrance Category: Woody and Spicy
Top notes: Iced Lemon, Bergamot, Grapefruit, and Basil
Heart notes: Orris, Artemisia, Sage, and Orange Blossom
Base notes: Vetiver, Musk, Amber, and Oakmoss

10. Davidoff The Brilliant Game Eau de Toilette
The Brilliant Game is a new member to the collection The Game. A hot and addictive scent of a charismatic man, this fragrance inspires admiration with confidence and elegance. Outplay any opponent ; win any woman’s heart.

Fragrance Category: Oriental and Woody
Top notes: Americano Cocktail, Bloody Berries, Citruses, Clary Sage and Armoise
Heart notes: Cedar, Orange Blossom
Base notes: Tonka, Hay, Caramel, Coumarin

Which is your favorite fragrance among the 10 above? Or do you have any other preferences? Tell us in the comments! 

All You Need To Know About Perfumes

“Perfume is a mark of female identity and the final touch of her style,” Christian Dior says. This shows that perfume does not only enhance your femininity, but also complements your outfit. Knowing the basic knowledge of perfumes help you choose your favorite perfume and wear it in the right way.

History of Perfumes

Perfumes have existed since the earliest human civilizations. The world's first-recorded perfume maker is a woman named Tapputi, who was mentioned in a cuneiform tablet from the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamia. She distilled flowers, oil, and calamus with other aromatics, then filtered and put them back in the still several times.

Modern perfumery began in the late 19th century, with the introduction of commercial synthesis of aroma compounds such as vanillin or coumarin, which allowed previously unattainable smells.

Perfume Concentrations

Perfumes contain different concentrations of aromatic compounds. The more aromatic compounds in a fragrance, the more intense and lasting the fragrance will be. The concentrations and specific names for each type of perfumes are catergorized as below:

1. Perfume (Parfum): 15-40% aromatic compounds; lasts for up to 6-8 hours.
2. Eau de Parfum (EdP): 10-20% (typical 15%) aromatic compounds; lasts for up to 4-5 hours.
3. Eau de Toilette (EdT): 5-15% (typical 10%) aromatic compounds; lasts for up to 2-3 hours.
4. Eau de Cologne (EdC): Chypre citrus type perfumes with 3-8% (typical 5%) aromatic compounds; lasts for up to 2 hours.
5. Eau Fraiche: 1-3% aromatic compounds; lasts for up to 2 hours. 

Fragrance Categories
The scents of perfumes can be classified into 8 categories according to the ingredients that are used to compose that particular scent. 

1. Citrus: infused with the tangy essence of citrus fruits, these perfumes are lively and energetic.
2. Floral: sweet and romantic, these scents are the "good girls" of the fragrance world.
3. Fruity: the bright smells of juicy fruits please the nose, and is often blended with florals to create a compelling aroma.
4. Greens: a natural and energetic group, these fragrances smell of fresh leaves and newly-mown grass. Tend toward the unisex.
5. Oceanic: crisp and fresh, these perfumes evoke natural aromas such as mountain air, ocean spray or clean linen.
6. Oriental: exotic and feminine, these sensual blends feature an earthy, animalistic base scent such as musk or ambergris. They are often combined with warm notes such as amber or floral notes.
7. Spicy: featuring notes of cloves, ginger, cinnamon, cardamon and pepper, these perfumes are comforting and alluring in an old-fashioned way.
8. Woody (Chypre): built on base notes of bark and moss, these scents evoke a no-nonsense femininity.

Applying Perfumes
The conventional application of fragrances is at pulse points, such as behind the ears, the nape of the neck, and the insides of wrists, elbows and knees. The pulse points will warm the perfume and release fragrance continuously. 

The modern way of application encourages fragrance layering by mixing two or more scents together. This allows you to custom-blend a signature scent to reflect your personality or your mood. If you haven’t layered fragrances before, try to combine two fragrances that have a common note, e.g. jasmine. If you’re adventurous, try combining two or more opposite fragrances, such as a spice and a vanilla.

Avoid combining two scents that are too dark and heady, they can be overwhelming when used together.

However, layering scents doesn’t necessarily mean spraying two perfumes directly on top of each other. It can also mean building up a long-lasting scent by combining body products and perfumes of your favorite scent. Lightly scented products such as bath oil, shower gel, and body lotion are recommended for the morning; Eau de Toilette is suggested for the afternoon; and Parfum for evening.

It is said that the type of perfume used by a woman can reflect her personality. What is your favorite type of fragrance? Let us know in the comments.