New Scents To Give This Spring

Out with the old heavy winter scents and in with the new... fresh, light and sunny inside. Perfume has long been a rather safe gift to give, especially when it comes to dating. Sadly this rose can have thorns too. Instead of using your own nose (guys in particular we're talking to you) take the time to find out what she already uses and likes. This will help prevent a trip to the returns department.

A review of the new scents for spring 2008 from left to right:

Dior Addict Shine - This latest version of Dior Addict is soft, sweet and mellow with notes of cedrat, gardenia, raspberry, and cedar woods. High on the citrus and punched up with fruit notes this perfume is very light, young and unfortunately rather nondescript. A trend I'm seeing in many of these new releases for 2008. It's pleasant yet nothing incredibly special and may smell too much like other perfumes already in her collection. Gift Age Range: Teens through early 30s.

Pucci Vivara - The reinvented set to honor Pucci's 60th anniversary it has notes of bitter almond, patchouli, jasmine and narcissus. Just as the liquid is colored, this is a very green scent that was a major disappointment. I so wanted to adore this scent for its amaretto accord (one of my favorite scents) and the amazing bottle which could double as a paperweight once the perfume was gone. I mean just look at it... it screams wild Pucci. Sadly the scent is extremely similar to a number of nondescript scents already out there and the almond hardly makes an appearance. Instead all you get is sweet melon like green with a tad of funk. This is one to buy for the bottle only, don't expert her to actually wear it. Gift Age Range: I'm honestly not sure.

Victoria's Secret Pink - This is a cute scent by Victoria's Secret tween geared line also named Pink. It has very green laced notes of bergamot, mandarin, violet leaves, juniper berry, freesia, lily of the valley (muguet) and neroli. While Victoria's Secret is known for sexy this scent is so green and simple it's hard to believe it was created by them. I've already given this and the recipient loved it and said it reminded them of their favorite perfume Pleasures. Gift Age Range: Tweens through early 20's, it's very young and smells a lot like a hair care product.

Ralph Wild - by Ralph Lauren is the latest of his collection of scents so obviously geared towards the younger set. I've had and quickly given away Ralph Hot due to its strange main accords of maple syrup and jasmine and I can see this new scent isn't much better with it smelling strongly of watermelon and strawberries on the skin. Kool Aid in overall scent it has notes of cherry blossom, pink pepper, red rose, jasmine, amber, sandalwood, and musk along with the strawberries and watermelon. Pink pepper is another of my deep loves but for some reason I couldn't smell it over the sugary main ingredients. Not only that but I could just imagine the bees, flies and hornets zeroing in the poor girl wearing this one outside in the heat. Gift Age Range: Tweens through Teens.

Nina by Nina Ricci - I was told at the perfume counter that Nina Ricci hasn't put out a new scent for very long time. Clearly with this one, like all of the above, they wanted to jump into the young market. First, like the Pucci bottle, this bottle manages to be both gorgeous and darling at the same time. I think anyone into a touch of fantasy would love Nina for the bottle alone. Not surprisingly due to the shape of the bottle it includes notes of what they refer to as red toffee apple and apple wood. Let me stop here and say it's one massive cloud of surgery sweet apple, I don't know about the toffee part and I also don't know about the supposed other notes of lime, lemon, cotton musk, woods, and moonflower. This is intensely sweet almost to the point of giving a toothache and I have to admit to having been a tad shocked. Even the man at the counter couldn't help but laugh at my response. It's very Bath & Body Works. Gift Age Range: The very, very young.

Very Irresistible Givenchy - Well the ads say very elegant, very fun, very you and the very young looking Liv Tyler is seen as the spokes model but this scent, while elegant yes, should say very misleading. This scent is just not young but instead extremely mature almost too the point of being dowdy. It also seems very simple with the major notes being rose related and star anise. This was a very dangerous step for Givenchy. Many of us had grandmothers who wore rose heavy scents and it's been etched into our olfactory that rose = grandmama. Would you like to go out with grandma or...? I have to admit enjoying this scent when I'm all by myself as it gives a sort of soft comfort. See my past post on other rose scented items I adore. Sadly the star anise is lost in the deep, fruity rose and isn't found until the perfume itself is only a whisper. Which only seems to be about an hour later. Gift Age Range: 50+ or perfect for anymore who loves going vintage in dress (step back in time all the way), if only the bottle wasn't so modern looking.

For more ideas check out Time Out New York's somewhat updated list of spring scents based on what Balanchine would have given his dancers as gifts (you remember that story?).

Do you have a scent perfect for spring gift giving? If so leave a comment. We (I) really want to know! Even though in my case I really don't need a new spring scent after reading I'm in the abnormal extreme set over at Now Smell This. I guess there are worse obsessions to have and at the very least I can write first hand reviews here (oh snap!).

Also Read:
- Forget Perfume I'll Take What He Has