Guess Dare

There are two reasons to spin the bottle today... one, it's Valentines Day, one of the few holidays so intrinsically tied to the power of scent and two, I've discovered a particularly romantic new release. Keep reading for what it is and:

THE REVIEW >

This one goes out to all the perfume lovers out there. The romance, the allure, the comfort and the luxury housed in glass bottles of varying shapes and sizes. It's probably pretty obvious by now that fragrance is one of my most cherished gifts and the day celebrating love, good old VDay, is actually a a time when many will be given a bottle (or better a time to buy one for yourself!). It's also a good reason to highlight a fragrance that could not be mistaken for anything other than perfume. A perfumers perfume.

One house that always personified those classically powerhouse and vixen of scents is Guess. Creators of the cult favorite Seductive (which almost every girl hailing from France owns weather they fess up or not) and my personal favorite, its predecessor and now discontinued Guess Gold. Two fine examples of brash, boldly musky fragrances that only a women could pull off. So it was with a mixture of glee and a little trepidation that I spritzed on Guess' latest release Dare. Glee at this possibly being a reincarnation of Gold and because an illusive cactus flower note was said to be present. Trepidation at this possibly being heavy on the old school aldehydes.

The blush colored liquid inside this studded bottle complete with it's own nameplate necklace should have given me a hint at what would come. Powerhouse, yes, but in a rather romantically fresh and springy way. Even better, it seemed as if Guess Gold's warm, balsamic DNA was hiding beneath the ubiquitous florals (rose and jasmine) and bright greenery of the scent. Gone is a heavy plum or pineapple, replaced here with a fresh spritz of kumquat, lemon blossoms and sweet coconut. All wrapped up in Guess' signature muskiness.

As for the cactus flower, that never came through for me which was slightly disappointing. To date the only scent that managed to capture that most haunting of scents which, I could only describe as piercing, is the now equally defunct Pure Turquoise by Ralph Lauren. Those looking for a replacement in Dare will not find it but what is present is surprisingly adorable and idyllically modern.

PS... for more favorites see the fragrance section of the site here.

Image: mam for Gave That