A Rather Novel Collection Cape Of Good Hope by Claude Dir

Love this perfume, it makes me happy. (I bought it at Anthropologie, Oxford Street <3!)

According to the box, this entry in the Anthropologie "tea in a book" series, Cape of Good Hope, features these notes: top: red tea leaves, lemon blossom heart: white floral, gardenia, rose milk base: musk, Madagascar vanilla, gentle woods Really all of these components mingle together to create a fairly linear summertime oriental perfume. I realize that "summertime oriental" may sound like a contradiction in terms, but in this case it works. The layer is light enough but boasts enough vanilla to make it seem oriental, not floral, despite the gardenia and "white floral" notes. This is probably my favorite of the series, surprisingly, since I'm not all that keen on rooibos tea, and the idea of mixing it with vanilla does not appeal to me at all. I'm not entirely sure that the tea represented here is rooibos, to be honest, but the blend smells gently oriental without being dilute and wan and thin, as I sometimes find with light orientals. Created by the famed Claude Dir, Cape of Good Hope is a good perfume, which deserves to be relaunched now that this limited edition is no longer available.

This is a fine fragrance that is light, soft and just barely hints at being a vanilla-oriental. All the notes here are pretty evenly blended so not one sticks out, except for the red tea, which is quite mild but unique. In spite of the notes I wouldn't call this exotic or daring, but soft and light with maybe just a speck of sweetness. I'd call this cozy and comforting and perfect for early fall as things start to cool off. Slightly feminine and slightly soapy, this one is pretty easy to wear for anyone but as a guy this smells a bit like shampoo on me. I think a woman might have better luck with it. Still, there is something about this that evokes happy and comforting feelings. Overall I give this a thumbs up.