R.E.M.

This is totally my jam! As a fan of Ariana's music, I was eager to try out her perfumes, and the pale lavender bottle sitting on the stunning, translucent ice-shaped holder intrigued me immensely. So, after having feverishly gone through numerous reviews on here, I decided to purchase a full bottle of R.E.M, and boy was it so good! This, however, is yet the hardest perfume to review for me, as I have never encountered any that smells like it before, but I will try my best. R.E.M opens with a strong burst of beautiful unisex lavender which remains prevalent throughout the stages of the fragrance, and is soon followed by salted caramel and fig. I really have no idea how salt smells like in perfume, but in here, I assume that it is perhaps the elusive, clean and fresh scent I detect on my skin which somewhat reminds me of men's cologne. At this stage, the only descriptions I deem fit for this would be heavenly and ethereal - the salted caramel with the lavender lingering in the background are so out of this world and pleasantly addictive that I have to sniff my wrist over and over. It is totally beyond me how a perfume that mainly contains sweet notes and is supposed to smell gourmand-ish manages to be this clean and refreshing, all while exuding a calm and relaxing vibe. As the perfume commences to the dry down, the subtle, powdery zefir begins to shine through, gently caressing your skin with its sweetness. Being designed as a before-bed perfume, R.E.M has a soft projection and is unlikely to be noticed except for intimate contact. Its longevity is above average, with 6 atomizations lasting up to 6-7 hours give or take, and thus making it work-appropriate and suitable for day and night. The scent also comes off as unisex, even veering towards masculine upon initial spray, which is rather unexpected from someone as girly as Ariana. Wearing this, its coziness and cologne-like quality actually remind me of when I was cuddling with my ex, and I'm sure she would have told me I smell nice had I worn it that time. Oh, the nostalgia. R.E.M is a great perfume for all genders and its dreamy, sweet yet refreshing scent will definitely lull you to sleep, while also being perfect for daytime wear on casual days or on a date. Also, this is personal but the crystal holder makes me think of my 2D biases - Aquarius Camus and Aquarius Dégel - the exceedingly talented ice wielders, so this has earned its position as one of my favorites among my tiny collection, and will remain there for years to come!

First time wearing it: the initial opening is basically not existing. Like upon first spraying, I had to right away top up because I smelled nothing. Once I did smell it after a couple of seconds, it does smell nice, like a cozy, lavender-vanilla skin scent. Nice and pleasant, but very close to the skin. Like literally just for you, not something anyone else will notice. Well, that was my first impression. When I started moving around, doing my stuff around the house, I felt like, okay, maybe this has more projecting than I initially thought. Coming back into the room where I had initially sprayed it, I could still smell it there, like a pleasant room spray. All through wearing it, I would feel like it’s not that much of a performer, but I did a compliment that I smelled good by someone that just sat next to me – so apparently it does perform, but you just don’t notice it so much yourself? What I smell is a mellow, soft lavender with a soft sweet base. Is it vanilla or the tonka beans? Is it caramel, or the zefir? I don’t really know. I do really enjoy a lavender scent, and I enjoy it on days where work will be stressful, or when I want a nice sleep, so this one definitely falls in this category. It doesn’t stand out that much from other ones that I have, but I’m sure I will wear it. The bottle is also a cute and special design. I like the fact that you can slip the crystal part off the bottle to spray easier, but also if you’d want a more sleek bottle design, you could have that too. I guess you could use the crystal part for something else too. It’s really cool that Ariana puts out quirky bottles like this.

imo, this perfume has a synthetic soapy lavender smell but not in an overbearing way as it's balanced out by the deep wintery/fallish base notes and the salt that make this a scent more suitable for the spring to fall season. though i will be honest, i did use a lot of my 10ml mini through summer and it wasnt really that unfitting for the season as it gave off a fresh and clean scent- but i think there are plenty of scents out there that are a lot more suitable for summer and the fruity notes aren't that strong at all. the scent reminds me of parma violets- its a violet flavoured sweet in the UK that has a soapy/floral taste: i'm guessing this is from the lavender, salt and fruit notes that give it a detergent kind of vibe. i actually was really hooked on this sweet as a child so it explains why i love this perfume sm. parma violets r kinda like marmite- you love or hate it vibe, so i can see why people wouldn't like this perfume. in terms of gender- this one is a bit tricky because it has a kind of masculine aroma (because of salt + sandalwood combo?? idk) but still has present feminine notes. rather than saying its unisex, i would still say it leans toward being more feminine as i don't really see men purchasing/picking up or wearing this kind of perfume. overall i commend this product for finding a good balance between the soapy,salty lavender scent and the deeper muskier, sandalwood scents. sounds a bit skeptical on paper but the scents just mesh so well.

sweet unisex scent. i fell in love with this when it first came out, used it every day until the beginning of 2022. i had never smelled a scent like this before and i do feel like it is still unique. i recently rebought this because my very loved bottle was nearly empty and rancid after being in storage for 3 years lol you could spray this on any person you have affection for and associate them with this scent forever. it’s cozy, warm, and laundry-ish smelling. the caramel gives it a sweet edge, but it’s not overly sweet. rem has that musk, lavender, and salt blended together to make it different enough to give me a break from all the extremely sweet scents i gravitate toward. it is still sweet enough to not put a gourmand lover like me off of liking it! but this is one of ariana's most unique and unisex scents, so if you’re expecting the typical overly sugary/marshmallow ari signature scent, this isn’t it. i recommend not overspraying this, this is easy to become nose blind to because it’s fluffy and soft. i oversprayed this back in 2021 because i felt like it was light enough to do that with + had a active sweaty job. but with this new bottle, i sprayed 3 times and it’s almost too much! i recommend cooler times of day and winter/fall with rem. it’s a cozy scent.. i’m going to spray rem on my boyfriends t-shirt and fall in love with it all over again. happy to start using this again for the beginning of fall!

To me this one is somewhat different from the rest of the Ariana fragrances, but still really fits. And honestly it's one of my favorites from her. Upon first spraying this I definitely get some sweet notes. The sweet notes listed are zefir & caramel. I'm not going to lie I had to look up what zefir is, I was not familiar with it. Turns out it's a type of confectionary made by whipping fruit & berry puree w/ sugar & eggs whites. After seeing a picture, I may have tasted it before. Anyway! My guess is this is the sweet note coming through because while this perfume starts off sweet it isn't super caramely to my nose. I love the opening sweetness so much & I do believe I'm getting a hint of salt too! I love the sweet & saltiness of it, it's so different. As it dries down it maintains some of it's sweetness but I think the lavender, musk & perhaps sandalwood come through, giving it a soft almost slightly powdery quality. I love that it maintains some sweetness while combining with this soft element. It's really well blended, and so pretty. It's not overly sweet or soft. It really pulls off being both. It smells completely different from Cloud, but just as cloud manages to be both sweet & soft, so does REM. Another great scent from the Ariana line.