Azalea

As someone who cannot stand sweet scents or even tolerate vanilla, this is very beautiful and (surprisingly) not too sweet. This smells like a Tahitian breeze full of white tiare/monoi flowers giving a lactonic-creamy, fruity sweet, fresh green and heady, intoxicating scent. But Azalea also combines this with a sweet myrhh, resulting in the most beautifully exotic scent I own. The florals are divine and twinkle as they bloom on your skin. The opening is the best part, as the exotic white florals sparkle with a sweetly/herbal/aromatic liquorice/fennel note coming from the myrhh. This myrhh isn’t a bitter one, it’s a sweet myrhh like sweet liquorice. I love this earthy herbaceous sweet fennel note mixed with exotic ylang, tiare and nighttime blooming jasmine. This smells like a summertime evening in a tropical garden, when the air is thick with intoxicating florals. The 80% oil quantity is impressive too. This does remind me of Bikini Questa Sera by Christian Louboutin as both have that ‘summer florals when you’re wearing a bikini’ vibe but Azalea is even better. So to me the notes are (and in order of dominance) ylang-ylang, tiare flower, sweet myrhh, sweet fennel, jasmine, heliotrope (which gives a almond/marzipan vibe and is great for longevity), sweet patchouli and I get a little musk in the base. Thankfully there is no sickening-style vanilla, as it’s the aforementioned notes which are naturally sweet but not in a heavy, custardy vanilla way. Longevity is on the higher end of moderate, lasting about 6 hours on me. I just wish this beloved scent lasted even longer. I love this, it’s my exotic summertime scent and summertime signature. Update: I’ve been wearing this for a while and I don’t think there’s any actual vanilla in this. I think the sweetness is the marzipan/heliotrope and sweet myrrh combo. My boyfriend has also started wearing this, as he said it was apparently “masculine smelling” on me. I think it’s because it’s so herbaceously floral and not too sweet. So Azalea can be unisex after all.

INITIAL SPRAY TEST: Why did I wait so long to get this? The bad reviews below make it sound like this will smell like gasoline, but it's actually very soft and pretty, fluffy woody yellow floral with some sweet+spiced almond. Very very similar opening to Psychedelic Love (which I adore) and also reminds me quite a bit of AMOUAGE Love Delight too. But softer than both of those. Not so sorry that you can't smell it though, it's more of a soft-feel than soft-projection, if you know what I mean. This is lovely. Drydown: This is so nice! I am getting yellow florals + sugar cookies in the drydown. I am very impressed. There is nothing alcohol-like about this fragrance or sharp or synthetic-feeling. Comparison to INITIO Psychedelic Love: PL has stronger spices, a little more sweet and stronger projection. But there is nothing wrong with the performance of this one either. It just feels softer overall. Very similar scent profile, but has more of that easy-wear earthy-yellow floral feel. While still having the sweetness from the marzipan & vanilla. It is coming off like a yellow floral-gourmand. I love it! But I also love PL too! I was looking for something a little easier to wear everyday and this is it!

As someone who used to have Black Orchid as their signature scent I was genuinely surprised at how close this fragrance was to it. It is incredibly difficult to mimic Tom Ford fragrances due to their propensity for adding a twist to an otherwise normal scent pyramid. Thierry Mugler is similar in this regard. However, when we relate Azalea back to Black Orchid, it appears that the polarizing note (aka the truffle note) has been removed. I did not read hardly any reviews about this fragrance and was totally dialed in to the Marzipan note. I absolutely love Marzipan candies, so I was under the impression it would carry a more almond, bakery undertone. This is a very sexy, dark fragrance with that balsamic resin from the myrhh really deepening the complexity. It really does mimic Psychedelic Love as the other reviews say, but it doesn't have the same bite. In much the same regard as TF, I think Azalea does a great job of taking the base of both of those high end fragrances and removing the polarizing notes that make it too harsh for most noses. All around a great purchase for someone who wants the same scent profile but doesn't want the price tag associated to Niche or Designer houses.

This smells so similar to Psychedelic Love! I do get a slight resemblance to Black Orchid as well, but more so it smells like Psychedelic Love. This is a soft blend of florals that is powdery and light. I do get some rich hints of marzipan, but it does not come across as overtly almond. It's more a rich base the other notes sit on top of. This is also similar to Myrrh Assoluto, but is not as heavy on the myrrh. This scent is beautiful in it's own right! I use the comparisons only to help give a sense of what this smells like. And as a side note, this smells nothing like Santal Blush. There is a creamy sandalwood base, but this is a powdery floral, not a sandalwood perfume. This is one that more people should be talking about! I blind bought this one based on the comparisons and the reviews. I am not disappointed.

I’ve actually had it for a few years and kind of forgot about it, and now I’m wondering why I haven’t been reaching for it more. It smells rich, warm and luxurious right away, but still easy to wear. After a while it gets really sexy and seductive. I’ve had people ask me what I’m wearing, which doesn’t happen that often. It just feels like a really well-done, rounded and beautiful fragrance I’m glad I rediscovered. Heliotrope and marzipan are the main characters here.