Close To My Heart

I’d had my eye on the Bella Freud scents for roughly a year when a recent lucky search on Poshmark led me to several available stateside. Close to my Heart is truly unique to me. I recognize some of the notes individually, but for me this combination is novel to my nose. That said, the heady tuberose opening with the sweet neroli is so utterly intoxicating that I hardly had time to prepare for the abundant, deep woods that followed. The way the oud and sandalwood come together is harmonious, and the moss lends it a beautiful earthiness. Literally love at first sniff for me and then throughout the rest of the day. I found this a strong fragrance so I only spritzed each wrist once. Overspraying this could certainly put others off. Its longevity is just as impressive, I could still smell it on my wristwatch the next day. I think this is best worn for nights out, might be a bit much for the office. On second thought, if used with restraint this might work well in an air conditioned space, definitely not the heat though. A beautiful scent all round in my opinion and quickly becoming a favorite.

Oh man, this is intoxicating. Tuberose and neroli are strong out of the gate. If you haven't noticed, when you combine neroli with anything at least a little spicy, it creates a sweet bubblegum like note and that is true here as the florals become sophisticated by the arrival first of oud and musk, then patchouli, sandalwood and a touch of oakmoss. I'm reminded of Etat Libre d'Orange's "Encens et Bubblegum" (which has orange blossom instead of neroli), as this does have an incense-like quality with the fragrant and smoky woods. But this is less fruity than that - the florals are clean and the sweetness comes from the jasmine and neroli. The oud, though, and the patchouli really take this to another level. It's like avant garde bubblegum for monks and bohemians. It's.... absolutely amazing. I don't have anything else quite like it in my large collection. Memo Marfa Oud looks close-ish. Maybe someone could do a compare of those two someday.

@weedrop no, you weren't sold a "mock turtle". As @candyfluff also mentions these were actually sample sizes giving away with Elle magazine in the UK ( must be nearly 10 years ago now ! ). Not uncommon actually a lot of magazines at the time were giving away very generous gifts such Nails Inc Polish or Benefit mascara's. To try to maintain sales as the online e magazines took over , sadly a lot failed not longer after. Which probably explains why they're still an awful lot on eBay, the publishers had to dump somewhere. Anyway I digress , maybe you just didn't like the perfume or you had one that had been particularly badly stored but the one I bought today nearly 10 years later it's still in perfect condition and if I hadn't seen the pyramid add a probably written it exactly as it shows above. At £5 for 10ml it was also a bargain ( it'll last a good while ). Strong tuberose of the sweeter, bubble gummy type and very obvious neroli, too. This would normally be probably too sweet for me, but it is tempered by the woody notes. Here I wish there were more and not of the genetic woody chemical type. I wish it was good sandalwood, green patchouli and proper oak moss ( clearly not ) but it's enough to ground it and give it quite a lovely dry down and good longevity. Not the best of the range , that honour goes to 1970, but it's really good perfume ( if you love tuberose, obviously ). Complex, well-blended and in a vintage style that show a clothes designer who wasn't just tuning out commercial hits with funky names just to publicise their clothing.

This is a beautiful tuberose-heavy oriental. It's warm and woodsy with a definite vintage feel. What sets it apart from similar scents is a prominent candyish note - not overly sweet, but a definite whiff of something sugary, young, and playful. This softens what would otherwise be a femme fatale scent into something more approachable. It's a great scent for going out and having cocktails without aiming to bring anyone home. I love Azzi Glasser's creations, and this is another win from her.

A big green floral on the mimosa linden side. Sharp and powdery.

I ordered a 10ml travel size of Close to my Heart off eBay. A waste of £10. Either the travel size I purchased was fake or the actual fragrance itself is revolting. It smelt like oxidised, soured floral disinfectant, an absolute scrubber; I could not even use it as a room fragrance. Going by its fragrance pyramid I expected to love Close to My Heart, so despite the eBay sellers 100% rating I suspect I was sold a mock turtle. If I ever get the chance to test Close to my Heart in a department store I will do.

I paid £5 for a 10ml mini of this on eBay. Fatal error. The bottle (‘new’) was presumably used, as it was only half-full. I’m guessing it’s also rancid, as it has the most singularly awful BO note I’ve ever smelt. Execrable.

I'm a big fan of both Bella Freud's fashion and perfumery lines. The candles are beautiful but I'd never bought a perfume generally because distribution in stores is so limited and I wasn't willing to blind buy. But... then I was drunk on ebay the other night and I put in a low-ball bid on a bottle of this stuff (there seem to be a few kicking around) and unexpectedly won. I bid because the advertised notes are all favourites - Tuberose, Jasmine and Sandalwood- all my jam. I don't know why but I was expecting Fracas vibes from this and at first spritz I knew couldn't have been more wrong. My immediate reaction was - "this is exactly like Estee Lauder Private Collection". I think the fragrance pyramid is the wrong way around. The head notes for me aren't the flowers but all the wood and smoke - heavy patchouli and sandalwood vibe with a bit of green in there too - very much a chypre. But as it settles in, THEN the tuberose comes through. It's not a very flowery tuberose though - when tempered by the sandalwood, oud and patchouli its almost masculine - but very warm and sensual. After 1/2 hours it smells nothing like Private Collection - much more dark and dangerous. I love white flowers, but this isn't your typical white flower perfume - it's much earthier and dirtier in all the best ways. Sillage is big and longevity is pretty good - about 4-5 before I want to reapply (nothing lasts long on me - my skin appears to be incredibly porous with scent). Very interesting.

I grabbed Elle magazine for this freebie. Sat down outside Tescos and spritzed it on I was not wearing any perfume today for the purpose of testing some. Upon spraying I was transported wonderfully. It is a lovely strong bubblegum oud which is novel and exciting in my book. Bought another mag for a back up and will no doubt cough up for a full bottle when I run out. 10/10. More mags should do this it really cheered me up.

I've been dying to try this as it has been compared to my beloved melkmeisje. Well, sadly it is by far not in the same league, but definitely pleasant and I am enjoying testing it. I do get a dewy honeyed floral however the undertones of the oakmoss and neroli give it a "vintage" feel. The oud is not really there but a general woodsy feel is present.

This is like a much smoother Truth or Dare by Madonna but I don't get that headache inducing lingering smell that makes me feel oh so queasy. You can smell some other notes peaking thru the tuberose note but its mainly tuberose with a slightly plasticky smell underneath.