Radiance

I have a miniature of this tucked away and now travelling with me a 50 mill EDP flacon which I purchased for $10,00 Aus dollars, rounding up $9.99. Anyway. I can actually smell the distinctive Elizabeth Arden signature notes that remind my vaguely of a blend between '5th Avenue Style' and 'Provocative Woman' there is no doubt. I collect EA fragrances and 'Radiance' although a Britney product is manufactured by EA partners. This is a rather pleasant Albeit nothing unique, yet affordable fragrance. Radiance and I get along nicely though. I don't like every Britney Spears fragrances that comes out, however this along with 'Midnight Fantasy' sorry no note comparison or similarity the rest I can take or leave. But that's just me. Ms Britney has been fortunate to pair up with EA partner, this does reflect in the longevity and stability of her fragrances, 'Radiance' is fairly long lived 12 hour plus on my skin and is also quite linear, again reinforcing my opinion of being somewhat reminiscent of some EA's fragrances mentioned above, My idiotic first husband the fart bomb, the walking fart bomb machine used to say the EPA should hire me and place me in Bourke street to report back how many people farted that day in Melbourne. meaning I do have a sensitive nose.. I seriously do. Yet like most fragrance lovers it does not always dawn on me what smells like what until a memory is evoked. I can't wait to one day be reunited with my fragrance collection and have a purpose built display storage cabinet made to house them ibn my very own abode. This bottle is less crudely coloured than the flanker 'Cosmic Radiance' of which I own a 30 mill EDP, this version is my preference though. Another value for money purchase, with the sillage being admirable with 12 hour plus staying power on my skin. I'm in the tropics too, so that's saying something. Again with the celebrity promotion and myself not really being into Britney's public persona, I have to admit that her fragrance line are fine products and I have a respect for them, not liking all of them, However I do respect them. Her fragrances are not expensive and seem accessible and there appears to be something in her varied fragrances that appeals to everyone or someone. Radiance has a berry undertone through the top and middle notes and settles into a skin scent, so a safe purchase, non offensive and clean.

I never bought or tried this fragrance when it was first released but found a sealed 50 ml bottle at a very reasonable price online and I decided to buy it a few weeks ago. I think this fragrance "radiates" elegance. It's a very grown up and mature fragrance - a departure from Britney's "Curious" and "Fantasy" lines. It's definitely a floral fragrance, not gourmand at all, and it smells like old-school elegance to me. Maybe 90s elegance. I may be overreaching but I could see this fragrance as a sister to classics like "Amarige", "Paris", etc. In fact, upon first spray it brought back memories from "Amarige" which my aunt used to wear in the 90s. Red berries is what I smell immediately upon spray but the dry down after an hour or so is a combination of musk and white flowers, which makes it even more exciting because it dries down to an almost completely difference scent. On me it lasts and projects for at least 5-6 hours with one or two sprays. The bottle itself is cute, though it would definitely look more expensive (and justify the scent inside) if the "gemstones" where not frosted/opaque but shiny glass. The 30 ml bottle is definitely the most elegant of all, but sadly the smallest size I could find was the 50 ml one. The box is made of iridescent/holographic carton on the outside and beautiful, thick fuchsia carbon on the inside. Since this was released in 2010, it's probably the last fragrance in Britney's line that looks and feels expensive. The recent fragrances all feature amazingly tacky, cheap-looking boxes and bottles, which are a far departure from the original releases of Britney's classics (Curious, Fantasy, Believe) with origami-style double boxes and beautiful bottles with bulb atomizers or Swarovski crystals. If you manage to find a decently priced, sealed bottle of "Radiance", I'd say it's a safe blind-buy; I really don't see anyone disliking it. I haven't tried "Cosmic Radiance" yet, and don't know if I will, as I recently went on a splurge to buy several different "Fantasy" releases and I deeply regretted it, as the newest releases aren't up to Britney Spears fragrances' old standards. Now, the goal is to find a vintage version of "Fantasy" before the reformulations, with the original double box and green ribbon and my collection will be complete :)

The bottle feels a lot more expensive than it looks in pictures. I thought it looked so cheap and plastic in pictures, but in reality it is heavy and glass. I like this. Anyway, smellwise...hmmm. It smells almost identicle to a bath and body work fragrance called "Carried away."maybe with a tad bit more fruit, cream or musk in it, which makes it a lil better. It is not a terribly unique smell. I'm sure most people have smelled something like it. It is fairly strong, I'll give it that. It also has a fresh "just took a shower" type of smell to it. I sprayed some on while sitting in a closed car waiting for a friend to arrive. When he got into the car he said "It smells like a bath" So I guess there is some sort of fresh soapy smell to it along with the florals and subtle fruit. This perfume makes me think of a girl who just took shower and is going out to do some kind of errand. Or possibIy a girl who is all dressed up and driving her car on the way to some club at nighttime. I do like it better than Midnight Fantasy which I just got a sample of. Now THAT perfume midnight fantasy smelled disgusting..like perfume and fruity pebbles mixed together. But RADIANCE is actually nice. It is very feminine and romantic and from other reviews I can see that the guys tend to love it. At the worst, you can spray it on if you want people to think you took a shower when you didn't lol UPDATE: I sprayed on a few spritzes this evening, and I have to say, the drydown is BEAUTIFUL It smells way better than Carried Away now. I kept catching whiffs of it and was surprised at how gorgeous it became. It got prettier and prettier the more time passed by - a creamier and warmer scent. Very comforting and somewhat sensual. It is defintely the best Britney Spears perfume I've ever owned. I have Fantasy and Midnight Fantasy as well. I'll have to try cosmic radiance sometime. My guy friend said it was the best smelling britney spears perfume he'd ever smelled on me also. So its a winner!

I used to be so disappointed because I didn't think Radiance lasted on me because I couldn't smell it after a couple hours, but I know that I just wasn't wearing enough of it. I usually buy 1 ML samples online so that I can try more perfumes for a cheaper price, and at first I would do a couple dabs with my finger onto my neck. I feel like this method hindered the sillage and longevity, so after some practice I finally figured out how to apply a couple drops from the vial directly to my neck, which I feel makes a world of difference. Anyways, this time Radiance lasted a good 4-5 hours on me. Yay!! Anyways, there's just something about the combo of the tuberose, berries and musk that I find extremely addicting. In fact, all of Britney's perfumes are addicting and I can say that they are one of my guilty pleasures. I find this one similar to Gucci Flora Gracious Tuberose. One thing I should note about Radiance is that light seems to affect the smell of the perfume. I first sprayed this from a tester at Ulta and I thought it smelled terrible, like rancid berries. The sample that I got online is soooo much nicer, so be careful about where you store this. I'm not sure how old that tester bottle was but it was kept under bright lights, which definitely played a part in altering the fragrance.

I think that I have had a change in heart with this perfume. In my last review for Radiance I said that it was overpowering, strong and sickly sweet. I bought this perfume over the weekend since it was on Christmas sale for $9 for 30ml, which I always seem to be persuaded easily to buy cheap perfumes. Anyway, After smelling this a second time, I found the scent to be quite a breeze. It is a soft fruity/floral that smells like an air freshener. The scent is very soft however lasts all day. If you would like a tip, mix this scent with Katy Perry's Meow perfume...it's amazing! Even when I layered another scent with radiance, radiance seemed to last much longer than Meow, in fact it was still there long after meow had disappeared. This is also a berry kind of smell, which makes sense because the main note of this fragrance is red berries. I can smell a small amout of floral notes which I would say makes the scent more softer. The bottle is gorgeous! It's strange because it reminds me of a remixed chanel bottle. The jewels are patterned amazingly well on the bottle too. This scent has inspired me to try Britney's "Cosmic Radiance". I rate this 7/10, amazing bottle...not as generic and tacky as Fantasy and Curious. The scent is probably her most softest scent she has ever made.