Love Notes

I see I'm the first person to click "I have it" and since that doesn't often happen I'm pleased to post my impressions. Love Notes is not a floral. There, I've said it. Permit me to coin another category: "fruity woody musk". Raspberry is the featured fruit here in the same vein as Ungarro's Apparition. But Apparition is a sunny, bright, even brash spring/summer gourmand while Love Notes is a soft, creamy-smooth, ambery-woody wonder that will warm the soul and delight the senses in both fall and winter. Love Notes opens with sweet, nearly gourmand raspberry with a hint of wood and quickly dries down to a rich wood with a thick vein of raspberry enhanced by the chewy texture of patchouli that enhances every fragrance in which it appears (to my nose). I didn't parse out the pear but after seeing the list of notes I recognize its buttery contribution to the raspberry mash. Delicious, comfortable and enticing. Cashmere wood and amber get the credit here and add a resinous near-cedar note that lovers of Bronze and Ellen will recognize. Substitute raspberry for the violet in Bronze, toss in some amber and you have Love Notes. Remove the amber, substitute licorice for raspberry and you have Ellen. Each sprays on with a visible oily sheen that accurately predicts their tremendous longevity and comfortable sillage. Ellen Tracy fragrances have rapidly ascended to favorite status in my wardrobe for the complexity of their compositions and the quality of their ingredients. You simply cannot get a bigger bang for your buck in any other line.

As I'm juggling about 5 bottles of perfume in my arms trying to get out of Marshall's without going over my $125 gift card's balance, I see this small but tall little box. First thing I did was check the price...$3.99. Aweseome! Then I turned it over to see what the heck it was. Ellen Tracy........love several of her fragrances....Love Notes. Hmmm.......never heard of it. So, I add the little bottle to my pile and grabbed my phone to come to this site to see what's up. I was so glad that I grabbed up this little jewel. It was the last one. I wouldn't have gotten to try yet another of ET's frangances that I would fall in love with immediately. Another sweet floral with patchouli for me, but there's just sooooomething a little different that makes me grab for this stick spray until my bottle arrives. This site is going to make me go bankrupt ;o) But I love it!

It's been a long journey to get here. I've tried many a candied patchouli. I started with sampling miss dior cherie and all the flankers. None quite hit it for me part of the problem is not really liking mandarin or strawberry notes. From there came oriens. I love the raspberry and praline, although there is something a bit "scratchy" about it. And from there to this, the fat round love notes. The pathouli in here is thick and more on the earthy/dirty side whereas the above mentioned were cleaner, ligter patchouli. I would say love notes is darker, deeper. It's raspberry is plump and juicy. There is still something a bit spicy about this fragrance like oriens that I really enjoy. It lasts a very long time with that very rich patchouli fading off.

Bought this as a blind buy for 8 dollars at Marshalls and I'm glad I did. Mmmmmm - smells delicious. It"s a sweet amber floral that's perfect for year round because it"s sweet but not too sweet. Powdery sweet and flowery at the same time. The cap is what makes the bottle look 1980's. I save all the caps from fragrances I had in the past so I replaced the cap with a Kenneth Cole White cap and a small burgundy tassel. It fits just right and now the bottle looks up to date and beautiful. Longevity, about 4 hours. Siliage is about arms length. Should go back and buy a few more for Christmas giftlng.

This fragrance makes me happy. I am not a patchouli fan but I take it to be a necessary evil. Evil is a bit strong of a word but patchouli is one of those essences that is overused and overdone in women's fragrances. Love Notes by Ellen Tracy uses patchouli with a knowing that is spot on. I smell some cantaloupe in this scent that is absolutely wonderful. The scent reminds me of lady who has intentionally held onto naivete for the purpose of not taking herself too seriously. This scent is one of my favorites and I often use it as my travel fragrance since it goes from day to night with ease.