Sensuous

Ah, I love this one so much. The top notes--supposedly floral, but they're not very prominent on my skin anyway--quickly subside to a supreme sandalwood scent. It makes me think of burying my face in a clean old drawer filled with silken slips. It's woody but never dirty--almost soapy. I think this smells more like a very good luxury sandalwood soap. It lingers beautifully on hats and other woolens, too, in fall and winter, but I also love it in warm weather, as a skin scent. Sensuous EDP still ranks as my all-time favorite EL fragrance, and I love many of them. Update: I love this scent so, so much, and I love the bottle design, but the lid and sprayer are awful--it doesn't fit on cleanly, and it often makes the nozzle part pop off. It's so frustrating to me that I think I'm going to transfer this to a different atomizer so I don't have to fuss constantly with the ridiculous sprayer (which of course is a nonstandard size--OF COURSE). The perfume is very good, though, and I hope they don't discontinue it like Sensuous Nude. I seldom layer this because I like it so much, but tonight I spilled some on my hands after the stupid nozzle top popped off again, and I find that it layers quite nicely with what I had been wearing before, Nirvana Rose; I think, in fact, that the combination might approximate Sensuous Noir (which I have yet to smell; I have only read the Fragrantica descriptions). I think in a way Sensuous is somewhat dry and clean smelling, despite being woodsy, and the lingering traces of Nirvana Rose add a little dirt and depth. I'm not sure I'll ever do it again on purpose, but as perfume mishaps go, this is one of the less catastrophic ones. Update: I still hate the way the sprayer fits, but I do so love the fragrance. If it gets discontinued, I will be bummed. Update: I just checked the website, and it's discontinued! What could Aerin Lauder possibly be thinking? Does she imagine that everyone just wants her super expensive fancy Guerlain-priced offerings and not the good perfumes at good prices that made her mother's brand? I have a large bottle in my refrigerator that's about 75% full and a backup bottle on the way (which I hope isn't a poor reformulation), but in the meantime I'm going to be looking for a good substitute for the future. Sigh. Open to hearing suggestions if you have any. Update: I think the reformulations are a lot weaker than the original formulation, but it's also possible that I'm getting noseblind to this as a skinscent. I think I am going to decant some of this for friends and get their opinion before I tell them what this is. I have always thought Sensuous was an outlier among the Estee Lauder fragrances, and I can't say I'm surprised it was discontinued, even though I'm very sorry. It seems like the reformulations that I have are a bit skimpy on some of the lily topnotes, too, although the drydown is about the same (only fainter). I might end up layering the reformulations, nothing I would have ever even considered doing with the original iteration.

Edit: Felt like my initial review didn't do it enough justice, so I had to expand. I loved this perfume as soon as I tried it, but as I started using it regularly, I could swear it became even more beautiful on my skin. So, I tried Sensuous after finding the perfume on Fragrantica. It was a potential match to my expectation of a soft, summery, personal scent. It went above and beyond! As I said, I loved it from the get-go, but using it regularly felt like this perfume literally weeded into my skin and started giving off even more beautiful personal scent. Sensuous starts with woodsy and sweet notes. After a couple of minutes, the ylang-ylang note comes out, but mind it, it is very discreet and never overpowering. Ylang-ylang sometimes gives perfumes a bit of a masculine tone, but this one never crosses that line, so all I get from this note is freshness. In half an hour, Sensuous settles down with creamy soft honey and mandarin notes that never get too heavy and sticky, as they are still balanced by woodsy notes and just a smidge of pepper. I cannot even begin to describe just how elegant, pure, and special this scent is. Sensuous is a very simple fragrance, but in this case, simplicity doesn't equal a lack of depth. It is gentle, calm, and personal. Longevity is great, pretty surprisingly. At first, I felt the sillage was weak, but a couple of times I noticed it was actually projecting quite decently, not from my wrist, but from my neck and clothes. Right now, I can barely feel it on my wrist, but as I move, I can feel the whiff from my neck, hair, and clothes. Finally, this perfume was not made to project heavily. It is an intimate scent that stays close to the skin and gets to reach only those who come close enough. An absolute gem, so insanely special and personal in its simplicity. Signature worthy.

I almost feel sorry for people who don’t find this fragrance niche or challenging enough. It’s kind of like listening to cinephiles who refuse to watch any movies made by large studios because they’re “too commercial” - a sure way to miss out on some good, clean fun. Sensuous an expertly blended, mass appealing, yet still unique scent. I have yet to come across a dupe since it has been discontinued, and I’ve been looking! estée lauder has always been the queen of the crowd-pleasing fragrance. As soon as you allow yourself to buy in (and your ego to chill) you’ll probably enjoy a warm, grown up fragrance. No photorealistic wood or clean notes to pick out. This thing is blended to become a scent all its own. It’s not “sandalwood, honey, and floral”, it’s Sensuous! For this reason, it’s hard to describe. There’s a powdery quality, but it’s not “baby powder” or “cosmetic powder”, it’s a little spicier and with more depth. Looking for a niche fragrance? Go to a niche house. Honestly, we get it. Looking for something inoffensive, not overtly floral, slightly sweet, slightly spicy, and comforting? This may fit the bill. And like I said, I wouldn’t characterize this a boring, it’s layered and blended in an old-school perfumery way, so it will smell different that most contemporary fragrances. And maybe if you flatten it out, it’ll smell somewhat, kind of, maybe a little like a fragrance some adult in your life once wore (i feel like EL fragrances have a kind of DNA that evokes each other). Once you adjust your expectations, I can see very little reason why someone would detest this fragrance other than some olfactory association. It’s quite lovely for what it is.

This is essentially a cashmere jumper in a bottle! I could just basically leave it at that, since, well most reviewers seem to have basically said everything I think of this fragrance as well, but I will expand :) As I have said before in one of my other EL fragrance reviews, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with EL fragrances, I have no idea why because the majority of them such as Knowing, Modern Muse, Pure White Linen, Beyond Paradise,etc, I do appreciate and I would (and do) quite happily wear, but I have a negative association with this house because of someone who wasn't quite so nice and always wore Youth Dew, but I try my best not to let this put me off Sensuous is just simply divine, its like a hug, its warm and clean, on me, Sensuous opens up with a warm, soapy and milky note, a mixture of the ylang-ylang, sandalwood and pepper I think, once it dries down I get more of the lily, magnolia, "molten woods" drizzled with honey and amber with sandalwood still lingering in the background to help pull all the other notes together. Projection is soft and quite intimate which I think is why this is called sensuous, longevity is good, I can still detect it on myself after a long day (spray at 8:30am and still smell it at 5:00pm), it also last on clothing for ages, my (incidentally) cashmere scarf still smells of sensuous 48 hours after I'd worn it, the scent is the olfactive interpretation of beige and the texture of cashmere, I adore it <3 This will be a repurchase, 100%, its easy to wear and its an excellent dumb reach, you can dress it up, down, whatever you want to do and it still always feels appropriate Excellent work EL :)

OH MY GOD. I need to double-check this was the Sensuous I smelled at Macy’s, but I’m pretty sure it is because I remember the timeless, gorgeous bottle. Shades of nude with royal purple detailing. I picked up the bottle on a whim as I was walking by and sprayed just once on my left hand, put it back down then kept on walking. Wasn’t expecting much, since Sensuous Nude seems to be the one everyone loses their shit over. When I brought my hand up to my nose, I could NOT believe what I was smelling. My eyes grew wide in genuine awe. How is this NOT in everybody’s collection?! And like, near the front?! It’s been a few days since I smelled it, but I remember saying out loud to my hubby, “Creamy, sweet in a grown & sexy way, not vintage or mature-smelling like most may assume. Sensuous got the perfect name to describe itself. I’d say it was way ahead of its time. If the OG Sensuous EDP is THIS delicious, and nobody ever talks about it or has it in their collection.. But the long-discontinued Sensuous Nude has all the hype and the stupid high prices.. Well Nude better blow my freaking mind. I really just can’t see Sensuous EDP getting any better, even if it means flankers with a change-up of notes! I’ll be going to their pages and marking them as Want To Try. I really really hope my Macy’s location has them all! I am just dying to know how they reinterpreted this scent but kept it in the family. Actually I’m glad this is so low-key, more for me.