Vintage Muse

This was a blind buy for me, based on the fact that I've really liked other fragrances from Kate Moss. I was concerned about the number of dislikes and negative reviews this fragrance had but I picked up a bottle online so cheaply that it didn't seem like much of a risk. I am so glad I took that risk. I fell completely in love. I sprayed two sprays on my wrist and it was loud and proud. A shocking blast of fruit and musk. Dirty, stinky and offensive musk. Quickly that stink calmed and the fragrance transformed into a beautiful, heady, dark fragrance. Rich, almost medicinal fruit and powder which verges on dusty. Kind of like those vintage powder puffs my great grandmother had from Coty but that I dug out of the cupboard decades later. The musk remains and although it's lost the unpleasantness of the opening, it's always fierce. This isn't innocent, girly Narciso Rodriguez style musk. This is a grown woman who means business. Vintage Muse is in my mind a close relative of one of my all time favourites, Tom Ford's Black Orchid. It's not a dupe by any means but it's a sibling. Even the projection isn't lagging far behind. For anyone curious about this fragrance but put off by the many negative reviews and dislikes, I have some theories. Black Orchid is polarising and doesn't fit the mainstream, so this won't either. While we are so used to fruity florals and gourmand fragrances, this feels like a trip to the dark side. If you're typically a celebrity fragrance fan, this is quite likely to be unlike anything else you've ever come across. For those who have a passion for niche fragrances, give this a try! It might just win you over to the celebrity fragrance side. Projection is excellent, as is longevity.

I didn't realise this perfume existed! I tried on the original Vintage a few months ago and liked it, and today while I was shopping I sprayed some of this on my bare wrist to see whether I still liked it. I didn't know this was a different scent. Anyway... I am BLOWN AWAY by this one. Hours and hours later, I can still smell it very strongly on my wrist, which is always a factor I look for in fragrances. I'm not expert at identifying individual notes yet, but it's rich, it's slightly spicy, very floral, a little bit powdery, almost reminiscent of an 'old lady' fragrance - but yet modern, sexy and youthful at the same time. Heaven in a little purple bottle - this one has just hit the top of my Christmas list! Edit: Okay, so I scored a bottle of this for just $20 during Christmas sales - ace! And it's a firm favourite. I carry it in my handbag and wear it almost every single day... I love it! The staying power isn't as great as I first thought, but I don't mind at all as it's cheap and the bottle is compact enough to take with me. The chocolate notes come up very strong on my skin, my husband loves this fragrance on me as, out of all my gourmand fragrances, he says this one is the 'yummiest'. Definitely recommend this fragrance, it's great for everyday wear and has just the right measures of sex, sophistication and girly innocence to suit almost anybody or any occasion.

This perfume can smell great or a little bit strange, I think it should come with an "user's guide" or a decalogue like this: 1. Wait 24 hours before you judge, so you can experiment with the scent and understand it. 2. Spray directly on the skin to achieve the desired sweet and musky effect instantly. 3. No more than two or three sprays, 50 cm away from you or more. However, if you want the perfume to last on your skin for more than 2 hours, take the bottle with you and reapply a single spray on your skin. 4. When spraying on clothes, do it 24 hours before the appointment, to give it time to settle and oxygenate. 5. Yes, on clothes it smells like a horse stable, very sour, not sweet, your nose is not wrong. 6. It is ambergris' fault which on clothes seems to predominate in the first stage. One of the most expensive ingredients in perfumery. 7. Use at night parties and informal evenings with friends, where it is safe to show your personality, especially with black clothes. 8. Also wear it on Halloween night so that real spirits can identify you and not bother you. 9. Caution: After 12 a.m you may become a witch and charm anyone you want, especially people with mature, bohemian tastes ... choose well. 10. Danger: You may be attacked by unexpected vampires who want to suck your skin eternally. Let yourself be loved or make them dance around you, at your feet!

You'll love it or hate it, but it sure won't leave you indifferent. Like a 2010's interpretation of the 80's interpretation of the 1910's to 40's classics. I bet that when we finally get out of the floral-fruity trend, that sort of scent will be all the rage. And Kate will have called it first. It is categorized here as a Floral-Fruity Gourmand, but I wouldn't say it is, unless you would categorize L'Heure Bleue as a Floral-Fruity Gourmand... This classification puzzles me and doesn't give the slightest idea of what this fragrance smells like, quite the contrary in fact: it couldn't be further away from all those celebrity juices that fall in that category. Forget about the notes too, they don't make much sense either... On the Kate Moss perfumes website they describe it as a creamy floral musk fragrance. Much more suiting description. I've been wearing it from time to time for months, and yet I still find it hard to describe, to pinpoint exact notes, but I would say that it is a scent for sophisticated dilettantes and nostalgic intellectuals. To be worn with a black turtle neck shirt and pencil skirt, tortoise shell glasses and your nicest shawl.

Okay, I absolutely ADORE this perfume. It's a bit hit-and-miss for a lot of people, I know, and there is an unpleasant tang to get past (I don't mind that, it almost adds to it in a strange way.) For me it's sort of like rotting plums and blackberries and blackcurrents. My parents' house where I spent my teenaged summers has several plum trees behind my old bedroom and the smell of rotting plums is really pleasant to me. It's sweet but kind of spicy and musky, also, which gives it a smoothness. Fruity scents don't do it for me but something about the over-ripe smell of this one captivates me. It reminds me of a poem called 'This Moment' by Eavann Boland, which concludes with the lines: "Stars rise Moths flutter Apples sweeten in the dark." Substitute apples for plums and you've got this perfume. However, it is just as fleeting as Boland's moment and it needs to be sprayed again and again. This scent is sultry and sensual and just a bit more than meets the eye, but it polarises people and so I wouldn't recommend blind buying it.