New Romantics

as I said in the shop floor to my coworkers, New Romantics chooses you, and not the other way around. it’s a genuinely head scratching scent for a lot of us including me, because it just... reads like orange rind. when I smelled this on the strip, I had war flashbacks from bartending days where i was making 10 aperol spritzes a minute and peeling orange after orange in a valiant attempt to please the drunken masses, but on the skin, it’s a different story. on others, they tend to wrestle with the citrus and spice and whatever the hell davana wants to bring to the table that day, and on one of my coworkers, this smells EXACTLY like an orange scented cleaning spray. on me however, it turns into this bright orange, ripe and juicy, tropical sunshine filled papaya. straight up papaya. a dolls head type papaya, but papaya nonetheless. one of my friends said “you smell like a high class escort” which was so funny because I described this to people as “filipina barbie on the streets of Salcedo village in the 80s smoking and awaiting her next meeting”. the dry down I notice ends up into this creamy spicy warm sweet scent that really makes me think of fixing my hair after a hookup. I honestly don’t know what is super valentines about this, but I absolutely love it nonetheless. longevity is similar to white label perfumes which is fine, esp for the price point. I love it a lot and I think this should be layered to appreciate it. EDIT 6/11/2024: she's back as Betel, have fun yall!

I remember the 80s and this does not smell like my 80s (best just leave it there!) Love it though - rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb! Wierdly on a bed of bananas and custard stewed with sweet spices - who would eat that? Smells good though. No hint of sick for me but I guess that is the slightly sour note otherwise attributed to sour fruits of various kinds. Anyway, I am finding New Romantics absolutely addictive. Ok, maybe that's an 80s substance sense memory after all ;)

on my skin, the sweetness is only slightly apparent; this reminds me a lot more of jasmine tea, or perhaps a raspberry herbal tea. i also sometimes get the wish of a tangerine peel, but it's nothing too sweet and smells quite natural and soft that is hard to find in other lush perfumes (except for karma maybe). for me, it's a really pleasant surprise and i'm sad it's a spring exclusive!

this smells exactly like forest berry jello at first sniff, exactly the kind my mom used to make from the packet - I can imagine it even now. the cloves stay, or something else spicy, I kinda like it as it still reminds me of that jello smell but now it reminds me more of the universal Lush smell (to me!!).

Now let me tell you something... The opening smells exactly like the orange flavoured CAPRI-SUN! And the dry down is sipping on mulled wine on Christmas Eve. What more can you possible wish for???? Love in a bottle.