Illuminea

Magnificent pink pepper on top note! Very long lasting! Very chic and feminine! Instantaneously felt like a very successful business woman!

Beautiful creamy and cozy white floral with a yummy dose of cashmere.

Ok, so I read about this perfume on here, and was intrigued, mainly because I knew nothing about Mary Kay fragrances. Luckily I have a friend who's a longtime MK consultant (I always tease her about being part of a pyramid scheme but she assures me it's not one, who the hell knows?) and she was gracious enough to send me a whole tester, the dear! Illuminea doesn't merit a lengthy review, but it is noteworthy. While there's nothing outstanding here, this is a solid representation of contemporary mainstream perfumery. The combination of synthetics and naturals is very well done, and the performance is enviable. The name is quite fitting: there is a gilded, gleaming quality to the yellow-white florals that recalls the original J'adore (minus the pear), but much more fizzy and polished, with less of the shampoo vibe. A truly nectarous, ambrosial floral, not too sweet, nor too indolic. The honeysuckle is true to form, and the peony is a good but not great addition. I don't get any of the pepper or oakmoss (who among us hasn’t dared to dream a chypric dream?), but the vanilla, mandarin, and rich white woody muskiness (cashmeran?) are smooth and lovely. I agree with Hollie that initially this is very perfumey—to me it recalls a kind of "church lady" fragrance—but after ten minutes, it sort of rounds off into itself and is quite pleasant, even if it's far from groundbreaking. All in all, Illuminea is a very "nice" scent. For the quantity of juice, price, concentration, and performance, I think it's worth having in your wardrobe, even if it's a generic post-shower running-errands fragrance. Better in cool weather, formal or casual, more traditionally feminine, but very comforting and refreshing on the whole.

I have this perfume, finally received after waiting for my order from my MK sales woman. Although it's very nice and beautifully blended sadly the word that comes to mind when wearing is, "non-descript". I'm unable to pick out any singular notes...and normally that's not a bad thing necessarily as it often means that a perfume is blended well but in this case it ends up smelling a bit "muddled" to my nose. It's a nice, floral, mature, "perfumey" scent that does last a very long time due to it's concentration. I had hoped it would be more spicy and woody as the initial description from my MK info listed but it is definitely more floral....yet I can't pick out the peonies, roses, honeysuckle or carnation, ect. The dry-down does not change much from the first spray so I feel I am missing out on the layers that I so enjoy experiencing. I think the price was a bit high in this case. I'll hang onto it until the weather changes from cold to warm, maybe it will morph into something more enjoyable and with more clarity for me with different temperatures.

I agree with reviewers below; Illuminea is very 'nice', and that's all. What does it smell like? Perfume! To be fair it's a very pretty perfume, with notes I enjoy and am often drawn to, but the blend is *so* blended that I can barely pick up any of them as individuals. The honeysuckle is strongest to my nose, but it's a perfumed honeysuckle. Honeysuckle grew on the fences of my childhood home, so I prefer a direct replication, not the idea of it. I think it must take some skill to blend a perfume this acceptable, pretty, and inoffensive, and the creator deserves some applause for that. I feel like this would be a safe buy for most people. As such I don't wear it very often, not because I long to be oh-so unique, but because I'm always thinking... my other perfumes make me so much happier and really grab my attention, so Illuminea seems like almost a wasteful choice. I only have so many days on this earth, why waste them wearing something that feels like the mean of every feminine perfume in the last five years?

Don't let the fact that Mary Kay® produces this fragrance detour you away from it. I get orange, honeysuckle, violet, and vanilla on my skin. If you; 're a guy who can wear floral scents, you should check out this. I layer it with DGLBINT, and multiple people say I remind them of Hawaii when combined. By itself, it last around 10 hours on my skin. It's an extrait formula, so it's very potent. You can wear this year-round; just be sure to adjust the sprays. Right now, during 90-degree weather, I spray once on the back of my neck and very lightly on each elbow, and I can smell it all day, even after the gym. * Performance-wise, this is a beast, comparable to any Mancera I've tried. * The smell starts with fruit, then goes to light flowers, and drys down to a lovely vanilla with sprinkles of flowers and light wood chips while projecting nicely. It is very calming and can layered with many other scents to extend its performance. * Very lovely overall and great bang for your buck!