Romance Parfum

I am very happy with this fragrance The original Romance was my signature scent in the early 2000's. I think I discovered it in 2000 or 2001. I haven't had a bottle since around 2006/2007. I was feeling nostalgic one day and smelled the current formulation a couple years ago, I was very disappointed. The scent in my memory was not the scent in the bottle. But this new Parfum version smells much more like I remember Romance. The sharp overwhelming floral I smell in the current Romance EDP is smoothed out in the Parfum making it a much more pleasant fragrance that I can see working in almost any situation or season (except very high heat and humidity). I would say this is a sweet, feminine floral fragrance. The notes that stand out most to me are rose and musk with patchouli giving a bit of depth. I think of this as a youthful fragrance, but I am aware this is likely because of my own history with the original. I imagine young people now will find this mature and more suited to a middle-aged woman (GUILTY!!). I find this fragrance has excellent performance and sillage. It lasts most of a day (7-10hrs) and sillage is a bit beyond arm length a lot of that time. I definitely recommend giving this a test if you were a fan of Romance and find the most recent formulation of the EDP disappointing. I would recommend testing though, because my memory could be faulty and this Parfum might just fit my current taste better.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at Ulta and saw a tester bottle of Romance Parfum, so I tested it out. I sprayed it on paper first and I really enjoyed the scent, so I tested it on my skin next to see how it worked with my body chemistry. I really like this perfume and would like to own a bottle sometime soon. From what I remember, it was a really deep, dark scent perfect for the winter season. I mostly smelled notes of deep, dark berries, but very juicy, sweet and ripe. I also smelled the rose, but it was a jammy rose, possibly due to the sweet berries mentioned. And finally a lot of patchouli, but a earthy, woody patchouli that's lightly sweetened. I found it to be intoxicating. Lastly, something about it reminded of Jimmy Choo by Jimmy Choo. They don't smell alike but I think the patchouli in Romance reminded me of patchouli in JC.

The first time I smelled this in store I fell in love but I also couldn’t bring myself to buy it. I finally caved yesterday after two months of sniffing it every time I went to Ulta. It’s noooothing like the original romance (Which smells like actual cat urine on me 😬). I think this one smells more romantic in my opinion and it lasts!!! I could see this working for all day/night BUT I don’t think this would be good for the summer. It’s so so so sweet, and not in a bad way, but I do think this would be a little too much for me on the sweet end for the warmer months. It’s as if flowerbomb nectar and flower bomb midnight had a baby and it’s magnificent.

This smells comforting, nostalgic, romantic, with a soft feminine hint of spice....like the perfume that emanates from the pages of Vogue magazine! Reminds me of getting issues of Vogue in the 90s and 2000s and just relishing all the perfume sample pages that all-together remind me of this scent.

A dumb reach, skirting the line between elegant and casual. Love the warmth and juiciness that endows my skin. The patchouli grounds it so it never gets sickeningly sweet. I’m racing through my bottle.