Lights

I have owned Roads Lights for around a year now & l think it's fair to say that I am pretty well acquainted with it by now and I find it to be a: sparkly, effervescent and soothing affair, which I think is mainly down to the Bergamot peel, white jasmine, ylang ylang and citrus peel. Then you get a slight powderiness from the violet leaf which is balanced out by the aromatic geranium and clove, which makes this slightly woody by just a touch. And then the: vanilla, amber, sandalwood and old musk. Come through it like a halo, giving it warmth and sweetness but not overly. They just lend an edge making it unisex but feminine leaning. And it's so cosy and comforting. I love it and it slightly reminds me of Guerlains Champs Elysees. In the way that it performs and I adore Champs.

A very sexy scent for a smart lady. It opens very powdery and the amber and vanilla notes are what really sing on my skin. It's very balanced, the clove and the sandalwood sweetening the bergamot and the ylang ylang. The geranium and jasmine linger as a light white floral that doesn't over-power or feel too garden like. It is perfect for a night out, young and full of frisson. Perfect to give you confidence for a party. My boyfriend loves it on my skin and he is the pickiest scent person around. In the bottle it smells a little like Dior Addict (must be the musk notes) but it is not quite as sweet or as heavy on. Amazing sillage and staying power. One small pump is all you need. It smells like you too, not like perfume. Ones like that are hard to find.

Not surprising that so many reviews compare Lights to popular fragrances from the 80s and early 90s (listed below are Samsara, Fendi, Addict and Champs Elysees). It really doesn't smell like any of them - I listed them from most comparable to least - but there is a definite 80s vibe, though this is smoothed and polished in comparison to those true vintage smells. With notes like clove, ylang and geranium, this is bound to call up a specific period. I'd classify it as more of a early 80s - the easy breezy days of disco are barley hanging on, and everything is getting a bit louder and more ostentatious. Even the juice in this is red - not yellow like the picture suggests. Like others have said, it does feel like a woman in a power suit, but she's stylish and her look will never feel dated.

For me Lights can easily be part of Etat Libre d'Orange range. It is very quirky and abstract. The beginning is indolic but not the scary one like in the monster Charogne. It is quite airy. Later on the indolic part is mixed with strange acetone note which achieves the effect of new leather. It smells better than it sounds. And then there is a jasmine. Very cold and elegant. Then it comes the sweetness which brings tropical vibe to it. It is very interesting and a little bit cold in a good way. Brings to my mind a picture of a tall, very elegant, restrained blonde. I don't see it on a man, the base is sweet.

very different but very nice :)

I get it. It's a margin of wildflowers blooming by a highway. It's a young woman walking along among those flowers, wearing a straw hat, wondering what's just around the next bend in the road, her smile upturned to the sun. Yes, if you get it on cloth it leaves a stain and smells like flowers and gasoline. That's the story it tells, a story of the roads. Because it's not just about Lights, it's also about Roads. It's easy to forget that part. It's easy to just look at the flowers, but they're growing there for a reason. And that reason is someone built a road there. It speaks to me. On my skin, thankfully, the floral notes are the most prominent. I usually hate fragrances with a gasoline note but this one is a story and I like that story. That young woman in the hat is younger me, 40 years ago, and I like her.

It took my a while to get my head around this one, not because it's strange hard to understand, but because it's so seamless and well-rounded that it's hard to characterize in specific terms. It's mature but not stuffy, polished without connoting power suits (to my nose), classic without being dated. It's just timeless, comforting, and elegant. Perhaps it's a bit shoulder-padded and demonstrative at first blast, but once the sandalwood and vanilla blur the edges of the more pungent cloves and geranium, it's warm and soothing. Maybe it's an 80s exec after a long day, shower-fresh and slathered in her favorite face creams and lotions, the very faintest hint of the scent she wears like armor in the boardroom still clinging to her skin. It's listed as unisex, and while it certainly leans feminine, I think a man could pull it off without smelling like he's wearing his wife's fragrance. The boldest and most obnoxious thing about it is the color of the juice. It's intensely red and it stains. It might smell like it nicely compliments a white dress shirt, but keep it far away light-colored fabrics.

The Ylang Ylang, vanilla, and clove are the most prominent notes on my skin, which in this case presented a fragrance that I feel may be more suitable for a much older women. This is what I'd call a "safe" fragrance, the kind you wear to work in a power suit; however, I do feel like I got aged by 10 years wearing it. It is a nice-smelling scent, but heavy in its delivery, stays quite linear on me for the first hour and then the spiciness of the clove seems to amplify, but I'm not really finding it unique. I can't put my finger on it but this scent smells very familiar to one of the mainstreams or classic fragrance I've smelled before.

To my nose this could be a good dupe of Samsara. Not bad at all, but lacks depth.