Mandarin Mist

This is a fresh, summery mandarin citrus that is a mood lifter for me. When I am feeling a bit tired and run down, I break this out and it seems to boost my energy just a tad. It is a crisp citrus blend, heavy on the mandarin just as the name implies. This is strictly a spring/summer fragrance and would seem odd to smell this on someone in the fall or winter. It pretty much smells like the color of the bottle. If you could bottle that color, it would smell like this. Oh wait....they already did that. Mandarin Mist is a simple fragrance and sometimes I like that....just what it is and nothing to think about.

Boozy mandarin in the opening. Does have a citrus cleaner edge to it at first, very strong. None of that lasts long though. It dries down to almost nothing in no time. Good to carry around as a quick air freshener.

I reallly disliked this ... I'm not sure what I was expecting ... but it's just too orange-y for me.

I gather that Stila has not invested much time and energy (creative or marketing) in its fragrances, as no one seems to talk about them, and as far as I can tell they have pretty much disappeared from the shelves. I happen to have a roller ball set of three of their perfumes, in all likelihood acquired as they were headed out the door from Sephora, and I happened upon them this morning, so let's see how they wear. Mandarin Mist hits me immediately as Eau de Cartier-esque. Violet leaf is not listed among the official notes, but it looks pretty abridged anyway, varying a bit depending upon the source: mandarin, mimosa, yuzu, and "floral notes". I agree that the floral notes are abstract, no argument there. The citrus scent is quite light and equally abstract, so maybe this would be located at the midpoint between Eau de Cartier and Eau de Cartier Essence d'Orange. The style is very similar. Light, nice, inoffensive, somewhat fresh but not soapy. Citrus without the acidic brightness of many citrus colognes. Mandarin Mist is fine for what it is: an abstract fruity-floral in the office-ready-inoffensive-fruity-floral fragrance camp. No cause for mourning, if it has in fact been discontinued, as there are thousands of creations today in the very same category.