Varens Love

Mmm... I know, I should be more careful how I spend my little money. This Varens Love costed me 13.90 euro which is very cheap, but it’s not cheap at all if it will go unworn. There are very few Varens perfumes in Italy, surely not all the ones listed here! So when I stumble into Varens Love in a supermarket I had to have it! Think of a super-tacky golden bottle named “LOVE”at 13.90... How could I resist??? In spite of having strongly snobbish tastes about perfumes that I usually can’t afford buying, I also have a strange attraction for tacky cheap perfumes bottles... who knows why? I don’t know if it’s my innate curiosity or a childhood trigger, but surely all these cheap scents smell like something I smelled before when I was a little child. Varens Love makes no exception. it’s the typical wanted-to-be-French-classic-ladylike-but-I-couldn’t: citrus+weak aldehydes as a start, supposed to be rosy-jasminey notes in the heart, powdery “musk-something” as a drydown. It smells nice but so simple and powdery. On my skin it works fine, it never stinks like many drugstore fragrances, but it really reminds me of a typical imitation of Shalimar (mixed with Samsara) cheap cologne pour femme from the ‘70s! I probably won’t wear this is public but I find it nice once in a period and it amuses me that a perfume from 2007 smells like something that could be created 30 years ago. I take it as a touch of eccentricity and I’m actually liking it as a sort of game.

I can smell the top and middle notes, quite a strong floral accord. The sandlewood and musk make for a soft powdery drydown. I bought this because it reminded me of Shalimar without the drama, a softer version of it. I actually prefer Love to Shalimar. This is a very wearable Floral/Woody/Musk, moderate sillage and lasts well for it's price, about 5 hours on me. I don't think it smells cheap at all. Love and Kiss don't have any alcohol vibe to them, they smell like a perfume is meant to smell like, I can actually identify the notes. This is not my fav, I prefer Kiss but I'll give this a 7/10.

I swear I get coconut in this. AND it reminds me of something, but I can’t place it and it’s driving me nuts.