Cinéma Festival d'Ete

YSL makes some of my favourite vanilla centered fragrances, especially at the designer level. Cinema Festival D'Ete is probably my favourite summer vanilla in my entire collection. It has the DNA of the original Cinema but with a light, fresh, brightness that makes it very hot weather friendly. The opening is a sunny, bright, herbal citrus. The citrus is mostly orange with a little lemon adding a bit of tartness. As it dries on the skin the scent becomes an aromatic, floral vanilla. The citrus remains present throughout the wear, but stays in the background after the opening. I don't perceive the different floral notes. For me, they all blend togeather in a pretty bouquet and enhance the floral aspects of vanilla, rather than the gourmand. In the deep drydown the vanilla becomes a little powdery, giving the drydown a soft, fluffy feel. This is a bright and sunny, summer fragrance that can easily be worn all year. I reserve it for summer only because I also have the EDP and it is richer so a bit more suited to cooler weather. This fragrance is beautiful and elegant without being standoffish and stuffy. It's a grown woman vanilla/summer fragrance that doesn't feel old fashioned or dated. The performance of this fragrance is really solid. It lasts on my skin for about 8 hours. For the first 1-2 hours the projection is strong, reaching beyond arm's length. After that is still projects well, but stays withing arm's reach. The bottle is beautiful. It announces itself as a summer fragrance with the golden sun and sunny, yellow juice. It has a simple gold cap that clicks nicely into place. The atomizer feels great quality with a with a smooth generous spray. Sadly this fragrance is hard to find nowadays. Trussardi Donna can be a nice option with a very similar vibe. It's bit more simplistic and the citrus is lemon dominant while Cinema is more orange. But the Donna is much easier to find and usually pretty affordable. Donna is not a dupe, but it fills the same place in my collection as Cinema Festival D'Ete.

Just got my hands on this! Really, really lovely! A great surprise and has totally renewed my faith in YSL <3 Mostly surprising because I kind of hate Cinema, sorry guys.. it's just too syrupy for me! When I read about this being "too citrusy" for all those Cinema lovers, I thought I'd like it ;) I tend to narrow down my blind buys by both likes and dislikes - I usually end up liking things majority of folks aren't too impressed with. Anyway - with that being said, this I find to be crafted quite well! Blends perfectly so not one single aspect remains standing out, all harmonize and ultimately settle into a lovely skin scent. I get bright citrus and herbal notes at first, can't even tell there's vanilla! Then it warms, slowly and sneakily.. the vanilla and herbs start to mingle while the citrus fades and the jasmine comes out. I am all about this flanker - and flankers in general do not necessarily put me off the way they do for others. I LOVE variation! I don't find it too similar to Cinema however - the vanilla I believe to be the same vanilla, but it's toned down. A lot. I love it!

I checked this fragrance out because I suspected the notes would be similar to my true 'fume love Armani Sensi, warm base with a juicy citrus top, and I was oh so happy when I opened the bottle. Meant for summer, Festivale works great for fall and winter too for me. The regular Cinema was too heavy and smoky (though wonderful drydown). I guess after the main Cinema, they began doing summer versions. Cinema Ete is a nice lighter Cinema too, but less citrus than Festivale. I do not care for Scenario at all (bottle with feather). How I wish I could find lotion and shower cream in Festivale. Nice big bottle for the price too.

At first, I receive bright citrus and herbal notes. The vanilla and herbs begin to blend as the citrus fades and the jasmine emerges as it heats gently and gradually. This is not a pleasant smell for me, but the musk and amber give it a warm vibe. The flowers come out to play when it dries, and you can smell jasmine and gardenia. In the drydown, the vanilla really shines through. A pleasant, light summer scent. The bottle is stunning, and the smell is deliciously rich, smoky, warm, and fragrant. It sits near to the skin and lasts around 4 hours. It's a lovely fall aroma. Adorable!

To me, the only problem about this fragrance is that it disappears completely from my skin in about four hours. Apart from this, I love it. If you like vanilla perfumes and elegance, this one is great. It opens with the smell of strong herbs and citrus, being already a bit sweet. Then it rapidly turns more floral (I mainly smell jasmine)and the vanilla becomes more and more important, but never suffocating; I can notice some herbal smell until the end. Globally, it makes me think of a fine desert, like tiramisu.