Royal Freesia

What a beautiful feminine light scent! Very office-friendly as, if you use only 1 or 2 spritzes, it stops projecting within 5-10 minutes, and becomes a personal scent. I love freesias for their light and intoxicatingly beautiful and sweet scent, and I'm not sure there are freesias in here, but it is absolutely a beautiful scent. I find most contemporary perfumes project too strongly as I don't like constantly smelling my perfume; I prefer breaks from scent with whiffs in between, so that my nose has the time to forget and to appreciate the scent all over again. This one fits that lightly-projecting bill perfectly. I have the original Alien edp, Alien Essence Absolue, Alien Eau Sublime, Alien Eau Extraordinaire, and this scent is the most comfortable version of it for daily work wear and errands. I'm really surprised by how well it was recreated, minus the heavier elements of myrrh and incense, which is what makes it so wearable even for a walk. I can't remember the Alien edt, but I could say Royal Freesia is like an Alien splash or eau de cologne. I really love how soft (not harsh, strong, projecting or lasting) some of Zara's fragrances are as they don't give me headaches and I can change to another later in the day and not have the previous scent competing. Royal Freesia is one I can do that with. My experience of testing the scents reminded me of some things that I thought I might share as they might be influencing your fragrance testing and selecting experiences. The following is not part of the fragrance review. 1) Testers have been sitting out, often under heat and lights, for weeks or months, so some of the more delicate scent notes, such as citruses, and even heavier elements, such as oils, may have turned, or at least changed, compared to what you'll get from a fresh bottle, that you are likely to better protect over the course of its lifetime. So be open to your new bottle smelling better, and usually brighter. 2) Testers often don't have caps so the scent in the straw, which is what you'll be spraying on yourself, may be a little more exposed to oxygen, which also oxidizes certain natural ingredients in the scent and changes the scent a little. 3) Testers will be less than 100% full or even down to the last few milliliters, meaning that oxygen has filled the bottle to a certain extent and oxidized the juice in the bottle, thereby affecting the more fragile scent ingredients. Once again, be open to your new bottle smelling better, and usually brighter. 4) You'll need to try scents for a full wear (i.e. keep it on for several hours to a day) to be able to get a real sense of how it evolves and how you find each phase of it. Some can have really catchy top notes but mid and base notes that aren't that inspiring or that you already have in your collection. 5) Your perception of scents you try will be affected by any fragrance in your base layer of body lotion, foods you ate that day that may be on your breath or tongue (this includes gum), time in your monthly cycle, time of the day and how many scents your nose has been exposed to already that day, if you have a cold, if you are taking any medication, etc. So if you are springing for an expensive fragrance, it may be well worth your while to give it several tries on different days to make sure you love it under many conditions. 6) Scents lie and project differently on a blotter, vs. on your skin, vs. on your clothes. Some may smell better on one surface vs. another. Try them on all surfaces to find the one that you like best. 7) Try to not wear any scented products if possible on the day you test a new scent so your nose and olfactive brain get the purest version of the new fragrance you are trying. 8) When you try multiple fragrances at a time, your olfactive brain, and your nose, get attracted to and notice the more powerful elements or accords in a scent, as the weaker or softer ones may disappear due to competing strong elements in another scent you are testing at the same time. This may make a real gem not stand out when compared with something with stronger natural ingredients or stronger aromachemicals. 9) Your nose and olfactive brain get tired out when trying different scents, so trying a few in the morning and a few in the afternoon could be better than all in one shot. 10) Some of the modern aromachemicals can sit inside your nose, so you smell them even after they are no longer that present on your skin, giving the impression of being everlasting. Although, truth be told, most modern fragrances are using aromachemicals that do indeed heighten duration and projection. So, some tips for when you go fragrance shopping: Try to wear as little competing fragrance that day. Try to keep the same day tests to a minimal number if you can. Try fragrances on skin as well as on clothes. Try to give your nose and brain a short break between smelling each different scent. Try to spray them on parts of you that are far apart so you don't get a whiff of one as you breathe in another. Give yourself time to decide how much you like a fragrance. And the most important tip, have fun! Buying a fragrance is partaking in a luxury that many around the world cannot hope to experience. Enjoy this luxurious experience and moment of girly fun!

Let me start off by saying this is a unisex fragrance. It smells good, but it smells very woody. I actually smelled this on my cousin first. He bought it from Zara and I wouldn’t stop asking him what he was wearing. It was such a good feminine-leaning, masculine type of scent. I would say this is for the girlies that love a good unisex fragrance. The Mahogany Teakwood from White Barn kind of girlies, or the Mac Turquatic girlies. It smells floral, but it also smells like incense. Think of an Iris scented incense stick that’s burning in the back somewhere. I do enjoy this, but I’m more into feminine-leaning fragrances. I would say it’s fresh, mysterious, incense-y and office appropriate. I think because it’s so unisex, it becomes extremely office appropriate. It smells good, fresh and floral, while also having a dark twist somewhere in the mix. I recommend this for men and women. It smells good.

What a wonderful little surprise treat this was. I went to Zara with a friend after just purchasing multiple bottles the day prior. I overlooked this because I don't like freesia. It, like peony, is a very cheap scent note and any time it's listed I know the fragrance is going to smell like bathroom soap at some point. But I forgot that Zara likes to screw with people and there's absolutely no freesia in this fragrance (possibly why it's spelled wrong but who knows lol) This is sweet and beautiful. It reminds me of a Chanel or Estee Lauder fragrance. Just very feminine soft and alluring. I literally jumped back and sniffed my hand like crazy cuz surely this can't be the way this fragrance smells. And for an hour I sniffed and sniffed and it only got better. Don't sleep on this one! It's very good. Clean but not soapy. Just a sexy coy coquette pink beauty. I'm going to enjoy her greatly.

I just purchased this, and I had no idea why it smelled so familiar... until I read the comparisons to Alien. I actually got Alien as a gift a while back, thinking I would love it based on the scent notes... but Alien and I did not get along. For me, Alien has some type of syrupy note that smells sickeningly cloying- not even overly sweet, just "thick" and cloying. Alien is extremely heavy on me and such a mismatch for my chemistry that I couldn't stand it. Funnily or sadly enough, this $15 perfume is what I WANTED from Alien. It is extremely similar but brighter, purer, and lighter. I would say this may be better suited to spring/summer, while Alien for me was a very heavy fall/winter scent. I'm hoping this one does better on my skin chemistry, and if anyone else was disappointed with Alien, this might be your winner.

This has the same jasmine that you find in Alien so I totally get the comparison. Luckily, this is balanced by orris, pink pepper, orchid and woods, to soften the overall scent and make it wearable for those that can't wear Alien (like me) but don't hate Alien. If you dislike Alien, this scent probably isn't for you. I took a chance because I love orris and pink pepper. I'm wearing this today. So far it is clean smelling with both a waxy and slightly sweet powderiness. So far, so good.