Blossom Love
Amouage (2017)

One review said this smelled like real cherry blossoms, so I had to try it. I'm always looking for that powdered pollen smell, as opposed to the 'cherry blossom' scent of cherries that masquerades as the blossom in so many fragrnace. Well, first on Blossom Love was 100% dewy blossom petals. I’m not sure what petals they are but they are larger and lusher than cherry blossom to my nose. More like a pink peony. It’s also is lacking the yellow pollen elements cherry blossoms consist of and there’s a sharp woody backing that I don’t care for as it leans into screamy, rubbery wood territory. Still, it’s very interesting, complicated and heavily layered.
I always try things many times before judging, of course, and trying again later, I got those lush petals, but also that woody burning rubber. That’s not oud as I recognize it, but perhaps a certain blending of it would smell like this. It's so complicated that I kept trying, over and over, but in the end the burnt rubber wood is just too much. Too bad, that lush petal smell is SO pretty! It's a true floral petal smell, as if you were holding the real thing. But oh, that burnt rubber, screamy wood alcohol kills it. Sad, so sad.

Blossom Love

Well, with a note list that includes cherry blossom, ylang ylang, and heliotrope, I had high hopes. But the opening is powerfully screechy. So high-pitched and pink. Not sure what that pink note is, but it's definitely in a lot of lower-end fruity florals.

Luckily, the opening passes quickly. It dries soon into something that isn't headache-inducing, so that's a very big plus. A lot of amaretto and cherry blossom here, folks. But also a lot of woody aromachemicals, a lot of cherry cough syrup, and a veneer of the mosquito-killing spray that emanates from trucks in the summers when you live in hot, damp places.

As the heart opens, the rose finally makes an appearance. A thin rose, but warm. And this makes me realize that I've smelled the combination of ylang ylang, rose, and almond before in Hanae Mori (Butterfly) EDT. But Hanae Mori most certainly wore it better.

Points for creativity. And certainly points for creating an amaretto fragrance that doesn't smell edible. Unfortunately, it does smell poisonous. But maybe that's your thing. If so, you do you. But I'll be moving along.

The heliotrope and the bergamot that briefly ensure a bright opening that most immediately engulfed by the floral onslaught that follows - the name of this fragrance was not chosen without reason.

A rose is evident initially in the drydown, a pleasant rose that is quite bright but also sweet. Cherry blossoms with whiffs of hyacinth are also there, as is an ylang-ylang impression. The latter has some creaminess to it, but is not too heavy and blends in well. A slightly boozy character of the mix is provided courtesy of a touch of amaretto.

The base maintains the floral core to some extent, but with time it is overgrown by a tonka that gradually moves into the foreground. is has a smooth ambery undertone towards the end, when it is given sone additional depth by a soft suede impression that is accompanied by whiffs of a bright and modern powderiness.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection and a superb thirteen hours of longevity on my skin.

This is an agreeable floral spring scent that is sweet without being too cloying. One issue isn't that some of the ingredients are quite generic and not particularly convincing beyond synthetic mediocrity, whilst others are created rather well. The performance is excellent though. Overall 2.75/5.

Amouage goes soft focus in an array of bleeding pinks with this one which takes a Tocade-like floral haze, imparts it with a tart fruitiness, and then lets gourmand notes of sweet almond and tonka seep through it. So, pretty much like a designer fruity floral with candied gourmand undertones then? Well, yes and no.
While I am sure an approximation could be reached by layering a couple of well-chosen drugstore perfumes, the first couple of hours deliver a seamless blend with a silken ooze about it that lifts it a cut above. It's mainstream, gentle and dreamy, notwithstanding an off-putting scented eraser rubberiness, and an easy and lazy wear.
After that, however, it deflates completely, turning into a vague candied smear on the skin, indistinguishable from the kind of stuff that sells in chain stores for 20 bucks.