R.E.M.
Ariana Grande (2020)

Since the world seems to love Ariana’s perfumes, I wanted to try one myself. I knew that cloud, although probably the most popular, was probably not for me since it gets frequently compared to Baccarat Rouge… and I highly dislike BR540. So I read notes and reviews for the others, and landed on this one. Plus, this one has lavender which is one of the notes that historically makes me gush over a fragrance. But, sadly, lavender only comes in as a whisper. It’s there, but not nearly as much as I wish it was. The most prominent notes to me are marshmallow and caramel. And delightful they are. But I do have to say, there is a tiny hint of the thing that makes me hate BR540. I don’t have a very experienced nose, but it’s an annoying sweet note. It has this strange translucence to it, while still having sharp edges. The only thing I can think of is ethyl maltol. I don’t know if that’s the scent I’m picking up, but I am familiar with that substance and it’s like that with it’s non-descript sweetness. All that being said, it’s much less apparent in this than BR540… but that weird mystery note that they both share is here in this too. Since it’s not as pronounced, I do like this, and for the price, I definitely think it’s worth picking up. If you enjoy kilians anything, I think you will also like this.

It's actually very nice: slightly mineralic, slightly sweet. I don't get much lavender, but maybe I'm not looking for it well enough. It's very similar to Ariana Grande's bestseller scent Cloud to me, but R.E.M. is less brash and less sweet, a bit more aromatic, therefore I prefer it.