¡Ombligo!

Clarins par Amour toujours

While my sister was in town we hit Marshalls and I found the last bottle of Clarins par Amour toujours. I honestly try not to buy fragrances unsniffed but I couldn't pass this one up as I remembered that rose and pink peppercorn were two notes in this scent.

What are the other notes?

According to Clarins.com:

Pink Rosebud: green and fresh, adds a touch of liveliness and spontaneity with femininity.

Pink Peppercorn and Black Currants: deliver a burst of spicy freshness.

Pink Grapefruit and Raspberry: sweet and fresh, sparkles with effervescence.

It is described as: A vibrant, floral-fruity fragrance that‚’s as sparkling and tender as childhood itself.

par Amour Toujours, a fragrance for all daughters, is vibrant, floral and fruity. It captures the love women have for life and their desire to pass this love to their daughters. Experience this happy, spontaneous fragrance like childhood laughter.

When I first spray it I can easily detect the grapefruit - now, I hate grapefruit - in fragrance and as a fruit. I hate it, it's an instant sensory memory for me.

As a kid I remember my Dad eating grapefruit a lot so I remember smelling it a lot. I was one of those kids who had chronic ear infections and when I was around four, my Doctor suggested that I had tubes placed in my ears. I remember being on the operating table and they told me to count to ten for the anesthesia to kick in and I remember it smelling like grapefruit.

I remember trying to fight it and not fall asleep, the next thing I remembered was waking up in a crib. That I was awfully upset about as I was a "big girl, not a baby!"

To sum it up, grapefruit is one of those notes I try to avoid in fragrances as it smells rather gaggity and makes me feel all out gross.

Thankfully, it starts with only the burst of grapefruit but that is soon melted into the other notes. The rose is a very fresh, light rose - rather muted. I would have liked a bolder rose but this does fine as the fragrance is very light.

I always welcome fragrances with berries and currants and am often drawn to fragrances that host those notes. The currant is bolder than the raspberries. I too would have loved for these notes to have been a bit bolder but in keeping with the inspiration for the fragrance.

The staying power of the fragrance is good, given that it's light it's one of those scents that doesn't have a lot of sillage but up close to the skin it's very evident and quite lovely.

Hours after application I can only detect grapefruit and musk - not necessarily a scent that appeals to me. I really like the rest of the scent and enjoy it much more when it's applied on skin that isn't touched my fabric as fabric retains the scent much longer than skin.

Clarins par Amour toujours retails for $40/1.7 oz. or $30/1 oz. at Gloss.com.