In all things beauty-related, I’m a very classic kind of girl. It takes a big push for me to step outside my safety zone of smooth skin, a perfect cat-eye, and a complementary neutral color palette… but the right push does get me there from time to time.
Now with fragrances, it’s definitely a different story. I’m extremely sensitive to scents. I mean, I can endure bruises from missing that last stair on the staircase, but I absolutely cannot stand being exposed to unpleasant odors. It makes me uncomfortable. So it only makes sense that I’m quite picky with the way I smell. Ironically, this is actually the exact reason why I don’t have a signature scent. I feel that I can’t settle for just one, because there’s going to be something even better out there.
My fragrance “wardrobe” thus consists of dozens of samples from various beauty purchases, such as Sephora’s Fragrance Impressions Bag from last year. Yet, I’ve only been satisfied with a handful: Marc Jacobs’ Daisy tops the list, and Tocca’s Liliana, Oscar de la Renta’s live in love, Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue, and Ralph Lauren’s Romance are among the others. They are all basically light, clean and fresh scents.
Kenzo is a brand that isn’t new to me. I’ve tried a sample of FlowerByKenzo, a scent that originally launched in 2000. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a scent that fit to my personal preferences. With notes of Wild Hawthorne, Bulgarian Rose, Parma Violet, Cassia, Hedione, Cyclosal, Opoponax, White Musk, and Vanilla, FlowerByKenzo was quite powdery – almost reminiscent of baby powder. It was a pleasant scent, but just not something that I would personally wear due to its heavy notes.
So when I was given Kenzo’s latest fragrance, Flower in the Air, to try, I was a bit doubtful because of my previous Kenzo experience. But the notes of Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Rose Essence, Rose Oxide, Rose Infusion, Cedarwood, and Musks were a pleasing combination that was much to my liking. Released this August as a new interpretation of the original FlowerByKenzo, Flower in the Air is a light, floral scent that makes for a great addition to my very limited list of fragrances I can get behind (and actually spritz on).
One unfortunate factor was that, as with most light fragrances, the scent wore off in about three hours. So the next goal in my fragrance journey? To find the perfect scent…with the perfect wear-time.
-GaYoung Kwon
Note: This post is not sponsored.