My local Avon representative gave me a sample of Christian Lacroix Rougeperfume to sample in September last year. I fell in love with the scent of the perfume almost instantly and decided to purchase a bottle of it; I love the scent that much that I have already polished off three bottles of it and have a fourth one on the way. The fragrance was launched in September 2007 in partnership with Avon; Avon currently sell Rouge for the price of £18 for a 50ml bottle. There is also a male version available too and this is called Noir which smells just as nice as the female version.
As you can see from the picture at the top of this review the bottle of perfume is quite chunky and resembles a the shape of a tear drop and has a lovely chunky lid on top. I really like the design and colour of the bottle because it looks lovely sitting on top of my dressing table. I think that the deep red colour of the bottle reflects the scent of the perfume to some extent, because the scent is a warm and inviting one.
The Scent
As soon as you spray the scent you can immediately detect a few different fragrance notes, the fragrance has a warm spicy scent at first and then this spiciness is accompanied with a citrus fruit and floral aroma.
The spicy aroma which I could detect was in fact white pepper, I usually don't wear scents which have spicy notes in them because I find them too strong and overpowering, I think the main reason I like this scent as much is because the spiciness isn't strong or overpowering and it is masked somewhat with orange and red peony top notes. The top notes of this fragrance seemed to last for quite sometime before they gradually faded, the white pepper top note lingered a lot longer than the orange and red peony notes; I would say that the white pepper note lingered for approximately 4 hours or so where as the red peony and orange only lingered for two possibly three hours.
The top notes of the fragrance seem to blend really well with the heart notes giving the scent a bright exotic fruity aroma. I really like the heart notes of this fragrance because they are fresh, vibrant and fruity but they are still accompanied by a very subtle spicy kick which is most probably the white pepper still lingering. I was actually quite surprised by the middle notes because I could smell a fruity cocktail of apricots, peach and apple which had a slight floral undertone; I thought that the fragrance possibly had middle notes of peach, apricot and apple but the fragrance description doesn't have any of these notes in them. The heart notes of this scent are made up from Osmanthus flower, Japanese plum blossom and Amazonian water lily.
The middle notes of the scent linger for quite sometime, I would say that the middle notes linger for approximately four hours before they gradually blend with the base notes of the fragrance. The base notes of this perfume are quite woody and musky but not at all overpowering or cloying. They woody musky aroma seems to compliment the fruity heart notes of the perfume perfectly but at the same time giving the scent more depth and body. Most of the time I am quite fussy when musk is involved in a fragrance because it can sometimes make the perfume smell too powdery or too sweet but in this instance the blend of musk is subtle yet sweet. Again the base notes of this scent seem to last just as long as the top and heart ones do giving the whole scent long lasting staying power without the scent being too overpowering or in your face.
Osmanthus Flower is a native flowering tree which is native to China, it is also known as the Tea Olive in the United States. The Osmanthus Flower has a very fresh vibrant fruity scent which has hints of Apricot.
Japanese Plum The heart of the Japanese plum is captured in this exotic fruit medley. Notes of tart kiwi, mandarin orange and sun-kissed peach begin this aromatic blend leading to a heart of apple blossoms, night- blooming jasmine and lily. The base is a musk accord accented with fragrant rose petals.
Fragrance Notes
Christian Lacroix Rouge is described as having ~
Top Notes of white pepper, orange and red peony The top notes are the first phase of the perfume; they are usually the most volatile and evaporate from the skin very quickly. The top notes are usually very light and refreshing and their scent usually lasts for anything between five and ninety minutes.
Middle (Heart) notes of Osmanthus flower, Japanese plum blossom and Amazonian water lily The middle notes of a scent are therapeutic and balancing oils, sometimes the middle notes are often referred to as the heart notes of a scent. The middle notes are not always evident and can take between thirty and sixty minutes to develop on your skin, and they last for anything between two to four hours
Base
Pictures of Christian Lacroix Rouge for Women
the perfume and free make up bag
notes of cashmere woods, patchouli and musk The base notes are the longest lasting notes in a fragrance, most perfumes use the same base notes. This is because they give the perfume more staying power and stop the top and middle notes from evaporating from your skin as quickly.
Staying Power
Christian Lacroix Rouge has excellent staying power mainly because it is an Eau DeParfum fragrance. Eau De Parfum fragrances have better staying power than Eau De Toilettes because they contain higher amounts of perfume oils, Eau De Parfum last any time between 6 and 12 hours on your skin.
When I am wearing this perfume I only have to apply it once per day, I can apply it at 8am before I go to work and when I get home about 6pm the fragrance is still lingering on my skin, I can even still smell the perfume on my wrist at 11pm before I go to bed, so this perfume has excellent staying power lasting well over 14 hours. The blends of fragrance notes in this perfume are perfect and compliment one another nicely, in this perfume you can smell fruitiness, floral, spicy, musky and woody notes, so there's quite a wide range of them; I think this is the main reason I like the fragrance as much.
Christian Lacroix Rouge is a 50ml Eau De Parfum which means that it contains between 10-20% perfume oils. An Eau De Parfum is more expensive than an Eau de Toilette because it contains more perfume oils. Generally an Eau De Parfum should last anytime between 6-12 hours possibly more.
Perfume Information
All perfumes smell slightly different on different people, and this is due to us having different oils in our skin. The staying power of a scent also differs from person to person because we have different types of skin oils too. I said in the review that this perfume lasts for about three or four hours on me, but it could last a longer or shorter amount of time on you. If you like the sound of this perfume then I advise that you go into your local perfume store and test it before you buy it. When testing the scent spray it onto your wrist and wear it for a few hours before you decide whether you like it or not, because the scent changes the longer you wear it due to the different notes which make up the fragrance.
When testing a perfume don't smell the scent on a perfume card because it might smell lovely on the card and when you buy it and wear it at home it might smell totally different and you might not like the scent you are wearing. I made this mistake a few times in the past and wasted £30 on a fragrance which I didn't wear again and put in the bin.
Price and Availability
You can purchase Christian Lacroix Rouge Eau De Parfum from Avon and it costs £18 for a 50ml bottle. Avon sometimes has this perfume on special offer where you can get free gifts if you buy the perfume. The last two bottles I bought I received a Christian Lacroix make up bag and a tub of Anew face lift cream, lip gloss and a mascara so it is a good idea to have a look at the Avon catalogue or website regularly so you don't miss out on a great offer.
My Opinion
I really love the scent of Rouge because it is fresh, woody, earthy and fruity. I think it is a deep, warm full bodied scent which is suitable to wear on any occasion. I'm sure that most people will like the scent of Rouge because it has a wide mix of fragrance notes which aren't overpowering or cloying. I think that the fragrance is very similar to Clinique Aromatics Elixir because of its full bodied spicy aroma.
Rouge is a very flexible scent and can be worn n any occasion it just depends on the wearers own personal opinion. I prefer to use this as a casual scent because the fragrance lasts throughout the whole day without needing reapplied.
You can also purchase Christian Lacroix Noir which is the male equivalent of Rouge. My husband has Noir and I love the scent of it too. Noir costs £18 for a 50ml bottle too and is sometimes on special offer in the Avon catalogue and on their website.
For more information on Avon or any of their products then you can visit their website which is ~ www.avonshop.co.uk
Mar 8th, 2008
exceptional by (35%):
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