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Tuesday, June 14, 2022

**REVIEW** Fantasy Intimate Edition Eau de Parfum (from Britney Spears)

 This is the other of the two fragrances I bought for my birthday:


You already know about the first fragrance from my previous post. I love, love, love that one but I have to say... this one is also getting to be up there with my top 5 of the past several years.

As with all my fragrances, I always want to see what Frangrantica has to say. For this one, as with the Cheirosa ’62, Fragrantica listed some of the accords I love the most.

 


The only thing missing for me on that chart is the caramel. However, I can actually smell a little of it in the actual perfume. This is the "pyramid" of notes for this one:

The very first time I tried the perfume, I was not impressed. As a matter of fact, I really regretted buying it. It was, I thought, too candy-like and "young-ish" for me. Of what smelled slightly grown-up, I got too much citrus (lemon?) and something flowery that I never like in a perfume. 

I hate when I blind-buy a fragrance only not to like it. I don't have money to play with like that. So I was upset with myself. (But I have to say that the bottle is super cute. From the online photos, I thought it looked cheap and toy-like, but, nope. It's glass and heavy enough to use as a weapon.)

Now, I'd had a fresh shower that morning and had used one of my lotions without paying attention to which one it was. I have several lotions and creams and oils that I use, depending on the weather. It's really humid this past week so I haven't been using my heavier moisturizers. When I checked, I realized I had used some Palmer's. Palmer's lotion has cocoa butter in it and you definitely smell that ingredient! I realized that this might have thrown off the Fantasy perfume.

I waited a couple of days before giving Brit-Brit's fragrance another try and, in the meantime, I just enjoyed some body mists. (And, oh, yeah, I lied about getting only two things for myself so I will have to tell you about the other things later...)

After my next shower, I remembered to go fragrance-free with the moisturizer. I used some of my fragrance-free Neutrogena oil. I love that stuff for these hot and humid days. It's light and silky-feeling without being greasy. 

This time Fantasy was everything I wanted. It hit all the vanilla and amber highs that I like and had just enough "powder" scent to make me feel super-feminine. It's light enough for daytime wear but I think that it could be used for date night if I, you know, felt like dating.

The longer I wore the perfume, the more I loved it. I'd put it on around 8-ish that morning and by the time I had my second coffee at 10, it was doing something new. The sharpness of the citrus had died down and the vanilla and that caramel I'd sensed were showing up and showing out. Nicely. 

Damn! I smelled so good I wished I did feel like dating! Someone else needed to experience this grown-woman sexiness. I went out of my apartment - as I try hard to do as little as possible - to return something to the building manager. As soon as I was in her office, she did a double-take. "Ooo, you smell good, Ms. Trudy." (Note: She is the only one around here who notices things like this. She's young enough to still have a good sense of smell and sight.) So...

Thank you. Thank you very much, Britney boo. I hope that you find all the love and happiness you yearn for, you darling lady.

By the way, the perfume lasted well into the evening. I think I stopped being able to notice it around 7 or 8 that night. Not bad. Just like with the Cheirosa '62, I will start spraying some on my clothes if I want them to last even longer.

Buying this fragrance by Britney reminds me of something. Some years back, when one of my older nieces was visiting, I had asked what she was wearing. She is not big on perfumes and usually sticks to body sprays. This time, she smelled luscious and it could not just be a simple body spray. She looked a little embarrassed and, as if she were admitting to a crime, she whispered, "Jessica Simpson. It's called 'Fancy'."

What is up with these formerly teeny-bopper hotties? How are they killing the game with these amazing fragrances??? I love the idea that they are capitalizing on their celebrity to enrich themselves without becoming has-been jokes. 

I checked (yes, Fragrantica) to see who or what is behind Britney's perfumes. The parent company is Elizabeth Arden and there are at least 6 perfumers working on the scents. Simpson is with a different parent company but also works with several perfumers. (Guess which perfumes I will be putting on future gift lists?)

Back to this Fantasy fragrance...

I have now worn this solo for several days but I have also paired it with the Solinotes Vanille (which was a total disappointment by itself) and also with some Eos Vanilla Cashmere lotion. Fantasy elevates the heck out of the Vanille. I'd been wanting to toss that odorless mess in the trash at one point. Now I will keep it because it creates a sweeter vanilla scent when combined with Fantasy.

Now, the Vanilla Cashmere lotion is the strongest scented lotion I have ever used. Ever. If you ever wanted a vanilla scent without buying a perfume, this is your groove. It's lovely and, pro tip: it really does remind me of Donna Karan's Cashmere. Truly.

About 7 bucks 
worth every nickel

The lotion though did not pair well with Fantasy. The lotion's scent was kind of trying to outshout the vanilla in the Fantasy. The combination had me smelling like a food fight between vanilla custard and lemon-nilla pie. I like dessert scents but this one was just a bit too much.

Oh well.

Anyway, as I said, I had added this perfume to my top 5. And my top 5 for the last 5 years? They are, in no set order:

  1. Lalique (I've only ever tried a sample because, you know, my budget🙄)
  2. Fantasy Intimate Edition
  3. JHAG Not A Perfume (usually at the very top of the list)
  4. Glossier You (the solid, not the bottle which never lasts more than 5 seconds)
  5. Cheirosa '62 (this is another new favorite & I actually would prefer the Cheirosa '71 if it came in a perfume instead of just a mist)
Back in the day, I had a couple of "signature" scents with Shalimar (the vintage because the stuff from the past 10 years is, in my opinion, garbage) being the all-time Number One. The Flori Roberts Gold fragrance is no longer being made, but I loved it so much that I once thought about having a reproduction done by one of those formulating houses. This is back when I was making good money though.

Oh, and remember when I said I lied about only getting myself two gifts? Well, I used some of my gift card gifts (?) to get a couple of other fragrances. Technically, I didn't buy the gifts but, since the cards are from Visa, I suppose I could have bought something a little more necessary. But it's my freaking birthday month!

Using my Target cards, I got a Mix Bar Discovery set of perfumes. I fell in love with 2 of the scents so I used the card balance to get full-sized bottles of the hair and body mists in Cloud Musk and Vanilla Bourbon. And I liked the Vanilla Bourbon sample enough to get a full bottle of the perfume. 

I haven't used any of the Mix Bar items enough yet to fully review them. I can say that I do love something about both scents. I will do a post when I've had more time to use them. I'm wondering if I will be adding to or rearranging my Favorites list???

Speaking of celebrity fragrances, when I was telling a family member about loving Fantasy, she mentioned that I will just have to try Mariah Carey's Dreams. She swears it's right up my alley as far as the notes. I checked Fragrantica and she's so right.

When my birthday month is over, I will get back to buying only necessities. For now, I'm having fun. 

Peace
--Free