Saturday, June 11, 2011

Nina L'Elixer: Fruity, Floral, Girly Scent

It's always unfair that the West gets the best stuff before we in the backwaters of Asia do. Take for instance, Nina Ricci's latest perfume offering, Nina L'Elixer, which has just launched in Singapore. L'Elixer actually launched last year in the West, although to be fair it was in the second half of the year. So much for the "global economy". But anyway, I'm sure you're all wondering - for us in Singapore, is this worth the months-long wait?



Nina L'Elixer targets the younger market very squarely, describing itself as a fruity-floral, and the fragrance is fronted by a 21-year old british singer, Florrie. And in the music video for the perfume (below), she's pouting, singing, and generally acting cute and girly. That alone is going to turn some people off. After all, fruity-florals are a dime a dozen when it comes to department-store perfumes. But if fruity-floral is your thing, and if you do happen to be looking for one that is more complex than the other department-store offerings, this could just be worth a look into.



For one, although I myself am not a girly-girl, I have to admit I do like the visuals behind the perfume, and especially the bottle design. It's in the shape of an apple, complete with metal leaves! I love the apple shape, with its connotations of fairytales, and the gorgeous colour palette of pink, red, and white - very feminine, and appropriate for a fragrance targeted to the younger market. And I don't know about you, but to me the bottle looks vaguely like a bejewelled apple. Sort of like an enchanted apple!

nina lelixer 2


Unlike other similar offerings, Nina E'Lixer isn't lazy in its composition. Unlike other flanking perfumes, this isn't a simple rehash of the original Nina perfume from 2006 - you know, take the original, add in a couple of musk or amber notes, throw in more vanilla, and you're done. And it isn't exactly identical to the other comparable offerings either.

Instead, I dare venture that this is better than the 2006 original (sorry Nina). It's deeper, and the hint of lime and lemon in its top notes makes it fresher than the original, too. I know most fruity-floral-gourmand perfumes tend to be overly sweet and cloying, so it's great to have the lime notes in there to balance that out a bit. It's still squarely and firmly within the fruity-floral genre, though, and is still creamy and sweet, but at least this one shows some semblance of balance.

nina lelixer 1


The evolution of the perfume is also one thing in its favour. I didn't like the initial blast of jumbled fruity citrusness that rushed out at me, but the perfume settled down into something a lot more consistent. On me at least, the scent evolved into a creamy gourmand base with some fruit notes, primarily berries, and a detectable jasmine. At the final drydown, I detected musk and amber.

nina lelixer 3


If fruity perfumes are your cup of tea - they're certainly not everyone's, and usually not mine - then this could be worth looking into. The bottle and the visuals are gorgeous, and this is an offering that's better than some of its competitors. Nina L'Elixer launched in Tangs Singapore yesterday, and the launch will continue until the 16th, so do check it out if you're interested.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

6 comments:

  1. I absolutley love the 3 dimensional color of the apple :) The bottle is seriously so pretty but too bad fruity isn't really my cup of tea, either

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  2. Great read!

    Lola x
    http://lola-x.blogspot.com

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  3. The apple shape of the bottle is so cute! I've never tried Nina Ricci scents before but I've always admired their pretty packaging :)

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  4. Haii <3,

    I really like your blog ^^. It looks very pretty and your English is also very good ^^!

    I already saw the perfum before ^^. I really like the way it looks =].

    I didn't knew that Singapore had to wait very long for stuff from the west.

    In The Netherlands I always have to wait long for new music because America, the UK and Australia always get it first =O. So I always have to search for music. And I can understand that you don't like waiting =P.

    xxx Katy ^^

    ReplyDelete
  5. Haii <3,

    I really like your blog ^^. It looks very pretty and your English is also very good ^^!

    I already saw the perfum before ^^. I really like the way it looks =].

    I didn't knew that Singapore had to wait very long for stuff from the west.

    In The Netherlands I always have to wait long for new music because America, the UK and Australia always get it first =O. So I always have to search for music. And I can understand that you don't like waiting =P.

    xxx Katy ^^

    ReplyDelete
  6. Really like the way this bottle looks!

    ReplyDelete

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