Dolce and Gabbana L’Impératrice 3 Review

L’Impératrice means The Empress in French, which reminds one of a dark, woody, oriental fragrance fit for a queen. D&G L’Impératrice is the total opposite of this. Playful, clean, fruity but not too sweet, it's the perfect scent to welcome summers.

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 I love watermelon and must applause the watermelon note used in this. Mostly watermelon in scents tend to smell excessively sweet and artificial, but here the juiciness and watery freshness of a perfectly ripe,watermelon is captured perfectly.

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 L’Impératrice 3 is a  fruity, linear scent on me, with a hint of tart Rhubarb. None of the floral notes make an appearance which is a tad bit disappointing, as I would have loved to experience the blooming of jasmine to give the scent some depth. I'm not complaining though. I'm enjoying this delicious mix of watermelon/kiwi/rhubarb cocktail with a bit of creamy musk in the drydown.

The lasting power is less than average, it is a eau de toilette after all, but I find the heavy, chunky glass bottle hard to carry around in a bag for reapplication. And yes!reapply you must, many, many times throughout the day. That said, D&G L'Imperatrice is indeed a summer fragrance that's easy to wear and inoffensive to most people's noses. 

Category: fruity/floral/aquatic

Top Notes: Pink Pepper, Kiwi , Rhubarb

Middle Notes: Jasmine, Cyclamen, Watermelon

Base Notes: Musk, Sandalwood, Lemon Tree

Good for: Spring/summer. Day/casual.

Dolce and Gabanna L’Impératrice 3 is part of their Anthology line, and is available in 300ml EDT for $55 to $80.

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So if summertime to you means lazing outdoors with a good book,the sound of water sprinklers, the scent of cut grass, the clinking of ice in a lemonade pitcher, and cold juicy watermelon wedges, then give this fragrance a try.

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Light Blue

Today I want to review a VERY popular summer perfume that has been around for quite a while now and is loved and hated with a passion. Here's a riddle. What's blue and fuzzy on the outside and smells like a cold glass of lemonade?

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Launched in 2001, light blue (for women) perfume by D&G is a casual  breezy sparkling floral citrus scent that evokes the spirit of Sicilian summers. 

D&G describes this as a refreshing scent with mouthwatering notes of lemon, lime, apple, bluebells, cedar, calming bamboo and rose that evokes the image of South woods on the seashore making it the perfect blend for a hot summer day.

My 3.4 OZ bottle given by my mother :)

A lot of people dislike this simply because it's very popular and come summer time, they can smell it around every corner. I find it quite unique and not that famous where I live. I'm sure if there was a poll, the most popular summer perfume here would be the  dreaded done to death cool waters by Davidoff.

Lets talk about the packaging first, cuz I find perfume bottles play a big role in the whole presentation of the scent.This one is a no no for me. It looks cheap and very 80's with an ugly blue plastic cap. Even though the bottle is frosty and reminds you of a cold refreshing drink, they could have done better with the cap and the mirror like band around the bottle.I do love the box though. It's fuzzy and velvet like, the color of the Mediterranean sea. Light blue is the genius of Oliver Cresp do check out his name link to see other master pieces he created. His versatility is amazing.

Coming down to the scent, light blue to my nose is a very energizing, happy scent. It opens up with the refreshing zingy lemon notes, pleasently sharp maybe because of the cedar. After it has had time to warm up on the skin the floral notes come into play. But very subtly. I find a delicious watery humid note mixed in with a whisper of rose. Maybe it's the bamboo that gives it that humid quality. I do not get jasmine, if it's there it's very sheer. I sprayed my self with it in the morning and now its late evening and I'm enjoying the delicious woody drydown.

 It is my dream to go to Sicily. I find everything I have imagined trapped inside this bottle. It evokes images of clear blue skies,sparkling Mediterranean sea, chilled bottles of homemade limoncillo,Scary twisted road to Positano, delicious Sicilian seafood, Branches of trees laden with huge scented lemons, the smells, the sounds  (sigh) Until then, I must live my dream through this beautiful scent that has captured the perfect Sicilian summer in a bottle.

Image courtesy google

Category: Fruity Floral

Top Notes: Sicilian Lemon, Apple, bluebells, Cedar

Middle Notes: White Rose, Bamboo, Jasmine

Base Notes: Amber, Musk and Cedar

Good for: Summers, Casual, Daytime.

Light blue for women is available for $87 from Sephora.

If you find it a bit pricey a bit similar perfume made by the same perfumer i.e. Oliver Cresp is: I Love Love by Moschino. I also found Funny by Moschino quite similar.

POSITANO oil on canvas