Trust Charlotte Tilbury to come up with perfume names like More Sex, Cosmic Power and Love Frequency… and trust her to make the scents more interesting than they have any right to be. I’m informed by those who have greater knowledge of such matters than I do that despite her borderline-trashy packaging and her over-the-borderline-unhinged marketing, Tilbury’s makeup products are excellent. It would seem that this insistence on high standards has transferred to her new fragrance range as well, because even though the scents aren’t earth-changing masterpieces, they’re certainly worth checking out (if you can turn a blind eye to the horrific, Harry Potter-esque bottles) and they’re superior to most wares currently being released at this price point. You’ll find my review of them in one of my recent YouTube broadcasts, which also included a showcase review of the Violet brand (formerly Veolay) as well as sniffs of new releases from Acqua Di Parma and Francesca Bianchi. Here are links to all three videos, followed by lists of the perfumes covered (with timestamps) and further thoughts on some of the scents: Charlotte Tilbury 2024 fragrance collection — Violet showcase review — Acqua Di Parma Crystal Incense and Mandarino Di Sicilia, Jo Loves With Love From Positano, Ormonde Jayne Vanille Des Afriques, Narciso Rodriguez For Him Vetiver Musc, Francesca Bianchi The Mariner’s Rhyme reviews.
Charlotte Tilbury episode
Calm Bliss (Anne Flipo) 10:51
Love Frequency (Anne Flipo) 15:57
Joyphoria (Anne Flipo) 20:15
More Sex (Anne Flipo) 22:43
Cosmic Power (Dominique Ropion) 27:37
Magic Energy (Juliette Karagueuzoglou) 30:13
Abime 5:25
Pourpre D’Automne 9:00
Un Air D’Apogee 12:18
Compliment 15:10
Nuee Bleue 18:21
Sketch 20:22
Tanagra 22:54
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Acqua Di Parma Crystal Incense 2:29
Acqua Di Parma Mandarino Di Sicilia 12:44
Ormonde Jayne Vanille Des Afriques 21:36
Jo Loves With Love From Positano 31:30
Narciso Rodriguez For Him Vetiver Musc (Mathilde Bijaoui) 36:38
Francesca Bianchi The Mariner’s Rhyme (Francesca Bianchi) 45:09
If you can get hold of any Violet samples, I urge you to try Compliment (lush, buttery, approachable tuberose), Sketch (amber with a surprising sour facet) and Pourpre D’Automne (tart-and-sweet, long-lasting violet). They somehow speak of the past without ever coming across as retro cliches — a statement which pretty much sums up all of the work Nathalie Lorson has so far created for this revived house.
From my final video, I’m afraid I can recommend only Mandarino Di Sicilia (an optimistic Acqua Di Parma Blu Mediterraneo release which places its juicy, fleshy star ingredient over a powdery drydown that is more considered and convincing than most in this genre) and The Mariner’s Rhyme, with its clever juxtaposition of earthy notes and marine facets. Sadly, it does start falling apart towards the end (the marine elements become too shrill and overpowering) but the narrative presented by its opening sections is interesting to follow.
Persolaise
[All samples provided by the brands, except the Violet, which were obtained by me.]
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