Scent of the Year (2006)-Burberry London

While most fragrance houses are launching their summer scents at this time of the year, I personally feel that these offerings are refreshingly breezy yet forgettable. It’s almost as if their creators know that these transient scents are just the customary practice for their companies to mark the start of the sultry weather, but like the passing of seasons, they are doomed to fade into obscurity as cool fall approaches.
Which is why I would confer the Scent of the Year to: (drum roll please)…
Burberry London!

Scent of the Year (2006)-Burberry London

My opinion as to why this is a winning scent for 2006:
I was introduced to this fragrance when I was passing through Tangs Beauty Hall. I was in fact making my way to the toilet behind the SK-II counter. Yea, I would walk to the ends of the Earth just to use a clean and pleasant washroom.

By the way, the revamped washrooms in Tangs are a testament that Tangs wants to be the ‘IT’ Departmental Store. Toilets, are after all, a reflection of the true character of a country/ company or home. Dirty, smelly and under-maintained toilets in reputable departmental stores are like beautiful, well-groomed ladies with ugly characters. Just for this aspect alone, NUS deserves to be called a world-class institution. Before the hardworking academia cry foul, I return to my main subject for this entry.

A fragrance consultant offered me a fragrance card of Burberry London. Prior to this, I deemed Burberry to be lackluster in terms of its fragrance collection in recent years. Burberry Brit is not worth mentioning. I expect it to end its production in the near future. But then again, the fashion house always thinks that its perfumes are classics to be obstinately continued…

Unlike citrusy summer scents that lacks personality and staying power, Burberry London for Women is an elegant floral fragrance.
Top notes are fresh and luminous with Clementine, honeysuckle and English garden rose.
Heart notes reveal the scent’s delicate and feminine character with tiare flower, sparkling jasmine and soft peony.
Base notes are sophisticated and elegant with subtle hints of sandalwood, veil of musks and patchouli.

My eyes dilated immediately after putting the card to my nose. Ah, it’s different. And different in a good way. It has character. I looked at the imprint on the card again, this time to check out the brand. (Tip: Never judge a scent by its brand. Smell before ascertaining it’s worth your time to know its producer). The fragrance is also very lasting, evoking different olfactory sensations for its top, heart and base notes. Yet, it’s not a decadent sort of smell that reeks of old money and aristocracy. It’s youthful yet confident. Sophisticated, yet understated.
Overall, it exudes quiet, subtle elegance that makes the wearer feel beautiful and smell ethereal. Kudos to an excellent creation!

My advice: Don’t wear it with T-shirt and jeans. They don’t go well together. Wear it when you don on your street chic garb during weekends or use it for office wear.

Does it smell like London? Sorry, no. London is a very grey city to me. Perhaps I visited it during winter. But I can never forget the dank dense cold air, mournfully urban and silently decaying streets. Special mention goes to the advertising strategy for fronting Rachel Weisz in a collage of romantic and intimate images depicting her wonderful London life…, so that users will feel chic and lovely while wearing the scent.

Burberry London Advertisement featuring Rachel Weisz

Apart from this, the Burberry London bottle is clad in an iconic and oversized Burberry Check fabric. The design supposedly introduces a unique approach in merging fashion and fragrance.

Therefore, the fragrance deserves to be a winner because it is so well conceived. But to me, an unforgettable scent still lies in its ‘smell’. Afterall, you certainly can’t wear the bottle nor the advertisement on your sleeve. For this, I boldly confer Burberry London the title of a modern classic.

Am I getting it? Yes. But not now. No money lah. Haha. But, since it is a classic, it will hang around long enough for me to obtain enough moolah. Or my birthday in Fall. ;-)