Aura by Swarovski

I wished I’d liked it; it was another blind buy. I was interested in the longevity, the notes and the look; it had everything to be a success. The name isn’t a coincidence: Aura is a luminous, invisible irradiation, a halo we perceive as a pink aroma. If the bottle were the human body, the Swarovski crystal would be in the Sahasrar chakra, the one of pure thought. It’s a new age fragrance. But beware: it starts with a brutal hit of pink pepper that makes me sneeze and settle in my stomach. This isn’t Aura; it’s *Resplandor*, the film where an excessive, psychopathic pink pepper assassinates every note in its path. At first, a cheeky, bitter lychee jumps out, wanting to impose itself, but the pepper devours it instantly. It lasts not even ten minutes. The poor thing longed to add its juiciness, but committed a mistake of trust with so much pink. Then a sweet rose with white flowers appears, but as soon as it stretches out, the pepper (with traces of lychee) wraps around and poisons its sweetness, turning them into a bitter floral ordeal. The musk and benzoin try to dust it down and add warmth, but there was no mercy; they fell under its influence with the base note set. The projection is good, fades in two hours and lasts about five hours on my skin. For me, there’s nothing subtle; I still feel its bitterness. If you like the pepper-lychee-rose mix and it doesn’t cause you the same rejection as it does me, it’s fantastic, but try it before buying. The best part is the bottle: original, cylindrical, futuristic, with a pink juice that wraps around a polished metal tube and a Swarovski crystal facet cut by Gwenaël Nicolas. Thank goodness it’s refillable, so I’ll give it more uses once I’ve eliminated the pepper smell. It comes with a complete bath line and three luxury pendants with transparent, pink gloss and illuminator. If they hadn’t gone overboard with the pepper and lychee, it would have been a winner. For now, better they stick to what they know how to do: exquisite luxury jewellery with cut crystal.

I love this fragrance and its packaging. If it weren’t quite out of this world, what makes it special is its subtlety and longevity. It’s one of my favourites.

It smells nice and I’ve thought several times about buying it, but in the end I decided against it. It doesn’t seem anything special; it’s the typical floral that smells good but doesn’t stand out at all.