Bois Soleil For Her by Zara

I agree with Ornella on everything; for me, this is the best in the collection. It smells of creamy, bright, and very realistic neroli, with a delicate and fragrant nutmeg note (not the coarse kitchen kind) and just the right touch of patchouli to give it body. I wish I’d bought another bottle; I love it. Neroli is usually overwhelming, but here they have an harmony that makes them elegant. I bought Tuberosa Noir by Jo Malone and I can’t wear it; it’s an affront to good taste, as if someone tipped a lorry of neroli with green, bitter stems all over you. It’s high quality, versatile, and performs well: it doesn’t project more than a metre, but it has a trail that follows you for almost the entire duration, about five hours, before settling close to the skin. Its companions got a lot of hype online, especially Red Temptation and Rose Gourmand for being niche clones; they all sold out and when Zara restocked perfumes, they didn’t bring this one back, I think because it went unnoticed. This shows that Zara lets internet hype dictate what stays and what gets discontinued. Let’s see what happens this year with the unnoticed perfumes, not because they’re bad, but because they’re all equally good and none really stand out. The truth is, I’m curious to see what will remain or if they all disappear.

I’ve now tried all the perfumes in this line and I’ll be sharing my thoughts gradually. Overall, I’ve loved them, although there was one I couldn’t quite tame and another I’m still working on… This is the one from Zara’s new Exclusive Collection that projects and lasts the least, but despite that, I’m delighted and I think it has very good quality for its price. On me, it has a fairly linear scent, basically spiced neroli. It’s creamy and dense with an ideal floral sweetness for daytime use. I wouldn’t categorise it as sexy, so it doesn’t attract me for the night unless it’s something formal, for which I’d also opt for something more elegant. Its longevity on skin isn’t very high, about five hours, but on clothes it lasts a long time, up to the next day. Moderate trail. Scent 7/10, Longevity 7/10, Trail 7/10, Value for money 8/10, Versatility 7/10, Packaging 7.5/10. Would I buy it again? Probably.