I wanted to call it a cheap find but as I received it in a swap, I actually don’t know how much it costs but being an H&M perfume, I imagine it’s quite affordable.
And I must say, quite good too!
Finding any information on the perfume proved quite impossible. I wonder why doesn’t the H&M site have any perfume related information on it?!
So, if I go by my nose alone, I’d say it starts strangely. Once I spray it on, I can smell the white flower (gardenia in this case) in the 
air around my wrist, but when I put my nose to the wrist, I can’t smell a thing. 🙂
That lasts only for a minute and then there is the most intriguing opening. I can smell the gardenia in there (Une Voix Noire being my reference gardenia) but it is hidden among some fruit and nettle?! I mean that is the first thing that pops into my head. There is a light fruity sweetness to the opening but it’s not overdone, it’s rather subdued when you think of the fruitiness that surrounds us these days. I might not be nettle that I’m smelling, but there is a slight bitter feeling subduing the sweetness. It could be just an almond note, as there is both a sweet nutty creaminess to it and a light bitter/herbal note.
But at all times there is the gardenia in the background filling your nose with its body. Each time you breathe it in, it fills you up completely. Not that I mind. At all. 🙂
Several times during its development I was scared it was going to turn into, in my case, much detested, clean muskiness but that never happened. There must be some of it in there as I feared the perfume veering towards it but luckily, it didn’t. It is pretty much linear but I don’t mind at all.
The fact that there is a slight saltiness to that nutty note and that the drydown displays some vanilla and amber I’d say, make this a really lovely perfume to be had for a probably very small amount of money.
Now, let me know – who has any experience with H&M perfumes (they aren’t available here)? Can you point me in the direction of some other hidden gems among their line?
And does anyone know who made this? The perfumer behind it I mean.
P.S. A big thank you to Oktopusy for sending this! 🙂
Tagged: Gardenia, H&M, Perfume review, Wildwood Flower
All I am - a redhead 
That is a nice surprise! It actually sounds like a much more abstract and diverse perfume than is typical from stores like this (admit I am only comparing to Banana Republic and Zara), which is nice. I’ll have to look out for it next time I’m in H&M, whenever that is. Thanks for the review!
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I don’t really have any knowledge of other perfumes from similar stores but yes, this one seems better than I would have ever expected it. 🙂
When you have the chance, smell other HM perfumes and let me know if I should try and get my hands on some others.
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Sounds like you’re pretty smitten, kitten! And I can understand why, as a good gardenia perfume is somewhat hard to come by (though I have a couple favorites) 🙂
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Actually I am. 🙂 The initial surprise of encountering such a cheap perfume that is rather good is now real appreciation and I look forward to wearing it.
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I didn’t even know H&M had perfume. Next time I go I’ll have to give this one a shot.
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Please do. 🙂 I’d love to hear what other people think of it – is it just me, or is HM a possible venue for affordable, good perfumes?
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Well, well, well! I must look out for this – I have come across Zara perfumes before, but not this one, and I love gardenia as a note, when it is well done.
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Well, I consider you the master in finding affordable, hidden perfumes in the most unusual places. 🙂 Even though the only one now coming to mind is the LIdl deal, you are somehow now the expert on the subject in my mind.
Would love to hear what you might think of this one. 🙂
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[…] Tuberose Gardenia and possibly Fracas(and I’m including here Songes, Une Voix Noire, Wildwood flower by H&M and Cruel Gardenia as they fit with my […]
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