Benefit Crescent Row Under My Spell Noelle review

I once spent like a looong time on Sephora trying to find perfume that would suit me (after my "breakup" with Christina Aguilera's "By Night" which I loved at the beginning but with time I just hated because of that "chemical" scent). After spending a lot of time trying to find something for myself in my budget I asked for help. The consultant asked me what I'm looking for. My answer was "something not flowery-fruity-sweet, but quite dark, intensive and oriental". She looked at me strangely and said that it is rather hard to find something like this for a girl in my age (yup, everywhere I go people think I am 13-15 years old girl. Hey, I'm 19 years old pre-pro opera singer, I sometimes must be classy and woman-like, not always girly girl like!).
She has showed me some of Benefit's fragrances. There she showed me Noelle and it was exactly what I wanted!

Now I've been using this for a year (year and one or two months? Something like that), so I through it is good idea to show you what I think about it.


OK, TIME FOR REVIEW:

Crescent Row is fragrance line from Benefit. All of the scents are named with a girl name. The room on a package is supposed to represent the character of the perfume. The bottles are inspired by cocktail shakers.

I must admit that the package is super impressive. This perfume has "VIP entrance" outside with windows and doors. You can clearly see there that luxurious feel. What is great- when you open the package there is "inside" of it, exactly what you've seen outside, but without mirrors and doors, it's like you are in that VIP area and a part of it is the perfume. Pretty cool design idea!

Also, on the back of the package there is "poem" description of it:

noelle entices & intrigues

she’s the toast of the town

the essence of mystery
in her divine velvet lounge

so glamorous & exotic
she’s sure to beguile

all in her presence
“long to linger awhile.”

Now for the fragnance itself: the notes (from Benefit's website)

Top notes: cardamom, black pepper, lingonberry 

Middle notes: wild orchid, jasmine petals, vanilla flower, fresh rose, soft violet 

Bottom notes: patchouli, accord oud, black amber, vanilla beans, benzoin resin, raspberry

I don't have such "trained" nose to smell all this stuff, but this is how I would describe it: It is quite strong fragrance. Just after applying it is easy to smell pepper and all that "heaviness" of it. It is very oriental and "choking" (and what is unfortunately sad about it- after few months it gets sooo too much "choking" that it is hard to use it). It gets a bit "sweeter" later, but don't get me wrong- there is no sign of true sweetness on it, it's just not as heavy as it was.

What is very suprising: it's eau de toilette but yet it lasts HOURS! I would say you would not expect that from EDT, but this one really stays on for very long time which is quite impressive! Howether I feel like with time it is more "close to skn" fragnance then very loud one smellable for miles away from you. But I guess that's normal... and probably a good thing, because it would be so strange to feel someone's perfumes from miles! ;)

The amount I got was 30ml (I guess they have only 30ml and 10ml for special boxes where are like two or more of Benefit's fragnances). I wasn't saving it at all and used almost everyday for a year and I still have  like 1/4 or 1/3 of it (the drawback of the bottle is that you can't really see how much is left).

Be aware- this is not one of fragnences that everyone likes. Because it's so heavy and intensive not everyone will like it- I heard compliments from people who really like this kind of perfumes, but once I heard a question "what smells like strange, intensive soap?!". Yup. It was me. I showed this girl my Noelle and as far I remembered she said that it smells like incense (which is quite accurate according to it's "chokingness" <is there even such a word? :P>). So if you prefer flowery or fruity fragnances- it's rather not for you.

I must admit i really liked it for a few months. But then it just started being irritating (probably due to it's heaviness, HOWETHER I haven't smelled that "chemical" stuff with it like I felt with Aguilera's fragnance ). I was still using it, but now it's just a moment when I can't use it at all and now I'm waiting for my package with more girly-like fragnance :)

So, if you look for fragnance that is long-lasting, heavy and oriental this one might be perfect for you!

Rating: 7+/10

Nice stuff: long lasting, great package and bottle design

Bad stuff: gets too heavy to wear after a few months, not everyone will like it

Would I recommend buying: only if you like heavy oriental fragnances

xoxo,