A Beautiful Life Smitten perfume oil is described as “feminine, fresh, and sexy – like the blush of first love or the sultry promise of a summer night“. It is a tart citrus floral fragrance with an earthy base from New Jersey located hipster cosmetic/fragrance brand, A Beautiful Life or ABL.
When I first apply Smitten, I get peppery tangerine juice. It is a sparkling citrus and very easy to identify as tangerine. But, it has an earthy vibe because of the essential oil base. This keeps this citrus from feeling “too light” or “sheer” like some sparkling citrus scents. Something about Smitten reminds me of Dragon’s Blood resin because of the fruitiness mixed with a resinous/incense aroma. Within 5-10 minutes, Smitten gets creamier. It smells like an orange creamsicle mixed with cool spring lilies and spicy white florals. It sounds strange but it works. The fragrance wears more tangerine/citrus on me than floral. The tangerine mixes with creamy, humid florals almost creating something yummy but then you get the “gasoline-ish” notes from heady jasmine, so yeah, it isn’t delicious 🙂 The dry-down once again, reminds me of incense: Dragon’s Blood and patchouli/sandalwood. It’s fruity but woodsy. The tangerine never vanishes.
I love oil based and solid perfumes. I typically don’t like citrus fragrances but there is something about Smitten that I like. I think I like it because it doesn’t seem so light and airy for a citrus. It feels grounded while still being radiant: a citrus with substance. It has a very laid-back, natural vibe. I love the earthy, woodsy base. I know this fragrance referenced a “summer night” but I really see ABL Smitten as an appropriate winter citrus. I’m always on the search for a “hefty” citrus for winter. Citrus is in season in the winter and it does mix so well with spice (white pepper ). I can see Smitten being worn on a summer night or on a winter day. How many citrus fragrances can you say that about?
Notes listed include: tangerine, white pepper, jasmine, lily of the valley, ylang ylang, sheer woods, and patchouli.
Give Smitten a try if you like perfume roll-ons or tangerine fragrances or if you like scents like Tokyomilk Satsuma Solid Perfume, D&G Original EDT, Ebba Miss Pilar Perfume Oil, Bond No. 9 Little Italy EDP, LUSH Karma EDP, Sage Carnelian Perfume Oil, Parfums des Beaux Arts by DSH The Color Orange EDP, The Party in Manhattan EDP (a much cheaper, more headshop-ish version, OK). I think to like A Beautiful Life Smitten you must like oil-based or “heavier” natural fragrances. Smitten has an essential oil vibe that reminds me of LUSH fragrances.
The packaging is a basic glass take anywhere roller-ball applicator. The packaging is about 2 inches tall with the gold top on. A little bit of this jojoba based perfume oil goes a long way.
The pure parfum 5mL roller-ball of ABL Smitten retails for $38. Smitten is available at urbanoutfitters.com and abeautifullife.com.
Want more reviews? Try…
Now Smell This (not a review, more of a press release)
Sounds yummy, if I’m by Urban Outfitters I’ll give it a try. You beat me to it, I was just working on a “citrus for winter” post. 😉
kjanicki recently posted..Video of the Day- Whitney Houston
Hmm…maybe a few bloggers could do their favorite “citrus for winter” post. I would love to see everyone’s recommendations.
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This sounds so cool. I love citrus but most of them are too light for winter wear. I know what I’m going to treat myself to this month 🙂
The next time I’m at UO, I want to try this. I really like natural smelling perfumes. This one sounds pretty.
I love natural fragrances! Once you a try a natural fragrance there is no going back to the other popular stuff! The other stuff smells like hairspray! I would love to try this Smitten oil.
So many people say that! It really is difficult to handle some of those popular, mainstream fragrances once you’ve started wearing naturals. I often hear people describe those mainstream scents as “cheap” once they’ve tried certain essential oils.