Mainstream Monday – Sniffing a Popular Perfume

I already wrote a post on why I think the cult classic Aquolina Pink Sugar is a masterpiece. The original is this sweet gourmand that has somehow been appropriate by “alternative” subcultures. I’ve avoided the Pink Sugar flankers because I feared they would “mess” with my positive relationship with Pink Sugar. With a little push from Elisa of The French Exit, I finally opened my Pink Sugar Sensual sample.

Pink Sugar Sensual opens sweet orange oil, tart cassis and pink lemonade. And I get there’s clean, fresh towels, like a clean musk. The white florals are waxy, warm but of course they are candied. This is an Aquolina perfume! The white flower petals are covered in sugar crystals. Cutting through the sweet, waxy florals, there is a subtle camphoric patchouli. Pink Sugar Sensual dries down to sugared woods and vanilla reminding me of the niche perfume Costamor Dulchess.

Pink Sugar Sensual is lighter, fresher and more floral than the original. The only thing that it has in common with the original is that it is sweet, but the sweetness is different here. There’s less fruits, more citrus. It has sugar-coated white flowers. I guess it could be a “summer” version of Pink Sugar.

The use of “Sensual” is a whole lot of weird since I don’t really consider pink lemonade cupcakes as “sensual”. The copy says it “aims at a more mature generation of women who prefer seductive approach“. And the ad showcased a lingerie-clad woman with a bucket of champagne in what looks like a pink-carpeted VIP room. My thought is that five years after the launch of Pink Sugar, Aquolina accepts their “sketchy nightlife” demographic that I mentioned in my original Pink Sugar post (strippers and drag queens). And they ran with it. Or their marketing team is a group of perverts( which is not out of the question with any fashion or beauty brand).

Notes listed include black currant, tangerine, bergamot, orange flower, jasmine, tiare flower, vanilla, black sugar and sandalwood. Launched 2009.

Or if you like perfumes like Costamor Dulcess, B&BW Warm Vanilla Sugar, Britney Spears Fantasy and/or Michel Germaine Sexual Blush. This is a “lighter” version so it could be a Pink Sugar for summer.

Projection and longevity are average for an EDT.

It’s available at discounters like Fragrancenet and FragranceX.com for under $20.

Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Pink lemonade cupcakes with white florals. I prefer the genius of the original, but I do like this one. It’s really good for something you can find for under $20 at discounters.

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*Sample obtained by me. Product pic from Fragrantica. Stella Stevens pic from www.fanpix.net. Post contains affiliate links. Thanks!