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Givenchy Very Irresistible EDT Perfume Review

February 13, 2017

Givenchy Very Irresistible Perfume

Mainstream Monday – Sniffing a Popular Perfume (ROSE WEEK 2017 EDITION)

It’s Rose Week on EauMG! This is the annual celebration of rose-centric perfumes! This week I’m reviewing 6 fragrances that display a different aspect of rose perfumes.

I’m kicking off the week with a designer rose perfume. I’m not a perfume snob and most of the perfumes in my rotation are boring, mainstream designer perfumes. This doesn’t mean that I’m free of designer perfume complaints. One of my issues is that it is difficult to find a quality, cheap rose perfume (there are exceptions such as Elizabeth & James Nirvana Rose). I think one of the issues is that rose perfumes are viewed as old-fashioned and some business department says they won’t sell. And they probably won’t. I’m an anomaly in the market. Anyway, since I’m a rose-lover that appreciates perfumes that are accessible, I like to try every rose-centric designer perfume. Most of the time I’m disappointed but sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised (like I was with Bvlgari Rose Essentielle).

Givenchy Very Irrésistible was launched in the early ’00s and marketed to cool girls through a really popular Liv Tyler ad campaign. This was peak “pink perfume” era and in comparison to other pink perfumes, Very Irrésistible was more of a badass. Like I had this one girlfriend that wore it and she dated a cool guy in a cool rock band (that ended up getting crazy popular). I remember Very Irrésistible being a rose/patchouli that wasn’t like a niche rose/patchouli (think L’Artisan Voleur de Roses) but it wasn’t as boring as other designer things offered at the time. I also remember that stupid bottle would fall over if you just looked at it. I couldn’t sneak and use other perfumes on her vanity without knocking them all over because of this stupid bottle.

Years later, Givenchy launched an EDT version. In 2017, I’m sampling the EDT since I didn’t want to relive my early 00-era EDP memories. For this review, I’m reviewing the EDT. Very Irrésistible opens with a warm, minty green accord that reminds me of mint tea. This turns into a green-citrus verbena. Despite my description, the opening isn’t overly herbal. The florals are present from the beginning. The heart is an abstract, powdery, musky rose that is robust without being heavy.The heart isn’t really memorable which means that it’s also not unpleasant. They dry-down is like a modern musk with a scrubbed clean patchouli. It’s not as sweet or as patchouli-ish as I remember the dry-down of the EDP.

I’ve included Very Irrésistible in Rose Week because it’ the epitome of a Designer Rose. It’s the Rose that’s not really a Rose. It’s like the product of the careful calculation that huge beauty companies do to know what will sell. Like Very Irrésistible contains as much Rose as one possibly can to classify as a Rose without ever being an actual Rose. It’s a rose bouquet that’s overusing the blur filters and then uploading it to Instagram.

Vicky Leandros

Notes listed include verbena, star anise, rose and patchouli. Launched in 2012.

Give Very Irresistible a try if you like powdery rose ambers. Or perfumes like Benetton Giallo Woman, Coach the Fragrance, Chloe Fleur, Sisley Izia and/or any of the other Very Irresistible flankers.

Projection and longevity are average for an EDT. I’m going by memory, but I think I prefer the Sensual version. It has more patchouli and more vanilla than the EDT and lasts longer on the skin. But, I’m going by memory and that gets faultier with every passing year!

Givenchy Very Irrésistible comes in a few sizes with prices ranging from $56 to $91 at Sephora. It can sometimes be found at discounters like Perfume.com. 

Victoria’s Final EauPINION – A powdery, patchouli rose through a Vaseline smeared lens. It’s what we call “safe” in Perfume World. It’s a pretty perfume but it’s not really memorable. Apparently, perfume executives don’t think that memorable will make them profits. I think that is changing because consumers aren’t boring.

Want more reviews? Try…

Mostly Sunny

Cute and Mundane

Fragrantica – Member reviews

*Sample obtained by me. Product pic from Fragrantica. Vicky Leandros “A Taste of…Vicky” pic from fanpix.net. Post contains affiliate links.

20 thoughts on “Givenchy Very Irresistible EDT Perfume Review”

  2. I am sooo on the same page with you on:
    1) not being a perfume snob (just got my first bottle of JLo Glow!)
    2) the status of rose perfumes in the designer space and their abuse of the blur filter
    3) really liking Bvlgari Rose Essentielle
    Your story about knocking over your friend’s bottle is pretty funny. It’s like perfume Jenga! 🙂
    I do like a good rose, but prefer the simpler, tending towards soliflore scents (my very first perfume as a teen was The Body Shop ‘Tea Rose’ OG!). As much as I want to like the spicy / woody / more complex floriental compositions, I can appreciate them, but they wear me instead of the other way around.
    I’ve smelled VI at Sephora, but don’t remember it, so I guess we’re on the same page about that too. I think your line “It’s a pretty perfume but it’s really memorable” is probably missing a “not”? 🙂

    1. 1.For the most part, I wear a lot of designer or “cheap” perfumes. And it seems to work for me being that JLo Still gets me more compliments than anything else!
      2.It’s like they won’t stop using those creepy anime/blur apps on their perfume!
      3.RE is soooo pretty. And so cheap at discounters right now.

      This bottle! Another awful one is Serge Lutens. Those things come falling down like dominos. Some bottles don’t play nicely with other bottles.

      I like so many roses but some are overpowering. When I look at what I wear the most, it’s usually those violet/roses or rose soliflores. I like the more complex ones but I don’t usually wear them (probably for the same reason you don’t).

      Oh, yeah NOT. Will add that because it’s not really memorable, lol. AT ALL.

  3. Rose Week! I think I shall do one next week. Have been wearing roses thanks to the Chemist in the Bottle Month of Roses project.

    I don’t think I’ve smelled any version of this. I only have access to crappy malls that don’t carry Givenchy unless I want to drive four hours. (No, seriously, I’m limited to Macy’s, an hour away. No Sephora, even. Closest I can come to a designer/mainstream rose frag is probably the six Tresor flankers.)
    Mals86 recently posted..Scent Diary, Feb. 6 – Feb. 12, 2017

    1. I was going through my samples and I’m starting to think I could easily wear a different rose a day! You should have a Rose Week too!

      After trying this again, I realize I have smelled it on so many other people in passing. I don’t know if it is exactly this one or maybe there were copycats of it, but it’s really familiar. But, then again, it’s like so many designer roses are similar. They like to blur the rose until it’s a pink smear of floral.

  4. I found your blog through Nouveau Cheap’s review of the JLo Still. I’m not a perfume connoisseur by any means but I love rose. My grandmother, who always elegant and feminine, wore Tea Rose. I still smell that EDT with extreme fondness and have never considered roses to be an “old lady” smell. Thank you for bringing back wonderful memories. BTW, I did not like Very Irresistible. I tried it again the other night and my nose did not find it to be enjoyable.

    1. Yay! I love G 🙂 And welcome to EauMG!

      I love tea rose. I hate when people say roses (or any perfume) smells “old lady”. Like what does that even mean to people? I’ve had some positive experiences with the “old ladies” in my life and I’d be very proud of myself if I ended up anything like my grandmothers or their sisters! They’re sassy, glamorous broads with so much love in their heart and baking skills galore. My memories of them are only positive.

      I’ll be passing on Very Irresistible. And this is good because there’s already too much on my list that I want 🙂

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