A few years ago, I reviewed perfumes by Pinrose. Since then, they’ve expanded their line adding new fragrances. They’ve also changed their packaging and marketing¹. Here’s my thoughts on some of the perfumes that I didn’t review in my initial post.
Secret Genius
Notes of Madagascan vanilla, caramel and sandalwood. Launched in 2015. PERFUMER – Harry Fremont
Secret Genius is a gourmand. It opens with flowers and a coconut-like nuttiness. The scent wears as a nutty vanilla. It eventually dries down to a caramel musk. It’s too nutty for me but I can see that being a huge plus for people that like this sort of thing.
- Summary – Creamy, sweet gourmand. It’s worth trying if you like the sort of gourmands from Comptoir Sud Pacifique.
Tambourine Dreamer
Notes of lily of the valley, orange blossom, violet leaf, lemon vebena, musk, jasmine, ylang-ylang, cedar and peony. Launched in 2014. PERFUMER – Nathalie Benareau
Tambourine Dreamer opens as a sharper floral with a hint of green. I mean this in a good way, but it reminds me of a fancy dryer sheet. It’s a fresh floral with clean laundry musk.
- Summary – Lily-of-the-valley and white musk. AKA fancy “spring fresh” dryer sheet.
Garden Gangster
Notes of lime, bergamot and mandarin. Launched in 2015. PERFUMER – Ilias Ermendis
Garden Gangster is a citrus fragrance that reminds me of a mojito or a gimlet. The opening is like mint, cucumber and lime. It’s sharp and refreshing. It’s a nice choice for summer/humid weather.
- Summary – Mojito.
Pinrose
Notes of Bulgarian rose, elemi, anise, iris, clove, labdanum, ambergris and vanilla. Launched in 2014. PERFUMER – David Apel
Pinrose is one of those “dark roses” that I tend to love. It’s a spicy rose, like a cinnamon rose. It has a dusty, dark patchouli. Most of the wear of Pinrose is a leather rose. It eventually dries down to an amber-musk base that is sort of Montale-ish.
- Summary – Spiced rose. This is one to try if you like the amber roses by brands like Juliette Has a Gun or Parfums Rosine.
Cuddle Punk
Notes of apricot, cypress, coconut, tobacco, jasmine, mimosa, vanilla, saffron and patchouli. Launched in 2014. PERFUMER – David Apel
Cuddle Punk is a creamy, lactonic fragrance with apricot and coconut. The opening has a short-lived coolness from evergreens that borders into scented holiday candle territory. Cuddle Punk is a sweet fragrance, mostly apricots, plums and a waxy vanilla. There’s a hint of florals. Eventually the tobacco appears and this just makes the fragrance smell like a flavored Swisher Sweet on your shitty ex-boyfriend’s hoodie. I think this may be one of those perfumes that is meant to smell like a boyfriend’s sweater or something like that.
- Summary – Sweet, waxy vanilla and fruits.
Out of these, Pinrose is my favorite out of this bunch. It comes across as more “niche” than the others. The others are perfectly fine. Secret Genius is one to check out if you like gourmands. And I was oddly intrigued by the freshness of Garden Gangster.
This brand has EDP sprays but they also have these travel-friendly wipes called “petals” (first image in this post). The best way for me to describe them is like those single use samples that Avon or Yves Rocher used to give out back in the day. They’re tiny “wet wipes” saturated with fragrance. They are handy for travel but I admit they aren’t my favorite way of wearing fragrance. I like sprays as these scent my fingers and sometimes feel wasteful (since they’re single use)
The 1.7 oz perfumes retail for $65 at Sephora and Pinrose. Travel sets and samples are also available for purchase.
You can find more of my Pinrose perfume reviews here.
¹They still have the Scent Quiz! The updated quiz says I’d like Pinrose, Wild Child and Moonlight Gypsy. Which is really interesting because Pinrose is my favorite from these. Moonlight Gypsy was my favorite from the last set (however, I hate the name so I’d never buy it). I need to get my hands on Wild Child!