Scentzilla!

Frederick’s of Hollywood Signature Scent is a fairly simple, unoriginal blend, but for what it is it’s nice. It’s primarily vanilla and musk, which is kind of the perfume equivalent of a little black dress: basic, perfunctory, and handy. It’s tempting to dismiss it for being so plain, but really, we all need some variations on the basics in our wardrobes, and to some extent, our perfume wardrobes, too.

For convienence’s sake (mine) I will just call this eau de toilette Fred from here on in. (Also? It’s the name of my dog, and I quite like the idea of Fred perfume.)

Fred begins with a layer of tart citrus over the top of the vanilla and musk. The company’s description of Fred cites florals, but the only floral I notice is the same sort of vanilla orchid flower that L’Occitane employs in their reformulated vanilla fragrance. The citrus and floral vanilla evaporate quickly, leaving the darker vanilla and musk to dance around a warm amber note. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff. But nice.

And it is distinct to me. All summer long I kept smelling it on random strangers in Portland, and now that we’re movin’ on into autumn I still notice it everywhere. What charms me the most about Fred is the diversity of people who are wearing it. I’ve noticed no patterns - it’s on young and old ladies; at all sorts of places like bookstores, pubs, parties, and cafes; it appears to be chosen by people from different socioeconmic levels. It’s not that any one group always choses any one particular scent, but I do notice some “types” cotton to certain fragrances more than others. For example, Britney Spears’ Curious is one I spot on way more teens and early twenty-somethings more than anyone else. With this one? No such groupings. I think that’s neat.

The flacon itself isn’t that interesting. It’s Fred’s “box” that is fun. It’s a satiny cylander held shut by garter straps. Silly? Sure, it’s silly. But I pity anyone who can’t appreciate a bit of silly fun.

My feeling here is that Fred makes a perfectly good everyday fragrance that’s not terribly expensive. And if you live in the Portland area wearing it, please just patiently ignore the crazy lady with the loopy grin who reflexively shrieks “Frederick’s of Hollywood!” as you pass by. She means well enough.

Image from Frederick’s site - the liquid is pictured as lighter than it really is, and the actual color is slightly more caramel.