I'll Be Honest: I'm Shocked by How Great These Perfumes Smell

Key Notes: red currant, lychee, rose, lily, vanilla bourbon, vetiver
Off the bat, I'd like to address this bottle. It's Herrera's Good Girl fragrances that cause me deep distress as a minimalist. Put the juices into a simple square bottle, and chances are I'll like them a whole lot more. That's not to say these bottles are ugly, mind you. I totally appreciate the clever and glamorous design, but glamorous I am not. In all honesty, I had never smelled this perfume before I decided to embark on my Carolina Herrera fragrance adventure—and it's good. Sweet and nose-tickling but undeniably magnetising, it's the sort of perfume I'd want to pick up and douse myself with before a night on the town.

Key Notes: grapefruit, neroli, aloe vera, ylang ylang, coconut, raspberry, vanilla Namibian myrrh, sandalwood
If it's sweet, zingy, fresh, and totally carefree scents that you're into, you'll want a slice of this. What's inside this perfume bottle smells remarkably expensive. (You'll spot this as a theme throughout this review.) At first, it's super sweet, but not in a heady or sickly way—more like a refreshing slurp of raspberry lemonade on a hot day. After a few minutes, it dries down into a beautifully warm scent that works equally as well during the colder months as it does throughout summer.

Key Notes: Bulgarian rose, jasmine sambac, orange blossom, praline, cinnamon, bergamot, lemon, sandalwood, cedarwood, cashmere, patchouli, amber, transparent musk
The first time I smelled this fragrance, I was working as a beauty editor for a popular department store. We had bi-annual meetings with brands to discover their upcoming launches. The main agenda for these meetings was for the buyers to determine quantities and for marketing teams to make a plan of action for 'big moment' launches. The meeting in which Good Girl was introduced to me (and the buyers) for the first time will stick with me forever. I remember seeing the bottle and knowing it was going to be a best seller for years to come—and I was right. This bottle has become an icon. What's inside it is equally as iconic, too. It's powerful, point-making, and beautifully warm. I vividly remember a male colleague walking past the meeting room, where we'd been spraying this frivolously into the air. He stopped in his tracks, looked at me and said, "What is that?!" And that sums up the beauty of Good Girl.

Key Notes: vanilla, tonka bean, gardenia, musk, passion fruit, rum
My main issue with this perfume bottle isn't the way that it looks but its total impracticality. It doesn't stand up. The good news, though, is that the perfume itself is divine. It's fresh and sparkling but in a warm way. It's the perfume to reach for when you're on the fence about going out—it's guaranteed to make you want to throw on some heels and enjoy yourself.

Key notes Thai oud, myrrh, jasmine, saffron, olive, osmanthus, freesia, akigalawood, musk, sandalwood, patchouli
This perfume is truly special. The only reason I have ranked it to sit in the bottom half of this list is because I know how divisive oud can be as an aroma. As a beauty editor with an affinity for scent, I'd be a fool if I denied the beauty of oud fragrances. Do I wear them often? Not really. I do, however, go weak at the knees whenever I catch a waft of someone wearing a really expensive-smelling oud fragrance—and that's what True Oud is. It has all of the smoky depth you would associate with oud but this particular blend comes with a hit of marine-like freshness that has you dreaming of sun-drenched afternoons meandering Middle-Eastern souks. 

Key Notes: tuberose, orange flower, vanilla
If you haven't smelled tuberose in a fragrance before, let me shed some light for you. It is, in my opinion, one of the most distinctive olfactory notes out there. It's heavy, floral and a little bit soapy. While I simply adore the smell of tuberose, I struggle to wear it in perfume as I find that, after a little while, it can be overbearing. This fragrance, however, gets it so right. With orange flower, it has a lightness to it that makes it feel fresh while vanilla delivers a creaminess that has it sinking into the skin. When I'm craving a bit of luxury, I want to have this on hand.

Key Notes: bergamot, grapefruit, Bulgarian rose, jasmine sambac, praline, patchouli
The perfume that started this whole thing, CH, is a fragrance feat. It's everything I want to be. It's undeniably fresh, fruity, and tropical but transforms into a comforting, chocolatey scent. My only regret when it comes to Carolina Herrera fragrances is that I didn't smell this sooner.

Key Notes: cardamom, pink pepper, liquorice, cacao, vanilla bourbon, patchouli, cashmere wood
The chances you've ever smelled a perfume like this one are slim, and they should be when you're forking out £235 for a fragrance. It's the sort of scent that has your brain totally muddled. If you're looking for a perfume that evokes a sense of nostalgic escapism, this isn't it. Instead, it's a head-turning, question-raising beauty. Imagine the sweetness of liquorice, the freshness of pink pepper, the warming sensation of coffee, and the earthiness of patchouli hitting your nose all at once. It's the sort of perfume suited best for people who like to cause a stir, and it's incredibly difficult to dislike.

Key Notes: champagne rosé, peach blossom, amber, queenwood
The reason this sits so high on this list is because, considering the price, it smells unbelievably expensive and good. It's fresh and light on the nose with a champagne-like effervescence, but it smells rich in a way that makes you want to go back for more every single time you smell it. Oh, and unlike the original 212 VIP, the bottle stands up on its own.

Key Notes: immortelle, liquorice, cacao, vanilla, myrrh
Bitter, warm, and a little bit chocolatey, Gold Myrrh Absolute is potentially one of the most divine perfumes I have ever smelled. The gleaming gold bottle had me concerned at first, but I couldn't be more in love with the scent if I tried. As someone who doesn't typically like gourmand scents, I was shocked by this one. It's the sort of perfume that makes you melt when you smell it. A single inhale has you enveloped in a blanket of comfort that you'll never want to leave. While warm and rich scents of its kind typically leave you feeling overwhelmed, Gold Myrrh Absolute has a long-lasting freshness that keeps it light on the senses but lingering on the mind.