Nina Ricci Love by Nina (2009): Oooh, I Love That Little Green Dress! - Hasty-Review
When people say that the perception of a perfume is entirely subjective, they ought to turn to the phenomenon of copycat scents that seems to contradict their claim and get back to me. Well, one supposes they could pull out a single note and declare the composition to smell entirely different. Or that it reminds them of their aunt Irma who smelled of leeks and therefore the perfume must smell of leeks...
The new flanker by Nina Ricci, Love by Nina smells like the green vernal dress that Nina has decided to wear for spring 09 instead of its pink-red one. It is in fact a xerox copy of Nina's formula except for a Granny Smith apple note that was substituted to the original red apple scent. It is an extremely logical composition with a rotating note in it. The summary of the olfactory idea is simply that of a milky toffee apple that has gone green and barely fresher so as to keep the original decadent sweetness intact.
In a more complex twist of events, one might add that it is that Granny Smith apple note found in Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana that is paying a visit to Love by Nina this spring. Not surprisingly both scents were crafted to great success by perfumer Olivier Cresp who is displaying his best professional skills here. The perfumers must have analyzed the success of Nina as pertaining to its creamy gourmand structure. You usually keep your good recipes, don't you? And as every good cook knows, it is always a risk to change the balance of a recipe. It might not have worked, one cannot deny that. If you have ever read a sub-standard book or watched a sub-standard movie, you know what I mean. Such cases make you realize that it takes a fair amount of professionalism, efforts and know-how just to be mediocre.
Oodles of cream and crystallized caramel will please unconditional devotees of Nina who will find their favorite perfume in a slightly different olfactory color. It is the signature scent of a fan club.
The leaves on the bottle are quite pink, much more so than on the picture, with a nice silvery sheen effect under the peachy coral pink casing. The flacon in person does not look like Be Delicious despite the sharing of the green-apple figurative motif.
Morality: Why fix something that works, especially when a recession is beating at your door?
Will the year 2009 be remembered as the year of least risk-taking in the history of modern perfumery? I hope not. But watch that trend!
For more details about Love by Nina, please go here.
