A friend got me Benefit’s So Hooked On Carmella for my birthday last year and it’s a really nice fragrance.
I like it because it’s very different from anything I’ve had before. The scent is a mixture of citrus fruits, sandalwood, vanilla, and something chocolatey, but they blend nicely together so nothing about the fragrance is overpowering as can so often be the problem, particularly with vanilla. It’s a surprisingly subtle smell, and fresh, particularly good for wearing during the day time I think especially in summer.
You don’t need to put much of it on, as it’s quite strong and last for ages, my pashmina scarf still smells of Carmella from when I spritzed some on over a week ago.
It was a good call for a present for me as I’m usually a bit of a perfume snob and don’t like many fragrances.
It comes in a very pretty bottle, in a very pretty box, that will look nice on your dressing table. And fair enough, a large part of the price that you pay for the fragrance is probably to pay for packaging but I don’t think that matters so much. It’s nice to be surrounded by nice things, it makes your home a nicer place to be, and there’s nothing wrong with paying a little bit extra for that.
I’ve never quite understood why it’s considered shallow to buy into the image that we’re sold by product advertising, especially of things like beauty products. If occasionally buying into a different image of yourself makes you feel a bit better, I think that can be money well spent. As I’ve said before I’m an advocate of retail therapy. So long as you aren’t spending money that you don’t have, and your perfume, or lipstick, or whatever, aren’t the only source of your self-esteem.
Speaking of price, this costs £29.50 for a 30ml bottle, which doesn’t seem unreasonable to me for a perfume.
Although having said that I am quite extravagant when it comes to perfumes. The last one that I bought for myself was Chanel’s Allure Sensuelle, the one they don’t do in eau de toilette, you have to buy either the parfum or eau de parfum. So possibly I’m not the best one to judge.
If you find that you think the Carmella sounds nice but not quite what you’re after, this fragrance is part of the Crescent Row range, so you have seven other possibilities to choose from. All of which I think are quite nice. Some are little fruitier, some a little spicier, some a little muskier, they cater to a range of tastes. So it’s worth stopping by the Benefit counter to take a look, anyway.
Make-Up & Mirtazapine 