My Naked Truth Smells of Pure Sunshine

by: Elena Vosnaki

Oriflame of Sweden is a funny outfit. They're first and foremost a skincare and cosmetics company, a multinational giant that relies on the enterprise of its two Swedish founders and the pyramidal system of marketing that made Avon what it is. They also make scents. Lots of them. Funnily enough, just about where you're about to knock them sideways, you find out they're made by the big companies and the star perfumers who make all the other niche fragrances and modern classics we love;Mark Buxton, Jean Jacques, Maurice Roucel, Francoise Caron, Bernand Ellena and several others have contributed in their endless selection over the years. And this presents an interesting phenomenon.

When a perfumer has a particularly good idea, they tend to recycle bits of it around, and this is where the consumer profits sometimes, because what is gorgeous in one edition can seamlessly work in another. It is a testament to the power of florid notes descriptions that fragrances with different "pyramids" can smell similar. There is of course the desire to imitate a particularly competent bestseller, but what I have noticed in this particular company is that although there are some fragrances that are reminiscent of best-selling genres (Giordani White Gold is a properly fledged fruitchouli, Volare took in the rose-peach cleavage of Lancome's Trésor to its rather more restrained bodice, Midsummer Woman used to be a competent sister to Cool Water Women) they have branched into reminding me of more researched scents.Giordani Man Notte (among their newest) is a smoky vetiver that takes a leaf off the beauty of Chanel's Sycomore for a fifth of the price if not less. One of their Aroma scents, a few seasons ago, was tartly green, succulent yet fresh with a woody backdrop not unlike Un Jardin sur le Nil. Platinum for Men came out before Bang by Marc Jacobs and referenced what Bang referenced itself: Poivre Samarcande in the Hermessences.

So I have come to view their releases with a much less snobbish eye than when I first came to know their products. My Naked Truth is their spring release for 2015 and the initial sampling made me jumpstart a bit; there's a good dollop of Osmanthe Yunnan(Hermessence) in this fresh, enchanting bouquet of pure sunshine! And what could be more beautiful than using (slightly manipulated, naturally) an excerpt from "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats in the press material?

Advertised as a powdery and delicate fragrance inspired by cotton flower, My Naked Truth is certainly among the fragrances that read as immediately accessible, happy and clean in a good way, thanks to the piquancy of the citrusy top note which is folded into a downy softness that has the subtlest lace of apricot fruitiness. Both fragrances, the Hermessence and the Oriflame share an hesperidic top note that is extended into the heart, keeping the refreshing feel of a spring shower, tea served in a citrus grove, bumblebees buzzing around noisily, a feeling of casual relaxedness, an effortless grace. It is of note (and of cultural significance, no doubt) that neither scent advertises its refreshing, sweet and tart citrusy overture even though they contribute so much to the finished effect.

Osmanthe Yunnan does smell like the real osmanthus essence, too, which accounts for much of its delightful presence and quiet, cozy beauty, as the softly peachy-hued blossom of this exotic tree smells of soft apricot skin, the fuzz almost perceptible to the nose; but oddly enough, so does the Oriflame fragrance! They do list osmanthus, cotton flower and apple blossom in their sparse press material, but surely there are much more "notes" in there to account for the finished effect. For one a tone of lychee. A scent of oranges and lemons mingled with very soft, non-retro, fresh and crystalline rose is most perceptible, the whole thing aerated by the addition of a good dosage of lily of the valley synthetics which open the bouquet radiating from the heart out. It is a clean scent, but not a "cheap" one, in the sense that it keeps a crispness of character and a coolness of facade that belie its price point.

My Naked Truth really tempts me to upgrade to a full bottle, especially since the prices are competitive for those lazy late spring days when I need a restful nuzzling but coolish scent that reminds me of freshly pressed sheets, of delicate apricot-flavor tea and of a lightly creamy finish.

Last but not least, the bottle is beautiful, feminine in a non-frou-frou way, sturdy and rather unusual. Thankful for small miracles, I am, each and every day. Bring on the sunnier days!!