I was at the mall this weekend, trying to finish my shopping, when I spotted this cute little roll-on of the Stella Eau de Parfum. I had never sniffed Stella, but like a dark chocolate lover who occasionally swipes Hershey's Kisses out of the jar on her officemate's desk just to get a fix, I grabbed that little bottle and tossed it in my basket. Tiny perfume! How can one resist?Stella Eau de Parfum has notes of rose, peony, mandarin, rose absolute, and amber. If one were to make a juice of flowers, this is how I think it might smell: rosy, with a spicy fruit underneath, just a little bit of rind, peony for pink sweetness, and amber to lend a little depth. I love rose and amber both, and while this scent has an amazing hit of rose at the top, it's knocked off its majestic throne and turned into a friendlier flower. It's less a stately prize-winning flower than a bloom on a rambling vine. As for amber, it's sweet and sensual, like a pink cotton nighty, as opposed to the deep resinous amber I tend to enjoy.
I know Stella McCartney is the Stella, but I can't get Marlon Brando yelling "Stella!" in A Streetcar Named Desire out of my head. Stella is a very pretty, wearable scent, and I'm not at all disappointed with the purchase ($10 for .33oz at Sephora), but I wish this scent was something more like that scene, a bit more raw and deep. As it is, this Stella might be more like one of the prim neighborhood wives who gossip later over the backyard fence about the neighbors and their crazy ways.
*photo from Sephora
