Oscar de la Renta Essential luxuries Collection
Everyone needs a little splurge — an “Essential Luxury.” Oscar de la Renta’s Essential Luxuries fragrance collection has six!
A life without luxury is a lackluster one, but the term “luxury” takes on many meanings, depending upon who you are and what you desire. Last Fall we reviewed Sargasso by Oscar de la Renta one of six fragrances that Oscar de la Renta launched in a collection called: “Essential Luxuries.” This collection was inspired by the designer’s “his most loved people, places and things and all of the fragrances were developed by perfumer Calice Becker, currently at Givaudan. Though the fabulous Mr. de la Renta passed away in 2014, his brand and the attitude of elegance and luxury that he established, is still very much alive,. So it seems fitting, just about a year later, to review another one of the fragrances in the Essential Luxuries Collection. For Mr. de la Renta, Luxury is defined by places, people things, and when it comes to fragrance, it is, to quote the late designer: “all about emotions….to wear perfume is a luxury. It’s about spoiling yourself with fantasy.” – Oscar de la Renta
For the discerning person, the fragrance lover, fine fragrances are essential and Esseential Luxury means the packaging has to be as spectacular as the fragrances contained within. Each Essential Luxuries fragrance arrives in a hard-sided rectangular column of shiny white cardboard propped up inside on a pedestal of shiny metallic silver. A sash of navy blue cardboard featuring a matte silver plaque with “Granada by Oscar de la Renta”fits over the box, and slides off. The fragrance bottles are unique, but not gaudy. The bottles are tall, slender, fluted, almost flower-shaped columns of clear glass to highlight whatever tint the juice may be. While some companies are gussying up their flacons with rhinestones and dangles, the “jewelry” on these bottles is understated: a slim collar of silver peeks out from the navy blue topper, seemingly held in place by a little navy and silver enamel “Oscar flower” logo ornament which is actually part of a shiny silver spray diffuser. further down the column of glass, there is a small, silver plaque with “Granada by Oscar de la Renta” on it. It’s lovely and it feels “expensive.”
The fragrance we reviewed last fall, “Sargasso,” was an aquatic scent with a salty/briny scent — the essence of “sea spray,” with green notes, fresh citrus notes, watery cucumber and fennel. It’s a scent described as “an unexpected revitalizing greenness combine with warm sunshine and patchouli for a lasting serene finish.” We simply considered it a unisex daytime fragrance that was perfect to bring back thoughts of beach days and sailing on a beautiful, calm ocean.
But there are more fragrance choices in the Essential Luxuries Collection:
Santo Domingo ~ named for the city where Oscar de la Renta was born in the Dominican Republic, and focused on tobacco. Other notes include citrus, mandarin, coriander and patchouli. In Eau de Parfum.
Oriental Lace ~ a dark gourmand oriental inspired by his ready-to-wear fashion, with notes of hoya carnosa, honey, bitter almond, dark cacao, clove and patchouli. In Eau de Parfum.
Mi Corazon ~ a floral fragrance inspired by his stepdaughter Eliza Reed Bolen; the notes include ylang ylang, tuberose and peach. In Eau de Parfum.
Coralina ~ representing a coral-colored stone favored by the designer; featuring violet, mimosa, orris, and woody green notes. In Eau de Parfum…..
...and there’s one more fragrance that I think will delight you for the rest of the Summer and beyond.”Granada,” referencing the Alhambra gardens, the citrus floral features bigarade, bergamot, jasmine, orange and rose.
In Eau de Parfum. At first sniff, Granada smells very bitter lemony, and surprisingly masculine. It’s definitely a unisex fragrance. It takes a while for them to show themselves, as if they are peeking out from a garden of fruit trees. When they do, they’re subtle, but this is not a fruity fragrance. It light light but it has staying power. It took a few days for me to understand how this particular fragrance worked with my body chemistry and, of course, anything you spray on your skin will differ from mine. For me personally, Granada is one of those fragrances you can spray “a little more” on when you really want to feel fresh and confident. The floral notes will eventually show up, and please you with a soft touch.
These fabulous fragrances are available for $150.00, 3.4 fl. oz. at fine department stores, Oscar de la Renta boutiques, and online at oscardelarental.com
