Perfume Review: Burberry Brit Gold

Burberry Brit Gold, a Limited Edition of Burberry Brit, launched for the 2005 holiday season, is described as ”a rich and modern ambery oriental fragrance”. Created by Antoine Lie of Givaudan, Brit Gold has notes of magnolia, neroli, blackcurrant, bergamot, pink orris, amber, vanilla, musk, sandalwood, and benzoin. I used to love the original Burberry Brit, that love lasted all of two weeks, after which the lime and “icy” pear started to bother and overwhelm me. Burberry Brit Red, the previous Limited Edition, did not work for me at all; rhubarb and patchouli are not my most favorite notes. Brit Gold is the warmest and the smoothest of the three Brits. It starts with the notes of vanilla and magnolia and just a hint of orange blossom. The floral notes disappear very fast and, somewhere in the middle stage of the scent’s development, vanilla gets paired with benzoin, which brings certain sharpness to the composition, without making it too harsh. When the drydown comes, sandalwood becomes the most predominant note to my nose; it is accompanied by amber and vanilla. Sandalwood more or less fades away after a while and for the rest of the drydown (which by the way lasts quite a long time on my skin), Brit Gold is an amber and vanilla blend. It is a “substantial”, robust, creamy and rich scent, not exactly earth-moving and unique but still quite attractive and comforting. It is almost gourmand and made me long for such very British things like scones and clotted cream (with tea of course) and for England in general. It made me want to go back to England, spend another week or two in a small village with a church dating to Norman times, ancient cemetery, one pub and houses with names like Old Stables and Old Vicarage. …Coming back to the present and to the American soil, I quite like Brit Gold; along with Gaultier 2, this is one of the nicest recently released designer fragrances. I will not be rushing to buy it, my wishlist is miles long at this point and Brit Gold will have to join the queue like a good little Brit that it is. Burberry Brit Gold can be found at Sephora and costs $62 - $82. *The photo of delectable English tea and scones is from definitelydevon.co.uk