Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood
 Anglomania, launched in 2004, was named after Westwood’s eponymous collection. Her first Anglomania fashion collection was released in Autumn-Winter 1993-1994 and was an embodiment of the desingner's fondness and talent for parodying “the British in the context of a classical perspective”. (nga.gov.au) Anglomania is still one of the lines produced by Westwood and can be viewed on her website. Based on the connection with this irreverent, creative, complex collection, I expected a lot from Anglomania the fragrance… I believe the scent has been discontinued (it does not appear on Westwood’s site), and, unfortunately, in this case the discontinuation has been justified.Described as “the bewitching empire of the senses for a modern nomad, mixing British eccentricity and Asian intensity to express extrovert femininity”, Anglomania has a very appealing list of notes: green tea, cardamom, coriander, rose, violet, nutmeg, leather, vanilla and amber. Rose blended with spices, freshened by green tea and darkened and enriched by a leather accord, does it not sound extremely alluring? Well, the reality of this scent on my skin is not so spectacular. This is a very sweet, very strong rose fragrance with the rose note overpowering all other ingredients. The only two accords that dared to (unsuccessfully) compete with rose were violet (throughout the scent) and amber (in the drydown). No green tea, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg or leather were apparent on my skin; the rose dominated the composition, and that might not have been such a bad thing were it not for the fact that the rose note was not particularly attractive. It was overly sweet, almost licorice-sweet, and overly loud, the harsh, one-dimensional accord. The impression the scent left on me was that of a linear and heady fragrance; uninteresting, unenjoyable and essentially, for me, unwearable. Anglomania is available on escentual.co.uk or scentdirect.co.uk and retails for £35.00-65.00. |
posted by Marina |
12:03 AM
22 Comments:
Christina,
You mean I keep critisizing everything I try, huh? :-)Everything is kind of "meh" lately...I would love to discover a New Holy Grail, but can't seem to find any these days. :-( Wait, I know! I really loved Terre d'Hermes. There is going to be at least one rave review next week LOL
Have you got a bottle yet? I saw on The Beard yesterday that Imagination Perfumery is going to have it in a week to 10 days. Of course I am also keeping my beady eye on eBay :-)
I always want a bargain too :-) The only one I am paying any kind of money for, if I ever see it again, is Flowerbomb Extreme *cries*
Oh, M, I didn't remember you had enjoyed the Flowerbomb Extreme, too! It's kind of weird, because usually I don't go for such sweetness like that, but I actually found it more interesting than regular Flowerbomb.
Have you tried the Boudoir yet? I still have not gotten around to trying it, and that's the Westwood that seems to curry the most favor on MUA. I'd love to hear what you thought of it.
Katie,
I adore Flowerbomb Extreme. I thought it was much better than the original one. How dare they discntinue it forever and ever! *sobs*
I tried Boudoir a long time ago and my reaction then was...negative. But my nose evolved since then or so I hope. :-) I should get a sample again and re-sniff it.
Boudoir is the only scent that shows on Westwood's site, so it must be the only one not discontinued. Ergo- it is probably the best of the 3 :-)
Surprised this hasn't hit the States yet, it has been out for some time, hasn't it? Sounds like I don't need it though :-)
R,
I think it is already discontinued. Not sure about it, but it is not on Westwood's site (neither is Libertine), so I am asssuming it is gone. Not sad about that fact though :-)
I Actually find a new HG last week, Code Donna by Giorgio Armani. It is fresh bur still heavy in a way..
Sadie,
That's great! Is it the new Armani Code for women? I must try that too.
Marina, if the new Armani is the one in the thin, dark lacy bottle (I couldn't read the label on the bottom without my glasses!) it smells deelish.
This one, however, I'll take a pass on.
March,
I think it is the one in the thin, sort of dark blue bottle with some sort of lacy or shadowy design on it...it must be the same one. Deleesh you say? Deleesh how, like a white floral? Like a gourmand? :-)
It was one of those new ones that I was thinking of when I was saying all the spring ones don't smell fruity. It smells almost fall-ish, although it's not heavy. I thought it smelled (honestly?) kind of crappy/meh sniffing the bottle, but on my person after 10 minutes it was very pretty. I didn't think about it too much, it was kind of green/spicy -- I'll guess ginger? The funny part was the SA clearly didn't like it, she kept steering me elsewhere.
March,
Fall-ish, huh? That is always imemdiately appealing to me. Must try.
Marina -- now I'm nervous. :-) I mean, it wasn't Genius, you know? But my bar is so low generally for dept. store stuff, I was just pleased to smell something that didn't make me go eeeeeeewwww. I know how snobby that sounds .... let's see: if someone had given me a bottle, I'd actually wear it. How's that? I also think the bottle is really neat with the lace, it's unusual but not weird or cutesy.
March,
I am sure it wasn't genius. Not even every Serge's scent is genuis *gasp* Can't beleiev I just said that :-)
But sometimes one doesn't want genius, right? Sometimes one just wants pretty and wearable :-)
I like the new Armani, but my wallet can not afford me beeing snobby either. ;)
Sadie,
I am really looking froward to trying this one now!
Did you do any reviews on Vivienne Westwood's Libertine? All the reviews I read from it stressed that the most prominent note in that scent was pineapple, which made me lose interest in that scent. I personally love
Boudoir quite a bit, and have discovered through your reviews that my most favorite perfumes may have that leather accord at the base. As you said, "Libertine" and "Anglomania" did not do so well in the market, especially the latter. My proof is that I bought "Anglomania" a few days ago at a Marshall's for fifteen dollars (!!!!!) When I first sampled it, people immediately asked what I was wearing, as it smelled very good. After I took it home, though, and had a second shot at Anglomania, the rose and green tea were overpowering + the drydown (on good days, a soft and sexy thing)almost imperceptible. I was disappointed . I love your blog, you're one hell of a classy and sophisticated lady. Do you have a mailing list?
Hi, welcome and thank you for your kind words! :-)
I tried Libertine quite a long time ago and from what I remember it was a much lighter, more delicate scent than Boudoir and Anglomania. Sorry, I don't remember whether the pineapple note was prominent there or not.
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I bought this one on a whim at Marshalls since it was on clearance. . . and I found your review before I opened the box. But hey, it was cheap, I thought, so why not try it out?
Yuck. Too sweet, and I agree it is completely unwearable. However, I *did* manage to smell the green tea in the scent in the initial spray. It too was overwhelming :(
This may actually be the worst fragrance I've ever tried on my skin >_<
Raine,
Well, at least the bottle is gorgeous. :-) I'd keep it just for that red bottle.
I think the personality of a scent should not be ridiculed based on just a few experiences, perfume smells different given the person and the weather. Personally, I've just hunted down a bottle of Anglomania and tried it as soon as I picked it up from the post office. At first I wasn't too impressed, it smelt overly spicy and too strong, but after an hour it seemed to settle on my skin and I could smell the vanilla while the rose scent dwindled and frankly, it was amazing.
Yes, this perfume is sweet but for those who like Harajuku Lovers perfume or Chance, I think you'll like this one too, especially if you've got some punk roots.
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