Perfume Review: Antoine & Lili Holy Champa

According to The New York Times Paris Travel Guide, “Antoine & Lili is a bright fuchsia store packed with eclectic objects from the East and its own line of clothing. (…) There is an ethnic rummage-sale feel, with old Asian posters, small lanterns, and basket upon basket of cheap little doodads, baubles, and trinkets for sale. The clothing itself has simple lines, and there are always plenty of picks in raw silk.” The description sounds extremely appealing to me; just as attractive in a playfully-exotic sort of way seemed to be Antoine & Lili’s fragrance, Holy Champa, with notes of neroli, magnolia, nag champa, jasmine, amber, incense, gurjum. Luckyscent very honestly warns us in their description of the scent that “interestingly, (…), it’s not a super heavy or earthy fragrance”. Even though, thanks to that notice, I did not expect a rich, intense composition, I was still disappointed in Holy Champa’s lack of depth and character and its poor lasting power. The incense note makes a very brief appearance in the very beginning only to vanish once and for all leaving behind a pleasant, “pink” (although not as brightly pink as the wonderful packaging), summery, vaguely floral, indistinctly fruity blend that smelled to me like Bois de Paradis Lite. Very, very lite. A certain succulent, ripe ambery-fruity richness was almost-there, like a ghost of a scent that Holy Champa might have been if the creators did not choose to go the lighthearted, “diet” route. In all fairness, this is a pretty, fun little scent that is easy to wear and hard to dislike. If it ever goes on sale, I might even buy a bottle; if nothing else, the packaging is a feast for the eyes. Holy Champa is available at Luckyscent, $60.00 for 50ml. *The picture is from Luckyscent.com.