Magnetic Beat (2004)
by Escada

Top: Basil, Green Notes, Freesia, Violet, Cassia
Mid: Jasmine, Iris, Lily of the valley
Base: Opoponax, Sandalwood, vanilla, musk

Bubble gum. Escada Magnetic Beat is unrepentantly sweet and syrupy; it doesn’t seem very serious or complex — it doesn’t even reach the point of adolescence; it really does smell like bubble gum. Who in the world is this meant for? An advert I saw said “college age,” but I would say fourth grade would be much closer to the target group. I get some florals and, less assuredly, some fruit, but the sweetness in the fragrance doesn’t even seem to be exclusively of florals or fruit: The sweetness seems to come from sugar and jelly or bubblegum along with the vanilla. I don’t get any opoponax or sandalwood in the base — that would be too grown up… All I get is bubble gum.