Reviews of Sensuous (2008)
by Estée Lauder

Hmmm... It smells very similar to the discontinued Burnt Sugar by Comme des Garçons.

It smells awesome. I found the paper add in a magazine when I was at the gym. It reminded me Armani Sensi may be because of the name and the picture of the bottle. Then, I tried it at a store, it is definitely fantastic. It still reminds me Sensi, but not as powdery as Sensi. Magnolie, jasmine and honey.. combined in a great way. I haven't bought a bottle yet, so I don't know its lasting power, but the paper that I sprayed on still smells after weeks:) Hopefully, it will smell on me for hours.

I've got to give Estee Lauder credit for introducing a perfume that does not smell like anything typically from its line. Not that I don't like EL; I do. Some of its fragrances are among my favorites--such as my all-time woody, honeyed rose, Knowing, plus the long-lived spicy Youth Dew and green, floral, ambered Private Collection. Sensuous is a radical departure from these, as well as from the bright, soapy notes of White Linen or the clean florals of Pleasures. Sensuous is decidedly modern and spare. With fanciful notes like "molten woods" I am unable to analyze the aroma within the parameters of the traditional pyramid. Instead, I will say that it is a juxtaposition of woody, unsweet black pepper on top of a sweet, rich, fruity caramel. Together, they create an enjoyable accord but, personally, I am tired of black pepper in perfume. It seems to pop up everywhere, tempering overly sweet notes. I'll give this a neutral until further notice.

I bought this blind after reading positive regards to this scent. I'm a definite Amber fiend!

At first spray, there was barely any recognizable floral traces, perhaps the Magnolia, but nothing at all for anyone to be alarmed about to think this may be a flowerbomb. As a matter of fact, this can really come across as foody at first--creamy, I mean REALLY CREAMY. After an hour or so, you finally catch its woody nuances, I'm thinking cedar and patchouli. For a while I was thinking it would be one dimensional and solid like a piece of Werther's candy all the way, but when the woods make an appearance, the magic begins.

It really reminded me of the pastry like, creamy and ambery goodness of Serge Lutens' Douce Amere, though I find Douce Amere much more interesting and less "solidified". Sensuous finishes off with a vanilla-musk trail 6 or so hours later on me. I know I won't wear it too often for fear of gourmand cavities.

One spray will reveal its woody qualities and sensual warm tones. Two sprays or more will give you a sugary headache. Spicy nuances would've been great to add more dimension, like a chai tea note. You can't help but feel so relaxed and at ease with yourself wearing this. Definitely worth a try!

Sensuous is multi-facted and multi-dimensional. Unless you've worn it for a full day, several times, you may have missed an aspect of this intricate fragrance. If applied heavily, Sensuous is jarring in its spiciness; its subtle black pepper note escalates to a scalding smog. If applied judiciously, Sensuous continuously changes over hours of wear; sometimes wafting a sugary note, sometimes exuding hints of lily, and sometimes projecting gentle, balsamy woods. In recent years, I found vanilla-less, dry-warm-wood fragrances only in niche lines. If you love the incense/spice/woods fragrances that have been popular in boutiques, Sensuous might turn out to be a very reasonably priced, gratifying addition to your wardrobe.

I enjoyed the "niche-lite" woodiness of Sensuous for about 10 minutes until it disappeared from my skin completely! It seems more of a ghost of a fragrance than the fully fleshed-out idea. While inoffensive and enjoyable, I found it "barely there" as so many new fragrances have been lately. Hardly worth the money.

A well-crafted perfume designed to have more of a purr than a roar. Sensuous is a pleasant and light woody-oriental. The floral top notes melt smoothly into a sweet, powdery base that has plenty of warmth and charm. It's about as sensual and challenging as the ad campaign's aloof A-list models in white Gap shirts, but is very easy to wear and has great lasting power so will undoubtedly sell well. It’s pleasant enough in a rather bland way and ideal for those timid about venturing into amber-oriental territory: this scent will not shout loudly or otherwise threaten. Personally, I get virtually the same attitude and sweet, buttery skin scent from a bottle of Palmer's cocoa butter body lotion: For the price, I'll stick with the Palmer's and save my hard earned cash for a frag with more bite. … Although perhaps Sensuous’ does have bite of a more elusive nature, as a grown-up oriental with mainstream popular appeal toppling the reign of tweeny fruity-floral confections. If so, bravo EL! (and I'll look forward to Sensuous Extreme).

A new scent from Estee Lauder that will surely appeal to the masses! This silky smooth fragrance is warm, sweetened amber in a creamy honeyed & peppery base that comes off as softly powdered musk...a skin scent for sure! It's almost got an addictive quality, compelling me to sniff and snorfle my arm where it's resting. (Hopefully, my husband will have the same reaction!) After a few years of pinkish-fruity-patchouli's, this scent is oh so welcome!

I absolutely love the drydown on this. Just the most gorgeous wood, and more beautiful to my nose than some far more expensive niche scents. My husband is very lukewarm on perfumes in general and he said he absolutely loves this, so I got a carded sample for "special occasions." The problem I have is the journey to the drydown. It is far too sweet to my nose, almost cloying. It's possible that the lily is affecting me (I can't stand the scent of lillies) negatively. The only way I could wear this is to spritz myself and then shower (I liked the scent best after a thorough scrubbing). It would almost be worth the waste. All in all, I think this is an excellent new perfume for a company with a long history of excellence, and I would love to see them try a "tea" based scent next.

I sniffed the test strip wet and immediately sprayed my neck and wrists. Wow--delish! This is woods, amber, creamy, lovely! It is subtle. There is nothing offensive or surprising here. This is a nice scent--but nice done very well. This is a year round, round the clock--I slathered myself in 90 degree weather--my coworkers liked it (ok, I'm the boss), but my husband liked it too. I'm not an expert, but I cannot think of many very popular mainstream scents this heavy on the woods--except HDuff w/Love, which is sweeter (fruitier) than this (and I think underrated). I love wood notes, but even checking my subjectivity, I think this will be a mainstream hit.

Let me start off by saying that I have been looking forward to this fragrance launch for months. I really love Estee Lauder, but for me, they haven't done anything that I find unique since Spellbound, and from reading various descriptions, I just knew that this one would be 'it', the one to finally break them out of their floral mold. Unfortunately it doesn't even come close to being 'it'. While it isn't a floral, it's also not an oriental, or a green, or... anything really. It's just a big messy bundle of 'blah'. The molten woods and amber are so far down into the mix, they may as well not even be there. And the one note that is VERY striking, and not in a good way, is the black pepper. The only thing that kept it from being nauseating was the incredibly soapy smell of the honey. So between the black pepper and soapy-honey, I guess this reminds me of a kitchen, mid clean-up. There's nothing at all enticing or alluring about it in any way. I can smell that every evening right after dinner. Yuck. This is just another major disappointment from the Lauder house as far as I'm concerned. At least we have Bali Dream to look forward to...... I think.

Sensuous is right! What a lovely new scent from Lauder, a real break from the squeaky clean florals of yesteryear. If molten wood was the brief, this scent delivers! A warm, languid blend of smooth wood notes ... smooth to the point of intoxication. And of course, true to Lauder form, I'm still inhaling from my test strip 3 days later with full force. This is truly a golden scent ... imagine the more mature sister of Bois d'Argent, if you will. However, this entry does prove novel in several ways. Firstly, the obvious break from the syrupy sweet pink scents that currently dominate the market. And secondly, and of slightly more interest to fragrance lovers, Sensuous smells like it could have been born not to the American Queen Mother, but from more humble, niche beginnings. Granted, this scent will not knock the socks off of most scentophiles, but its a gorgeous and comforting perfume which brings a much needed dose of masculinity to the world of female fragrance.