Kilian Hennessy stated on one occasion that he was going to put perfumes back on the pedestal, which should imply that perfume quality has fallen. Still, he is here, thankfully, to fix the general calamity. Was he successful with Love, Don’t Be Shy? Please bear with me for a few more paragraphs.
The title suggests something passionate and intense, inviting you to embrace challenges, be bolder, and dare to love. As a result, expect an explosion of ingredients, which, of course, defies the well-known adage – less is more. Kilian experimented a little too much with this perfume, in my opinion. He had ideas, money, a superb perfumer (Calice Becker), and all the time in the world to waste on something that was anything but – love.
Bergamot, pepper, neroli, jasmine, rose, orange blossom, and honeysuckle…standard and expected ingredients, however. Perhaps it would have been more tolerable if he had added deep, earthy, green patchouli, dry incense, or some unusual ingredient to this blend as a solid base or counterpoint to the citrus and flowers. But what he added made not a harmony but a cacophony of notes. I would also add unbearable loudness.
The gourmand notes in the perfume must be either softened by cooler, drier notes or in perfect harmony, like Angel perfume by Thierry Mugler, so that their potency does not permanently damage the nostrils of the perfume lover. Unfortunately, that’s not true with Love, Don’t Be Shy.
Can we forgive him for adding vanilla, sugar, caramel, musk, and civet to already potent enough flowers such as jasmine and rose? It drowns such beautiful ingredients as flowers, citrus, and vanilla in a sugary civet. It gets a sweet-sour undertone with a touch of leathery, animalic, and slightly dirty notes. One would say that Kilian, completely intoxicated by the ingredients (or cognac), crossed all the boundaries of good taste. Although, he is forgiven since he gave us beautiful perfumes like Moonlight in Heaven, Playing with the Devil, and Bamboo Harmony.
We cannot deny that his perfumes are incredibly long-lasting and high-quality, and many are very popular and wearable. But with this perfume, heavy, gourmand, and, in every sense, excessive, it certainly does not hold such a good place in the perfume industry. I want to know why failed perfumes have the word love in their name, like, say, Just Cavalli I Love Her. These two sweet perfumes, from which the receptors in the nose explode, seem to be competing to be less loved!
If I had managed to steer you in the opposite direction of this perfume, I would have spared you of disappointment. Finally, I would like to reformulate the message of this perfume – Be realistic, move on.
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[Fragrance notes] top notes: bergamot, pepper, neroli, coriander; middle notes: jasmine, rose, iris, orange blossom; bottom notes: vanilla, caramel, sugar, civet, musk, labdanum. [Fragrance group] gourmand.The creator of the perfume is Calice Becker.
