Zarita, the Doll Girl (2006)

[phedre]

Soft, yet sociopathic: white carnation, iris, orange blossom, and sugared cream.

Wet: Creamy sugar, orange blossom.

In vial: Carnation comes out a little more, along with sweet cream.

Drydown: Orange creamsicle. Nice, but not a keeper. Edited April 4, 2007 by Shollin

[presotm]

Zarita = orange/carnation flavoured Sugar Skull.

[Jheya]

This is one I really wanted to work on me, as I found the concept particularly appealing with the "soft, but sociopathic" line.

 

Alas, it doesn't. I was hoping for a primarily sweet and creamy scent with just a hint of floral, but instead on my skin it's a sharp, almost soapy floral with just the barest hint of sweetness underneath. The floral notes soften on drydown, but the sugared cream is still reluctant to appear. An okay scent, but not really for me.

[Eemia]

I received a bottle of this unsniffed as a gift from my mom. I wore it for the first time today and already got a few compliments. It smells so nice and feminine. I especially am enjoying it today b/c of the hot weather we're having. This just feels like a beautiful summery scent.

 

Orange blossom and carnation really stand out on my skin. Normally carnation tends to overpower other notes on me but this time it's very understated and slightly spicy. The sugar notes are amazing! Very creamy and sweet but not foody sweet. I had thought from some of the reviews that it would smell like a creamsicle but I don't get any fruit orange out of this, just the orange blossom.

 

Although this is not a heavy floral on me, it does have a lot of throw. It's strong for such a light fragrance! I've been slathering it on all day even though I didn't need to. I just like it so much. My boyfriend may keel over from the perfume haze around me when he comes over tonight.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: a white floral with a bit of a hard edge and a hint of sweet cream.

on: slightly soapy white flowers with orange blossom on sweet cream.

2 hours later: an odd, vegetable-y floral with a bit of sweetness.

4.5 hours later: a strong vegetable note.

6 hours later: still vegetable-y.

overall: some sweeter scents just go bad on me and this is one of them.

[habuchan]

I love orange. Ye gods how I love orange! I could bathe in it and be a happy woman. *ahem*

 

In the Bottle: Oh my heaven. It's like someone took an orange blossom, dipped it in cream and rolled that puppy in sugar. There's a peppery bite there that gets my eyes watering at first sniff...I'm sneakingly suspicious that it's the carnation.

 

On Me: Woo! Orange creamsicle goodness personified. A very creamy soft orange with, shall I add, a very naughty throw It's slightly floral too, which I expected, but mostly orange blossom and carnation and vanilla. A girlish scent, but with an edge of sinister intent. Like the little girl who watches you from across the road with eyes as big as saucers before pointing, giggling creepily, and pulling the head off her Barbie. Yeah. Like that.

 

Dry Down: God this has a gorgeous throw. I kept getting whiffs of it throughout the day. And as it dries, it loses the foody sweetness as it mellows into a delicate floral, ever so spicy from the carnation (which, have I mentioned, I adore carnations?) It's delicate, light, and makes me want to lick my arm.

 

Overall, it's so very perfect for me. It lasts a very long time (several hours) without needing to reapply, and it mellows into a sweet musky orange carnation cream scent.

 

4/5

[asciident]

Wet: Just sweet cream.

 

First on: Spicy carnation and sweet cream, but layered thick on top of that is a pungent slap-you-in-the-face iris note. Yowch.

 

Dry: Strange. It dries down into sweet cream with a hint of orange and spice. The iris is all gone, which is great because I was so not digging that particular iris. In the end, it's very soft and subtle (low throw), but I get a shock of spice every time I sniff my wrists.

[Scylla]

As suspected previously, I must have some really messed up skin chemistry!

 

I don't get ANY sugared cream at all. All I get is screechingly loud neroli (orange blossom) and carnation. And orange blossom smells nothing at all like oranges--at least on me. A very loud, strong floral.

[Salsa Shark]

This was almost perfect and I was about to have a new OMGBESTBPALEVER!, but alas, iris continues to hate me.

 

Wet and for the first half an hour this was a lovely creamy sweet floral, with the orange blossom and carnation balanced perfectly with a hint of sugar and the iris just giving it a bit of a kick. But after the initial drydown everything except the iris started to recede and I was left with a sharp perfumey floral and no sweet creamy goodness at all.

[Jilara]

Wet, this is completely strange, kind of sun-warmed plastic with a bit of stale sweat. Well, she is a doll-girl, after all. She's been sitting in a hot car, going funky. I wasn't sure I would make it through the drydown, but I'm glad I did!

 

As it dries, it goes very sweet with neroli and carnation, though there is still that sweaty hot plastic smell in the background. But the drier it gets, the more the creamy note and the florals come out. It takes over 40 minutes to smell really good.

 

Dry: by the time I've had it on an hour, it's gorgeous, and I keep sniffing my wrist. It really lasts, too. There's a creamy carnation note that is still there 8 hours later, just a whisper. However, I'm not sure I want more than the decant, because it seems like a long time to wait through the funky plastic stage for that lovely sweet and creamy floral to bloom.

[Nidaba]

Oh my gosh, this is so incredible! *squee*

 

I received a decant of this from my Switch Witch and just tried it today. This is almost all sweet cream on me with a touch of floral and orange. It smells better from a bit farther away, when I get right next to my wrist the floral is too strong for me.

 

This is a 4/5 for me. ^^

[sofaking6]

That's it - between Zarita and Pink Moon I'm officially a huge carnation fan.

 

Zarita introduces herself as a doll girl might, all smiling sweetly and batting her eyelashes. Very sweet, very creamy orange.

 

On my wrist, the carnation pops up instantly, it's soft and spicy and blending seamlessly with the other florals and the sugar and cream.

 

After 1/2 hour or so, the sweetness begins to fade. Zarita settles into a kicky floral, the iris coming to the forefront with the orange and carnation forming a canvas behind it. I do like iris, it's one of the few flowers I could grow in the upper midwest and Zarita brings me back to being a young sociopath tending her first garden.

 

It is going a little soapy on the 4th application of the day...I recommend reserved slathering. I have a cold but really wanted to get this review in.

 

Really nice, definitely bottle-worthy.

[fountaingrl]

In the bottle: sharp floral and a sort of plastic tang

 

Wet on the skin: Hm. Hm. Flowers and sweetness, some orange, but it smells like bad candy orange. Like chemistry set orange. Suntan oil and inexpensive perfume? I don't know that I like this yet.

 

Early drydown: Getting better. Sweetening up. The fake-y feel to this is toning some but it still is a disconcerting smell. I am wondering if it is going to chill out further, become more unified or if it is going to continue to smell 'jangly' on me.

 

Dry on skin: This becomes more floral with time, and the sweetness takes on a sugared/salted creaminess. I like that, but I am not sure of Zarita. Throughout there is still a bit of a waxy smell to this, a hot wax smell. The main notes are luscious -- a roomful of strong carnation and flowers, with wafting scent of creamy caramel in the background. But then there is the smell of cheap white taper candles put out a couple of minutes ago and still cooling. Considering that the scent is a 'doll girl' and that she is 'sociopathic,' I don't know that this is inappropriate. It's also not all that unpleasant if you know it is coming, but if you aren't expecting it, it is unsettling -- mmmmm, flowers, mmmmm cream yum cream and caramel and .....wtf stinky Dollar General TEA LIGHTS??

[Donnababe]

Reading the comparisions between Zarita and Sugar Skull got me corncerned as Sugar Skull turned me into a pancake. I fully expected to smell a sickly sweet cream but no, it's a sharp and dry iris and orange combo as soon as it hits my skin. This is lovely, but not what I was expecting.

 

Unusually for me, the carnation it very muted and only appears quite a while into the dry down. It does a good job softening the dry orange and iris. Eventually, the long term drydown of Zarita is a beautiful sweet and creamy floral. I don't get any Alice similarites with this blend.

 

Some BPAL, (even the ones I love) sometimes go through a scent phase that I don't care for. Zarita delights me at every stage and I adore it.

 

A glorious success. Will need more before the end of the CD

[lushlovely]

I was soo hoping to love this since anything with the word 'creamy' in the description hooks me every time. But unfortunately Zarita was not to be my doll. In the bottle and on my skin she is a biting orangy floral with a bit of a peppery kick. She's way too sharp and astringent for me. I didn't get any cream at all. In fact my eyes hurt when I open the bottle to merely sniff. Hopefully my bottle can go to a good home.

[PurringPulsar]

Zarita

 

In the imp: treacle/brown sugar/maple syrup with a hint of floral.

Wet on skin: bittersweet orange blossom rises from the heavy treacle.

Dry: mmm, this is intriguing. I smell traditional garden blooms here with greenery, almost like ivy, but covered in brown sugar. It sounds crazy, but my skin is turning this into a sugared version of Garden Path with Chickens. Greenish floral notes surrounded by heavy caramel, like GPWC meets Sugar Skull. I smell some orange blossom, and also some carnation, but mainly sugary flower stems and ivy.

After a while: the notes are more balanced now. The sugared cream note isn’t that creamy, it’s more like the caramelised crust of a crème brulee with brown sugar and maple syrup. But now I can smell the spicy scent of carnation making an appearance, along with a slightly tangy orange blossom note and some iris. It still has a slightly green aspect but it’s not as strong now. It also reminds me of Arrival at the Sabbath, thanks to the combination of caramel, carnation and iris.

Eventually the caramelised scent seems to melt into the floral notes, and soon it smells less like heavy treacle, and more like flower petals dusted with brown sugar. The carnation is strong here, very warm and spicy, with a slightly greenish aspect like crushed ivy, and a slightly bitter orange blossom note. The scent then changes to a gorgeous creamy sugared carnation, but with a spike of green and a hint of burnt sugar. Sweetness with a slightly sinister bite. A slightly burnt, almost celery like scent starts to come out over time-it’s not distracting though, but it reminds me of the ‘light myrrh’ single note or of one of the woody notes. It’s unusual, this spike of bitter, burnt scent surrounded by sugary cream.

Verdict: this is a very strange, contradictory scent! This is a sweet little doll of a scent but she really does have a dark side. The sugar in here is dark, for starters-not the sweet fluffy creamy sugar I expected but heavy treacle caramel, very much like Sugar Skull. think melted and burnt brown sugar mixed with maple syrup and thick molasses. But this is contradicted by a green floral note. In fact, I'm surprised at how freshly green this smells at time, a real garden scent of leaves and ivy mixed with bittersweet floral notes and thick sugar. It's a very odd combination. The scent moves into phases of syrupy flowers, soft crème caramel with flower petals, burnt treacle and there are even moments of smouldering smoke with sharp greenness cutting through like a knife. And now someone else mentioned it, there may even be a hint of doll head plastic to this (how fitting!) but it's mainly overwhelming caramel with a strange spiky floral feel to it. It's an unusual scent which certainly fits this sinister little lady, but it's not a favourite-it's a little too conflicting for me and the sugar does have the potential to go cloying. I prefer Pink Moon for creamy sugary carnations.

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Maybe the imp, but I don’t think I’ll get a bottle.

If you like this, try: Sugar Skull, Garden Path with Chickens, Pink Moon 07, Arrival at the Sabbath, Tiresias, Red Lantern, Alice

[Lunaratu]

when I first applied this it was a sweet, dark sugary scent. like melted sugar candy of some sort.

 

as it tried the spiciness of the carnation and the freshness of the orange in the orange flower. it's also rather creamy in sensation though I don't know if it's because the sugar is a creamy caramel type of sugar.

 

zarita is darkly sweet, deep, with some light floral sweetness. she comes across as both sweet and darkly mysterious. i really do like her. she's intriguing but at the same time in a way that's the typical noir dangerous vixen. she's deadly but irresistable and sweet. wonderful.

 

Rating: 4/5

Throw: light

Edited October 9, 2007 by Lunaratu

[filigree_shadow]

The "sugared cream" in this is pretty strong on my skin; it overpowers the floral notes. Mind you, I'm not complaining about that. The florals are kind of wispy, and very sweet. The white carnation is really nice in this, and not I'm usually fond of carnation.

 

I think Zarita is pretty. Not the kind of scent I usually wear, but I like it.

Edited June 4, 2007 by filigree_shadow

[Meg]

In the bottle: burnt celery.

 

Wet: dishwashing liquid and celery, with a dash of walnut

 

Drydown: still dishwashing liquid (I'm guessing a mix of iris and orange blossom) and celery (the carnation? sometimes I think it smells of cabbage, celery isn't so far). And it's all burnt walnut, too (sugared cream).

 

Overall: This is a nightmare blend, each of the ingredients is a disaster on my skin separately, so together, it's just horrendous. It really smells like some kind of celery root concoction with a vague hint of sweet floral. Not the horridest scent ever, but definitely not a good perfume. After a very very long drydown I get a pleasant sweet creamy scent... with celery beneath it, still. LOL.

[Chrysantza]

On me, this is very carnation with a cream undertone and a hint of sweetness from the orange blossom. I love carnation and orange blossom, so this is very good on me. I find it to be in the same family as Alice and Pink Moon - a very girlish "pink" floral.

[CrazyPretzel]

Got this in a swap from the lovely Eoife Macbeth thanks!

 

OK, in the bottle this doesn't smell very nice to me at all, but that doesn't matter much -- just wouldn't use it as a room scent!

 

My initial impression of this on my skin is carnation and a burnt sugar smell, like Gluttony but not nearly as heavy.

 

After 15-20 minutes the burnt sugar fades into a sugary cream smell, still with a strong carnation note; I don't get too much orange blossom from this and I'm not familiar enough with iris to comment on that. There's a slight chemical smell underlying it which fortunately isn't strong enough to be bothersome unless I've got my nose right on top of it.

 

This really does have a 'sweet yet sociopathic' kick to it; it strikes me that if it were slightly more Asian it would be appropriate for the 'psychotic Japanese schoolgirl' scent idea that Mia was kicking around

 

On the whole, I like it. Regrettably it does fade within an hour or so, but that's not so fast as to be a deal-breaker. I like it better than the bottle I swapped it for, which is the important bit!

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Slightly sharp and green, with the orange blossom as the primary factor

 

Wet on me – Sweet green florals

 

Dry on me – Sweet soft powdery blossom

 

Overall – A little faint, but lovely all the same. I may have to experiment to see if I can find something to bulk it up a little

[furygrrl]

In the imp: A fresh, sweet scent - there's an almost dry sharpness to it that reminds me of the white sandalwood in Kuang Shi.

 

On wet: Mmm...a soft, sweet, unassuming citrus cream.

 

Drydown: Wow, has this ever gone perfumey! It's reminiscent of a scent I used to wear in high school, but I can't recall which one - Volupte? Tresor? I'm still getting whiffs of fresh orange cream underneath that intense headiness, though.

 

Overall: Quite a nice blend, even though it's completely different from what I expected. Not something I'll wear very often, but I'll definitely be hanging on to my decant. 3.5/5

[taramarie]

In the bottle and wet on my skin, Zarita smelled like a spiced orange. Unfortunately, she started to burn so I had to wash her off, but I think she'll make a good room scent.

[naeelah]

This one is pleasantly surprising! I was expecting more of a floral, so I was quite surprised to dab it on and get blasted with rich, foody sugar. Wet, it's very sugary with a thick cream base. The florals are there as a weird sharp note, but they're mostly overpowered by the sugar until it dries.

 

Dry, the sugar is much calmer, more like powdered sugar with thick cream. I can definitely smell the orange blossom, carnation, and iris. The orange blossom and carnation are light and sweet, while the iris is a little more traditionally floral. They are the top notes, with a thick, sweet cream at the base. It's a very cute and innocent scent.

 

The throw is surprisingly strong. Not Snake Oil strong, but way better than you'd expect from light florals. The sugar carries especially far. Not sure yet about wear life.

 

Give this one a try if you like sweet florals, or if you like sugar/lightly foody scents. Hope and Faith turned horrible on my skin, but thanks to Zarita, I can get my sugary floral fix!