Arielle Shoshana EdP

Good Day to our POSSE! I have a buddy. When I first started reading the scentbloggosphere I fell in with the amazing Arielle Shoshana. I loved her voice, her cat and her real love for fragrance and humanity. I would read and comment religiously and when she did nice things for people I always got involved in any way I could. We even met in NYC back in 2014 in Thanksgiving Week, at OSSWALD with a whole bunch of the NYC perfume peeps. Then she opened a niche perfume shop in Washington DC! Who was her first customer? Yep, me. Then she announced the release of her eponymous fragrance. First customer? Yes, you guessed it.

Arielle Shoshana EdP

Arielle Shoshana EdP

Arielle Shoshana site gives these featured accords:
Passion Fruit, Grapefruit, Rhubarb, Mandarin, Peach, Saffron, Pink Pepper, Cardamom, Magnolia, Sandalwood, Ambroxan, Vanilla, Vetiver Bourbon, Iris, Musk

On first spritz you can smell passionfruit as clear as day. It’s luscious and fruity and almost photo realistic. Quickly it’s tempered by a piquant grapefruit with other citrus and the familiar zing of pink pepper. The whole as surprising and fun as you could imagine, instant smile. You’d think it a perfect summer spritz, and it is, but in winter it seems to have a whole new fizz. Warming the darkest and bleakest winter days with the ultimate burst of fragrant sunshine.

Once the initial fireworks die down a bit the passionfruit and sweet, just about to be ripe peach take centre stage. They are backed by a light green herbaceousness and the heart is where I think Arielle Shoshana really shines. managing to capture the wild fruitiness and offset it with enough shade and depth that it is easily a unisex fragrance. It does lean towards past, typically feminine stories.

The base takes a long time to arrive. In fact the long heart has multiple changes of pace and highlights. We smell the cardamom, citrus, peach and hints of the vanilla and woods. All of them built around a passionfruit pillar. It isn’t till far later in the evening we really hit base and it’s a creamy vanilla sandalwood with quiet hints of a dark rum cocktail.

Anyone who likes Byredo Pulp, Neela Vermeire Creations Bombay Bling or Phaedon Pluie de Soleil will find Arielle Shoshana a hit. Equally, if you hate all of those don’t write it off because it is quite different. I’d personally love to meet a Suit Guy with the self confidence and masculinity to wear it with aplomb. That would definitely get my attention and keep it.

On top of all this fabulousness the 10ml Travel Spray is only US$26 with FREE US Shipping
I’m so jealous, March even got to the shop in DC

NYC Thanksgiving 2014

Some of the crew in NYC in 2014. Arielle, Birgit (Olfactoria’s Travels), Portia, Daisy, Poodle and Josie. Thanks to Arielle for the pic.

 

If flamboyant fragrance is your jam then you NEED to try Arielle Shoshana RIGHT NOW!
Portia xx

 

 

Portia also writes for Australian Perfume Junkies

  • Mals86 says:

    Ari is awesome! I finally got to meet her in person last summer, at her wonderful shop.

    And I love the fragrance. I was happy to split a bottle with friends last year, except that it left me with only a small amount that I’ve almost used up completely now… that fruit is SO much fun! (And I don’t like Pulp, fwiw.) I probably need at least one of those new purse sprays. Arielle Shoshana is pretty darn near perfect in Hawai’i, by the way. I wore it on vacation.

  • Dina C. says:

    I like the AS scent, too, and am gonna wear my sample while the temps are low this winter. Confessions: I’m a quick 15 minute drive from Ari’s shop, so I get to browse there whenever I’ve got time. She hosts great events throughout the year. Would love to meet up with any posse peeps who are visiting there someday. 🙂

  • hczerwiec says:

    I’ll have to seek this out! A few fume friends and I escaped from a conference in DC to go sniffing at Arielle Shoshana’s store, and had a blast — but her perfume wasn’t available then. Sounds like a lot of fun!

  • Shiva-woman says:

    I’m going to check out that large sample size! Thank you for the great review– the peach got to me! Love Bombay Bling.

  • Kathleen says:

    I ordered a sample of this when it was first released, and it is everything Portia describes. I can’t add anything else other than it is so worth sampling for the amazing and fun initial passion fruit. I wish AS all the best with her shop!

  • Neva says:

    I seem to need it because reading your review made my mouth water. I hope I can find some samples in Europe…

    • Portia says:

      HA! Neva, it is so mouth watering. You may not be able to find samples because to my knowledge Arielle is the only stockist but maybe First In Fragrance has it?
      Portia xx

      • finanna says:

        Sorry to be the one to break bad news but I have searched pretty extensively with no luck. I haven’t contacted Arielle’s shop though but I doubt they’d ship to Europe. At least Frassai had issues in sending anything from their US store. But if you find a way, please share! This has been on my testlist since its release.

  • Brigitte says:

    OMG! Love the photo of you and Olfactoria and baconandbiscuit212!

    I have tried AS and it’s youthful and fun….and because of that my eldest confiscated my sample!

    • Portia says:

      HA! Hey Brigitte,
      That day was utterly awesome. I think there were about 15 of us from all over the world who happened to be in NYC concurrently.
      Yeah, When it’s this good you have to lock your samples down.
      Portia xx

  • Tara C says:

    You’re right, I don’t wear any of the three fragrances you mentioned but I do like AS, they are different. And the bottle is pretty. 🙂

    • Portia says:

      YAY! There you go. Thanks for saying that TaraC, sometimes I worry that it might be just me who would think something.
      The bottle is pretty. So simple.
      Portia xx

  • ElizabethC says:

    Love this perfume!!!! The passion fruit is simply WOW 🙂