Heya posse. You’re all headed into deep Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Woo Hoo! Such a fabulous time of year to start getting out some lovely warming ambers. I think it may be my favourite time of year to be scenting myself. Today I’m talking about a long lost lovely. Back in 2014 when I was in LA Tom and I went wandering, looking for bottles of Truth or Dare Naked because it had not made it to Australia and I was in desperate need. We hit a few places but none had it. So weird, only two years after release. Anyway we were sent to Bloomingdales Century City and there we found the last ten bottles in existence. GAH! I should have bought them ALL. The prices on eBay are astronomical now. Photographed is my second bottle and I have one more in reserve that I bought off another perfumista.
Truth or Dare Naked by Madonna 2012
These were the offered featured accords:
Top: Honeysuckle, peach blossom, neroli
Heart: Vanilla orchid, cocoa flower, lily of the valley
Base: Texas cedar wood, benzoin from Laos, oud accord, Australian sandalwood
Truth or Dare Naked starts out very vanilla rich amber with a creamy sandalwood. It’s so glorious, breathtaking. This opening stays in stasis for a few minutes and then a very interesting floral invasion starts to occur. Honeysuckle, that vegetally sweet rich floral arrives with the sharp green iciness of lily of the valley. Who could ever have thought that these two disparate scent profiles would or could play over a gooey, creamy amber/woods? It doesn’t work in my mind, BUT on my skin it’s captivating.
The heart is a three way that creates something vibrant and scintillating but still manages to be a warming, comfortable wear.
As we head towards dry down, long afterwards, the woodsy amber gets a little darker and more ashy. It fades linearly till gone. A long time wash of amber skin scent before that happens.
Totally unisex. Can’t believe it got discontinued so quickly. It should have become a major hit. What do I know? Nothing.
Cinnamon wrote about the OG Truth or Dare last year.
Did you ever get to smell either of the Truth or Dare fragrances?
Portia xx
I love the OG… and looking at these notes I have that sinking feeling that I would’ve fought this one like a velociraptor… and then fallen madly in love!!!
So glad you got to experience it!
I kept meaning to try Truth or Dare but somehow never did, So I didn’t try either one. The notes sound great on the Naked one, especially the honeysuckle. I still have not found a honeysuckle perfume that actually smells like honeysuckle and I did recently try some oils that were supposed to be realistic, but no.
Hey Maya,
I always find fragrance to be like dreaming the flower, more than photo realism. Even the Demeter ones seem to make it more than the single flower. I’m not sure anyone could recreate honeysuckle exactly.
It’s like the eternal search for a perfect gardenia.
Portia xx
Lol. Now that you mention it, I can’t find the perfect gardenia either. 🙂 I love the way you put it – “dreaming the flower”. I can do that!!!
I remember that day. It was fun. You charmed the pants off of the SA’s including the notoriously starchy ones at the Macy’s in the (now defunct) Westside Pavilion.
And you charmed the notoriously starchy Jane of Sweet Lady Jane into giving free cheesecake.
HA! I think it was a team effort Tom.
Portia xx
Doesn’t sound like my kinda thing, although you make it sound quite luscious, Portia! I just found a Canadian site that carries it for what (these days) seems like a reasonable price. They ship to the U.S. and Internationally. https://enchanteperfumes.com/products/truth-or-dare-naked
WOW MzCrz,
That is very affordable, especially considering what a unicorn it has become. Wonder if they went to Coty and bought up all the remaining?
Portia xx
I continue to have a lot of time for Madge, even though her recent surgery perplexes me. At some point I’ll visit the newest release of music.
Honeysuckle. So few perfumes use this which is too bad. It is sort of strange that this disappeared so quickly.
Hey Cinnamon,
You know what I love about Madonna. She is doing it ALL her way. She’s worked so hard and made an awesome career out of an average voice and dance ability, BUT she made it work for her in such an extraordinary and legendary way. We could talk of almost nothing else and even now, when almost all her contemporaries are long forgotten we still continue to watch her, fascinated. If this is how she chooses to be nearly 70 years old then more power to her. I’m not here to question, just applaud.
Honeysuckle can skew so boogie bleach for me, it tends to cough medicine inn my nose. Here, thankfully it doesn’t.
Yeah, so strange it hasn’t lasted and gone on to be a cult fave.
Portia x
Honeysuckle and lily of the valley over a creamy vanilla-amber base sounds like a combination that shouldn’t work on paper, which makes it even more intriguing that it does on skin. I never got to try either Truth or Dare before they disappeared. Does Naked lean closer to the original’s tuberose richness, or is it a lighter, woodier take on the same idea?
Hi there Ana,
Naked is a full on vanilla rich amber, its florals are so interesting because they inhabit the heart for me rather than the opening. The OG is all bubble gum tuberose and a soft vanilla rich dry down, not so amber-y. They are tangentially linked but you wouldn’t say they are the same genre.
Portia xx