Mainstream Monday: SJP Chaos Unspoken

Flankers often seem to be a bit hit-or-miss. Occasionally, they’re as good as the original; occasionally, they may be better, but chances are it’s more of a downhill slide. I wandered into Ulta the other day, saw the display/bottle of Sarah Jessica Parker’s Stash Unspoken and made a beeline for it.

Her scents are well done and always worth a try in my book, even if they’re not my cup of tea for frequent wear. Remember her Covet, in that quirky bottle? I really liked that one a lot, even if it wasn’t one of her most popular scents, such as the beautiful Lovely. Portia talked about Unspoken one day last summer and made it sound very appealing, but I’d not come across it until just the other day.

Anyhoo, I liked the original Stash and it put me in front of a toasty fireplace last year on a brutally cold day, but it was a wee bit too cedar-y/woody/linear for me for the most part. (It did, however, smell great on my DH.) But one sniff was all it took for me to see that Stash Unspoken was definitely more my speed. Its notes of pink pepper, quince, wisteria, honeysuckle, peony, musk, sandalwood, tonka bean, and frankincense (per Fragrantica), have sweetened it up a bit and given it a more lively progression, at least on my skin. And all without robbing it of a warm and cozy hit hug at the drydown. I also love that it comes in a rollerball. One little swipe of this could make you happy in your office without raising the hackles of the anti-fragrance league, although I wouldn’t chance it at an uber-strict workplace.

My interest was strong enough that I would’ve liked a longer test drive of this. Alas, Ulta doesn’t do the sample thing so much, and the traffic getting to my store is beyond horrendous. So unless I snag a sample/decent off the Internet, it’ll have to wait until the next blue moon when I’m over there again.

What about you? Have you tried Stash Unspoken? What are your favorite Sarah Jessica Parker scents? Or what mainstream scents are you enjoying now?