50 Shades Of You. The Bottle on the Windowsill

Sep 2

2 min read

Updated: Oct 16

Chilini Private

Vika put the bottle on the bedroom windowsill, label facing the glass. She had bought it on Saturday for its name and spent the whole day imagining how it would sound.

She expected it to knock her flat from the first note. On her skin it came out soft and sweetish, with a citrus spark and powder. Vika shrugged and decided the perfume was too quiet for such a name.

In the evening her husband came back from a run, saw the new bottle and sprayed some on his neck while she was setting the table. Vika laughed and remarked that it was a women's perfume.

An hour later he hugged her in the kitchen, and Vika pressed her face into his collar. There she smelled herbs, pepper and warm wood.

"That's my bottle," Vika said. She held out her wrist, and for a long time they compared, moving from his neck to her hand.

On her the scent stayed a vanilla cloud with flowers. On him, when his skin is hot, the sweetness almost disappears, and a spicy, strict trail comes out.

All evening Vika caught one trail, then the other. The modest scent turned out to be twice as large as she had thought that morning.

Before bed she turned the bottle of 50 Shades Of You label towards the room and set it in the middle of the windowsill, between her side of the bed and his.

This scent is about how skin speaks without words.

How it smells

The opening is bright and many-sided. Bergamot and mandarin give a citrus spark, lavender brings classic cleanness, tarragon adds an herbal anise note. Green cardamom refreshes with cool spice.

The heart is soft and powdery. Iris and violet sound like expensive fabric, neroli and jasmine give floral light, cinnamon and brown sugar warm everything with a caramel wave.

The base is warm and creamy. White cedar and sandalwood give dry woodiness, vanilla and tonka bean bring nutty sweetness, musk wraps the skin in a cloud that lasts long and stays close.

What makes it special

50 Shades Of You belongs to the private Chilini Private collection, whose scents are made from expensive and rare materials. It is a unisex scent that adapts to its wearer: on women's skin it opens sweeter and softer, on men's it moves into herbs, pepper and wood. Andrey Polkovnichenko on Fragrantica writes: "On women's skin more almond and cherry, on men's nutty and musky. It can be both tender and strict." AmericanaDream calls it "very cosy, wearable, quite long-lasting." @inbeauty_moskva notes: "It lasts a very long time and intrigues with how it unfolds." Couples choose it because they enjoy hearing one scent differently on each other.