Perfume Review: Lulu Guinness Cast a Spell

Lulu Guinness is a British designer famous for her creative, whimsical, kitschy, chic, and very intricate handbags. I adore her collectible bags, however they do not come cheap, costing somewhere in the region of GBP 300-400. Her fragrances on the other hand are quite affordable; unfortunately until now I wasn’t very impressed with any of them. Cast a Spell, Lulu Guinness’s new scent, is somewhat more to my liking. The scent was allegedly inspired by fairy tales like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, and is supposed to evoke “enchanted forests, magic love potions, the richness of Baroque art, and the dance between light and dark, coolness and warmth.” The description as usual promises a little more than the fragrance can actually deliver. Eager as I am to see enchanted forests, all I get is a warm, sweet scent of berries (mostly blackberries), lavender and vanilla. Lavender (actually “iced” lavender) seems a rather unusual choice of a note to accompany a berry-based fragrance, but it actually works quite well, toning down the sweetness and overall berryness of the fragrance and providing the "coolness" noted in the official description. As soon as the lavender note disappears, Cast a Spell loses much of its charm and originality, and as far as I am concerned- forgive the pun, I don’t seem to be able to help it – the spell gets broken. The middle stage is rather too sweet, with a ghost of aniseedy Lolita Lempicka lurking in the shadows. The drydown is the least remarkable part of the fragrance, a pale blend of vanilla and something unidentifiable that may or may not be “white patchouli”. All in all, Cast a Spell is a pretty albeit forgettable little scent. I don’t think I will be buying a bottle, I think I would rather put the money into the My Future Collectible Lulu Guinness Handbag fund. Cast a Spell is available at Sephora, $32.00-88.00. *The picture of Castle bag is from luluguinness.com. And here are some more of those wonderful collectible Lulu Guinness handbags, also from luluguinness.com: Lilac Chocolate Box, £300.00 Tea Table, £395.00 Nouveaux Rose Fan, £395.00 Skeletons In The Closet, £435.00 Lilac Parisian House, £390.00 NY Skyline, £450.00 Department Store, £380.00 Christmas Room, £325.00