Degree Fine Fragrance Collection, Part III: Mission Accomplished!!

If you read this post, and this post, then you know that I was excited beyond words to find out about the new Fine Fragrance Collection by Degree, and then sadly disappointed to discover that I could only find two of the three fragrances in my area.

Thanks to the wonderful and helpful PR firm that works for Degree, I now possess all three body mists and deodorants! Yes!! I actually received this lovely package about a week ago but I wanted to give everything a good test-run before writing what will now be a proper and complete review.

Let's start with the deodorants. Now, I'm a looong-time fan of Degree deodorant (it's actually the only brand my mom will wear and I think I used "Shower Clean" for five years straight in the '90s), so there was nothing surprising here. Each stick of deodorant delivers in the way that only Degree can. Utterly dependable, not irritating in any way, and they all smell pleasant. The bad? They do all have that underlying "deodorant" base note that makes them all smell a little alike. Yes, you can smell the distinctive fragrance of each, but the "deodorant smell" comes through on each of them, which is not unpleasant but just makes them smell like what they are: Deodorant.

Next, the body mists. After trying each mist for a full day and night, my stand-out favorite of them all is the exact one that I loved when I first saw this collection at Target a few weeks ago: Classic Romance (the pink bottle, first pic above). It is definitely the most unique, soft, feminine and lovely fragrance of the three. In fact, the longer it's on my skin, the more I love it. At first sniff, it's a clean, watery floral, but as it develops it turns into a complex, soft, velvety fragrance that's super feminine and very classy. In fact, at first I thought it reminded me of Estee Lauder Pleasures, but now I'm going to make a claim that I didn't think I'd make: I like this MORE than Pleasures because Pleasures can tend to be too powdery for my taste. Classic Romance has got everything I love about Pleasures but none of the stuff that bugs me. Perfection in a 3 oz bottle.

Next up: Delicious Bliss. This is the one that, for some reason unknown to me, is not available anywhere in my city. In fact, I was just at Walgreen's yesterday and I saw a lovely end-cap display of the Fine Fragrance Collection but with only Sexy Intrigue and Classic Romance. WTH? Anyway...OK, since this is the one I had been eagerly trying to get my hands on, I was hoping to be blown away. Yes, it's very nice but no, I don't love it more than Classic Romance. I see teenage girls loving Delicious Bliss because it's light, playful, and fruity. But it's not ALL fruit--there are floral notes (hyacinth and magnolia)--but mainly it's a fun, fruity fragrance that sort of reminds me of Clinique Happy. If you're in a fun, light mood, this one fits the bill. But for me, it's just not unique or multi-dimensional enough. But remember, I'm a 38-yr-old woman with refined tastes. HA!

Lastly, we have Sexy Intrigue. I'm not sure if it's the jasmine and rose combination or something else about this, but it just reminds me of several Victoria's Secret fragrances of the past. There's nothing that "pops" about this one, but it's not un-likable. I think that if you're a fan of VS Dream Angels, et al, you will probably be drawn to this.

For all of my fellow recessionista fragrance junkies out there, the Degree Fine Fragrance Collection was made for us. Anne Gottlieb created these scents, for heaven's sake! That alone is reason to get out there and check these out. To have quality fragrances that are affordable ($5.49 per item) and widely available is just crazy. You'd be a fool to not at least give these a sniff.

PS: My CBC didn't do these justice, but the packaging of these products is sooo pretty! Also, the size of the bottles makes them super easy to carry in your bag. Yay!

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and gratis samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.