This review is of the “Travel Trio” of fragrances available at Lucky Scent and at Viktoria Minya. The packaged trio consists of Hedonist, Hedonist Iris, and Hedonist Cassis. Viktoria Minya’s website also has a 5-piece travel collection that contains those three plus Hedonist Rose and Eau de Hongrie. Lucky Scent (who didn’t stock the 5-piece set) was also kind enough to include samples of Hedonist Rose and Eau de Hongrie, which I will review at the end.
First off let’s talk about the packaging. A handmade box is all very nice, but I have no desire or storage area for fancy boxes, so I’m going to throw it away…so that is an unnecessary addition to the cost. I find that a lot of beauty product manufacturers offer items in special boxes and to me it’s just fancy trash. A nicely-decorated mass-produced box would be fine. But – a pleasant surprise – the glass vials are huge! I had expected little “sample size” vials but these are about 5” high, a nice heft, and of course the little crystals in the bottle are cute. The vials are refillable if you ever want to do so – or you could wash them out and fill with a different fragrance you like better, say for travel.
Anyway, on to the fragrances. Right after the shipment arrived, I sprayed on Hedonist Cassis at base of throat and wrists. Surprisingly, I didn’t really notice any fragrance at all. Almost as if this had been plain water. I left it half an hour for something to develop, but I still didn’t smell anything, so I went back and reapplied and this time I did notice a faint scent. Half an hour later I mentioned how weak this one seemed to be. My husband put his nose right up at the base of my throat and sniffed, and said that he did get a vague sense of a fruity note that he couldn’t define better. But I still didn’t smell it. So this one won’t be a repeat for me. I may use it as a hair mist in summer, or spray the linens in the guest bedroom before visitors arrive, or something.
The next day I applied the plain Hedonist. This has an interesting (odd) smell and it’s a little stronger than the Cassis. I still have to put my wrist up near my nose to catch it. This one smells vaguely like peach, pancakes, and…cleaning fluid. Sad but true, underneath the foody aromas there is a distinctly unpleasant note of some kind of liquid housecleaning product, maybe Lemon Pledge or Windex. Definitely not a repeat on me.
By noon, Hedonist had worn off, so around 3 I gave Hedonist Iris a go. And do you know what? This one didn’t last either! I smelled it – and it was a pleasant generic “perfume” smell – until about dinnertime, and then nothing. This brand is pretty disappointing, yeah?
When I opened the sample vial of Hedonist Rose it made a bit of a mess, and poured all over my hands and in the sink too. Well, it was just a sample, right? Hah. This is a nice scent. Rose, yes, but also something like cherry to it. It seems to project itself further than all the others (unless that’s just because I overdid it). However, about an hour later it smells mostly like almonds – perhaps more like marzipan, because there is a sugariness to it – and reminds me very much of Hilde Soliani’s Una Tira L’Altra, a cherry scent with almond undertones. Since I already own a big bottle of Una Tira, Hedonist Rose is not going onto my list either.
Before bed I did generous spritzes of Hedonist Cassis all over – up and down my legs, across my belly, and at the back of my neck. Other than a vague sensation of the carrier alcohol, I can’t even tell I applied it. This feels much more like an eau de toilette, if even that.
This morning, the tester of Eau de Hongrie. Guess what? Half an hour later, no scent. While it lasted, it had a smell of yeasty bread, peach, and something else I can’t quite define. I know they say “wine” is one of the scents in it, but it smelled more like beer.
In short, Viktoria Minya is completely off my list for a re-purchase. Of all 5 scents, Hedonist Rose is the only acceptable one, but it didn’t wow me. For these prices, I expect to be wowed. You may have better luck.
Coming back a little later in the day to say that I’ve just spritzed myself with a combo of Hedonist and Hedonist Iris (very generously) and it is giving me a nice, fruity (still mostly cherry/almond) kind of scent. It’s good, and the cleaning fluid smell is not as obvious. While they’re not a repeat buy, they’ll do just fine in combination if I save them for lighthearted summer days.
The Diva Lair 