I keep returning to Burberry Brit. I was thrilled when I first found it. I had had a snootful of fruity-florals and floral-florals and pink florals and white florals and perfumes that smelled like fruit smoothies. Then suddenly, whiff....could this be? It's an Oriental. But it's not one of those knock-you-down-with-patchouli kind of Orientals. This was subtle. And what was that? Sugar?

This scent is called a green Oriental. It's got some surprising notes to it, but overall, this scent is absolutely Oriental. The base notes are mahogany wood, amber, tonka beans, and vanilla.

Burberry Brit does not smell like anything you could get to eat or drink at a beach bar. Hooray.

The top notes include Italian lime and something called icy pear, so the initial swoosh out of the bottle gives you a fast impression of something very fresh and clean. But behind it comes heart notes of sugared almonds (but subtle--not harsh sugary stuff) and white peony. When I wear it, from time to time, I get a very pleasant whiff of powder, but it doesn't last. This fragrance isn't what I would call powdery (I love powder) but it does tease you a little in that direction. The base notes are the rich Oriental stuff: vanilla, tonka beans, mahogany.

I would describe Burberry Brit as being rich, complex, and very much Oriental, although it has enough "green" in it to give it light and sparkle.

If you're ready for something off-the-beaten-trail, Burberry Brit might just be it. It's different and it sometimes causes women of fragrance to pause for a moment, like they can remember something faintly, dimly ... perfumes that did not smell like a pina colada.

This scent has floral notes, but it will not overwhelm you with it floralocity. It has some citrus, but don't expect a super orchard experience. It's mostly a very competently brewed Oriental with some pretty little notes. The sugared almonds are hard to recognize as such (I read that on the label) because they're not the big-bad-sugar that some perfumes use. It's subtle. Kind of like me, if I were subtle.

The only gripe I have with Burberry Brit is that this scent seems light and does not wear too long on me. I end up having to keep re-applying. Of course, I've been known to wear too much perfume, so perhaps I am not the best judge of scent span.

The bottle, by the way, is interesting. It's a classic rectangular class bottle, tres Chanel, but it is all plaided up. Burberry are the plaid people and they put plaid on their perfume bottles. I find it quite attractive, despite the fact that I'm not sure everything really has to be plaid.

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