Cheap As Chips: Roberto Cavalli EDP

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Cheap as Chips"? I first heard it when I started dating my future husband who was Australian. I put it down to other funny words and phrases he used, like jumper (sweater or sweatshirt), carpark (parking lot), bogan (trashy people), chook (chicken), dummy (pacifier), fringe (bangs), torch (flashlight), well, you get the idea. I think many of these phrases have British roots and Cheap as chips is a phrase I heard used a lot in Australia. There is even a chain of stores with this name, akin to what we call the Dollar Store in my area of the USA. It's a phrase I've adopted for its succinct descriptiveness and the ease with which it rolls off the tongue. It occurred to me recently that the vast majority of scents, mostly niche, that I write about are very expensive and I am verging on becoming a scent snob, so I decided to start a series on inexpensive scents that are fun to wear. This new series will be called Cheap As Chips, and the fragrances I talk about will be under $100 and usually readily available for far less at the discount sellers.

Roberto Cavalli is an Italian fashion designer best known for his proclivity in using animal prints in his designs, and as the creator of sandblasted jeans. He is the grandson of a well known Italian painter, Giuseppe Rossi. Today in addition to his designer line he has a men's line and the brand Just Cavalli, aimed at the youth market. His signature, though, is the animal print design and in particular, leopard prints. One of his quotes on his use of animal prints: "I copy the dress of an animal because I love to copy God. I think God is the most fantastic designer." 

A Cavalli design

Cavalli sold his perfume line to Coty sometime around 2012 and Roberto Cavalli EDP was one of the first releases. The box gives a nod to Cavalli's leopard print style.  It is sometimes referred to as Roberto Cavalli Signature, to distinguish it from the many other perfumes that now bear his name. I came across an old sample of Roberto Cavalli eau de parfum while cleaning out my boxes of perfume samples and decided to give it a try.

I sprayed the sample which is goodness knows how many years old with zero expectations, and for a moment I thought my low expectations would be met. Not much happened. But then in just a minute a lovely syrupy African Orange Flower note began to unfold, and cocooned in a soft cushiony amber-like blanket.  My first thought was did this resemble Elie Saab perfume which is an orange blossom powerhouse, but when I sprayed them side by side they are quite different. Elie Saab features the radiance of the orange blossom while Roberto Cavalli EDP uses it as part of recipe for an Oriental-style perfume. Benzoin, vanilla, and tonka are used to create this balsamic amber effect. As I've stated before in reviews, the vanilla and tonka combination can be absolutely beautiful but too much is like eating cotton candy with a bad tooth. Here in Roberto Cavalli EDP  I think the perfumer, Louise Turner, got it right. I love big scents so for me this is a softer oriental which I would be as comfortable wearing during the day as at night, but I can imagine that those used to frequenting lighter scents could find this titanic. I find it to be a cozy scent  but at the same time throwing off some sex appeal. It think it does a pretty good job of alluding to the leopard print wear for which Cavalli is famed. It is a warming scent but alluring and to me it seems to cast a golden glow. I think it is scent where you get a lot of bang for the bucks. Have you tried any of the Roberto Cavalli scents?

Eartha Kitt

Top photo of Joan Collins a Google image. Perfume sample my own.