Coach Poppy Perfume

My husband gifted this perfume to me this past Christmas.  I first came across it in a magazine as a paper sample.  I swiped as much of it as I could onto my skin to test out.  I absolutely adored it and decided right then and there that I was going to own it at some point.  :-)

Poppy opens very crisp, fresh, and clean.  Initially, it can be strong, but give it a bit to settle in and it is beautiful.  A lot of people say they pick up on cucumber when first sprayed on.  I don't know that I can 100% say I smell that, but it does have a similar fresh kind of feel to it.  It quickly moves into a more sweet fragrance, but not sugar-sweet, in my opinion.  I pick up a good mix of floral in there, too.

About 15-20 minutes in, I know this will sound crazy, but there is something reminiscent of Curve.  Not full blown, by any means, but when I'm sniffing my wrists I get this odd deja-vu.  The two must have some similar notes in them.

At the 45 minute mark, the fragrance has settled into the skin and melded better.  Instead of seeming like a perfume that is just hovering over the skin, it has mixed in.  Now, is when I start smelling more sweet notes.  Only when breathed deeply, however, I pick up a sugar scent and the vanilla. Also, it seems that it is on the second inhale that I really notice it...almost as though the exhale from the first breath has to warm up the skin in order for those sugared layers to come to life.   It is a warm, sweet note...tons of candies and vanilla combined.  Maybe the marshmallow is what I am smelling. That is what it reminds me of at this point.  It is an extremely delicious scent.  Now, if these were the notes, constantly, from top to bottom... I would probably get bored of it and crave something to mellow it out.

I find that it has quite good projection.  My husband tells me he is able to smell it on me when I'm near him.  I prefer a perfume that can be smelled when semi close.  I don't want it to be so weak that you can only smell it if you hug me, however, I don't want it so strong that you can smell me from across the room.  Being able to pick up hints of my perfume's scent while sitting/standing near me is fine.

While the looks of the packaging and the bottle shouldn't matter, I can't help but appreciate a lovely presentation. I think the bottle is very pretty!  It isn't overly fancy, in that it is just an oval(ish) bottle, but it has a pink juice inside that lends a girlish feel to the whole perfume. I really adore the lid.  It is a golden ball with Coach texts embossed.  It says things like "coach", "love", "poppy", "1941", etc. Below that is a delicate little red orange (It has taken me FOUR MONTHS to realize this isn't red, but orange. Wow, brilliance at its finest right here!) ribbon, which is attached by an elastic.   Even the box that it comes in is eye catching.  It is a red orange with white and spatterings of yellow text.  The top, where the logo is show, is golden.  I think the bottle is pretty enough to be out on display on a mirrored tray.  Mine, however, is kept in its box in a corner shelving unit to preserve the perfume.  It is best to store fragrance in dark, cooler areas, so I have tried to do this as much as possible.

Over all, I really enjoy this perfume.  I have been wearing it quite often, even though most believe it is best suited to spring and summer. I just can't get enough of it.  As with any fragrance, it is very personal, too.  While I really love that it goes from crisp and fresh to sweet and youthful, others will think that somehow makes it boring.

The official notes are as follows...
Top: sweet, cucumber, marshmallow
Mid: mandarin orange, vanille, freesia, water lily
Base: gardenia, rose, sandalwood, jasmine, Virginia cedar