Review: Comparing India Hicks Island Night with Gucci Flora

Gucci Flora edp and Island Night edt are siblings; they aren't twins. They begin differently and end differently, but at the midpoint they are very much the same on me.

And when I first spritz Island Night, I wonder what made me buy it at the store. It's a whopper. And, in general, I have to be very, very careful with orange blossom in fragrances. It usually goes sharp on me.

The Road Not Taken
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Crabree and Evelyn sells Island Night. It comes in a beautiful midnight blue flask, with some heft to it. It is a pleasure to hold. It also comes in an evening compact with enhancer, body wash and lotion, a scented candle, and a fragrance diffuser for the home.

Notes: purple and white orchids, night blooming jasmine, orange blossom nectar, green island palms, woods, musk

I chose the edt over the compact as there was more scent to it. After spraying the edt, I could hardly smell the compact. The compact might be an easier way to wear it. I haven't tried either the candle or the diffuser, though the diffuser especially looks lovely.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

Why the two fragrances would be reminiscent of each other, at least at mid-point is a mystery to me:

Gucci Flora notes: citrus, peony, rose, osmanthus, sandalwood and patchouli

Perhaps it is the orange blossom-citrus thing going on.

Island Night starts off with a bang. It is heady and heavy. You are in a garden with a lover, heavy-eyed, under a deep sky with stars low enough to touch.

Gucci Flora begins at a similar place, only it is twilight. The winds have blown through the garden for a bit, and your lover has not yet arrived. It is easier to wear from the get-go.

At the mid-point, there is not a lot of difference. Gucci Flora might be a tad sweeter.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost 1920

And then, at the end, both fragrances circle back around again. Island Night has the same nuance at the end, as at the beginning but softened, not nearly as strong. Funny that it is gone in the middle. Gucci Flora stays the same through the end. Truly lovely.

And what about several hours later? I can still smell Gucci Flora, though I have to bring my arm up. I could still smell it faintly before I got out of bed from the night before. Whereas, Island Night is gone. No trace. But it sure packs a wallop in the beginning.

Which road will you take?

Karin

Originally posted 2009-03-15 16:26:56.

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