6/7/13

Caesars Woman (Caesars World)




Ever see that film Casino, Scorcese's full-throttle rehash of Frank Rosenthal's and Anthony Spilotro's tumultuous lives as Vegas mobsters? It's set in the seventies and eighties, which seems like a million years ago. Back then you could smoke indoors, and no one gave a crap what you smoked, as long as it was a legal substance. 

That meant large casino halls were seen through a haze, and the air was rarely pure enough to accurately discern such things as food, floral, and personal odors. Perfume had to be extra strong to cut through the clouds, and whoever licensed Caesars World's fragrances knew this little factoid back to front. Caesars Man and Woman were released together in 1988 (a game-changing year for contemporary perfumery), but their scent profiles are firmly rooted in the past, with little in the way of foresight. Their reputation precedes them: these perfumes are strong.

I haven't tried Caesars Man, although I've had countless opportunities to sample and purchase it. Every time I approach it I remember the reviews that compare it to Drakkar Noir, and lose interest. While by no means a bad fragrance, Drakkar is something I prefer to smell by Guy Laroche and his licensees only. I've encountered several bottom-shelf budget fragrances that have emulated Drakkar with varying degrees of success, but even the better ones yield little satisfaction - Drakkar's original formula was cheap to begin with, so cheapening it further and attempting to put some small "spin" on the pyramid to exonerate it from total plagiarism is pointless.

Caesars Woman is a different story. Formulated for the high-rolling (and apparently undiscerning) female gambler and party animal, CW is a punch in the olfactory gut, a bombardment of cheap white-floral aroma chemicals, smudged together to resemble suntan lotion, or perhaps hand soap. It smells fairly original, although my references for feminine fragrances in this style are limited. The bottom line is that it smells cheap, in a bad way. For an easier and more-convincing composition of balmy, soapy florals, you're better off wearing the even cheaper Vanilla Fields by Coty instead.