After buying a bottle of the Killer Queen 2015 flanker perfume [Spring Reign, see previous review], I then decided to look for a bottle of the 2014 flanker Oh So Sheer, to see which one I prefer. I saw a 30ml bottle on a eBay auction for £5 and bidded up to the grand heights of £7 on it. No one else bidded, so now I have another springtime appropriate perfume to review for the blog.Does Oh So Sheer improve on the original Killer Queen, or is it better best forgotten?
Like the original Killer Queen, Oh So Sheer opens with a berry-type accord. Coty's berry notes could really be classed as any berry, from blueberry to raspberry, so I suspect they tossed the names mulberry and elderberry into the description simply because they sound exotic. Also like the original, there is a mixture of plum and patchouli that develops with the berries and carries all the way through to the base of the fragrance - although the patchouli is much lighter then it is in Killer Queen. The fruit notes are also softer compared to the original.
The heart is exactly like it is in Killer Queen; I believe that celosia is not meant to smell pleasant, so [like with the berries] this is another exotic name of something which in all likelihood hasn't been used. I have no idea what they've used in place of the celosia though as, except for the jasmine, I am not able to separate any floral notes from the sweetly powdered floral jumble heart of the fragrance, as the praline develops and mixes with the faint patchouli & watery plum, smothering the floral notes on me.
There is no strong indication between the heart notes and the base, thanks to the constant presence of the praline, watery fruits and weak patchouli. I do become aware of a light caramel after the perfume has been on my skin for an hour or so, so Oh So Sheer isn't as linear as the original Killer Queen, so that is something.
Official scent notes: mulberry, elderberry, black current, dark plum, velvet red flower (Celosia), jasmine, freesia, plumeria, Kashmir wood, liquid praline, caramel and patchouli.
As this is a flanker that follows the original perfume very closely, my overall opinion of Oh So Sheer is the same as it is for the original Killer Queen; I think that is a nice and easy to wear perfume, but it is not anything to get excited about as there is nothing about it that hasn't been done many times before. Kat Von D used to have a perfume named Saint, which Oh So Sheer reminds me of a bit, minus the coconut. Years ago I had a selection box of different Victoria's Secret perfume vials, and this is triggering a memory of one of them. It's going to drive me mad now, trying to remember which one... Maybe Love Rocks?
I do have a thing for perfumes with praline in, so I like Oh So Sheer more then I really should - I'll even go so far as to recommend looking for cheap bottles of this online if you like sweet fragrances, but want a lighter one for warmer weather. However I really don't like it enough to think that it is worth paying the full RRP for it, as the sheer and watery scent notes mean that the sillage and longevity for Oh So Sheer are poor - it is a close-to-the-skin fragrance, that doesn't last beyond four to five hours.
On Amazon the 30ml bottle is £11.20, and the 100ml bottle is £22.40.
Despite the praline calling to me, I'm going to declare Spring Reign the winner in the Killer Queen flanker likability contest [I'm not sure if Royal Revolution counts as one, but as we're on the subject, here's my review for it]; whilst the longevity for Spring Reign is still not great, it does outlast Oh So Sheer. However the biggest plus for me is that the fragrance is more ageless Compared to Oh So Sheer, and so is something that I think more people will enjoy.
eBay has various buy-it-now bottles for around the same prices, and there are alway auctions going on.
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