I'd been keeping an eye open for the UK release of Cloud, ever since it deputed in the US last August. It stared appearing in a store-by-store staggered scale over here in mid January, and it is now widely available in all stores/sites that sell Ariana Grande fragrances (eg Boots, Superdrug, The Perfume Store, The Fragrance Shop), so I thought that now would be a good time to review it, as it'll be easy to find an in-store tester to see if it agrees with you.The Superdrug site was the first place I saw Cloud back in January & I picked up a bottle then and began wearing it straight away, and now two months later I'm ready to share my final opinions. I was underwhelmed by all of the brand's other release, so will this be another generic offering or does the new bottle design signal a new fragrance approach?
To me the strongest scent notes of bergamot, coconut and praline in Cloud are very reminiscent of those deluxe Sicilian-citrus-cream-filled-chocolates you get from Thorntons. These long scent notes are accompanied by whipped cream and clean floral notes - I get the vanilla-drenched orchid and a hint of lavender to tone down the sweetness - plus, maybe a touch of neroli alongside the lavender, to add to the sharp freshness to Cloud's undertone?
I don't pick up on any major changes between the heart and base of the perfume as the bergamot and clean floral notes are long, except something that seems like sea salt as the fragrance begins to dry down - a very sour musk? The only big downside for me scent-wise is the longevity; Cloud only wears for between 5 to 6 hours on me and doesn't have great sillage, which is a bit disappointing; it's an improvement over her earlier fragrance releases, but there are more things to fix... Official scent notes; bergamot, pear, lavender, coconut, whipped cream, praline, vanilla orchid, 'woody' notes and musk.
To be nit-picky; the fruit-creme chocolates, romantic flowers, touch of clean sharpness, and the whipped cream scent notes don't really inspire Cloud to live up to it's name and inspiration [I'm thinking of chocolates/flowers/Italian restaurant/walk along the beach & hint of date's cologne on a cozy night out, rather than a artful display of uplifting optimization and hope]. I also can't help commenting on the ugly bottle set-up; it doesn't effect the juice at all, but the horrible presentation of this fragrance cheapens it a bit and makes it seem like children's makeup in my head. Fortunately the cloud base is removable, and the glass bottle can stand alone - the base is going in the recycle box, for sure...
The downsides to this fragrance haven't put me off recommending Cloud, since it is very easy to wear, won't offend others if you work in a close environment and it is the most original of all of the fragrances in this brand as it doesn't have marshmallow and/or sugared notes in it, like everything else that the brand has done so far - in my opinion Cloud is more unisex than her actual unisex fragrance [Frankie], so everyone can wear Cloud comfortably. However the not-very-bad-but-not-very-good-either longevity and poor sillage does lessen my enjoyment of Cloud a bit overall - none of the Ariana Grande perfumes have great longevity, so that is something that the brand really need's to work on improving. I do reccomend testing Cloud in a store, rather than risking a blind online buy like I did, as this is very different to the other Ariana Grande fragrances, so how much you enjoy her other perfumes isn't relevant to how much you'll enjoy Cloud.
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