Cheirosa 91 Rosa Charmosa release day is here!! Sol de Janeiro’s latest fragrance hit shelves today — and because I love the brand so, so much, I hopped over to Sephora (read: Sephora at Kohl’s, not as cool but way less busy) to pick it up. I am pleased.
Buy it at Sephora | Buy it at Sol de Janeiro
For the record, and before diving into this Cheirosa 91 review: I sampled the fragrance mist and bought the Rosa Charmosa Dewy Cream. Why only the latter? I like the fragrance mists but I love the creams, as they’re incredibly strongly scented and last for hours — considerably longer than the fragrance mists. (I’m writing this four hours after my first application of the cream, and the scent is prominent.)
So officially, Cheirosa 91 offers “fresh-picked notes of passionfruit, honey caramel, and the bold essence of a Rio pink rose.” Caramel, as any SDJ fan would know, is a prominent scent in practically all of its fragrances, and certainly the most famous, the original Cheirosa 62. (If you’re interested in a mega-review of all the SDJ fragrances, see here.) For me, Cheirosa 91 is the straightest, brightest rose I can imagine — a juicy rose. It is so sweet! It’s like if rose were a candy. (It actually reminds me very much of Diptyque’s rose candle.) I smell barely any honey or caramel in there, or passionfruit either — if rose tasted like what we imagined rose to taste like, this is it.
Cheirosa 91 has extremely strong longevity and throw: Hours after the initial application, I can smell it strongly. Anyone sitting next to me would smell it. This is at least as strong as Cheirosa 62 and my favorite, #68.
It smells like:
- an early June morning
- the summer between sophomore and junior year in high school
- hope and eagerness
- some sort of rose flavored jelly bean
- (did I mention it was sweet?)
- late night at the beach in the Caribbean
I mean, a theme emerges in this Cheirosa 91 review: beauty, summer, fun, lightness. I wouldn’t call it a sophisticated scent. I would call it a yummy one, and a pretty one, and a little of it will go an incredibly long way.
In terms of the cream itself: While I do like the scent, the cream actually feels substantially lighter to me than any of the other Sol de Janeiro creams I’ve had (and I’ve owned #62, #68, #71, and the Délicia Drench, which I didn’t like.) Also, this cream’s job is to luminize. Now, I’ve never felt like the little cream jobs did very much — like I’ve never observed that #62 had any sort of firming quality, or that #68 boosted my collagen in any way. That said?? Here I was, ready to say that #91 didn’t offer the luminous skin it promised on the packaging — but that would be incorrect. As usual, I tried it on one leg and one arm, and I can honestly say that the side with the cream is clearly more luminous than the non-#91 side, and a degree more than it would be with a regular moisturizer. I’m impressed.
This is not for me an everyday scent: It’s too distinctive, and too strong. But for a day on the road? A day out with friends? Perfect. It’s bright, fun, energetic and fresh. We could all use more of that. In sum, my Cheirosa 91 review: a solid entry, a very good buy, and a perfect light scent for getting us through the dark days of winter.
Buy it at Sephora | Buy it at Sol de Janeiro
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