Jimmy Choo Illicit Eau de Parfum Review

One of my favourite fragrances is Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum (reviewed here), the Jimmy Choo original fragrance which isn’t for everyone. It’s intense. It’s woody. It’s a very strong fragrance, but I love it. Whenever I fall in love with a fragrance, I always want to try more from that brand.

After loving the Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum, I decided to give the Jimmy Choo Flash scent a try, and to be honest, I hated it. I think it’s because it has notes of Jasmine, and I don’t tend to like Jasmine based scents, so I was worried about trying more Jimmy Choo fragrances. I’d read some rave reviews about the Jimmy Choo Illicit Eau de Parfum, so I decided to try it whilst fragrance was so heavily discounted for Black Friday.

Jimmy Choo Illicit Eau de Parfum

“The latest fragrance for Jimmy Choo, Illicit is floriental, feminine and sensual. With top notes of ginger and orange, at the heart, rose and jasmine, and finished with base notes of honey, amber and sandalwood. The bottle has been engraved like jewel with many architectural facets, making it a piece of art. The square silver cap adds a modern touch to the bottle.”

The bottle is really beautiful, just like all Jimmy Choo fragrances. It’s chunky, and has an Art Deco cut glass vibe, with the Art Deco vibe carrying through to the outer box too. The lid is silver, and square making it similar to the lid on the original Jimmy Choo perfume.

After how strong Jimmy Choo and Flash are, I expected the Jimmy Choo Illicit Eau de Parfum to be strong. However, it’s considerably softer, and doesn’t offer the same silage. If you like your fragrances to be something you yourself enjoy, but you don’t want those around you to be able to smell them, once they’re close to your person, you might really enjoy Jimmy Choo Illicit Eau de Parfum. It’s a lot softer than I expected, especially considering it’s an eau de parfum formula, which carry a higher percentage of fragrance.

I like quite strong, memorable fragrances such as Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb, Lancôme La Vie Est Belle and Diesel Loverdose. The Jimmy Choo Illicit Eau de Parfum in comparison is just so mild and unmemorable. It’s pleasant, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the kind of fragrance you’d ask someone what they’re wearing as you’d not be able to smell it unless they sniffed exactly where you’d applied it.

In terms of notes, Jimmy Choo Illicit Eau de Parfum is described as having;

• Top notes: Ginger and Bitter Orange
• Middle notes: Jasmine Sambac, Orange Blossom and Rose
• Base notes: Honey, Amber, Caramel, Sandalwood, Vanilla and Cashmere Wood

Whilst Illicit does feature Jasmine Sambac, I don’t detect any Jasmine when wearing it. To me, I get the sweetness of the honey, caramel and vanilla but no spice.  Due to how soft and muted it is, I only find that Illicit lasts for a couple of hours on me. It’s not a fragrance I’d repurchase, as it’s just not very memorable or special, but it works nicely as an everyday fragrance and I do like the bottle design.

You can find the Jimmy Choo Illicit Eau de Parfum right here.

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