Ed Hardy
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The blast is immediate and tropical-candy in character, with mango and grapefruit dominating the frame, joined by a waxy-smooth apple note that feels decidedly artificial. Within minutes, the woodland strawberry adds a jammy sweetness that cements the overall impression of fruit-flavoured confectionery rather than actual fruit.
As the composition settles, freesia and rose attempt to introduce some floral structure, though they're largely subsumed by the relentless tonka and vanilla in the base starting to push through. The watercress provides momentary relief, a slight peppery-green interlude, but the sweetness consensus prevails, and the fragrance becomes a one-note gourmand affair.
The synthetic musk and amber combination creates a somewhat cloying, thick skin scent that feels rather airless and static. The leather, presumably present, remains essentially anonymous, whilst the vanilla and tonka dominate the final hours in a diminishing, increasingly unpleasant way before the fragrance essentially evaporates from the skin.
Ed Hardy for Women arrives as a decidedly synthetic fruity confection, one that makes no pretence toward naturalism. Caroline Sabas has constructed something deliberately artificial here—a fragrance that leans into the artificial rather than fighting it. The opening salvo of mango and grapefruit carries that distinctive plasticky-sweet character of the mid-2000s, when fruity florals were engineered in labs rather than imagined in gardens. There's an almost candied quality to the apple and woodland strawberry, as though you're smelling fruit-flavoured sweets rather than fruit itself.
The heart attempts something more classically feminine with freesia, linden blossom and rose, but these florals feel rather lost in the synthetic haze—they emerge muffled, like hearing voices through thick glass. The watercress adds an attempt at greenness, a slightly peppery counterpoint, but it's swallowed by the pervasive sweetness that's been layered in at 88% intensity. This is a fragrance designed for someone who wants to smell like a dessert, not a garden.
Add fragrances to your collection and unlock your personalised scent DNA, note map, and shareable identity card.
3.4/5 (134)