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☁️ Perfume Review: Cloud by Ariana Grande, an Unexpected Like-- And a Little Trademark Controversy??

Let me preface this review with two facts, or rather, what I believed to be facts about myself: 1) I believed I disliked sweet or gourmand fragrances and 2) I believed I would never own designer fragrances/ celebrity fragrances.

Part 1: The First Sniff

Well, time to eat my words! A few days ago on Saturday, I went to Ulta to shop for a birthday gift-- we were meeting my niece in a few hours, and she’d asked for Mario Badescu facial spray on her B-Day list. On my way to the sprays, I stopped by the fragrance section as I always do, and just happened to see a cute, albeit childish looking blue bottle. “Cloud by Ariana Grande”, read the instagram-worthy display. I thought “Why not?” and decided to try it. I’d heard that her fragrances were pretty good, but hadn’t had a chance to try it for myself until now. It smelled quite sweet, and I set it back thinking “eh, not for me”. Fast forward a few hours later, and I found myself sniffing everything-- my mask, my jacket, my arm, my reciepts, even-- to find out where that gorgeous scent was coming from! Could it be Jo Malone’s Scarlet Poppy, which I’d sampled after a customer returned it at work? Or perhaps it was the small, crumpled tester paper that I’d sprayed Versace Crystal Noir on earlier? It couldn’t possibly be the cartoon-ish, creamy sweet Cloud, by Ariana Grande, could it??

I wasn’t sure until tonight when I stopped by Ross: Dress for Less after work. I’ve found quite a few favorites in my adventures at Ross: Dress for Less, including my oft used Burberry for Women, so I never skip the fragrance section there (or at TJ Maxx for that matter...) Tonight, I found a few possible goodies that I ultimately left behind-- a Versace Eros body mist and lotion set, Calvin Klein The One, and even Coach! But when my eyes fell on the holographic blue and pink box that boasted a picture of Ariana Grande in all her skin-stretching, heaven-high ponytail-wearing glory, I thought simply “Perhaps...”.

Reader, I bought it. And at a pretty good price point of $25 bucks, after tax. Could this ultra-cheap, almost garish looking perfume bottle hold the scent I was lusting after?

The answer, surprisingly, is yes!

Part 2: Review!

It smells exactly how I remember. Basenotes.com lists Cloud’s notes as: Lavender, Pear, Bergamot Top Notes, Coconut Cream, Praline and Vanilla Orchid Heart Notes, and Musk and Woods as the Base notes. On first spray, Cloud is brightly sweet and creamy. I don’t really smell coconut or praline by itself, but I do smell Lavender and Vanilla, fruity-fresh Pear, and musk and woods, in that order. I would almost say there’s Tonka in there, because it’s not a sickly sweet, foody vanilla, but rather a soft creaminess.

The dry down happens quick-- The sweet, fruity and floral notes settle down like a falling mist, and the base of woods and musk rise to the top, making Cloud smell warmer. I would liken it to Axe body spray, but it’s tamed by the top notes, whose sweet and fresh veil manage to keep memories of high school boys over spraying Axe after gym class at bay. Instead, it’s a sexy, feminine masculine vibe-- perhaps, what everyone wishes Axe really was. There’s also the fragrance equivalent of what I’d call an ‘aftertaste’ that lingers at the top of the sinuses when sniffing: the smell of salt, rich and almost choking, of the salt -soaked air between tongue and palate when ocean water from an errant wave manages to get the better of you at the beach. It’s barely there, a memory really, but it adds that addictive quality that hooked me in the beginning.

I’ve heard that Cloud is a dupe of Baccarat Rouge 540, and at a difference of about $170, I’d say that’s pretty good for a dupe!

Speaking of memories (I say, glancing punnily at my bottle of Gucci’s Memoir D’une Odeur), why does the name “Baccarat” seem so familiar??

Oh, I remember!

Wait...

Part Tres: Baccarat and Black Baccara, or, When Mainstream Bullies Indie

I follow a lot of indie perfumers on instagram: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab and Slumberhouse come to mind, but I also follow a house by the name of Black Baccara Perfumes. While writing this review, a chord struck in my memory banks; wasn’t Black Baccara being sued or something by Baccarat?

Well, not exactly. Baccarat, the crystal company, sent a cease and desist letter to Kalliope Amorphus, the owner of Black Baccara Perfume, when they filed for a trademark, on the basis that people might confuse Black Baccara Perfume with Baccarat. Though Baccarat is and has always been a crystal manufacturing company, the fragrance Baccarat Rouge 540 was created for their 250th birthday by Maison Francis Kurkdijian, and it was recently relaunched under his line. The cease and desist appears to have nothing to do with the perfume, but rather, that the names ‘Black Baccara’ and ‘Baccarat’ themselves are apparently too similar. That’s right folks-- it’s another Big, Rich company bullying a small creator over something that makes no sense!

There is, of course, no ethical consumption under capitalism. And though it seems that Baccarat no longer profits from sales of the perfume (Baccarat Rouge 540 is listed as being a part of Kurkdijian’s line, not Baccarat’s on Wikipedia), one can never be sure. Though I did some digging, I could not find a straight forward answer to the question via my best google efforts.

Kalliope currently has a go-fund me you can donate to to help fund their legal efforts against Baccarat.

I don’t know if it’s ethically better to purchase Cloud in lieu of Baccarat Rouge 540, but it’s certainly better for my wallet. And since I haven’t smelled the latter, my nose can’t tell the difference. I like Cloud because it’s a mix of sweet/axe/salty that is plain good and addictive. Plus the little cloud-shaped stand it comes with looks pretty darn cute on my perfume tray.

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