Monday, May 19, 2008

The Beat by Burberry : Perfume Review

The dry, wonderful skin-scent Burberry Classic, the lightly sweet, summery, honeyed Weekend, the exuberant, succulent Brit and the lovely, warm and comforting Brit Red, are all favorites, quality mainstream scents, that have made Burberry a brand that is well loved among perfume lovers. Even though neither the fragrances, nor the packaging and advertisements can be described as groundbreaking, Burberry has built a solid and rightly faithful relationship with consumers, largely due to the consistent quality of their scents. I count myself among the many that have come to expect good things from this brand, so I was eager to sniff their newest offering, The Beat.

Now, as I mentioned a couple of months ago in an unrelated post, my first impressions of The Beat were not entirely favorable. In fact, I found myself quietly disappointed by both the juice and the packaging. Yes, the juice was indeed nowhere near groundbreaking once again, but on top of that, smelling it on the blotting paper it seemed downright generic. Since then I have had the opportunity to test the scent more leisurely at home, both on my own skin and on the skin of a couple of friends and my impressions have changed to its favor. The opening is strangely incongruent, featuring a mildly citrusy, slightly soapy and intensely clean breeze over something very obviously warm. The effect can be likened to a clean smelling mantle of ice draped over a burning heart. As you might imagine, this feeble construction disintegrates almost instantly, the cool, clean top quickly melting away to reveal what it never quite managed to conceal anyway: a warm, gooey center of interesting, spicy sweetness. Unfortunately, like a miniature dragon that was bred to be someone’s pet, The Beat will never really blow fire or snort clouds of brimstone. The farthest it will venture into misbehaving is blowing a bubble or two when it hiccups. The spices never really scintillate the senses and the warmth never manages to spread like wildfire. In fact, the longer it stays on the skin the more it fizzles out, becoming milder and softer. Half an hour later we are left with the attractive sourness of a green apple dusted with black pepper and an aromatic tea blend, still dry. Nice enough and strangely familiar, like the face of an old friend whose name you can’t quite remember. Interestingly, what’s surprisingly more pleasurable than smelling The Beat on oneself, is smelling it on someone else. No, really. In fact, smelling it on someone else comes almost as a revelation. A single spray is enough to have this little baby lazily bouncing from wall to wall like an echo. It radiates from afar with quiet allure, never being obtrusive, but rather slowly coming in and out of consciousness, always as a pleasant surprise. It feels like a shining kind of warmth when it comes from another, spicy, pleasant, kind.

The Beat comes across as rather unisex, not particularly feminine and certainly not traditionally masculine, comfortably falling somewhere in the middle. The warm, slightly sweet and spicy scent is rather comforting, definitely better suited to the colder months of the year. The bottle itself echoes the unisex appeal of the fragrance, shaped like a spirit flask adorned with the brand’s signature plaid pattern. Definitely not the type of bottle I personally crave to display on my dresser, but I have no doubt this well designed, attractive object will appeal to many, as indeed, will the juice within.

Images: www.burberrythebeat.com


12 comments:

Unknown said...

I tried this right when it came out and just wasn't that impressed, it was weirdly metallic at the beginning, and then became a whole lot of pink pepper. And yes the dry down was strangely famililar and I would love to know what the heck I was recognizing in it. Still I have Brit Red and Brit Gold to enjoy.

Anonymous said...

Hi Divina, hope you are doing well.

I also wanted to love this one.. I cant say that either.. But, I like it.. Anyway, I still have London to enjoy.. love the patchouli..

Just bought Island Capri by Michael Kors .. I LOVE IT!!
I feel like I am in Southern Italy when I wear it..even though it is bearly above freezing still here.. When will summer arrive????? When I wear this perfume, it does not matter (as much.)

Ciao Divina...

Ines said...

I totally agree that it smells better on other people. :) I smelled it on my neighbor and thought, Oh something nice - and then she showed it was Burberry and I was even more glad that there's sth new from burberry because I love Brit - and then on me, it's just well, for lack of a better word - disappointing. It's not bad but it feels like something's missing.

PinstripedZebra said...

A miniature dragon bred to be a pet! Fantastic imagery. Makes me think of Terry Pratchett novels..

Very nice review, I want to smell this!

//Z

Divina said...

Jen, I am also still trying to figure out which perfume this reminds me of. My first thought when I sniffed it was Givenchy's Very Irresistible which I haven't smelled for a really long time, but it seems unlikely since Very Irresistible puts the focus on rose... Still, it was the first thought that popped into my head for some reason..

Divina said...

Hey Giulia, so cool to read that you found something you love and that it cheers you up while waiting for the summer to arrive to boot! We had a couple of weeks of reaaaaally hot weather, really summery, but it has turned to slightly chilly again since Saturday. Confession: lately I've been getting my usual summer coconut cravings... can't wait till I can wear them again! (although I am sure the bf will be compaining :P )

Divina said...

Ines, totally! Exactly how I feel about it.. when I wear it on myself, it just doesn't seem special at all.

Divina said...

Hahahah Z, you know I love Terry! :) Although I wasn't consciously thinking of the Sunshine Sanctuary and the swamp dragons when writing this, lol!

Isa said...

Hi Divina!

This is my first time writing here but I've been reading you for some months.

Do you know what I thought when I first smelt The Beat? "Light Blue (top notes) + Amor Amor (middle notes)". A mix of these two fragances. A good mix, in fact. But this is not what I need right now.

And concerning the little dragon, while I was reading that line I conjured up the image of Mushu, from Mulan LOL

Greetings from Spain!

Divina said...

Hi Isa! So good to have you commenting! I agree with you, this fragrance does have a bit of both light blue and amor amor!

Aileen said...

I found your post because I recently bought The Beat and was trying to figure out why it seemed so familiar (and lovely) so I googled for reviews. I still haven't figured out what it is exactly, but the scent reminds me of Cologne from Thierry Mugler, but better. It's a little like starfruit to me actually. Just thought I'd share my thoughts even though your post is old =)

Divina said...

Hey Aileen! Thanks for sharing your impressions! I always check comments, old or new so don't hesitate to comment on whatever you find interesting :) Hope to see you again!