This perfume may be rather old-school, but it's rightfully so, since it has a ginormous following. It comes as no surprise, then, that I'd heard a lot about this perfume, and, unable to resist, finally headed out to Abercrombie to pick some up. I'm a bit of a perfume nut. Having tried it and initially loved it, I bought the 1.7 oz size for $50.
Packaging - My first impression was that the packaging was lovely - but this was no surprise. It came in a sturdy, dark colored box that was decorated in traditional Abercrombie & Fitch fashion. The thing I love about this 1.7 oz size is that the bottle is large enough for A&F to include the erotic photo in the background. And who doesn't love that?! ;) (See right, which shows the back of the bottle.) The 1 oz size doesn't have this, and comes in a smaller, square as opposed to rectangular bottle. It was still very stylish, though, and definitely something I'd keep out on my bureau. The cap is excellent, a very heavy and sturdy metal cap that clicks on securely. I have no worries about this cap breaking, but leaking might be a different story. The material of the bottle itself is glass of medium thickness. Overall, packaging gets an 8/10.
Scent - To the important stuff, the scent itself. Abercrombie describes 8 as "Provocative an sexy, Perfume 8's spicy, invigorating floral scent is always exciting. Ginger and rich peach nectar combine with subtle hints of jasmine petal for a naturally pretty fragrance that is warm, inviting and perfect for day or night." Ok, Abercrombie, sounds good enough. Do I agree with this description? Well, generally, yes, but read on for my full opinion.
My experience - Oh, how I wanted this to turn into my HG perfume. It does smell DELICIOUS. I can't see this perfume being offensive. On first spray, it's a bit overwhelming, but within a minute it dries down into an attractive, fresh, feminine scent. My problem with this perfume - and, unfortunately, it's a huge problem - is that it lingers so close to the skin that no one else is going to smell this on me. Now, I'm not one of those people that necessarily
likes others being able to smell my perfume from several feet away, for fear of offending them. But if I'm wearing one that smells natural and yummy like this, then sure... I might wanna go for it. 8 doesn't give me anything close to that. After about an hour, I am the only one who can smell it, and that's only if I stick my nose into my clothes (I always spray perfume on my clothes - if I didn't with this one, I think the lasting power would be even weaker).
The biggest test, I knew, was with the boy. He knows how Abercrombie's Fierce on him makes my knees buckle, and I guess I was kinda hoping for a similar result with this feminine Abercrombie number. I sprayed myself twice while getting ready. It seemed to fade away. I doused on a good 4 more sprays, all over my clothes. Risky move, I know. But it turned out I was right to do so, since 30 minutes into a cuddle session, the BF informed me that he couldn't smell any perfume on me. He said I smelled good, but just like "me." (Hmmm.)
The thing with this perfume is that more sprays does not make it any more powerful, so don't bother. What I suspect happened here is what's happened to countless other tried and true, popular perfumes. Dilution in an attempt to increase profits? Maybe. All I know is I was disappointed and will be using this as a daytime body spray from now on.
Overall - 5/10
Can anyone tell me - did 8 always used to be like this? Has the formula changed?
