Michael Kors Island Capri eau de toilette; Tocca Touch eau de parfum; Kenzo Flower eau de parfum

Today’s review is of three samples I received in my last Sephora order: Island Capri by Michael Kors; Tocca Touch; and Flower by Kenzo.

Michael Kors Island Capri. On the card it says “The Ultimate Vacation in a Bottle.” Right. Could my vacation be away from this perfume? I don’t even want to touch it to my skin. It smells like watery mangoes and Windex, an instant, clanging headache. It’s like an electric blue raspberry, emerging from the ocean. A teenager would love it. It fades into generic nothing. Help, get this off my arm. Oh wait, it’s gone. Faded. Nothing. Did I even put this on?

Tocca Touch. I’ve heard a lot about this perfume, and always see it at Anthropologie. It comes in a pretty little feminine bottle and the juice is pink. The card proclaims “The freshness of gardenia and Tahitian tiare flower, the succulence of pomegranate and the warmth of Egyptian balsam evoke the refined essence of Tocca.” First impression: cinnamon-scented dryer sheets. Then: Clark’s Teaberry gum and cloves. I smell a little ylang-ylang, a lot of vanilla, and tons of potpourri. It has this strange gum thing going on. It’s a clean gourmand. Not for me but not a total scrubber, either. It’s overpowering the Island Capri on my arm, so that’s good. Something about it reminds me of my aunt Lorraine’s house in New Hampshire, which is kind of neat. Her house always smells clean. The juice settles in nicely but takes over in a pushy potpourri kind of way.

Flower by Kenzo. I remember this being very popular in France when I lived there. My memory of it was that it was too powdery. Here’s what the card says: “Floral Energy—wild hawthorne, Bulgarian rose, cassie flower, Parma violet. Powder Power—Bourbon vanilla, oppoponax, white musk. Urban Energy—cyclosal, hedoine. Ok, what are cyclosal and hedoine? And I’m not sure what oppoponax is, either. This perfume takes me right back to France. It’s almost … minty, like when you smell someone’s breath after they brush their teeth. It’s peppery baby powder, slightly floral, a hint of vanilla. My memory was correct: this is all powder on me. Overpowering, dusty talc. Whew! Babies! After a few minutes, the powder teases me with violets. But overall, there’s something reminiscent about Comet.

Overall, if I had to choose, I’d go with Touch. Update, 8 hours later: The violet in Kenzo flower finally reveals itself. Too little, too late. It's very pretty, but not me.