This is hands down one of the best of the lighthearted, easy to wear scents that I’ve ever come across. I realize it sounds silly but I wasn’t interested in trying it when it first was released in 2001. Why not? Because I didn’t care for the packaging or the name. Crazy, I know, but I have this character flaw of being drawn to try fragrances if I like the name or if it’s being housed in a great looking bottle. There’s really nothing wrong with the name; I happen to love the color light blue. I’m kicking myself now now that it took me 15 years to give Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana a try.

One of the first things that I noticed after spritzing it on was a powerful amber accord and tart fruity notes. I definitely smell Granny Smith apple and citron. I think, though not 100% sure, that there is jasmine sambac and rose in the heart. But what I find most  remarkable about Light Blue is that the ambery, fruity top notes don’t really fade away. They whisper and linger for hours. The drydown has the added notes of woods and musk but the amber and apple/citron still shine brightly in the equation.

The nose behind the fragrance is Olivier Cresp.  Cresp has produced a numerous winning scents such as Angel by Thierry Mugler and Black Opium by Yves St. Laurent.

So why has Light Blue been on the “most popular” list for so many years? Trying to figure out what made it a best-selling fragrance was actually my reason for trying it, never imagining that I’d actually like it. I don’t shy away from writing  negative reviews of the scents I find I find disappointing.  Look to my review of Juliette Has A Gun Not a Perfume if you want evidence.

My conclusion:

It smells uplifting and is extremely versatile. You can wear it for work or going out to dinner, or just using it as a pick-me-up on a lazy Sunday while binge-watching something on Netflix or Amazon Prime. It’s very light and clean smelling but it has that hypnotic amber/woodsy/musky element. There’s also a unique quality of being both energizing and calming. Although it’s sold as a “for woman” scent (they later came out with a “he” version), many men enjoy wearing it.

There are not that many good fragrances out there that are affordable. Many perfumes that sell for three times the price don’t deliver what this does.

I still think the bottle is very meh. So many mediocre perfumes with gorgeous bottles and packaging deliver far less.