Review | Escada Cherry in the Air Eau de Toilette

New to Escada’s limited edition summer fragrances is Cherry in the Air.

Inspired by summertime cherry-picking on a bicycle in the Provençal countryside (depicted whimsically on the packaging by illustrator Margot Mace), this new scent features notes of black cherry, raspberry, mandarin, as well as gardenia, coconut orchid, marshmallow (how fun!), sandalwood, oak and musk.

Here’s its composition, according to the brand:

Head Notes – The scent opens with enticing top notes of black cherry and juicy raspberry, brimming with summer ripeness, while a hint of underlying mandarin lends an energising burst of citrusy freshness.

Heart Notes – In the heart, the lightness of gardenia petals is enriched with the gourmand creaminess of coconut orchid and warm vanilla. Blending with the tempting marshmallow note, which is built around a flavour molecule, this playful accord gives the fragrance its unique character.

Base Notes – In the dry-down, comforting sandalwood, oak and musks blend with a creamy white suede accord that reinforces the alluring nature of the scent.

It opens with a juicy tang but settles into a surprisingly moody cherry-laced musk on me. It’s pretty linear for the most part and doesn’t change much along the course of the day. For an eau de toilette, it lasts fairly long, especially in my hair where I like to mist it.

It’s thankfully not a typical floral-fruity fragrance but isn’t a must-have for me. Based on its name, I’d hoped that it would have an effervescent sourness balanced with a sweet accord, a flighty character, really; yet despite seeming like a cheery scent, it doesn’t quite hit the mark for me. What it does have, though, is a joyful appeal on first spritz and an-almost sensuous allure that comes through when it settles, thanks to the anchoring woodsy quality.

In Singapore, this fragrance – available only in edt form – is priced at S$67 (30 ml), S$93 (50 ml) and S$117 (100 ml). Its accompanying body lotion is S$38 (150 ml).

Each perfume bottle, printed with cherries on the back, comes with a piece of fruit jewellery – a cute satin bow ring, the centre of which sits a white plastic charm illustrated with a pair of red cherries. :)