As a long time attendee of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York I have watched untold amounts of Swarovski crystal adorn almost everything that it could be applied to. Every season I always come away thinking that Swarovski knows how to add a special sparkle to almost everything. Everything that is except perfume. Sure there are many collector’s Swarovski encrusted flacons from many brands but Swarovski never went so far as to create the juice in the crystal studded bottle. 2011 signaled a change in that as in March of that year the first Swarovski branded fragrance, Aura, was released. Aura was a fragrance which brought to mind what people think when you say Swarovski to them; a bold bright fruity floral of a fragrance. This is the Swarovski experience when it is the star of the show so bright it leaves a crystalline aura around you.

When it comes to Swarovski I like it when designers use it less obviously. Still one of my favorite uses of it came from designer Prabal Gurung’s Fall 2010 collection seen above. As you look at it you’re probably asking yourself where the crystal is. What Mr. Gurung did was to subtly place them throughout the ostrich feathers and so when the model was walking the runway there were little sparkling explosions as she moved down the catwalk. It looked like tiny fireworks were exploding around her. The new fragrance release from Swarovski called Edition is a lot like that piece of couture I am describing. It doesn’t obviously sparkle but as you wear it there are glittering moments throughout its development.

Pierre Aulas and Sonia Constant were the team to bring Swarovski Edition to life and their inspiration piece was the Swarovski Star Shadow clutch bag made exclusively for their celebrity clients at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. This is most evident in the design of the bottle but also in the design of the fragrance as the perfumers, just like the clutch, made the middle of Edition where things get very intense and glittery as rose and gardenia provide the heartbeat. It is a subtly sparkly fruity floral with a great amount of style.

M. Aulas and Mme Constant chose to have each phase of Edition be a duality of notes. The pairing in the top notes is clementine and red currant. The clementine is that intensely sweet citrus complimented by the jammy heavier quality of the currant. Here the clementine is the crystal to the currant’s solidity. The heart is made up of rose and gardenia. The rose is a very gentle application of rose and it is delicate and lilting; the real force is the gardenia as the perfumers capture the flower, the greenery, and a bit of the woodiness. This is again done with a finesse that I rarely come across in mainstream fragrances. The base is made up of clean cedar and something all too often found in mainstream fragrances, white musk. Very often it is this single note which turns the tide from pleasant to unpleasant for me. In the case of Edition M. Aulas and Mme Constant tame this unruly beast and send out a purring silky version of it in the base of Edition and this time I really found it to be very pleasant to find it in my perfume.

Swarovski Edition has average longevity and average sillage.

It becomes harder and harder for me to recommend mainstream fragrances as they all seem to coalesce into a fruity floral mass of similarity. I think Edition manages to stand out from that crowd and when someone asks me for a recommendation I’m going to tell them to follow the sparkle to Swarovski Edition.

Disclosure: This review was based on a press preview sample provided by Clarins Fragrance Group USA.

Thanks to our friends at the Clarins Fragrance Group USA we have a spectacular draw of fifteen(!) full bottles of Swarovski Edition to giveaway. To be eligible leave a comment naming your favorite Swarovski thing or something you would like to add Swarovski to. We will draw fifteen winners on August 19, 2012 via random.org.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

Editor’s Note: If you don’t win one of the bottles Swarovski Edition will be making its debut on September 6, 2012 at Fashion’s Night Out exclusively at Swarovski Stores