By Kilian- Love And Tears (Surrender)

I was pretty sure that no matter how lovely the inspiration and back story for By Killian's new fragrance, Love And Tears (Surrender), I was not going to enjoy a jasmine soliflore. It's not that I'm completely anti-jasmine. I know well it's all about the blending and the quality of materials. I adore Ayala Moriel's Yasmin, after all, but Uncle Serge's A La Nuit and Keiko Mecheri's Jasmine, to name a couple, smell horribly screechy and cheap on my skin.

Calice Becker created Love And Tear for By Killian as an olfactory reflection of that cathartic moment when one lets go of fear and just seizes the moment. It's when you confess your love and go with it, whatever will be, will be. So romantic, so simple.

So what's in this bottle? Jasmine, of course. The quality of the raw material is superb, which makes Love And Tears incredibly smooth and streamlined, no indoles, no sharpness. There's something leafy green in there and a slightly resinous dry-down, both making the jasmine feel and smell even more natural. It feels like a real flower, just plucked from the stem. What can be more beautiful? Love And Tears is a lot softer than I expected. It's easy to wear even for a non jasmine-fiend. My skin gives it a very light sweetness, but it's mostly a mellow, non-soapy water-color like jasmine that doesn't try to take over the room. It lasts for long hours but hangs just above the skin, making this By Kilian a lot more introverted and intimate than I expected.

Bottom Line: Definitely more sweet surrender than Surrender, Dorothy. Probably not "me" enough to justify a full bottle, but if I had one I'd wear it.

By Kilian Love And Tears ($225, 50 ml) will be available from the usual suspects in September. MiN New York (minnewyork.com) already have the tester and they supplied the sample for this review.

Photo of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, one of the most bittersweet and romantic Hollywood couples, from Pempere on Flickr.