Everyone and their mama reviewed Emporio Armani’s Power of You before I even got to it.
It was all over #FragranceTok, in every Sephora savings event haul video, and in every “this is my summer signature” caption I scrolled past. And when something reaches that level of saturation before I’ve even touched a tester, it usually does one of two things. I either get FOMO, and need to get my hands on it immediately, or I ignore it altogether because I want to wait until the hype has died down to see if people will still be talking about it weeks/months later.
For this one, I fell on the latter half, so I finally gave it a proper wear. And I will admit, without any hesitation, that everyone was right. This might actually be the banger of the summer.
On my skin, the opening leans orange-heavy before the passion fruit takes over, and there’s a sourness to it right at the start that I actually love. That sour edge is what keeps it from smelling like every other fruity fragrance. From there, the passion fruit settles in and it is so convincing. This isn’t that synthetic tropical that turns into teenage body spray, which is what I expected. This is photorealistic passion fruit, in all of its juiciness and ripeness.
If you’ve ever had a passion fruit popsicle with a creamy vanilla center, that comparison is the closest I can get. The same sharp fruit and creamy sweet combination, except it reads sophisticated on the skin rather than like something you’d find in a gas station candy aisle.
I never really get the frangipani as a distinct floral on my skin. What I do get in the mid is something slightly green and a little fizzy, almost like a cold passion fruit drink on a hot day, and I think that might be the closest it comes to showing up. The whole thing runs sweet and jammy from the start, but the vanilla doesn’t fully show up until the dry down, and when it does it just deepens everything that’s already there. Longevity sits around 4 to 5 hours on me, and I’ll take that every single time (even though I’ve never been afraid to carry the bottle in my bag so I can do touch-ups throughout the day/night).
Why I love it: I have a lot of fragrances. I truly mean, a lot. And nothing I own smells like this, and I can’t say that about most releases this year. I didn’t expect a designer fragrance at this price to surprise me like this. Most fruity fragrances lose me somewhere in the mid and this one never does. At $78 for 30ml and $105 for 50ml, this is a very easy call. This is one of the few blind buys I’d actually stand behind right now.
Perfect pairings: I’ve been having a lot of fun layering this one, so here’s what’s been working. Cheirosa 40 on top of this is the combination I keep reaching for. It already has passion fruit and coconut in its own DNA so it feels less like layering and more like turning the volume up on one really good thing. Pair Flowerbomb underneath is the move if you want more floral out of this one. The rose, the jasmine, the tiger lily, all of that gives the frangipani something to attach to and it finally shows up in a way it simply doesn’t on bare skin. And for nights out, Mugler Alien Goddess underneath with Power of You on top. The vanilla and jasmine sambac in Alien Goddess warm the base and gently support the frangipani at the same time.
Final verdict: You can grab Emporio Armani Power of You at Macy’s, Nordstrom, or Sephora now. The 30ml is $78 and the 50ml is $105. If the hype had you hesitating the way it had me hesitating, stop that immediately.
The post ESScent Of The Week: Is Emporio Armani’s Power Of You Worth The Hype? We Tried It appeared first on Essence.
Author: Kimberly Wilson
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