I know PORTALS parfums is pretty irrelevant in this fandom nowadays, but a lot of people are purchasing their products for the first time now, including me, so I wanted to share my thoughts!
I bought these a week ago using the BOGO any purchase comes with a free fiery passion sale! I have a huge obsession with scented products and tend to be pretty picky so I'll be very honest with these!
First impressions
Shipping process wasn't as bad as other reviews made me fear it'd be! It was a bit strange though. The order didn't process for a few days despite me being given a shipment date as soon as I purchased. It took about three and a half days before I got nervous and emailed customer support, and I think I came off as a bit impatient 😭 but it shipped an hour after their response and arrived the very next day, which was the original arrival date given anyways so.... a win I guess? Maybe I was a bit paranoid lmao but I'm pretty poor so randomly getting scammed out of $60 was a terrifying thought!!!
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The packaging of these is extremely simple. The body sprays come in these thick cardboard rectangular boxes, pretty much the same ones that iPhones come in lol but in different colors. Fiery passion came in a little metal tin with black and green foam padding the inside and holding the fragrance well. Nothing was damaged which was another thing other reviews scared me about, unless you count womb being stuck 😭 I had to rip the box with my teeth a little bit just to get it open! Luckily I'm not a collector so I never intended to keep these in pristine condition, but I'd be very disappointed if I was. I don't hold this against the company at all I just think it was worth mentioning. Also, the boxes and the tin are VERY easy to soil. Fingerprints are very noticeable so lol be careful if you intend to display rather than use these.
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The bottles and vial are TINY! The vial is only filled in the colored glass part and the body sprays are a lot smaller than I imagined lol but I'm not too disappointed because they make up for it in ways I'll talk about later!
Fiery Passion 🔥
This one is probably the least unique, in fact I think I remember smelling something like this before. But that doesn't mean it's necessarily bad. As other reviews have said, it does smell extremely artificial and has a bit of a medical/hospital tone to it. Doesn't have any sort of natural vibe to it as I imagined it would. But honestly? I kind of like it! It's certainly the weakest of the three I got but I can't exactly complain when I got it for free lol, especially when I was expecting to not like it at all.
I don't know why, but it smells like the kind of perfume my teachers or the older women at church would wear. Weirdly nostalgic.
I haven't worn this one out as I want to let it mature before I wear it in public. I did test it on my wrist though and it smelled strongly of alcohol while still wet but dried into that medicine smell before it faded into my skin very quickly and became this suuper subtle sweet skin smell if that makes sense lol. Like in under two hours or so, but after that it barely fades until I wash it off. Definitely not the all-day strength and longevity many other reviews promised. (Sprayed only on my wrist)
Would I recommend this one? Ehhh...yes and no. While I do see its uses I probably won't be ordering it again unless it's free or heavily discounted. To me it's a very "certain occasions" only rather than a casual or everyday fragrance.
3.5/5 🌟
Womb🩷
This one was a bit of a rollercoaster to react to! It's very floral and powdery, it honestly reminds me of granny perfume. I thought it was gross at first but I think I'm growing to like it! I still think it smells like a grandma but it's comforting and elegant.
It smells like pure alcohol when first sprayed and wet and its really gross for a few seconds but it dries fast and immediately hits you with its sweetness. It fades really fast on clothes, but on skin? It's like glitter and does NOT go away until you wash it off!!! 😭 It's not incredibly strong nor is it super obvious but it stays for a loooooong time. I sprayed it on my neck and wrists immediately after a shower and right before bed, and the next morning it was still there! It was very very faint but I had to shower again to rid myself of it completely LMAO.
Would I recommend this one? Yes!!!! In my opinion it's the most versatile and would be great for layering or when you needs to keep things simple. If it wasn't so costly I'd wear it everyday and buy a new bottle each month lol.
4/5🌟
Moon Cycle 🌝
I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH RAHHHHHHHHH
EASY favorite!!! Maybe I'm biased because I love love looooove cherry based scents but wow this one is insane!!!! It smells a lot like a fancy new car with leather seats sprayed with cherry air freshener. It's not overly feminine but it's not masculine either, it's exactly how I imagine an androgynous scent would smell. It's also weirdly not bloody at all like a lot of reviews said. The metallic notes only really make it smell more like a new car than period blood lol.
This shouldn't even legally be called a body spray with how INTENSE it is, it's basically false advertising to call it a body spray! It's basically a perfume!! The moment you spray this one it kicks you in the face with how goddamn aggressive it is. For the first 30 minutes or so after spraying it you're a walking chemical weapon. The smell walks into a room five minutes before you do. I was told right after spraying that I could be smelled from across the ROOM. It smells strongly of cherry at first, but the cherry mellows out after a while and that's when it turns into a car smell with the faint essence of cherry but it's really really nice!! I wore it to work since the package arrived before I had to leave the house and I could still smell it on my clothes about 6 hours later, though I did wash my hands several times so maybe that's why it vanished from my skin so quickly.
Would I recommend this one? It's not for everyone but the girls who get it GET IT!!! This would so be my main scent if it was cheaper!! It's so nice smelling and has this bold main character vibe that SCREAMS "all eyes on me"! If you love cherry and the smell of leather get it get it get it do not let the reviews scare you like they almost did to me!!! PORTALS parfums execs please please please please never discontinue this body spray I would die instantly.
5/5🌟
Overall I am VERY happy with my purchase and I'll very likely be buying from PORTALS Parfums again next time they have a sale or if I'm ever in a better financial spot. The prices are very steep but I think the actual performance of the fragrances make up for it a ton with the exception of fiery passion.
If any of you are purchasing from the Parfums website for the first time because of the BOGO sale, let me know what you think of whatever you ordered!! I'm very curious about the other scents!!