Charming, Sweet, and Fleeting

I have to admit that when I tried Imaginary Authors' The Complete Works discovery set, I was most excited to try this one. I was hoping for a beautiful mint fragrance a la ELDO You or Someone Like You, but I was so disappointed. It was certainly not bad, but WHERE WAS MY MINT? It was this sort of sweet-syrupy boozy watery fragrance, and it was not what I was seeking at the time. So, I gave the sample away and went along with my life.

Months later, though, I found myself thinking about Saint Julep again. There was something about it that kept calling me back to it, some sort of feeling that made me miss it. So I said to heck with it and purchased a full bottle. When it arrived, and I sprayed it on again after all those months, everything made sense. I think my problem was that I was only willing to judge it for its minty character. In truth, Saint Julep is an absolutely charming fragrance, not very minty, but with a nice hint of mint playing in the background.

This is a perfectly unisex perfume with poor longevity, decent initial projection and sillage (that both fade quickly), and a beautiful bottle. And yes, if you expect a wonderfully powerful mint as I did, you will probably be disappointed. But the mint is definitely there lending a crucial brightness to this overall sweet and boozy perfume. I think it does solidly evoke its namesake. It deserves a place in my collection not because it's my favorite, but because it grew on me and I find it charming... not unlike some of my best friends!

With all of this said, I do love it but I think it's a poor value at the price point. Your best bet is clearance at discounters, but samples abound and the IA discovery sets are fun (and I say this as someone who downright hated most of the samples in The Complete Works). Give it a try, but just keep your mintxpectations managed!