Duchess

Carolina Herrera's Good Girl paired a bold, high-heel-shaped bottle with an equally confident fragrance: juicy red berries, lychee and bergamot up top, a velvety rose and jasmine heart softened with almond blossom, and a warm tonka bean, vanilla, sandalwood and amber base that made it one of the most recognisable modern feminines. Duchess borrows the same architecture note for note. The fruity opening is a fair likeness, bright and a little tart in the same way as the original, and the rose-jasmine heart carries the recognisable floral core through. Where it loses ground is in the base: Good Girl's tonka-vanilla-sandalwood blend has a rounded, almost caramelised warmth that reads expensive, while Duchess's version comes across simpler and sweeter in a more one-note way, without the same depth. Projection is also noticeably shorter, settling to a close skin scent within a few hours rather than the original's longer-lasting sillage. A fair way to sample the fruity-gourmand-floral idea before deciding whether to invest in the real thing.