Bad Influence- Alexander McQueen Kingdom & Heeley Figuier

I'm experimenting. I was wearing my beloved Heeley Figuier, which is an ultimate summer scent in its clean and green freshness when I felt a need to seriously spice it up. And I mean it when I say seriously.

My hand reached for my bottle of Kingdom (Alexander McQueen's first fragrance). If you follow the discussions on perfume blogs and message boards you know that it has a very questionable reputation and that it's often talked about in terms of body odor, truck stops and a high school locker room (the boys one, I presume). I have no idea why.

Honestly. I get the cumin note, but to my nose and on my skin there's nothing offensive about it. Or dirty, for that matter. It's a floriental, somewhat off-center, but blending cumin with orange blossom isn't that revolutionary, is it? It's a strong and quite bold scent. I used to think that it's more suited for cold weather, until I discovered that it really blooms in warm weather, and it's perfect for those steamy NYC nights when you need something that distracts the senses from the city's distinct aroma.

Layering Kingdom with the clean and pristine Heeley might have mellowed the former a bit, but it adds an edge to the latter. It loses the innocence and makes you think at what's hiding behind that fig leaf. I like it. A lot.