Katy Perry- Killer Queen

You know what's funny?

1. More than twenty years after Angel was launched, it keeps spawning caramelized fruitchouli clones, and people still buy them.
2. Katy Perry's 2013 Killer Queen (there's already a flanker, Killer Queen Of So Sheer) is not the worst of them.

Killer Queen was the beginning of Katy Perry's fragrance licensing deal with Coty. Her previous perfumes, Purr and Meow, were produced by another company. Is this an improvement? Kind of. Maybe.

The opening of Killer Queen has me begging for mercy. My entire life, or at least the part of it spent testing perfumes that smell like a cheap Coco Mademoiselle, pass in front of my eyes, and I regret all the time wasted not wearing Bandit. All I can smell are these plastic fruit covered in plastic burnt sugar, and it's identical to countless other perfumes I dislike.

We all smelled it before. Plum and berries, a vague idea of red flowers, all infused with sugar. Anything more than one spray is an overkill, but oddly enough the sillage and projection shrink rather quickly in the first hour or so, and Killer Queen becomes less lethal. The thick candied patchouli is still there, but it feels less obtrusive as it morphs into a generic and vague muskiness. But here's the thing: the late dry-down offers an unexpected softness that is quite woody and is just sweet enough to be cozy and kind of nice. It's not enough to justify wearing Killer Queen, but it is a redeeming quality of sort.

Notes: wild berries, plum, bergamot, red velvet flower (Celosia),Sambac jasmine, rainbow plumeria, cashmeran wood, patchouli and liquid praline.

Katy Perry- Killer Queen ($39, 1oz) is available at Sephora, Ulta, and Macy's .

Photo of Katy Perry from her One Of The Boys photoshoot.