Shine Heidi Shine! Heidi Klum’s New Fragrance, Shine

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This German girl loves me some Heidi Klum. I never miss an episode of Project Runway and I think she and Seal and so cute together. Coming from a German family myself I can see that she can be tough and bossy (like me) but also sweet and charming (like me) That said, I’m not a big fan of celebrity scents–it’s not that I’m too discriminating, Lord know I don’t have a sophisticated nose, it’s just they are usually too… well too. Too sweet, too spicy, too cloying, TOO something!

Here is what Ms. Klum has to say about creating Shine:

The Process: “It’s been a lot of back and forth with the perfumers because I’m quite anal. I couujldn’t really describe it as flowers. It was more emotions, feelings.”

The Scent: “I didn’t want something that was super-sweet. I wanted sensual. That was my main word. I didn’t want clean. I want to smell like a woman. I wanted something that is long-lasting but not hovering.”

The Name: “Why did I call it Shine? My husband had a little bit to do wiht it. I get dressed a lot for my husband. A lot of times he’d say ‘You’re beautiful. You shine.’ It’s a very beautiful word, a positive word.”

On Fragrance: “It kind of competes your look, even though you can’t see it. It’s kind of like the underwear that you wear that people can’t see.”

The top notes:

Mandarin
Pink Peppercorn
Pear Williams

Heart Notes:

Mimosa Absolute
Muguet ( lily of the valley)
Sunflower

Dry Down:

Vanilla
Tonka Bean Venezuela
Musk Cosmone

The bottle is quite pretty with a wave pattern in an oval shape. The square gold top lends a bit of class to it, especailly with the fragrance name embossed on it.

Shine is dubbed an oriental floral. When I think of an oriental fragrance, I think of a lot of sharp, spicey notes which I don’t find in Shine–there is a bit of spice with the addition of the pink peppecorn note, but not overly so. Instead, it is a very feminine, powdery scent that leans very warm and creamy thanks to the vanilla. It is also billed as sensual which I don’t agree with. I feel the powdery notes cancel out the sensuality, but that’s just me.

Shine is not what I was expecting–most Celebrity fragrances, especailly those found in drugstores overdo it. It’s a pleasant surprise that Shine is a subtle, spohisticated scent. While at work, a co-worker came by my desk and asked if I could please come into her office again–she loved the fragrance I was wearing and could smell it as I left her office–she wanted another sniff! So, the sillage is present which also isn’t the case with most drugstore fragrances. Shine wins more high marks for it’s lasting power–I got a good 5-6 hours out of it. My pet peeve with fragrance is when it disappears quickly.

Overall: Shine’s warm coziness begs it to be worn in fall, with boots and a knit scarf. If you like warm, feminine scents that are for a sophisitaced woman rather than teenybopper sweet scents, give Shine a try! A great job for Heidi’s first attempt (although she has released other fragrances in other countries, this is her first in the US). No chance of Heidi Klum getting auf’d with this scent!

Shine is available in these sizes EDT 0.5oz $17.00; EDT 1.0oz $28.00

Heidi Klum Shine is now available at Rite Aid and other mass-market retailers across the nation. For more information, visit heidiklumfragrance.com. I’m told there may be a coupon offer through Rite Aids Facebook page, so check it out.

Prime Beauty Grade: B