Lidl Suddenly Madame Glamour Has Arrived! But Does it Smell Like Coco Mademoiselle?

Back in October we had the breaking news of madly exciting importance that Lidl were taking on the might of Uncle Karl and Chanel with their Suddenly fragrance brand's new Madame Glamour scent. But there was more to it than that: consumer trials on 100 women in the UK had determined that 90% had plumped for Lidl over Coco Chanel.

A €3.49 perfume over Chanel!?

Reeeeaaaaally? If we had beards, we'd be stroking them. As it is, we get them waxed off.

Anyway, happy day! A bottle of Suddenly Madame Glamour arrived by horse and carriage* the other day and I opened up its gorgeous wrappings **, feeling instantly transported to an island of bliss***.

I'd had an idea as to why this might have trumped Chanel in the scent stakes but I needed to have a sniff to see if my suspicious were confirmed. Now, let me lay all my cards on the table I got at Lidl and had to put together myself: I don't like Coco Mademoiselle. It's not a me perfume.

I don't like Suddenly Madame Glamour either but I now know why it did well in a test - it fits very well into the current trend for fruiticholi fragrances that so many youth and celebrity fragrances follow. And I thought it might, so I sprayed it into the cap and sniffed it that way. While it's not overly sugary-sweet, this is heavy on the chemical-oriental and has a bang of vanilla down deep that I'll never get along with.

That said, this isn't a bad take on Coco Mademoiselle though it's lighter, less rich and full-bodied (a newt on holiday in Tangiers; apples rotting in an old school desk****) and I suspect won't last on the skin as long.  If  you like the vanilla-sugar trend in perfumery then hey - head for the glamourous wooden pallets of your local Lidl on December 5th (the launch date) and have a look for yourself -  I have, hand on heart, smelled way, way worse perfumes recently.

This is pretty inoffensive as it goes - and for €3.49 I can see a lot of people loving all over it.  Will you give Suddenly Madame Glamour a sniff?

*the post; **cardboard box; ***I was still in my flat; ****props to anyone who knows the reference