I am still continuously surprised by how strong the associations between scent and memory can be. Escada Rockin’ Rio is really no different than any of the other fruity Escada fragrances, but I consider it to be my Escada because it was my very first perfume. Rockin’ Rio was a juicy pineapple fragrance, a cheerful ray of sunshine during my gloomy middle school years. Yes, I confess (with only minimal amounts of shame) that in middle school I was a wannabe goth girl. Young Ari was extremely impressionable (this has not actually changed much), and I enthusiastically adopted the hideous chain-pants and the truly terrible heavy metal music that all of my friends were into. Some advice for very impressionable, very short middle schoolers: Do not go to heavy metal concerts. You will be trampled.
Thankfully, there is no remaining photographic evidence of the pants. The purple hair, however, is well-documented.
Rockin’ Rio was an unlikely accompaniment to my purple hair and wardrobe of overpriced Hot Topic shirts. It is now an unlikely member of my perfume collection, where it is probably the least sophisticated scent I own. So how is this recent reissue of Rockin’ Rio different from the original? To my nose, that delightful initial blast of pineapple is still the same. This new version seems to fade out more quickly than I remember, but it is hard to say whether that is because Escada changed the formula or because my skin is much drier than it used to be. Whatever the reason, lasting power is a serious issue for this fragrance. I get only ten minutes of full enjoyment out of Rockin’ Rio before it begins to fade away. The scent is completely gone within an hour. Even at $43 for 1 oz, I still find that unreasonable.
SCENTS OF SELF 
Hehe, I enjoyed reading about this fruity skeleton in your Goth cupboard! I had purple hair too – it was crinkly as well. This was part of a New Romantic rather than a Goth look, and I teamed the billowing black pirate pants with a matching purple cummerbund and suede pixie boots…LIke you, thankfully the only remaining photographic evidence is of the hair.
I do hope Zelda is getting a modelling fee?
OMG, that sounds amazing. Did you have a hair crimper?? I definitely had a hair crimper.
No modeling fee for this already spoiled kitty. As Patrick Stewart said in my favorite Star Trek-related episode of Family Guy, “YOU’LL GET NOTHING AND LIKE IT!!!”
Love that quote! No, I had myriads of tiny plaits. **Follicular faffing at its finest…**
: – )
I had that hair. 🙂 Manic Panic, anyone?
Oh yes, I was a Manic Panic girl too. I have always suspected that perfume bloggers have a lot more in common than just their love of perfume.
hahaha!!! I love the kitten-way leitmotiv you are showing the perfumes!
I don’t know about this Escada, but your purple hair rocks
Thank you so much! I actually thought the purple color was the most successful out of all the weird colors I tried, but my mom made me change it right away. But the joke was on her: the chemicals they used to strip the purple from my hair made it green!!!
so :(…well, in the picture you look absolutely purple-smelling!! that kind of violets = C’est un pur bonheur à l’Après l’Ondée !! 😀
Purple hair? Check! (for no special reason, not as a part of any particular image, just because those hair coloring products became available where I lived at that impressionable age) Escada perfume? Check! Mine is Magnetism. I still have a little left in my bottle but I didn’t touch it in the last several years.
Are we secretly the same person??? How did you like Magnetism? It is one that I frequently see at TJ Maxx and other discount stores.
I liked Magnetism enough to go through ~40 ml of it but I’m not sure I still like it… I’ll check it out next spring, but I don’t think you’re missing much.