I know that here at Scents of Self, we sometimes give Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez (the authors of Perfume: The Guide) a bit of a hard time. It’s all in good fun, of course, but I have to say that they make it fairly easy for me by always being wrong. Take their review of Superworld Unknown, which would have you believe that this fragrance is a “classical oriental descended from Emeraude.” Really? Huh. Because I could have sworn that it smelled like gummy bears. Now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This is a solidly three-star fragrance. But it is most certainly not classical or oriental, unless I’ve been eating the wrong kinds of gummy bears.
So what is Superworld Unknown, besides the most ridiculously named perfume since Mariah Carey’s Lollipop Bling? It’s a sweet gourmand fragrance with an absolutely beautiful orange blossom note. This is probably the most I’ve ever liked orange blossom in a perfume, which means that true orange blossom lovers should stay far away from it. I almost never like orange blossom fragrances because I usually find them entirely too syrupy. Unfortunately, this lovely orange blossom does not combine particularly well with the strong lime note that follows. There’s some nice sandalwood in the drydown. It smells a little like being in the bath bomb section of a Lush store (the bath bombs give off a lot of powder).
Like many of Lush’s Gorilla Perfume line, Superworld Unknown is sometimes pretty and sometimes merely odd. Despite the otherworldly name, I don’t find Superworld Unknown to be as evocative or transportive as some of Lush’s other fragrances. To be honest, I mostly wrote this review just so that none of you poor perfumistas would buy Superworld Unknown under the mistaken belief that it was the Second Coming of Emeraude. Oh, Luca and Tania, you crazy kids.
SCENTS OF SELF 
I have never had the opportunity to try vintage Emeraude, either new reformulation one.
Gummy bears… hmm, that’s interesting.
Recently while wearing Chanel n5 Eau Première, a friend of mine told me that it was like she was getting whiffs of this kind of confectionery: http://www.golopark.com/catalog/images/Lenguas%20Fresa.jpg
I haven’t tried those before, but I can’t imagine they taste much like Eau Premiere!! Other people’s noses can be so funny.
You know I lurve me some vintage Emeraude – but I was not in the LEAST interested in trying Superworld Unknown. Those crazy kids.
Haven’t had a chance to check out GeM’s candy link, but Eau Premiere is very orangey, IMO. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; I like EP – but I think both the aldehydes and the musk have a citrusy cast, which is interesting.
Oh. Those candies are not orange. Oh, well.
Awww, you tried to make it work! I suspected that you of all people would not be pleased by the Emeraude comparison, Mals.
I love Superworld Unknown! Whenever I wear it my brain puts “limecottoncandyseaairbeach” on repeat. It’s just interesting to see how the perfumes work so differently on everyone. On my Imogen Rose smells of lovely roses and ambrette, while on a co-worker it smells like straight up baby powder.
No where at all do I get Emeraude…old or new. (I had to go and read their entry after reading your review.) Part of me wonders if this version of Superworld Unknown has gone through any reformulation since its B Never Busy to Be Beautiful days.
A fan speaks!!! Thank you for your description of Imogen Rose, now I’ll have to try it. It’s certainly possible that Superworld Unknown has been reformulated (and if it has, it sounds like I would have liked the first version better!), but there are quite a few LT and TS reviews that make me wonder if they even smelled the perfume at all.
I mean, after Superworld Unknown, my favorite of the bunch was Ladyboy…then The Smell of Weather Turning. I’m a bit all over the place! 🙂
I’ve also given Ladyboy the nickname Porcelain after Kurt Hummel in Glee. I accidentally called it Porcelain to a customer, then had to explain…
I love Kurt. Ladyboy, on the other hand, sounds so… bizarre… from the notes description that I can’t imagine I’d like it.
I think Kurt would ROCK some Iris Poudre. Or maybe a tuberose. Or Portrait of a Lady.
Gummy bears!! *loves it because it is true* Want one? They’ve been in my pocket awhile, so they’re nice and warm… 😀
Om nom nomz!!! 🙂
I am getting lime, basil and mandarin Opal Fruit. Am I imagining the basil? Actually, it could well be the “seaairbeach” accord Kathleen mentions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starburst_(candy)
It’s not unknown – it’s familiar and chewy!
Maybe the Coty re-creation of original Emeraude that Luca and Tania sniffed at the Coty 100th anniversary party smelled like gummy bears.
Maybe original early 1900s Emeraude had a gummy bear top note that has decayed in all extant bottles. All this time, we’ve been missing the glorious gummy bear note.
I hope you can tell I’m joking.
Francois Coty frigging loved gummy bears. True story!
You saying you dont like lollipop bling?
I love Superworld Unknown – has some of my favourite-in-the-world smells tied up in it: the smell of fresh-cut limes and that salty, unfettered, wide-open-spaces smell you get when you know the beach is right around the next bend but you can’t quite see the water. And then there is that touch of sugary caramel. Mouthwatering! It reminds me of childhood summers I think, of going to the beach with my cousins then getting hungry and mooching along to the corner shop (or dairy, as we called it in NZ) and tucking into a lemonade iceblock while still all salty from swimming. It’s definitely my go-to perfume if I need to remember that summery, free, without a care feeling; great for this UK summer that isn’t.
As for the name – is due to it being inspired by the Swedish singer Karin Park. She has a song called Superworldunknown…
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