PWI: Rimmel London Burgundy Flirt, or, an interesting cheat; plus! L'Occitane Neroli

Well, I was going to do Rimmel London Burgundy Flirt. But... here's the thing. I just did UO Spiked Punch, and they're the absolute same. Really. Same creme/jelly* formula, same effort, same final color. The interim color was a bit different, but who cares? I had originally convinced myself that RL BF was a teeny bit browner, but, you know... it's not. So, they're BOTH going in the PWI bin.

I will not insult your intelligence with additional pictures.

So instead I will talk about perfume again! (wheee)

First, and important, there are two formulations of this, old and new. This is important because it is true of MANY perfumes (and some other cosmetics). This is because of either IFRA requirements (suuuuch a useless link) or EU requirements; basically, both have the same aim, which is eliminating perfume constituents that people are allergic to.

As a hopelessly pan-allergic creature myself, I love it. I never ever ever want my perfume to interfere with someone's ability to breathe. (This is also part of why I favor low-sillage** perfumes.) But, a number of pre-existing perfumes had to be reformulated to comply with one or the other, and how much they changed is extremely variable.

So, L'Occitane Neroli (bitter orange blossom).

Some eBay seller. Thanks dude and/or lady!

I have a sample of this, and I have no idea when it's from (I got it second-hand). My best guess is that it's the original: exactly what's shown above, a beautiful deep red. The newer versions seem lighter, plus I haven't seen a new one in a little box-let. The internet suggests that the pre- and post-reformulations are moderately different. Also it ... kind of smells allergenic?†

Review: y'all. I hate it.

I mean I can admire things about it! It has personality! It's interesting and not the same as a million other perfumes! It has novel notes and dry-down! Just... they're kind of a bad idea? (On me.)

It's a very unisex smell, but not in a very soapy way; bitter orange is strong, and it's backed by strong, strong cedar and spice (I get cloves and coriander). Sounds like it would be up my alley, but... it's chokingly strong. Like, after 20 minutes of a fairly mild spray, I couldn't take it anymore. Washing it off led to a lingering neroli/spicey/mildly soapy smell, tolerable... but not good.

This is someone's perfect perfume. Go, someone! (You can have my sample.)

* I really need to get on a domain-jargon post
** reeeaaaallllyyyy 
† Look, it sounds pretty hippy-dippy. But when you've been this allergic for this long, you actually start to be able to smell when certain things are a bad idea. I'm not crazy.