Good Girl Eau de Parfum Discovery Set

Trying before committing is the entire argument for Carolina Herrera Good Girl Eau de Parfum Discovery Set, and with a fragrance this divisive that argument is a strong one.

The scent is not a quiet one. Almond opens it, nutty and dry with a bitter edge rather than any sweetness, and it gives little warning of what is coming. Jasmine and tuberose then fill the middle out, the jasmine warm and heady, the tuberose creamy and dense with that faintly rubbery coolness white flowers bring, and the pair are unapologetically loud. The base is where the fragrance makes its reputation: tonka bean soft and sweet with a dusty quality to it, and cocoa used dry and bitter rather than as chocolate, so what lingers is both rich and slightly savoury.

The perfumers were Louise Turner and Quentin Bisch, working in 2016 with five materials in total.

A small format set is the right way to meet this. At eau de parfum strength the fragrance lasts eight hours or more and projects firmly, so a few millilitres goes a long way and gives you several full wearings, which is what you need to judge a perfume properly. A single sniff on a card tells you almost nothing about how the cocoa and tonka behave on skin after four hours. It is made for women, it suits evenings and cold weather, and the small bottles are also easy to carry when travelling. Buy it to decide, then buy the size you want.

The house is a fashion name from New York founded by Carolina Herrera, who was born in Venezuela and showed her first clothing collection in 1981. Fragrance began in 1988 under a Spanish licence held by Puig, which bought the clothing division in 1995.