Forbidden Games
Kilian (2012)

Jolly Rancher peach fading to a hint of diaper-pail talc, rose hovers in the corner. I have no axe (pun not attended) to grind with focus-group crowd-pleasers and own & love a few of them myself. I do mind when a perfumer seems to not take their audience seriously. Was Calice Becker trying to recreate Tresor, or is this something one her assistants tossed out in one sleepless night? I swear I smelled this in a bottle of some Kylie Minogue throwaway. Just no.

Forbidden Games is a formula I usually am not drawn to, but really love. I completely appreciate people thinking this is a floral fruit bomb. But what I love most about this is the floral heart notes that cut through the fruitiness, and really anchor this as a playful and fun fragrance. Not to be taken to seriously, but rather enjoyed on casual days. I have really been loving this

Forbidden Games is basically, to me, a fruity floral wrapped snugly in a fuzzy blanket of powdery pink pepper and marshmallow vanilla. It's also got mint on top because, apparently, since Florabotanica came out, expensive fruity florals all have to have mint on top now.

Not terrible, but really derivative and unnecessary. I think this whole Kilian party girl collection is all about selling cute clutch purses and they intentionally dumbed down the perfumes themselves in order to appeal to a Las Vegas tourist customer base. Meh.

Forbidden Games is another completely synthetic (in a cheap and un-creative meaning) fruity-floral bomb, a galaxolide and ketones galore supported by vanillin. Fresh and sweet, loud and plain, dull and teenish. Unworthy any price above 10 dollars (please don't tell me how much it actually costs).

4/10

This is really generic diabetes inducing sweet fruity, terribly boring scent

Forbidden games opens with a plum-laced peach that can easily be confused with a tropical coconut and banana vibe. The overall opening accord is very reminiscent of many of the low-end tropical suntan oils you smell at drugstores. A somewhat sharp artificial apple note joins the party in the early heart, joining the peach as the plum recedes. After the opening and early heart, the scent turns quickly into a skin scent consisting of the remnants of the peach now mixed with a very subtle artificial smelling rose undertone floating on a very quiet and just slightly sweet mundane vanilla base. Projection is poor (with the exception of the open) and longevity is average.

Forbidden Games is definitely a disappointment. It smells good, but the smell is really so similar to Banana Boat Suntan Lotion that one just feels cheated with this composition by Becker who is capable of so much more. The dry-down is no better, as the vanilla used here is so generic and subtle it just comes off as a cheap cop-out that you might expect from a scent selling for 1/10th the price of this one at $245 for 50ml. While the fabulous container housing the juice is worthy of a scent with that price tag, its contents should be sold in the same drugstore as the suntan lotion it has cloned. One of the worst releases from By Kilian, Forbidden Games earns a disappointingly average 2.5 stars out of 5 outright, merits a value score of 1. Avoid this one and buy the Banana Boat oil instead as it provides much better bang for the buck...