* Canvas and Concrete goes on with an alcohol smell, feels a bit sticky, and has a bit of shine.
* After it dries a bit, there is still a slight smell which reminds me of glitter hairspray from Halloween before it softens to a subtle sweetness.
* Testing it – the initial effect is to amplify the top notes to prolong how long they last.
* The effect with a lighter eau de cologne and eau de toilette were remarkable – tripling and quadrupling the duration versus just spraying the scent itself.
* It didn’t work so well with heavier concentrations as the scents didn’t retain their integrity.
Summary: When I first saw Canvas & Concrete, it struck me as odd. I understand the use of a paint primer (coat the wall surface and provide a base layer to make the true color of the paint come through) and I know that girls often wear foundation, eye, and lip primers. Then I realized the goal was to create a barrier to delay the absorption of the scent into your skin. In theory, this would make the scent story more universal as it wouldn’t react to your skin chemistry immediately and it would wear the same on everyone. One of my favorite scents is Creed Acier Aluminum, but the refreshing metallic banana scent lasts all of an hour on my skin before it goes away. Spraying it over Canvas & Concrete, it was projecting for more than two hours and still present more than 4 hours later. The all-natural citrus fragrance Honore’s Trip lasts less than two hours on me, but with C&C it was still present more than six hours later. The problem comes when you put a heavier concentration eau de parfum on top of it – the scent changes. Sweeter notes are amplified greatly, and the darker/spicier notes are almost cancelled out. When my friend tried it with Marley Herod, it turned into an overly sweet Britney Spears scent. When I tried it with other heavier scents (Christian Dior Eau Noire, By Killian Rose Oud, Histoires de Parfums 1969), the scent story was quite different and felt cheapened. This actually isn’t surprising as the goal of this product is to make your scent last all day – a heavier perfume will already last all day on your skin – so no primer or amplifier is needed. If you prefer to wear lighter skin scents but want them to last longer, a $20 bottle of Canvas and Concrete would be a good investment. Also, if you have an oily or darker complected skin that “eats” light scents, this would be a good product to experiment with also.
Other opinions:
Refinery 29
Cybele Says
Chick Advisor
Blush and Beakers
Canvas and Concrete Fragrance Primer is available from their website and CO Bigelow.
Sample provided by publicist. Image courtesy of Canvas and Courtesy website.