FRAGRANCE | The Essences range from H&M: Fast fashion cheapies

In the world of fragrances from fast fashion brands, Zara seems to be getting all the love—and for good reason. For one, I personally love Rich / Warm / Addictive from their Tobacco Collection, and I know many more swear by their multitude of offerings.

Now how does rival H&M fare in this league? I tried all 5 fragrances from the Swedish brand's The Essences range, 1 of 3 groups of fragrances in a larger collection of 25. All 5 are available in EDP and perfume oil formats, and were created by Oliver Pescheux, the same nose behind Paco Rabanne 1 Million, Herod by Parfums de Marly, Tempo by Diptyque, and many more.

The bottles are really cute, especially when you have a bunch of them together. The short, rounded design exudes playfulness although the sprayer can be a little stiff. As to price, this particular range is a tad more expensive than Zara's. In H&M's Philippine stores, each 50ml EDP costs around Php 999 while a 10ml perfume oil sells for Php 599.

Here's a rundown of all 5 scents.

Makassar Patchouli
With a strong patchouli opening and very fleeting hints of sharp citrus, Makassar Patchouli stays true to its name. It's dark, woody, and earthy but not exactly dirty, as there's a little warm, ambery-vanillic sweetness tossed in.

After a few minutes, lavender adds some freshness into the mix. The patch somehow softens as a result, becoming a little more approachable and carrying with it a mild, powdery character. It's not a unique scent, to be honest, but it's executed well, especially for the price. Projection is fairly good for about 2 hours, then slowly descends into a skin scent. Longevity is about 4 hours on average, give or take.

Les Cayes Vetyver
This one has a sweet, citrusy, and green opening. It's nice, bright, and quite refreshing. Unlike some vetiver-based fragrances that border on dark and smoky (Hermès Bel Ami Vetiver comes to mind), the vetiver here is neither smoky or overly earthy. It's more on the clean side of things, carrying a vibe akin to Tom Ford Grey Vetiver.

After several minutes, more of the vetiver comes forward while still retaining its clean and transparent persona, assisted by that sweet, citrus accord. Les Cayes Vetyver is linear but pleasant and easy to like. Projection is decent but weakens considerably after an hour. Stays on skin for maybe 4 hours on average.

Rose Absolute
Without a doubt, Rose Absolute is all about rose. It opens with a strong, sharp rose, accompanied by an oud-ish costar. The rose is sweet and dark, with that sharp overtone refusing to let go. It's not unique and in fact smells very familiar, like many a rose and oud fragrance before it. It's pretty much linear but with an overall strong projection. Longevity is at least 4 hours or more.

Comoro Ylang
Alongside its namesake ylang-ylang, this fragrance opens fresh with some white flowers, presumably jasmine. It's slightly sweet but the scent remains bright, fresh, and light. Comoro Ylang has this wonderfully clean, floral vibe that's arguably feminine-leaning.

Several minutes later, the florals sort of melt together, the sweetness amped up a bit, all while losing some of that clean and fresh feeling in the process. I'm not sure if it's just the format—roll-on oil rather than spray—but it doesn't project much. Nevertheless, you can smell it very well up close. Lasts around 4 hours.

Santalum
I'm not sure if, again, it's the oil format but instead of a nice and creamy delight, what I get instead is a really oily sandalwood. I'm equally unsure if the oil base has gone somewhat rancid, considering it took me months before wearing this. Either way, I still get sandalwood, with that typical pencil shavings scent still coming through despite all that oiliness.

Some perceptibly green notes join in after a few minutes, along with faint traces of white florals. They brighten the scent up a bit. A light sweetness follows and the scent sheds some of that oily feel I got in the opening. Santalum has weak projection, at least in this format. It lasts around 4 hours but in my experience gets reignited by a little body heat even beyond that time frame.

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All in all I find this fragrance range from H&M just okay, although I'm liking Makassar Patchouli and Les Cayes Vetyver enough despite their average performance. No, they don't break any new grounds here but they present respectable alternatives at relatively cheaper prices for the average consumer. And that's fine. Don't be a snob and check them out at a store near you. Who knows what you'll end up liking?