Another year, another Ralph. Ralph Wild is the fifth in the Ralph by Ralph Lauren franchise, and the tag line goes like this...

Welcome to the wild state, where the air is fresh and juicy, skin is warm and alluring, and you can let your true self run free...Go Ralph Wild.

The Ralph series, like the Ralph by Ralph Lauren sportswear line from which it takes its name, aims for a younger demographic than the regular Ralph Lauren line; the fragrances, geared towards 15-25 year olds, are generally pleasant if not startlingly original. Still, despite the fact that Ralph Wild was announced as a fruity floral, I expected from the "Wild" part that they might do something a little edgier and au courant with this one, perhaps a touch of something dark in the base?

Nope. Ralph Wild stays firmly in the comfort zone: it is sparkling and youthful, and smells emphatically pink. The top notes are fresh and fizzy, with lots of sweet fruit (mostly strawberry; the other notes include watermelon, cherry blossom, pink peppercorn, red petals, jasmine, amber, sandalwood and musk), and for a brief time, it reminds me of a fruity soda. That fades into the blur of sheer, faceless flowers over clean woody musk that you generally find in a fruity floral geared towards the youth market.

If you're after a pink-ish fruity floral, Ralph Wild is pleasant and wearable. One of the things I like about the Ralph by Ralph Lauren collection is that while they're sweet, they're not usually overly so (Ralph Hot being an exception), and Ralph Wild keeps the candy under control despite staying remarkably fruity straight through to the end. There isn't anything in the least wild about it, and coming as it does at the tail end of the fruity floral trend, it can't help but smell a bit generic — is there anything much new that can be done with strawberry and "red petals" at this point? Personally, my favorite of the lot is last year's Ralph Rocks, which seemed to have a bit more personality, but Ralph Wild is fine for what it is.

Ralph Wild by Ralph Lauren is available in 30, 50 and 100 ml Eau de Toilette, and can be found at Sephora and department stores.

Update: Ralph Wild was developed by perfumers Olivier Gillotin and Jim Krivda. (via cosmeticnews)