P.S. I Love You is the latest fragrance release from Bath & Body Works, and it takes its place in the “Romantics” family of the company’s Signature Collection. It was developed by perfumer Dave Apel, who designed the fragrance as a “modern experience” of the rose. In this respect, Bath & Body Works is joining the trend that Stella started in 2003 (has it been that long?!). The company still seems to be hedging its bets, perhaps fearing that a rose perfume might be judged too old-fashioned by its target audience: roses don’t appear in the fragrance’s name or label, and in the website photos, the bottles are accompanied by flowers that could just as easily be peonies as roses. There’s a similar fear of commitment, so to speak, in the promotional text. Early press releases described P.S. I Love You as a scent of “timeless love” and “heartfelt love,” but the company website now calls it “Our flirtiest fragrance ever!”
Everyone has his or her own ideas about love, but I’d personally place this fragrance beyond the initial, giggly glow of a first date and into the more comfortable, intimate zone of an established romance. Its official list of notes includes “Fresh Citrus, Lychee, Peony, Yellow Rose, Sparkling Riesling, Scarlet Velvet Rose, Orchid, Purple Lilies, Jasmine, Hypnotic Incense, Creamy Sandalwood, Patchouli, Golden Amber, and Musk.” Reading that list, I expected a clone of Stella, so I was happy to find that this fragrance does have a personality of its own; not a dramatic or adventurous personality, but a pleasant one nonetheless.
P.S. I Love You's introduction is bright and just a little bit juicy, and reminds me fleetingly of Rose d’Été from Les Parfums de Rosine. A fruity wine note quickly emerges — this must be the Riesling idea — but it manages not to be cloyingly sugary. Then another transition leads the fragrance from a winey rose into a lightly musky rose with a tart edge. The dry down is a warm, slightly sweet rose-peony-sandalwood blend that stays fairly close to the skin. And, fading in and out, there’s an amber note that has a cocoa-powder aspect to it. This fragrance has medium staying power, and you can apply it freely without worrying about too much sillage. The Eau de Toilette’s bottle design (see above left) is unusually abstract for Bath & Body Works: its “hand-written” name is enlarged and cropped across a shaded background.
This fragrance has also been formulated as a limited edition Eau de Parfum (see above right), another innovation for the brand. The Eau de Parfum’s bottle is inspired by antique inkwells and paperweights, and when you look down at it, you’ll see a quotation “written” within the bottom of the bottle: “In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities.” (This must be the first time the Hungarian poet János Arany has been cited in a beauty-product scenario.) This concentration is heavier on the powdery amber, which starts sooner and stronger, and its dry down has an added peppery-rose note.
Overall, if you pick up P.S. I Love You expecting a lush, earthy rose like Frederic Malle Une Rose or a complex, spicy rose like Guerlain Nahéma, you’ll probably be disappointed. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for an easy-to-find, versatile red-rose scent priced under $50, P.S. I Love You is well worth trying. I prefer it to several other mainstream rose fragrances, such as Bvlgari Rose Essentielle or Givenchy Very Irrésistible (both of which have always felt sharp and thin to me). In terms of wearability and value, I’d compare it with the more gourmand, tonka-and-patchouli based Rose Absolue from Yves Rocher.
I’m curious to see how P.S. I Love You will do at Bath & Body Works; it’s richer and more perfume-like than the company’s various “Fresh” scents, but far more subtle than Warm Vanilla Sugar, for example. It should appeal most to the over-21 demographic, which is always a welcome turn of events in mass-market fragrances as far as I’m concerned.
P.S. I Love You Eau de Toilette and Eau de Parfum are flanked by the usual array of Signature Collection body products and home fragrance, all labeled with a 1980s-style watercolor-heart motif, as well as limited edition items like a box of note-cards and a CD of love songs. It’s also nice to see the company offering a trial-size bottle of Eau de Toilette, paired with a small body lotion in a set titled “Love at First Sight.” Sometimes, you do need to ease into things slowly, in perfume as in romance.
Bath & Body Works P.S. I Love You Eau de Toilette sells for $29.50 for 75 ml; the Eau de Parfum is priced at $45 for 75 ml.
(Bath & Body Works is also holding a “Share the Love” contest; you can submit your own photo and “love story” for a chance to win a $500 Bath & Body Works gift card.)
Note: top left image is The Love Letter by Raimundo Madrazo via Wikimedia Commons; top right image is Rose on white by span at flickr; some rights reserved.
What an utterly opulent rose in the photo! Must go check out the photographer’s other stuff at flickr.
Well, you know me, the BBW-Ho and Rose Ho; I’ll make a trip to the mall soon to sniff this. There are no other body-product shops in my area, so it’s cause for rejoicing when BBW does something decent. Rose d’Ete is one of my favorites, and I like peony, never mind what certain people say about its being ditzy…
Every time I see that edt bottle in pictures – and you’re right on the money with the “80’s rainbow heart” description, Robin – I think of My Little Pony and graffiti-style writing on t-shirts. It was tacky the first time round, and it hasn’t gotten any better! The edp bottle is rather pretty, though.
Sorry, Jessica… I read too quickly and missed your byline! (Somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking, “But Robin doesn’t like rose, does she? That’s someone else…”
My teenage daughter thinks the hairstyles in my HS yearbooks are hilarious.
Not to worry! And yes, those HS photos can be really embarrassing!
Hi Mals86,
Do give it a try when you’re at the mall; it’s hard to find an *affordable* rose scent, and I’m tired of Stella, so I was happy to find out about this one. And yes, the logo reminds me of a line of greeting cards and posters from the 80s, by an artist named Flavia… funny how that decade is making such a strong comeback, all around.
It really is, and I giggle to myself every morning as my 13 yr old walks out the door dressed in all the things my mother never let me wear. Haha! I’ve decided to complete the effect by getting her hooked on all the movies my mother never let me watch (but my aunt and uncle did). Maybe for Christmas, I’ll get her some of this…or some Love’s Baby Soft.
Love’s Baby Soft was perfect for 13-year-olds when I myself was a junior-high student, and it still is, I think!
Oh lord, I wore Love’s Baby Soft everyday in JH. I also used a giant Bonnie Bell Lip Smacker in Dr. Pepper! They used to be as big as a magic marker, not the little size they are now. At the end of each class period my friends and I would whip out those huge Smackers and add another layer LOL. Ahhh good times, good times.
I was more of a grape Chap-Stik girl, but yes, fkavored/scented lip balm was a very important accessory!
I LOVED those HUGE Dr. Pepper lip smackers!!
confession: I still have Dr. Pepper & strawberry lip smackers all over the house! I wear lip smackers to bed everynight…these lips will always be moisturized!!!
Oh, I had Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers too! ( I think I had given them up in around 6th grade, though.
)
Yep Mals, I was thinking the Lip Smackers were more elementary school too…along with the scratch-n-sniff stickers, rainbow colored erasers, and scented pens/crayons/etc. Jr. high was that awful blue eyeshadow, and while my sister wore Love’s, I wore Jovan Whisper of Musk, and everyone else around us wore Giorgio Red or Colors of Benetton.
Boo, I’d love to know what movies your mother never let you watch.
Joe – My parents were overprotective, conservative Catholics. In other words…if it wasn’t rated G, we probably didn’t see it unless dad twisted mom’s arm. So, we saw Star Wars and Indiana Jones, but all the John Hughes flicks were out of the question. Thank goodness for summer stays with the cousins!
I hear you. Half our town had that newfangled “cable TV” (aka: smut channels) and our part of town did not, and the VCR was practically under lock and key. My dad had issues. Didn’t make a bit of difference as to how we turned out as far as I’m concerned.
We lived in the country, so not even an option of cable… and I think I was in high school when the old 19″ black and white was finally replaced. Forget a VCR…what would anyone do with one of those?
boojum, in the “always listen to your mother” category, back in high school I sneaked out of the house one night to see The Exorcist. Didn’t sleep for a week.
My parents had the same G rating rule, although in our case it was Southern Baptist rather than Catholic. I was absolutely forbidden to watch MTV and Saturday Night Live, and was always getting left out of the Monday morning “Did you see John Belushi?” and “Did you see that Madonna video?” conversations.
Needless to say, college was a whole different world.
oh, and you can forget Madonna and John Belushi……we didn’t even watch Happy Days!
Boo– how could you do that to your poor hubby? Hee Haw could cause serious mental damage…..you’ll only have yourself to blame if he suddenly starts shouting out “Salll-looot!” And trust me, that’d be way worse than say, bursting out with a stanza of the Gilligan’s Island theme song…which has been known to happen around here…although lately the CEO has been singing the theme from Laverne and Shirley, and there’s no ‘splainin that ….
mals, I hear ya on the Southern Baptist , G-rated, steeped in Disney……and Hee Haw…..ack.
LOL HeeHaw! I wonder if they have that on DVD. My husband should not be left out of THAT particular joy. At least we shared the Smurfs though, lol.
Hmmm… I love Rose Absolue, so it sounds like this might be right up my alley. I’ll definitely check it out then next time that I’m in B&BW – thanks for the review, Jessica!
Thanks, Cynthia! It’s not actually *so* close to Rose Absolue as a fragrance–PS is more floral-woods-spice and Rose Absolue seems much sweeter to me–but they both fit the “budget-priced, non-niche rose fragrance” category that I’m asked to recommend sometimes!
the edp looks like the Euphoria bottle, no?
Hi Kari, Not as much in person, when you can see that the bottle is actually circular… but I understand what you mean, based on that photo. The website just added the EDP and has a different shot.
This sounds very sniff worthy to me. And our local sad little mall doesn’t have much but they do have a BBW, so that will be a reason to go in. It is interesting to me your comment about Stella above – I’ve recenlty also tired of mine with tons left in the bottle. I was wearing it a bunch for everyday last year, but this year it is not attracting me even with the change in seasons. Not that it isn’t good, but it is just so “nice guy”. But then I’ll wear Nahema and wonder if it is too complex for day? I think I suddenly have rose fragrance ennui. No! Time to whip out the Lyric Woman…Phew. In any case, I’m glad rose perfumes are making headway into mass market. It is too bad roses got such a stuffy reputation.
Hi AnnS! Well, one of my first fragrances was Avon’s Roses, Roses (in a little pig-shaped bottle!), and I got serious about rose in my early 20s, with Crabtree & Evelyn’s Evelyn (now called Evelyn Rose), so I never understood why it was considered a stuffy/old/uncool fragrance note! I keep wondering, “Why has is taken everyone so long to appreciate roses?”
Nahema is too dramatic for my everyday life, and Stella was one of those scents that I bought, and swapped away, and bought, and gave away… strange. I still smell it “around,” though, so it must consistently sell well.
I had “woods of windsor” based on the “eglantine”(if thats how its spelled) rose when I was in my twenties . It was very pretty. It smelled like real roses.
You know, I’ve never tried Woods of Windsor’s rose scent… I wonder whether it’s close to the one you used to love. I’ll need to add it to my list!
Yes, I had bought my bottle back in the 80s so it could well be different now. . . .
Sniffed a sample of this today (a coworker works part-time at BBW and knowing of my fragrance addiction always brings me their new releases to try) and was favorably impressed. It appears to me that BBW is trying harder – the bottles they introduced recently are a step up from what they used to use, and it seems they frags are a bit more interesting.
Hi Aparatchick,
I agree: I haven’t bought an actual fragrance from B&BW in eons–only body products–because so many of their scents are centered on combinations of melon/cucumber/vanilla/citrus, notes that I really don’t like. Lately, however, they’ve had some interesting releases! I also like Midnight Pomegranate, for example.
some of the lotion was sent to me by a very lovely and generous swap buddy, and it is very nice….soft, close to the skin and very clean…no trace of musk or sandalwood. ……and to me it smells just like peonies! Did you here that Mals? PEONIES!
a bit of soft red rose in the later stages too.
Hi Daisy, I think the scent translates nicely into lotion/cream form, with (as you mentioned) more emphasis on the floral notes. The shower gel didn’t work as well for me, but your mileage may vary!
oops, that would be “hear” not “here” .
Perfumed shower gels can be itchy, so I’d pass on that one, but the lotion didn’t irritate my skin at all, of course my forearms are pretty tough what with being sprayed/dabbed with everything under the sun. Today: Attrape Coeur…mmmmmmmmm
GRRRR. You’re just doing a “quality control” test, RIGHT?
hahahaha! Yup, quality control —exactly.
lol – I knew that you wouldn’t be able to wait until Sweetest Day or Christmas. Have you busted out the SDV, too? Or are you still working from samples and we’re unfairly maligning your willpower?
now come on, don’t you check things out to make sure everything is okay when it arrives? It would be horrible to find out months later that you had an issue. So, yes, I opened both boxes, then I closed them back up….I turned the SDV over to the CEO (he said “oh good, something to add to my perfume stash”) and the Attrape Coeur I stashed (in it’s box) in the cabinet next to the perfume cabinet …so he doesn’t forget to give it to me for Sweetest Day. see? I have a plan!
I still have a bit of my decants of both left to tide me over. Willpower remains intact! if my decants run out then all bets are off.
Jessica,
Thank you for the nice reivew! I was actually in B&BW store to try Twilight Woods, attracted by the pretty bottle. (As soon as I gave it a sniff, I remembered that you called it “Twilight Orchard.” I’m with you on that name!)
Anyway, P.S. I love You a try just becuase I love rose stuff and remembered your review. And I really liked it! I love how it sparkles in the beginning (although my friend didn’t feel it) and becomes a pleasant and bright but subtle scent.
Hello, Na! Glad you enjoyed the review… I don’t remember B&BW ever doing a rose scent before (except for the Rose-Ylang and Rose-Sandalwood Aromatherapy products, which were great), so I was happy to find out about this one… and even happier to try it and realize that I liked it!
Hi Jessica,
I have not been able to get out in a long time to the mall due to medical issues, but you certainly have my interest up in this scent! There used to be times I would have to be in BBW every week as they came out with new stuff that fast, and one can quickly become thin in the pocketbook from trying different products they have. I loved your descriptive review, and you know, I am going to have to just get out there and smell the roses!! thank you..
Teresa, Thank you! So glad you enjoyed the review. Sorry to hear you’re having health problems; I hope you’ll be feeling better, and I hope that you like this scent when you try it, too.
Help, I’m out of PS I love you!! Can you recommend something similar? Stella?