I do hope the person at Vera Wang who came up with the idea of Princess has been given a hefty raise, and maybe some extra vacation time.1 The original Princess — born to rule! — launched in 2006, and we've since seen Flower Princess, Rock Princess, and now the new(ish) Glam Princess. The first two flankers were pretty much as advertised: Flower Princess was more floral than the original, and Rock Princess was that clean fruitchouli that you usually get from a mainstream flanker with "rock" in the name.
Glam Princess is pretty close to the original Princess, close enough that it's hard to see why you'd need both. It's a fruity floral, with vibrant, tropical berry candy top notes cut with a tad of the watery apple-pear of Princess. After 15 minutes, it's awfully hard to tell the two fragrances apart; the floral notes are a generic blur, and the dark chocolate, pink frosting and chiffon vanilla in the original are not startlingly different from the vanilla orchid and marshmallow in the Glam Princess. I will say that I never really noticed the chocolate in Princess until I smelled the two together — yes, Glam Princess is less chocolate-y, but in the end they both smell mostly like pink frosting and musk. If you're after some pink frosting and musk, either one should do.
Now taking votes: what Princess would you like to see next?
Vera Wang Glam Princess was developed by perfumers Ilias Ermenidis and Harry Fremont (both of whom worked on the original Princess fragrance); the notes feature red berries, guava, pear, orange blossom, vanilla orchid, honey, ambrette, marshmallow, cedar and cashmere wood. It is available in 30, 50 and 100 ml Eau de Toilette.
1. I am fairly sure that I read recently that the Princess franchise currently makes up the largest share of the Vera Wang fragrance business, but of course now I can't find a link.
I’d like to see musk princess.
Sounds possible!
Secretions Magnifique Princess…hehe.
How about Drag Princess for the budding cross dresser?
It needs a lipstick note and feather boa essence!
I’m so silly
And an AquaNet accord on the dry down.
LOL!
Yes! Not quite a Queen yet!
Just “Vera Wang” + “Drag Princess” together sounds hysterical.
It’s awful in the best of ways.
Alternatively, they could just name it Vera Wang DIVINE.
Faaaaabulous.
You beat me to the punch, Bunny. I was thinking the same thing.
Punk Princess.
Could happen!
Mall Princess!
Oh, that’s perfect.
That’s the Princess brand’s target market, for sure.
Dipstick Princess: notes of gasoline and chocolate (you ran into the adjoining packi and bought a Milky Way), with a hot engine accord.
Kitteh Princess: the fragrance that ignores you
Puppeh Princess: notes of puppy breath and warm fur, with an accord of wet, gnawed rawhide and a hint of flatulence in the far drydown
The fragrance that ignores you! Ha.
You got Puppeh Princess nailed.
Farty Princess.
Goth Princess, which would likely smell like Rock Princess with all the patchouli and none of the fruit.
Which would be an improvement.
That could fly. Not on my skin, of course, but it doesn’t sound bad.
As a reformed closet Goth, I would wear it with irony.
A fragrance for all those grown-up little girls who wanted to be vampires instead of ballerinas — I wanted to be both, really.
Vampire Ballerina–it can be your personal scent to market. I’d buy it.
Princess Of Darkness with notes of leather, stale booze and animal blood. The bottle could resemble a rubber bat
LOL rubber bat!
Maybe Ice Princess? The bottle in blue with some added fresh notes.
Also.. Kitteh Princess= awesome.
Perfect!
Earth Princess!! Featuring an eco-themed bottle & packaging and contains some dirty, earthy, grassy, leafy (in other words, entirely new set of ) notes!!
oh, now this I would like to smell!
Ditto, that actually sounds good.
Skank Princess with extra barnyard!
Ex-Princess: 85% Princess and 15% L’Air de Rein.
LOL! Excellent.
How about Ocean or Sea Princess? It would be a summer flanker and it play up the tropical fruits and watery notes.
Or Fresh Princess could play up the citrus and add more green notes.
I was thinking along that same line with Island Princess, going for a tropical feel. Or Beach Princess with a Coppertone accord.
My sister-in-law is hoping for Wal-Mart Princess!
Yes to this! also a Beach Princess would be nice
Beach Princess -> I can see that actually happening.
Robin, I have to ask: how did this one wind up on your to-review list? I know you (and Angela and Kevin and Jessica) review some of the latest releases, and I’m sure that part of NST’s readership is interested in the Vera Wang scents. But I would have bet the ranch that you wouldn’t wear it personally… so how’d YOU get stuck with this one?
More generally, what’s your attitude when testing a scent that based on notes/prior experience you’re pretty sure you’re not going to like. Are you attempting Blank Slate? or is it more like Well, here goes?
Should have warned you: slightly-off-topic, certainly nosy question. Sorry about that. I really am curious, and not making fun of the Princess line.
That’s hard to answer. When I first started blogging, I mostly did niche. Then I decided that was stupid: there are lots of great mainstream scents, and as I’ve said before, bad mainstream scents actually annoy me less than bad niche scents because a) they’re cheaper and b) they’re less pretentious. So anyway, I make a pointed effort to cover a wide variety of things, and yes, a larger portion of NST’s readers are interested in these sorts of scents than you’d think — you have to remember that the people who comment are a tiny percentage of readers. Articles that get very little interest from the regular commenters are sometimes the “most read” articles.
Hard to say how anybody here gets stuck with anything. I make Kevin do lots of new men’s things, although he’s having an easy year of it so far because there are far fewer new launches for men (that interest me) than last year. I usually ask Angie to do a few new mainstream scents a year, but her taste is even farther from this sort of thing than mine, so no point in making her review something like Vera Wang Glam Princess!
And gosh: don’t know how to answer the last part. Impossible to have a blank slate, but I am surprised more often than you’d think, by both upscale niche things & mainstream things for tweens. I was surprised even by Kim Kardashian.
Wow. I should have warned *you* that I was going to ramble on
I enjoyed the insight.
Moi aussi.
Late to this because I am one of the commenters who had no interest in this scent, but then was curious as to what the fun was that I was missing due to the high number of comments. Long way of saying…. very interesting and informative answer. Thanks, Robin.
Thanks very much. I knew I’d learn something!
How about cut to the chase and have Jewish-American Princess?
Ah man, you beat me to the punch!
The PC police on on their way to your house right now, LOL…
Tama: I thought about it but figured no one would DARE!
I suppose I should stick to my kind and just say “Italian American Princess” (which, if you’re from NJ or NY, is almost the same thing).
These comments are funny. I wondered why there were so many comments, but didn’t know there was an embedded poll after the jump!
Oh, if we can fling mud at our own ethnic group: Polish Princess. Smells of pierogies and cabbage rolls. How many Pollocks does it take to create a fragrance…
LOL – I guess my kitty claws were out a bit today…
but it seemed so OBvious. lol
Jewish American Princess – Top notes of chewing gum and enamel; Middle Notes of spandex and Uggs and Base notes of New Jersey and daddy’s wallet
LOVE THIS!
Yep!
I can’t believe no one has said Spoiled Princess… or Betrothed Princess.
Oh, I love Spoiled Princess!
But seriously, they’ll be releasing something like “Sugar Princess”, “Pink Princess”, or “Candy Princess” next….
And … Pink Princess has just been announced! You are a genius. And I bet Candy Princess is not far behind.
Isn’t Vera Wang ashamed of herself yet? Or does she have a private version called Money Princess?
Hey, I’ll say this for Vera Wang: at least they make it clear these are for very young ladies. That beats all the brands that say they’re making sophisticated, sexy chypres that turn out to be just more pink frosting & musk.
Princess in Exile: sable, gunpowder, sea air, ships planks, sewing shops and Argentinian pampas.
nice.
Amazon Princess – HUGE rain forest chypre
Mayan Princess – spiced cacao
Spiced cacao sounds really good!
And a big label on the Amazon Forest Princess that reads:
WARNING: Non-IFRA Compiant.
White Russian Princess – with notes of creme de cacao, frozen lychee, “snowflake accord” and a hint of Romanov DNA.
Yes, I already know I am a bad person.
Except I would totally wear that.
Me, too. Maybe sans DNA, though.
I’d wear it with… frozen apple instead of lychee, maybe.
In the two years (?) I’ve been visiting this site, this is by far my favorite comment string. Hilarious!
Good!
Pacific Princess — Exciting and new! Something for everyone! An open smile on a friendly shore! It’s love!
notes: Isaac your bartender Planter’s Punch accord, Capt. Stubing bilge note, Doc’s medicinal notes, and a hint of spicy “cuchi-cuchi!” from the ubiquitous Charo.
ha! good one.
LOL! But that would be lost on a tween today. Brought back memories for me though!
Joe – to my nose I get a fairly strong Tattoo chem-trail accord. Your skin must eat that note!
I sadly have nothing to add to the Princess line. But I had to share that there was a time my friend and I got asked to leave Nordstrom because we were loudly coming up with our own ideas for new Vera Wang fragrances. Our favorites were the simple “Wang” (my juvenile idea) and “Everybody Vera Wang Chung Tonight” (which I wish I could take credit for, but was my friend).
I once saw an ad for a receptionist at the computer company Wang, and could not imagine answering the phone all day – Good morning, Wang! – Thank you for calling Wang! lol
Everybody Vera Wang Chung Tonight is wonderful.
I used to work for Wang in Lowell, MA, the Venice of the Industrial Northeast. They sold gym shorts with the company logo
Kicked out of Nordstrom?!? You’re my hero!!
They KICKED YOU OUT??
I believe it was more, “Don’t you girls need to be somewhere else? Other shopping to do?” She was trying to be funny, but the undercurrent of irritation made it come across as far more bitchy than if she had just told us to go.
Well, it doesn’t seem very Wangly (Wangish?), but how about an African Princess (coconut and spice) and a Princess of Araby (incense) to warm up the brand?
After reading all of these, I really do think they need to do some sort of summery beachy thing — your coconut & spice would be perfect.
So you’re thinking Beach Princess?
Whoops, someone already thought of that one!
Mermaid Princess! Mermaid Princess!
I’m thinking coconut, cardamon and maybe a touch of sandalwood, but light enough for her young fans. Or perhaps African Princess would be a honey scent, riffing on the Mac honey scents – only fair since they discontinued those too soon!
Oh, both of those would be awesome. Or even a Princess with incense, rose, patch and a teeny tiny bit of vanilla. Perhaps Seductive Princess? That seems like it could very easily lead to Shot Gun Wedding Princess with all that sexy.
I’m with klytaemnestra on the Midnight Princess notion with lots of patch. That with some musk and maybe a hint of plum or the like would be heavenly, given my falling back into the ‘closet goth’ fold as well in my late twenties. There was a ‘stages of gothness’ bit floating about the net sometime back that was truly hilarious. I love the vampire ballerina idea, too. That could make for a really great ad.
Non-specific Animated Princess: notes of apple, pumpkin, ivy, ocean spray, osmanthus, and pink pepper. (http://tinyurl.com/ybj5c6v) ;3
I’m thinking we’ll see Hawaiian Princess: notes of succulent pineapple, sensual jasmine, luminous mango, fresh ocean breeze, and juicy luau pork.
Mango & pork — sounds perfect.
Guerilla Princess – the modern day princess at war, with notes of hot iron, gun powder and diesel. Bound to spawn a series of liaisons dangereuses with that rugged boy across the border (definitely not the boy next door)!
AND a flanker of a flanker – Guerilla Princess: Romance of Three Kingdoms. Alas, another floriental, BUT stay tuned for Civil Disobedience Princess!
LOL!
Camouflage Princess – I can see the Glam Princess ad model in desert camy – with the proceeds donated to a women’s veterans group. This one would be a mainstream version of Etro Shaal Nur. Na’vi Princess with an Avatar tie-in – can they launch in time for the Oscars? – an exotic floral.
What princess would I like to see next? Earth Princess, with notes like cardamon, ginger, nutmeg, pimento, vetiver, ylang , patchouli.
Actually that would be a bit like Karins amazon princess above which I just noticed.
Baby Princess?
I’m surprised they haven’t done that yet!
Pouting Princess? It could be a little more juvenile than Heiress.
Or, Fairy Princess–lavender-colored juice with pink sparkles, just replace the chocolate accord with bubblegum. And put a fairy on the cap. But maybe Van Cleef & Arpels would sue.
Oh, but Fairy Princess is another I’m surprised they haven’t already done.
The idea for Princess was genius.I read that when Princess came out it out sold celebrity fragrances I thought that was pretty cool.My daughter loves Princess she wears in once in a while the bottle is adorable.These ads a really cute I can imagine young women buying it and actually I would perfer them to wear it instead of the Britney fragances.
It was genius…it’s done for Vera Wang exactly what they hoped.
I use Princess as a bed time fragrance. I love it ( in spite of my years :)) )
To me it smells like something happy, sweet and lovely. I hate it, though, because it does not last. I am not interested in the flankers, because, as much as I love the original, I cannot wear it daily because it is so faint. So I stick to it as a fragrance for falling asleep. It might not ne inovative, classy etc but it certainly is a beautiful smell.
Interesting, I don’t find it faint at all! Glad you found a use that works for you
Well, maybe “faint” is not the right word to use. What I mean is that Princess does not last and it has not such a silage …. Not that the scent itself is week but it cannot be sent by other people around you. I usually wear, especially at the office , frangrances that make a bold statement about me and I like to feel them the whole day floating around my clothing Like Samsara, Hypnotic Poison , Magnetism by Escada or Y by YSL. All these are not strong fragrances to me, but “normal “ ones… Strong are, I would say , maybe Amarige, Eden and Lou Lou ) This is why I said I consider Princess faint and I do not wear it except for bed time It is, probably, a case of cultural difference. In Romania women like to be very extrovert, in an Italian ,sometimes over-the-edge way and they tend to buy perfumes that match this kind of “exposure” The idea of a discret , well-behaved scent that only you can feel ( well, and maybe some of the people that come close to you ) does not appeal to many women , me included.A fragrance should be like a flag, letting people know you are there and saying things about yourself But this is another kind of story !
Perhaps “Promiscuous Princess”? That would obviously have an aphrodisiac note in it! Hahaha!
Ha!
I agree with Rosabelle, though I could hardly smell it
and I didn’t have the experience of comparing it with the regular one after 15mins, because after that time glam had all together faded.
LOL!
Did u see this Robin? LOL! Is it horrific that I want to test it? Preppy Princess! LOL! : ) http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/3148075?origin=category&resultback=1280