If you're looking for a cheap thrill at the perfume counters, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than something from Pacifica. Since expanding into personal fragrance in 2007, they've launched 22 straightforward, reliably wearable scents available in a variety of formats, including spray perfume ($22 for 29 ml), solid perfume ($9 for 10 g) and the newer roll-ons ($12 for 10 ml). The packaging is basic but fun, and they're reasonably easy to find: Sephora has them, and I see the line in gift stores here and there.
The California Star Jasmine fragrance is their latest offering. As all of you gardeners already know, star jasmine (sometimes called Confederate jasmine) is not the same plant as true jasmine. It's a vine with clusters of small jasmine-like white flowers, and in Southern California, you often see it used as a ground cover or trained to spill over a wall. I never grew it myself and my memory of the smell is hazy — all I can tell you is "good" and "sweet" — but Pacifica's founder, Brook Harvey-Taylor, calls the perfume "a love note to the Southern California neighborhood where she grew up".
California Star Jasmine opens on a slightly green fizzy citrus; the fizz fades but the juicy orange note lasts well into the dry down. I can't tell you if the floral notes smell like star jasmine or not (and of course, who knows if there's any real star jasmine in the blend anyway), but it's a pretty, jasmine-ish floral, a bit spicy, and while it's sweet, the sweetness is cut by the orange and the finish here is more clean than not. There is supposed to be a driftwood note, but it's subtle at best — I would call the base a pale musky woods, rather nondescript. Just for fun, I tried layering with Andrée Putman Préparation Parfumée but the combination was not as wonderful on skin as it was in my imagination, and next time perhaps I'll try a less peppery wood.
It wears like a casual daytime floral, very cheerful and bright, and a good fit with the Southern California inspiration. It's not my favorite from Pacifica (so far, that honor goes to Tibetan Mountain Temple, but I also like the Malibu Lemon Blossom and Nerola Orange Blossom, and there are quite a few I haven't tried as yet). It will last a few hours before you'll need to reapply.
If you have a favorite from Pacifica, do comment!
For buying information, see the listing for Pacifica under Perfume Houses.
I have Pacifica Mediterranean Fig and love it. It is green and crisp, not overly sweet. Very nicely done.
I like the fig too, I just have other figs I like better. But they did do a good job. I really want to try the last 2 they put out — the Tunisian Jasmine and Egyptian Bergamot Rose.
Pacifica does have a lot of wonderful scents for the price, and I can’t wait to try this one! My personal favourite is Mediterranean Fig, but I’m also a big fan of Hawaiian Ruby Guava, Brazilian Mango Grapefruit, Malibu Lemon Blossom, and Spanish Amber. (Curiously, Tibetan Mountain Temple is one of the only ones I don’t like – too dry, too much ginger.)
The Bay used to carry the line here, but last time I checked there, all they had left were a few dusty looking soaps and candles – some cracked – on a clearance table. Too bad.
The small beach town I was visiting this month had 3 stores carrying Pacifica, I was very surprised. But they didn’t have the very latest scents. My stepmother fell in love with the Spanish Amber and bought the perfume & the solid. I need to try the mango grapefruit — that does sound really nice if it isn’t too sweet (it’s hard to make something too dry for me).
I have a samp of either the Ruby Guava or Mango Grapefruit and though I’ve only tested it once, I recall liking it very much. There are so many scents from this line I’d like to try, and I love the reasonable prices. They’re perfect for giving a gift with a variety of frags as odds are at least a couple might be enjoyed.
This sounds really pretty, too. I’ve been caught by the jasmine bug and don’t know where to begin. There’s sooo many. I thought about starting with AG’s Le Jasmin since they always do such a nice job with soliflores.
Le Jasmin is really nice, and of course you must try Serge Lutens A La Nuit.
I agree – Pacifica is a good cheap thrill. I have the Tahitian Gardenia and Lotus Garden, which I think smells a lot like a watery Hermes Un Jardin sur le Nil.
It is odd, but I can hardly smell the Lotus Garden — there must be a musk in there that I’m anosmic to.
Tibetan Mountain Temple has been raved about so much that I finally tried it and felt too much like a candle. I should probably just get the candle!
Malibu Lemon Blossom is hands-down my favorite. I also like the Lilac. I have a solid of the Fig, but I have to gouge a huge amount out with my nail and practically use it like cream to get any effect. I don’t think I’m a solids girl – I have to pretty much do that with all of the ones I have. Is it even possible to just rub your finger around and get enough to bother with? How do you all apply your solids?
Tama, I am a big fan of twist up solids for that reason…easier to apply if it’s a light scent. The TMT solid is pretty strong so I haven’t had that problem though, and it’s the only one I own.
Tama, I love a lot of their scents, but most only translate well in candle form for me. I loved Hawaiian Pikake much that I wanted to buy it in every form they had. Turns out it smells like mothballs on me. Of course, now that I’m thinking about this, I need to stock up on the Pikake candles.
Tama: I’m with you. I only own one solid (CdG Rhubarb) and I can’t really wear it because it’s not all that strong, and to get enough to really *smell*, I have to put on enough that it leaves a greasy/waxy film on me. I don’t mind it for testing fragrances with a patch on your arm, but solids wear too close to the skin. I need some sillage.
Ditto on both TMT and solids. My teen loved the TMT though, so I gave it to her. I bought one of the gift sets (9 solids) when they had some fantastic deal, but I never use any of them. I think my favorites were the fig, the pikake and the sandalwood, though.
I have yet to try any of the fragrances, but am addicted to the candles. I spent a month’s salary, including all my grocery money buying up all the Persian Rose candles I could find when they discontinued them. I thought I read on her blog that they were bringing them back, and maybe also as a perfume?
I don’t know it, what does it smell like? (other than the obvious — rose)
You’re asking the wrong person, as I am awful about being able to identify various scents beyond the top and basenotes, if I’m lucky! But I seem to recall there is a bit of violet in it, not that I can detect it, I just remember it from the description. I just get a soft pretty rose, with some other floral that I can’t quite identify ( I suppose it could be violet, but it’s not overtly violet)….probably not anything a real hard-core perfumista would get excited about.
You’ll think I’m crazy, but it puts me in a very serene, happy mood. I have never had a scent affect me so strongly, which is why I hunted it down like a madwoman. I almost HAVE to have it burning when I’m doing something creative….
Not crazy at all, and hope they make more of them!
Holy cow! Spending the grocery money on candles. That’s hardcore. I bow to your obsession.
Ha, and it wasn’t the first time I did it, either. My candle obsession predates my perfume habit by a decade or so. I go through dozens of various sized candles a week.
I grew up way out in the country, though, and know how to keep food on hand, so I never starved. Rice and beans keep forever!
And you have lovely-scented, beautiful candle light by which to eat your rice and beans! It’s a win/win!
Yea, it’s kind of a joke among my friends……..I serve Top Ramen from my Haviland china, iced tap water in my Baccarat, but the music is divine ( another life-long obsession) and the atmosphere impeccable ( lots of fresh flowers and candles) and a very fine time is usually had by all.
Goodness, now you sound like me. LOL!
I’ve seen the Pacifica line-up in So Cal Whole Foods stores, but I am not sure if all Whole Foods stores carry them nationwide. They are in with the soaps, shampoos, etc. I gave my Mom a little container of the solid “fig” perfume, but I don’t think she cared for it.
Star jasmine is very evocative of So Cal, especially as late winter is turning into early spring. You can smell it in bloom walking down the streets – in those few areas of So Cal where people walk. There is a Macy’s store near my place and the star jasmine grows there…I always enjoy the smell as I’m walking to Borders or Peet’s Coffee.
I find it intriguing that fragrances for women are made in many different formats (solid, liquid, roll-on, etc.) and sizes, while fragrances for guys usually come in two sizes – tops. I was in a Sephora store over the week-end and there were no (as in ZERO) fragrances for guys in sizes smaller than 1.7 oz. There were probably two dozen fragrances for women in small or mini sizes (1 oz., roll on, etc.). It’s nice to have a small sized fragrance for gym kit, briefcase, etc. so I can freshen up. Sure, I shower every week, but sometimes that;s not enough (just kidding about that!)
It’s really true — the guys are just not getting all the small sizes. I’m guessing it’s a perception that women now wear more than one perfume (therefore will buy more if you make the sizes small), men tend to stick to one scent. And don’t know why men don’t get rollerballs. Maybe using one doesn’t seem masculine??
I know it doesn’t seem masculine to use a small roll-on fragrance container. I promise, though, that if the fragrance companies will make my favorite fragrances in small containers I will regularly start big fights in dive bars in order to prove that I am still a man!
LOL!
Hee, hee! Yeah, anything you can slap onto your face with both hands has to be lady-smelling…
Oy. Make that “you *can’t* slap.”
I’ll trade you, as the reverse is true for clothing. WHY women’s pants can’t come in more than short/average/tall lengths is beyond me. Our clothing costs more to begin with, and then we have to spend even more to have them all altered. At least you can split your annoyingly large perfumes.
Star jasmine grows all over my back fence, my neighborhood and my city. To my nose, it is closer to paper-whites in scent than to jasmine proper–it has that same slightly musty, indolic sweetness. I only like it from far away on the breeze, but then it can be very nice…
Will be curious to try this. I sniffed the Tunisian Jasmine soap the other day and–whoah! Way more true jasmine indolic than I expected. In a soap!
This is not that at all: neither musty nor indolic.
I went in 3 stores recently that had the Pacifica line, and not one of them had the Tunisian Jasmine — I’ll have to keep looking.
Just at Pacifica and they are offering free shipping on orders over 50USD, 25% off (over 50) if you follow them on Facebook and 25% off their solids.
Excellent deal, thanks!
Thanks for the info. The “Tibetan Mountain Temple” is the only one I like so far, but I haven’t tried them all. My local Whole Foods stopped carrying the line. The SA told me that the products contain ingredients that are banned or restricted by the EU. Just about any perfume worth smelling includes banned ingredients though.
I bought a roll-on of the Star Jasmine as soon as I tried it – it’s delightful and a great summer scent. I have a sample fo the Egyptian Bergemot Rose and found it meh – even a bit harsh. But the other scents are fun, and the candles are amazing!
Oh, sorry to hear about the Bergamot Rose, that sounded so promising! I’ll give it a shot anyway if I ever run across it.
I love the flower that this scent is based on – it’s close to a very fragrant Asian flower called bai yu lan that’s found in Taiwan and China, and I do remember getting hints of this flower as I walked through Santa Monica in the summer. I had tried this Pacifica scent at a spa, but coincidentally I discovered a new scent today at Anthropologie that’s also based on the SoCal flower! I liked it much better and am debating whether or not to get it – City of Angels by Royal Apothic.
Thanks — have not tried that one.
I have several of these–Tibetan, Amber, Lilac (extremely realistic!), and the Mexican Cocoa which to me smells like the bayberry candles we had at Christmas when I was 3 or 4–a scent memory l love!
The lilac is really pretty!
I particularly like Tibetan Mountain Temple and Malibu Lemon Blossom. I’ve smelled some of the others, but can only remember that I wasn’t impressed enough to buy them.
For $$$ reasons, I’ve got the solids, but I don’t get much use of them because I hate sticking my finger in there. I hope the roll-ons are expanded to more fragrances (and more outlets — they seem to only be at Sephora now?).
It’s so cliche, but I love to wear the Tibetan Mountain Temple to yoga class. And the smell of lemon makes me feel better when I’ve got a “sour stomach” (as the folks at Tums like to say). So basically the Malibu Lemon Blossom is part of my hangover remedy.
Yes, the tins are cute but I prefer twist ups if I can get them. Still, I do use the tins. And the roll-ons are pretty new, only this summer I think, so would not be surprised if the expand the offerings. Don’t know how long they’re exclusive to Sephora though.
I stopped by our campus store after lunch and noticed they really downsized their Pacifica collection — sad — so no chance of this new release.
I tried Malibu Lemon (a bit Pledge-y/shampoo-ey), Nerola (nice at first, but burned down fast), and Lotus Garden (actually kind of nice; light and green, close-wearing but persistent). I also remember from past experience liking Spanish Amber and Tuscan Blood Orange.
I’m really curious to try the Tunisian Jasmine and this California one too. I realized after doing a bit of searching that the jasmine I’m really in love with — also cultivated a lot here in Santa Barbara — is the _jasminum polyanthum_ vine. Unbelieveable fragrance, and it’s captured well for me by PG Drama Nuui. I do like star jasmine a lot too, and I see it in parks and borders a lot, but it doesn’t move me viscerally like the polyanthum. Still, I’ll be curious to try this Pacifica when I come across it. Thanks for the great review; I was hoping a salty-driftwood note would be more pronounced (like a jasmine version of Sel de Vetiver).
Oooh, a jasmine version of Sel de Vetiver! Yes please!
Just accidentally layered SdV with an orange blossom cologne today and it was fab. Maybe I’ll dab on a bit of A la Nuit next…
This is not at all a jasmine Sel de Vetiver, no!
Sel de Jasmine? Sign me up!
Late to the party but love a lot of the Pacifica scents – the Tibetan Mt Temple, Spanish Amber and Maibu Lemon Blossom are all staples for me. Hard to resist a perfume that you can buy at the grocery store! I have no idea what Star Jasmine smells like but I’ll give this a sniff the next time I’m picking up some cat food and TP.
Hard to say how much perfume I’d own if you could buy it at the grocery store, LOL…I don’t have that much access to Pacifica or any other line, and just as well 🙂
I like a lot of the Pacifica line–I use the soaps for me and in my guest room. Picked up the Tuscan Blood Orange spray from a clearance table in Anthropologie last spring (as if it wasn’t inexpensive enough!) and I have found my selp wearing it lots this hot summer. a bit sweet but juicy in a good way!! I am a true Jasmine Girl so I will have to pick up this one and the Tunisian Jasmine, if I can every find it !!
How come I never find anything good on the clearance table at Anthropologie??
Love the Tibetan Mountain Temple, but it’s always out–must be all the perfumista reading here. I love mixing the Lotus and Lemon Blossom, it switches the Pledgyness to green and adds a lightness. And at those prices, you can mix!
They do make good layering scents. I think they list a few combinations on their blog, but they ought to do more…
I will have to try this one. I am in SD, and star jasmine is everywhere – I had no idea it wasn’t true jasmine! so will have to do some sniff testing with this and the Tunisian. Not sure if our Sephora has it – they seem to only have about half the line, so we’ll see!
You can also grow true jasmine there though (several kinds actually), and you do see it around…but if it’s a vine or ground cover, chances are it’s star jasmine.
I have small roll on bottles (from The Perfumed Court-as Pacifica isnt available in Australia and they wont ship here) of French Lilac, Tunisian Jasmine and Madagascan Spice-and I like all three. They havent got Califorian Star Jasmine as yet but I will be ordering a roll on as soon as I see it there.
Will Sephora ship to you?
I havent tried Sephora-willl be now though! Thanks!
In the southeast US it is called confederate jasmine, and one of my favorite things is to stroll through the streets of Charleston, SC in the early spring when all the confederate jasmine is blooming. It is wonderful stuff. I hope this is true to the real scent of the flower.
Not likely that it is “true” — this is too citrusy & clean to smell like a real flower, I should think — but might still remind you of the smell.
My Whole Foods has this in solid and roll-on. I tried the roll-on, and I like the green-ness of the opening, but after that it smells like a nice soap and doesn’t interest me so much. It definitely doesn’t smell like star jasmine, which to me smells kind of like a cross between ylang ylang and honeysuckle. I really like smelling star jasmine while on a walk in the spring, so I was excited to try it, but I was hoping it would be a bit truer. I haven’t seen the Tunisian Jasmine at my Whole Foods, but maybe the larger store a couple miles away will have it. It sounds like something I might like. I have a couple of the solids, Spanish Amber and Mexican Cocoa, and I like to layer them.