As I've mentioned here numerous times, I know little enough about fashion, and that includes shoes. Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo, I take it, are the big names, information which probably filtered into my general consciousness via Sex and the City even though I only saw the show a handful of times. A quick check on Google reveals that neither of them have the famous red soles, though — that's apparently Christian Louboutin. There, now we've exhausted nearly everything I know about shoes.
So Jimmy Choo, as I understand it, does not own any portion of the company that bears his name, although he still designs some of the footwear. It's owned by a private equity company, and Tamara Mellon (who "starred" in the ad campaign for the perfume) runs it; she is presumably responsible for the run-of-the-mill modern fruity chypre (i.e., floriental) that now bears the Jimmy Choo name.
The opening is crisp for nanoseconds before sugar drowns it out, then it's sweet-and-then-some, with a hefty dose of pear (this must be my week for pear) and a bit of citrus. The heart starts out as a sweet-and-then-some floral blend — the notes say "tiger orchid" and "sweet toffee", sure, those are as likely as any — but happily starts to dry out after about 30 minutes or so. They dry down is a darkish woody musk with clean patchouli, and just a bit of creamy caramel.
A few of the reviews on MakeupAlley call it loud, but there are louder such beasts (Gucci by Gucci, for one). Still, I agree that it isn't what I'd pick if I was going for subtlety.
If you're after a basic fruitchouli, Jimmy Choo might suit: it's reasonably well done and perfectly wearable. Plus, it's got a pretty bottle (inspired either by Murano glass or Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb, depending on who you ask). There's nothing distinctive about the juice, but then, I'm not sure there is much you can do at this point to make fruitchouli distinctive; as March noted when she reviewed it earlier this week at Perfume Posse, it smells "so 2006".1
Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum was developed by perfumer Olivier Polge. It is available in 40 (£39; this size will apparently not be sold in the US), 60 ($70) and 100 ($95) ml. In the US, it is exclusive to Saks Fifth Avenue through June.
1. March reviewed Jimmy Choo from a magazine scent strip. I'll admit it, I was initially horrified. Then I thought, gosh, why not? If they're going to make a gazillionty-and-one smell-alike fragrances, must we really put all of them on skin?
Better yet, must you review them at all? But I’m sure you’ve already asked yourself that question many times…
Just spoke to a woman two seconds ago who was looking for a new perfume. She’d worn Flowerbomb for a long time, and then switched to this before realizing they were too alike. So now am laughing about the bottle… I sent her to Aedes. Which makes me laugh in a very different way. Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…
Personally, far prefer Flowerbomb…at least it leaves out the pear.
Thanks, Robin. Another ‘neo chypre’. I find her upper body to be in rather strange proportions, rather LARGE in breadth compared to her hips. Yet another visually interesting ad, to an otherwise uninteresting blend… apparently. I will not be rushing off to try this!
I had to go quickly google Tamara Mellon to see what her face looks like. I thought she might be rather woofy, seeing as her body is the focus, not the face. But no, she’s a very attractive woman and apparently a former model. (Careful if you google – you’re bound to get an eyeful. Plenty of bikini shots…sans bikini top. Just sayin’.) Maybe it’s because her age is a bit outside of the demographic they’re shooting for. But if she’s going to be the “face” of her own fragrance campaign, why not show her face. Otherwise use a professional model. Or a shoe for Pete’s sake. lol
Ha. OK. You sent me off to Google and I must share this quote:
“Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon is nude in her Interview magazine story. Despite recent controversies surrounding photographer Terry Richardson, who faces as yet unproven allegations of inappropriate behaviour, it was he who shot Mellon wearing nothing but a pair of Jimmy Choos and a cat sitting between her legs.”
Setting aside issues of appropriate behavior, couldn’t they have gotten a little of that radical tastelessness into the perfume? Might have at least been fun…
Not going to go look, ha!
But agree, even some radical tastelessness would have improved matters here.
Wow. Ok. Well, I guess that shed’s some light on why the ad’s focused on her body. lol That idea of that image totally made me lol, (and then scrub my brain) especially the kitty-cat.
Sounds more like something Katy Perry would do. But yes, totally agree this fragrance could use some of that “radicalization”.
Had to google, the ‘cat’ picture is almost a tacky parody of the Sophie Dahl Opium ad.
Or maybe I’m giving them too much credit………..
Ugh, I just can’t bring myself to go look at it. The poor cat!
A shoe might make me think the stuff smells like leather. Come to think of it, why not a leather fragrance? Why not a high heel design for the bottle?
Those all sound like great improvements to me!
I don’t mind that it isn’t leather. Just wish some other company besides Hermes would figure out that you can do exquisite, beautifully made fragrances and still make money: you don’t have to do the same generic stuff as everyone else.
Caswell-Massey put out their Casma perfume in a bottle shaped like a foot in a high-heeled shoe ~10 years ago. I can’t find a picture of it online, but it is either cute or tacky, depending on your taste.
Well, since there’s nothing woofy about her face, it may be that she’s just trying to get her nose as far away from the scent as possible!
Sarahbeth, hard to tell if that’s the angle, or photoshop, or both, but she does seem to have a VERY narrow waist/hips.
Hmm. I am resisting googling her . For now.
I found the fragrance strip revolting. Money saved! lol I will be going into the mall tonight for the first time in ages because my local dept store is having their “beauty week”. Maybe this will be there for in-person sniffing.
I really hate scent strips, which is at least one reason I was surprised March reviewed one. I have a very hard time making them out…they all seem to smell very nearly the same.
They only seem to be capable of capturing maybe one top note and then the base notes. I have to say, though, there has never been a fragrance that I have disliked on a scent strip, that has ever improved itself upon being sniffed from a bottle.
Didn’t the authors of the Guide use scent strips a lot? If you are pretty sure you will hate it why bother putting it on skin.
I hate those über high heeled shoes.
I am always reminded of a quote from one of the Agatha Christie films; a certain woman was described as ” a goddess in sensible shoes”. What’s not to like about that?
Ah, no, they sprayed onto paper blotters…quite different from using a pre-scented strip taken from a magazine.
I see, I thought a scent strip was a paper blotter sprayed with the fragrance of choice at the moment of reviewing.
True, you can call it that too, and I use both terms. I think people in the industry only say “blotter”. But a “magazine scent strip” can pretty much only be one thing…those scented inserts in magazines.
Thank you for that explanation.I think it is to do with the fact that I am not a native speaker. It’s little things like these that catch one out.
No problem!
I don’t wear high heels, and consequently pay no attention at all to “designer” shoe brands. They all seem to be composed of ultra-thin straps with ultra-high, ultra-skinny heels and look as if they would be impossible to walk in for more than about 10 seconds. I have been looking in vain for a replacement for my sensible, low-heeled pumps that wore out a few years ago. Nothing to be found but stillettos! I finally found the sturdy, comfortable, work shoes I needed–in the men’s shoe department. Why doesn’t somebody make shoes for real women who need shoes they can actually walk in?
I’ve never like stilettos but I do like a nice chunky 3″ heel. Unfortunately, I can’t wear those anymore, since I hurt my back. But the brands Born, Sofft (a sub-brand of Born) and Aerosoles actually make some cute not-too high heeled shoes with really comfortable, flexible materials. Their styles aren’t quite as trendy as other brands but in contrast their more classic styles don’t go out of fashion as quickly. Also they’re much, much more affordable than any Jimmy Choo I’ve seen!
Well I take a US size 9½ shoe ( 42 in continental european size). I doubt that any of those designers would make shoes that long. Fortunately in Holland a huge choice of nice not high-heeled shoes for women can be easily found. I can’t wear men’s shoes as although my feet are long, they are also very narrow.
I’m like March – the scent strip turned me off. And I think the bottle is enough like Flowerbomb’s to qualify as trademark infringement besides (and given my ‘run away! run away!” response to Flowerbomb, also not a selling point for me.
That’s assuming Flowerbomb was the first to use that shape, which I very SERIOUSLY doubt. And there have been similar Murano-sort of bottles before that.
Ho hum.
I wish they would put a spectacular fragrance in a bottle like that though. Love that bottle. Oh well.
In the pic it looks bright enough to be crystal, rather than the usual third grade glass!
I really like it too…better than Flowerbomb.
I think the bottle is gorgeous, too. I saw it at Saks and sprayed it on a blotter… I didn’t have the heart to put it on my skin.
Maybe there is some validity to reviewing from a magazine scent strip if you consider that many people may decide from that whether they like the fragrance. You’d hope they’d try on skin before they buy, but you never know …
Magazine scent strips are always too dominated by the scent of paper for me to get much of an idea of what the scent is like. Anyway, thanks for the review.
Oh, I think you’re right: many people never try the liquid after the smell the scent strip. I don’t know why I dislike them so much, but the first thing I do when my Allure arrives is rip them out and throw them away.
I actually once bought a perfume after testing it from a magazine scent strip. It was in 1986 and the perfume in question was Poison. I absolutely fell in love with the scent and kept rubbing and rubbing the scent strip on my wrist, and ultimately gave in and ordered a bottle by mail. At the time, it was exclusive to Bloomingdale’s, there was no Bloomies anywhere near me, and so I had no way to smell it in person. There was also no internet, no TPC, no way to get samples, and so forth. Funny thing, I loved Poison back then, but when I tested it again recently (from my original bottle), I had to scrub it off. I don’t know if my nose and tastes have just changed, or if my bottle has gone off, but I can’t stand it any more.
I have a really hard time with scent strips as well. I can probably pass on this one (yay!) — but I do like the bottle! Thanks for the review, Robin!
De nada
And Robin takes another one for the team…
This is better (maybe even way better) than many.
Isn’t Tamara Mellon kind of evil, supposedly? I mean, an excellent businesswoman, but my understanding is that she cut Jimmy Choo out of his own company.
I don’t know a thing about her, so couldn’t say.
OKAY OKAY I PUT IT ON MY SKIN. Are you happy?! I drove over to Saks and put the gd thing on.
It’s still craptastic. Look for my high-quality, in-depth re-review on Wed., probably.
LOL!! And here I thought you had finally freed us all from the “on skin” tyranny.
It’s a Flowerbomb bottle!
Assuming V&R were the first to use that shape, which I doubt!
It bears a resemblance to FB in the initial spray, but I find it to be a more “grown up” version. More body, more spice, still sweet, but richly faceted and more expensive smelling than FB. I could tolerate Jimmy Choo Eau De Parfum and would choose it any day over FB.
I was comparing the bottles, not the juice
Ya the bottle look similar to flowerbomb but the smell is very different from flowerbomb! It smells awesome at first, nothing like my other perfumes or the one i tried before but I get headache after a while. Guess this perfume is not for me =( Pretty bottle and box though
Has anyone tried the new limited edition perfume version of this in the silver snakeskin box? If so, what did you think?
Many years ago I worked with a girl who smelled incredible all of the time. Fresh/clean, feminine and earthy. I finally asked her about the scent she wore and it was Clinique Aromatics. It smelled incredibly putrid on me. Body chemistry is such an odd thing. The only perfume I have ever sampled that comes close to making me smell the way she did is Jimmy Choo. Bizarre…I know. I don’t get any fruit and the toffee is very subtle. It’s mostly the fresh green top notes and patchouli on me. It doesn’t smell at all like any of those youthful fruity florals, more like a classic chypre on me. I’m puzzled, but really happy about it.