Jennifer Aniston's eponymous fragrance, which debuted last year in the UK, has finally reached US shores. I am better placed to talk about it than I am with many celebrity fragrances, insofar as I actually know who Jennifer Aniston is — doesn't everybody? She's one of our more likable celebrities, I should think, although whether that will translate into major sales remains to be seen, and she did not get a contract with one of the biggies, like Coty or Elizabeth Arden or Estee Lauder. Her fragrance was made with Falic Fashion Group, who also holds the fragrance licenses for Perry Ellis and the recently launched Original Penguin.
As many of you will remember, Aniston, like many celebrities who are gearing up for a fragrance launch, started out by talking about how she didn't really like strong, perfume-y fragrances; fragrances she particularly named as too strong included Miss Dior, Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs, Hermès Calèche and an unnamed body splash that was probably Jean Naté. Her fragrance, which was at that time to be called Lolavie (the name got dropped shortly before the launch), was to be "sexy and clean" and "floral, but not too flowery", and (my personal favorite) to smell "unique on every woman's skin".
The scent itself, which includes notes of citrus grove accord, rose water, night blooming jasmine, wild violets, Amazon lily, musk, amber and sandalwood, is meant to recall night blooming jasmine on a warm California evening, and salty air and tropical oils, and long sunny days on the beach. Aniston grew up in California, and the finished product has a distinct resemblance to the fragrances that I think of as the "California perfume oils"1 — I described them in 100 Fragrances Every Perfumista Should Try as "easy-to-wear, sunny little blends of sweet white florals with laundry-clean musk". Jennifer Aniston is a kissing-cousin to those scents (numerous reviewers on MakeupAlley and Sephora mention its similarity to Child especially), mostly in the same vein but perhaps not quite as sweet, perhaps not quite as clean.
The start is citrus with a fruity jasmine, and for a brief time it is rather alarmingly strong and sweet. I thought it teetered quite close to "too flowery" — not for me, mind you, but I should think the top notes might well put off young women spraying it on blotters in Sephora. Fear not, it settles quite rapidly, and then it's a clean jasmine, mostly sheer, with very light touches of other tropical flowers, and a warm-ish, clean musky-woody finish that isn't nearly as aggressively laundry-detergent-like as I feared it might be, just clean, maybe slightly soapy. It isn't at all what I'd call beachy, but many consumers (again, at MakeupAlley and Sephora) apparently disagree with me. It almost doesn't matter, because just when you're considering the dry down, the whole thing disappears right off, leaving only the faintest trace of a bland floral musk.
It's just fine, if not particularly exciting or long lasting. Still, I'm happy to pronounce it the best celebrity scent of 2011, so far, which only means I like it better than Katy Perry Purr since that's the only other celebrity scent I spent any time with this year, although I did smell Beyonce's Heat Rush and Rihanna's Reb'l Fleur briefly in-store and I can promise that neither one is a contender in my book.
Jennifer Aniston is available in 30, 50 and 85 ml Eau de Parfum ($39-70). At the moment, it is exclusive to Sephora.
1. Although many of these scents started out as perfume oils and were later released in alcohol-based formats, Kai being one example that comes to mind.
Update: Jennifer Aniston Eau de Parfum was developed by perfumers Jean-Marc Chaillan and Laurent LeGuernec.
Guess I’m not used to seeing her from this particular angle, but really, is that Jennifer Anniston? It’s not so much that its photo-shopped as that it just does not feature that oh-I’m-so-cute-frontal smile!
It is a sort of odd shot of her.
Which is good as far as I’m concerned, that smug little smile of hers always makes me want to go kick puppies.
LOL! She really does seem to rub some people the wrong way.
Agree…..at first glance, I thought it was Paula Abdul!
You couldn’t tell it was her by the “Green Goblin” chin?
Oh…. and the tracks of her tears cried about Brangelina?
or perhaps I meant the ‘I’m-so-cute!’ frontal smile
I think they have her in the side shot so that people will recognize Aniston without fearing they are about to be eaten by her.
Sorry, I know Jennifer perfectly toned but when she smiles all I can think is ” oh so hungry, must drink more of that vitamin water my agent has me hawking”.
I like this scent quite a bit, though i can’t say I find it terribly “beach-y.” I’m on a jasmine kick right now and it’s alovely jasmine, with lillies in the background and a dry down that reminds me a bit of Philosophy’s Amazing Grace. It’s not very long-lasting, but it’s also not very expensive. It’s a fine office scent, and a good scent to reach for when you just want to smell nice without overthinking the process.
Yes, a lot of reviewers mentioned Amazing Grace, and Pure Grace too (I have never smelled the Pure Grace, I don’t think).
It’s nice in some ways to see a celebrity do a casual scent like this — they so often go for the “big statement” fragrances.
I really wish to try this: I think it’s the only celebrity scent that elicits a sort of lemming, for me.
I went out of my way to get a sample of Kai, and I really really really liked it.
If this is similar, I will certainly not complain about the elegant bottle, the good price point, and, hopefully, a better accessibility of the fragrance! I hope it is not exclusive to UK and US… Otherwise, like Kai, I fear I’ll never manage to get a FB…
It is not so similar to Kai in particular though, sorry — it’s just in the same style, IMHO. And personally, I’d rather wear Kai.
Pretty sure she launched it in Mexico recently? But no idea how widely it will be distributed.
Hi – it is most definitely not exclusive to the U.S. and U.K., because we received it in store here in regional Australia last week.
I was really quite apprehensive, as for all her talk about wanting something casual etc., I was expecting the same standard fruity floral that every “celebrity” does (Rhianna’s horrible one being, in my mind, the prototype). However, I needn’t have worried – it’s not spectacular, but it’s not offensive either. I think it’ll be perfect for a lot of mothers coming up into Mother’s Day – perfect for the office, or a casual afternoon BBQ.
Excellent, thanks!
I really liked this one and wanted to be supportive of a celebrity putting out something that wasn’t bubble gum pink and meant for teens…unfortunately it took about seven sprays before I could smell in on my skin and then the lasting power was about 10 minutes. It’s labeled as an EDP but it was really more like a body mist. I would have blown through a bottle in less than a week, so I returned mine. It was very pretty for those few minutes though.
Wow. I did not find it long lived, but it did better on me than on you…seven sprays of the top notes would have been too much for me, I think! But it does need to be refreshed far more often than you’d expect for an EdP.
Lucy- if it only lasted that briefly, you are likely to be anosmic to a musk they are using. I could be blocking the other aromas in the fragrance. This happens to me all the time – one of the reasons I do try and sample before buying things that list certain musks. Case in point – I can’t smell Donna Karan Black Cashmere AT ALL – it’s totally invisible to my nose. And other fragrances like the Badlgey Mischka Couture, DK Cashmere Mist, or the Bulgari Jasmin Noir were just a wavy mess or entirely invisible at points in development.
Yeah, that’s a good possibility.
You know, I hadn’t thought about the possibility of musks that one is anosmic might also blocking one’s ability to smell other components of the perfume, but that would explain a lot.
Oh, that most definitely happens…I am sure of it.
Same thing happened to me it really wasn’t worth it.Save your money buy Child instead.
Yawn…
We’ll try not to wake you
LOL!!!
“… she didn’t really like strong, perfume-y fragrances; fragrances she particularly named as too strong included Miss Dior, Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs, Hermès Calèche and an unnamed body splash that was probably Jean Naté.”
Maybe I’m just particularly cranky today but I found that pretty off putting. It comes across as “I don’t much like fragrance but I’ll still put one out just to make me some cash”
So many of them do it that it doesn’t bother me now. In her case, I think she’s probably telling the truth…she probably wears something like Child or somesuch, and would find Miss Dior outrageously old-fashioned.
But also think it’s an automatic way to appeal to the many people these days who prefer very clean fragrances.
Made me *very* cranky. She just named a few of the fragrances that my mom has worn in the past and that are very endearing to me!
I just happened to see a JA bio on some channel recently, though, and that girl seems to have had a rough upbringing. Her parents were both soap opera actors that divorced when she was young and I think she still has issues with her mom, so she’s probably averse to those scents the way I am to scents of the early 90s! But the 80s were pretty blissful for me, hence my love of 80s frags.
You know, but I really didn’t think she ragged on those scents…was just talking about fragrances from her past, and that she didn’t wear such strong fragrances now herself. I think that’s very typical in Southern California, people tend to wear light, clean things…no surprise all those perfume oils are from that area.
Is Anais Anais strong?
Yeah, wow, that disgusting loud body splash Jean Nate’ that runs you down in the street and swallows up elevators.
WTH?
It sounds like she phoned this one in.
LOL, I totally agree! I’d love to hear a celebrity say, “I love perfume, and my favorites enter the room 5 minutes before I do and kick butt! Poison was too wimpy for me, Giorgio is weaker than water. Bal a Versailles? Not skanky enough. My perfume will knock people out of their shoes!”.
I think Dita Von Teese is the best hope we have of that — didn’t she say something along the lines of she wanted her fragrance to be classic and kind of dirty?
LOL! Not going to happen, until we find a celebrity who isn’t really worried about how much money their perfume makes. And that person is not likely to have companies lining up to pay for the license to their name…
To be fair this came out in 2010 this to me is a watered down Child but its very poor quality and last about 20 minutes if that.For some reason this is oily and sticky on my skin.I would advice to buy Child instead this is really a waste of money as it simply has no staying power.
I have not tried Child in years, so can’t comment on that one, but it is true that this doesn’t last forever. It’s also pretty reasonably priced though…30 ml for $39 is pretty darned good these days. When they did Child in a spray format, it was $165 for 60 ml.
Yeah, but you don’t need to buy the spray bottle for $165 the small roll on for $45 last me well over a year.Its so highly concentrated just a dab will do.But, Robin even for $39 for a 30ml it has zero lasting power.Forget about lasting forever it doesn’t last 20 minutes so that 30ml is over in less than a month if it last that long.
True, and $45 isn’t bad either.
When this first came out in the UK – I wanted it BAD. I love all the notes, then it came to Sephora, and I wanted it BAD again. Then I saw the comments (one of the Questions on the site are mine)
I absolutely hate any perfume that smells like laundry, or soapy for that matter. I was really hoping it had a “beachy” smell, something that might resemble suntan lotion – just classy and casual. Similar to Bronze Goddess or Azuree Soeil.
I still have yet to smell this. I will check my local Spehora. But if there is any hint of laundy, I won’t like it. And that’s a shame.
I don’t find it anything like suntan oil…but curious to hear what you think, some reviewers compared it to just that.
I found this perfume quite shampoo-ey, so it may not be for you. I did not get any beachyness at all. I only tried it on a blotter tho’. I chucked it out before I ‘d left the shop.
I have a sample of this and Kate Whats-her-name’s Boyfriend fragrance coming with my next Sephora order. Both of these are the first celeb fragrances I’ve been curious about in a really long time. I’ll probably be disappointed, but I applaud that they’ve at least piqued my interest.
I think Kate What’s-her-name Boyfriend is one of those with a patch-heavy dry down that’s supposed to be masculine, but isn’t really. I didn’t put it on skin though. Need to go try it again.
Now see, that sounds rather promising to me. I shall find out soon enough – Sephora order on the way!
Boyfriend is pretty cozy. I have the rollerball, which is more an oil formulation and a bit softer than the edp. Because I associate patchouli smell with actual patchouli oil, I can’t ever distinguish the clean versions used in most “patchouli” scents. So Boyfriend could be a huge patch blast for someone who doesn’t like it, but I can’t tell.
Or I could be wrong. I spent 3.5 seconds with it on a scent strip in Sephora before moving on to the nail polish, which was the real purpose of my visit there.
Thanks for the review. I’ll give it a whiff next time I’m in Sephora. I don’t really need anything like this, most likely, but it could be a pleasant surprise.
And I am determined to buy Purr just for the bottle.
Purr is tempting. That Harajuku Lovers G of the Sea is tempting me too. I am going to stay away from both of them.
This (JA) bottle is distinctly NOT tempting.
I was pondering a bottle of that a few days ago and if it was the original G fragrance, I probably would have bought it. I can never keep track of which ones are the same, slightly tweaked (summer ones?) or totatlly different fragrances. They are all cute though.
I think it is a tweaked version of G, but I really hardly spent any time with it — quick sniff on a test strip. Hardly matters to me, I just want the silly bottle.
Completely different to original G!!! Original G was a pina colada with extra coconut, G of the Sea is really quite oceanic (as it sounds), not anywhere near as sweet to my nose.
Thank you! So no coconut?
Damn you for reminding me about that one…. hee hee
Oh I want G of the Sea! LOL The JA bottle is like a work of art that was nicely done.The packaging and the box.
I was in a Sephora in Pasadena and got a whiff of it…very nice. It does have that So Cal near-the-beach in early summer vibe to it. By the way, I was walking along California Blvd. last night and smelled the star jasmine – a real “California” smell that reminds us all summer is coming. I love that smell…it’s intoxicating.
Lucky you!!..You definitely don’t the intoxicating smell of star jasmine walking down the streets of NYC. Rather, you get the very unintoxicating odor of stinky garbage!!!
Tara – that is why I wonder about the DKNY fragrance that aims to capture the “energy and vitality” of NY. I can’t think of which one it is. I worry that if I buy a bottle of it a drunk guy who hasn’t bathed in a month will walk out to the parking lot with me and offer to squee-gee the windows on my car.
I have 2 bushes of it right outisde our house (in San Diego) – it is going strong now. We had our door open and a breeze came in while we were in the living room and it was so nice and jasmine-y!
It is one of many smells I miss from San Diego. Have to say, this did not particularly bring Southern Cal to my mind.
Is star jasmine the same as night-blooming jasmine? I’ve come across night-blooming jasmine walking around Oakland on summer evenings, and it’s hard to miss. You can smell a single small bush half a block away.
No. Night blooming jasmine is a variety of jasmine; star jasmine is an entirely different plant (not true jasmine).
Good rewiew Robin, as always. For your description the perfume seems to have some differential from the other celebrities’ ones, although it’s floral and has sweet notes, like the others.
Yeah, at least it isn’t a fruity floral with apple & strawberry.
I guess I’ve quickly moved from newbie to snob, because I see “celebrity scent,” and I don’t even want to give it a chance. I just assume I don’t care! (Of course, since I still have lots of learning to do, that means I’m an ignorant snob! Not entirely complimentary!)
Hey, I’ve been at this for years and I’m still an ignorant snob
Maybe we should make a club? We could all sit around together critisizing things that are so below us that we don’t educate ourselves about it!
Your really not missing anything.I used to run out and buy the celebrity fragrances and I would always end up dissappointed.The fragrances would give me headaches.So now I am immune to them althought I am tempted to get G of the Sea.LOL But, honestly your not missing anything.Its just another way for them to make money.
Thanks for the review Robin- At first glance when I read the heading I thought Jennifer Aniston was reviewing her own fragrance! Hehe. I am tired at the end of a long week (It is Fiesta here in San Antonio- and we are burning at both ends!) Sounds like its worth a sniff….
LOL…it does look that way.
Fiesta in San Antonio sounds fun!
I’ve been wanting to try this one for ages and nearly bought it online the other night without even testing it. Online shopping is way too easy, I will now be able to try before I buy.
Easy enough to try it in Sephora if you’ve got one nearby.
It’s slightly hilarious that she called Anais Anais too strong, considering she admitted to wearing it herself according to this celebrity perfume list (hope it’s ok to paste here?)
http://perfumeshrine.fortunecity.com/celebritylist.html
No no…that’s how in got in her list, she says she used to wear it. No contradiction there that I can see, after all, tastes do change.
Ah, you’re right
I was one of those people who was unreasonably annoyed by the prerelease chat about perfume-that-isn’t-perfumey. Grr.
I’m glad to hear it is inoffensive rather than sweet and fruity, but “jasmine” and “clean” don’t float my boat either, so I remain unmoved to try this. (For the record, “beachy” isn’t my cup of tea either.) Thanks for the review!
Yeah, don’t think you need to rush over to Sephora to try this one.
Just checked Child .33 roll on is now $53 LOL Had to make my correction.But, its still a much better value and longer lasting.
I actually really like this fragrance! It’s sexy and pretty to me. I don’t have it, and don’t know if I will ever buy it, but I smelled it in Sephora yesterday. It’s pretty good to be a bit cheaper and the fact that it’s a EDP is even better! It’s as sweet as other celeb perfumes and I think it is very wearable, especially on a date…or a night on the town.
i didn’t mind this, but i do think the top notes are little strong when you first spray it. I wish it had more star jasmine notes in it…does anyone know of a good perfume with star jasmine? I know that Pacifica came out with their Star Jasmine perfume, but I don’t think it smells remotely like it. I love star jasmine so much because it reminds me of my backyard in southern california.