Madonna will launch Truth or Dare by Madonna, her debut fragrance, in March under arrangements with Coty. The fragrance is associated with her upcoming Truth or Dare lifestyle brand, and will be geared at women 25-45. Per Madonna,
I have always been obsessed by fragrance and for years wanted to create something personal that was an expression of me, but that other people could relate to as well. Something classical and timeless and yet modern. My oldest memory of my mother is her perfume. I carry it with me everywhere. She always smelled like gardenias and tuberose, an intoxicating mixture [that was] feminine and mysterious. I wanted to re-create this scent, but with something fresh and new about it as well.
Truth or Dare was developed by perfumer Stephen Nilsen, and is described as a "white floral with a signature gourmand underneath"; notes include gardenia, tuberose, neroli, jasmine, benzoin, lily, vanilla, caramelized amber and musk.
Madonna Truth or Dare will be available in 30, 50 or 75 ml Eau de Parfum ($39-68) and in matching body products. It will be exclusive to Macy's on launch.
(via wwd, prnewswire)
Update: see a review of Madonna Truth or Dare.
very excited the queen has done this!!!!!
the notes are exciting……floral on top of a subtle gourmound. carmelized amber sounds good.
I think many people will join you in that sentiment!
25 to 45 is a very wide demographic range these days…
I’m guessing they think she has a very wide appeal.
I can’t wait to try this.I love the bottle.I think her mother wore Fracas I heard Madonna also wears it.
Yes…betting this is a lighter, more modern Fracas + some caramel.
Possibly similar to the first Juicy Couture scent?
I really hope not as I wasn’t crazy about JC original.But, I am loving the bottle.
that bottle is terrible, not sure about the juice.. I live Madonna to death but I never thought she’d be involved in creating a brand and a fragrance(s), really disappointed, for me she was more of a designers’ diva.
Well, I guess this is what pays…
I know what you mean. She already had a lifestyle brand though — Material Girl. So this is her second brand, first fragrance.
I don’t like the bottle, either. It looks clunky.
And the caramelized amber troubles me, but since it’s a BWF, I will probably attempt to sniff it at some point.
I cannot make a detached comment on this one.
I love her… In the 80’s, we didn´t need “It Gets Better” videos to feel that there was alright to be who you wanted to be and that you could succeed being different…. We just had to turn on MTV and Madonna was there on high rotation reassuring us. 😉
Of course time has gone by and I drifted a little away when she tried to force Kaballah(Sp?) down our throats.
But I still love her music, and if you look up the “Hydrangea” incident, she still has a sense of humor.
I will definitely try this.. I think over the years she has given her name to shady licensees in deals in wich she could easily deny involvement (“oh it was an old deal, I didn´t understand at the time what an all encompasing brand-deal was! oops!”) so I think this is not technically the FIRST Madonna fragrance, but the first one she has actually come out to support for publicity..
I knew she liked Fracas.. I didn´t know about her mother’s perfume. Well… I have tried Fracas only one and I found it too strong (but I was young, so maybe it was my nose)
And my fave latest tuberose gardenia is Estee Lauder’s. Smells very nice.
I will try this, and I will probably find a way to like this… even if it smells of rotten onions. I love you Madonna! 🙂 hehehehehehe
You are very right that it isn’t really the first, thanks for pointing that out!
One thing we know won’t be in there? Hydrangeas!
But seriously, the neroli and jasmine have be slightly interested. I will definitely test it out if it is available any where near me.
Yes, 25 to 45 *is* a wide age range, but not wide enough to include Madonna herself! Could she be planning another scent for her “boomer” age peers?
I thought it was funny too that she left herself out of her own target audience but I have to say, that for myself, I am totally pleased to be included in a target demographic, even though I just barely make the cut! Maybe she thinks people think she is younger than she really is…
and forgot to say that the bottle looks like a vial of holy water to me…is this supposed to harken back to her ‘Like a Prayer” days?
Hmmm . . . take a closer look at the logo on the bottle – there’s a clear pic on the Fragrantica site.
When she originally talked about launching a fragrance — this was years ago — she planned to call it Holy Water. Some people were shall we say not pleased.
This is her first, right? She hasn’t released a scent before?
Also, as I get older, age brackets like 25-45 seem so arbitrary. I can’t even tell you what sort of women she’s going for with that. I guess middle age? Is that middle age? The new middle age feels like 40-60 to me now.
I would guess that 25-45 is Young Adult Woman and 45-65 is Middle-Aged Woman but who knows?
Strictly speaking, she has had licensed scents before, but not in widespread distribution.
I love white florals and the bottle is so terribly cool looking that not only will I be waiting impatiently to sample a celeb scent (for the first time in years!) but I hope I like it enough to make it FBW. I’m not thrilled about the ‘underlying gourmand’ but I’m holding out hope.
Seriously, I love that bottle, it goes perfectly with the concept of something beautiful and feminine but modern.
Am interested to try this and just checked the notes of Mariah Carey’s Forever to see if there was any crossover:
“neroli, lotus, green apple, tuberose and gardenia, white musk and wood”
Well, Madonna’s sounds like a gourmand, more substantial sort of scent by comparison. Forever was in this white floral territory but a bit thin as I recall. I eagerly await its release! : – )
Awesome! I absolutely cannot wait! Thanks for posting! : )
I loves me some Madonna, and I’ll want to sniff this for the hell of it even if I have low, mass-market expectations.
However, the phrase, “classical and timeless and yet modern” seems absolutely meaningless to me.
The Macy’s exclusive is interesting too. Macy’s is now practically Target.
No pink pepper? No pear or other sweet fruit? No oud? Color me impressed – Truth or Dare sounds like a “grown-up” perfume that I’d consider wearing IF the execution is good. Not impressed by the bottle, though the photo may not be doing it justice…
So, apparently I’m the only one who finds the “Truth or Dare” reference uncomfortable? That was NOT one of my more favorite Madonna make-overs–I remember the release of the “Sex” book that I was slightly too young to look at but heard SOOOoooo many stories about! Couldn’t she reference a less. . .oooky. . .part of her past? (Besides, it isn’t gonna appeal to the 25-35 YOs better than, say, Material Girl or Papa Don’t Preach–a funny idea for a fragrance name!)
I have my favorite Madonna “phases” as well and Truth or Dare is not one of them. I have only seen that doc all the way through once. It is too painful for me to watch. She is so obnoxious and didn’t conduct herself at all like I thought she would. Just watching someone gorge themselves on fame like that…ugh!
I saw a couple of the Madonna Nudes perfumes at Gordman’s last week. I was shocked. I didn’t think I’d ever see them in person. The one they had a tester for was so meh, it was no wonder they were already at a discount store.
At least it’s not another celebrity fruity-floral. Nice bottle, can’t wait to try it.
I’m very relieved to NOT hear the phrase “Fruity Floral” or the words “pear” or “raspberry.” I don’t think anyone could tell Madonna what fragrance to lend her name to. I remember her when she was mostly unknown, and she didn’t give an inch them; she must be fearsome indeed now! This is the first celeb fragrance I might actually go to Macy’s to try.
im lilyboy so obviously i kinda like lilies hahaha.. i hope (and so it seems from the notes listing) this is lily and not lily of the vallies.. that and the gardenia and jasmine and tuberose make it a must try for me.. the gourmand base we shall.. hope it’s not tooo gourmand
the bottle is kinda cute.. though yuh, “Holy Water” or “Like a Prayer” sounds more appropriate for the bottle design and the notes listing, but as expected that won’t pass 😛 i just hope the bottle is not cheaply made/cheap looking in actuality.. as what i see many celeb perfumes are.. though this seems to have been improving lately..
I don’t at all like the idea of adding sticky food scents to an absolutely perfect, complex scent like Fracas. I like the white flacon but the lid and lettering are gauche.
Oh sorry had W.E. on while reading the above and fell…
zzzzzzzzzzz
I remember when I bought her Immaculate Collection cassette tape and it smelled like White Linen. I read that she wanted it to smell Immaculate, and that fragrance evoked that for her. Also, she scented her “Like a Prayer” album was scented with patchouli oil represent incense from church. Obviously this woman is obsessed with smells…Like us!! Love her, can’t wait to smell this!!
Oh. My. God. I had COMPLETELY forgotten about the Like a Prayer album reeking of Patchouli!!!
Having gained a love of white florals after YEARS of pain and suffering from them, haha, I really enjoy Truth or Dare. I definitely get a tiny bit of a gourmand vide from the dry down. But nothing like you’re “typical” gourmand. It isn’t a SWEET sugar cake monster. It isn’t heavy at all I find. I really like it but gosh is there a lot of white florals out there. I’m totally going to have to get it for my love of Madonna but I think I might like Kim K. more. I never thought in a million yrs. I would ever say that but I absolutely love Kim K’s now. Haha. My how my little nose has changed. Haha. I hope you try it Robin! And LOVE it! Haha! : )
Have some samples on the way, I’ll let you know!
I posted last week…Why wasn’t my comment included?
You commented on the review…this is the fragrance announcement, not the review.