“The new Playboy VIP duo now opens the doors to the VIP lifestyle the way only Playboy can! Smug doorman, not a problem! Cosmopolitan exclusive parties, private limos and the first class VIP lifestyle are just a spray away…” So claims the Playboy fragrance website.
I haven’t needed to spray away any smug doormen lately, but my life could use some glamour. Right now an old cat is snoring on my lap, I’m drinking from a mug emblazoned with “Maw, come git yer coffee,” and my ride is a choice between a dented 1986 pickup truck and an even older bicycle with mismatched fenders. Not exactly Hollywood.
So, what does the VIP lifestyle smell like? Apparently like a mash-up of Donna Karan Cashmere Mist and a box of popsicles. Playboy VIP for Her’s notes include orange flower sorbet, nectarine, peony, love apple, red fruits, heliotrope, Cashmeran, sandalwood and musk. It was released in 2012.
To me, VIP for Her smells young, warm, and easy — but ultimately not very interesting. It opens with a tickly burst of generic florals laced with apple, berries and a hint of pepper. The fruit isn’t as sweet as I had feared, but it’s still fruity. Cashmeran kicks in almost right away, giving the fragrance a sueded woody musky feel that overtakes VIP for Her’s fruit before long.
After an hour, the fruit sweetens and trumps the Cashmeran. VIP for Her burns along for nearly eight hours on me — about seven hours and 59 minutes too long for my taste. In short, VIP for Her might suit the smug doorman’s 13-year old daughter better than it would Lear-jetting starlets.
On the other hand, the Playboy fragrance website is a good way to waste a few minutes. I took the scent finder quiz, which recommended Playboy Play It Lovely for me, which I’ll review tomorrow. (Some of the questions were hard! Which would you choose, Daniel Craig or Johnny Depp?) Brave readers might even want to take the “seduction skills quiz” through the site’s “seduction club,” “where hot young things go to discover seduction’s sexiest secrets.”
In the end, I’ll take the fragrance of my non-VIP lifestyle over Playboy’s interpretation of glamour any day. Right now that means the perfume of locally roasted coffee, a freshly burnt papier d’Arménie, summer morning breeze over a fig tree and Scheherazade lilies, and fur from the snoring cat I mentioned earlier. Playboy can keep its “cosmopolitan exclusive parties.”
Playboy VIP line comes in Eau de Toilette (50 ml for $20.95) as well as various body products, including bronzer.
It doesn’t sound dreadful…
No, you’re right. It’s not dreadful–it’s all right. For the same money, though, there are lots of better choices at the drugstore. They just don’t have ears on the bottle.
The whole Playboy brand seems so dated to me. Maybe Members Only should be brought back to life? A silver Porsche jacket like the one I saw Peter Lawford wearing at LAX in 1980? Make it stop!
The whole rabbit head thing is a big, bewildering yawn.
My idea of fun retro is the Munsingwear Penguin. Or Speedy Alka-Seltzer. Even the Arrow Shirt guy! And if they could make the talk show curcuit, all the better!
The Playboy thing leaves me cold, too. I don’t think they even see themselves as throwback. I do love the idea of Speedy Alka-Seltzer being resurrected, though! Along with those old “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing” commercials. Hey, while we’re at it, let’s bring back Prince Matchabelli, the one with the ruffled shirts and poet sleeves.
I love those old PM commercials and bottles. The stuff we got at Newberry’s had better ingredients than the bottles at Barneys, I bet.
Too many B’s?
If Speedy comes back w/ a frag it will have to be citrus w/ aldehydes. Between the Marni doll and any Kardashian…never say never!
Yes, it would definitely need to be a fizzy fragrance!
Honey, where have YOU been? MO jackets never went away! Terrifyingly enough, I still see them on actual, live people from time to time. Granted, it’s always on a person “of a certain age” but still…
I would love to run into a Member of MO…and do an intervention! I will have to research my pith better next time.
Funny you should mention Members Only, as I’ve seen old Members Only jackets on more than one trendy young thing lately.
Everything old becomes new again….
That quiz took a really long time between questions for me.
For me it recommends Play it Sexy, “a sultry, oriental scent that opens with an invigorating rush of sensuality and sophistication. Its heart is rich and exotic, before settling in to a dark, seductive base”.
and the page that tells me the notes is full of failed html
Sounds like they need to work on their website…
I suddenly feel like my social life isn’t up to par. . . 😉
Or you could feel suddenly satisfied with your life!
M.Rose, then I would certainly recommend Play it Sexy, lol!
Good to know that for only $20, I can so easily improve my dating life!
My social life consists of me being “mysteriously aloof” (ie awkwardly hanging out by myself).
Oh, but I like the way you phrase that! I bet it would make a better perfume, too.
Whenever I read Scorpio information, they always say that I am alluring due to my dark and mysterious nature. I am so glad to hear that the regular Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice comparisons and my irrational secretiveness are alluring and not weird! Once I put on Play it Sexy I will be completely irresistible.
Yes! They’ll write pop songs about you. Johnny Depp will get your name tattooed on his arm.
Hahahaha, engelwurz! I never imagined Ms. Ryder smelling of popsicles. . .
It was really slow for me to run, too. I didn’t even attempt the seduction quiz.
Love apple? (Or is it LUhhv apple?)
Why do I keep thinking “road apple”?
See the two definitions that I provided below 🙂
Can’t wait!
Well Virginia, life is … alot like a box of popsicles.
Angela, wonderful review! I have to pick up prescriptions at Walgreens tonight, and I’m going to make a special detour to the perfume counter.
My Walgreen’s has tried to class up the perfume counter, and sadly that has meant fewer of the great little old-timey finds. Maybe you’ll have better luck, though.
“Young, warm, and easy,” sounds exactly like what I’d expect from Playboy.
I know–it’s almost a little too on point, isn’t it?
lol, I took you to mean primarily versatile, but I guess you were nudging at other things too. Although, it doesn’t sound particularly promiscuous or ‘skanky’!
Only when combined with the Playboy fragrances website….
lol!
Yes! Young, warm and most especially easy…
Wouldn’t Playboy be about “young, HOT, and easy”? Or is it classier than that? 😉
Oh, its all a matter of degrees!
I wouldn’t assume it’s overly classy. You’re right, “hot” would be their word choice…
I wish you could bottle the “fragrance of [your] non-VIP lifestyle” — I’d probably wear that.
Hilarious review of that other thing.
Well, my non-VIP lifestyle is available to any coffee-drinking animal lover with a garden. In the winter, remove the fig tree and lilies and add a fire and something braising. Life is good!
Fur of cat is my favourite note in that VIP fragrance…
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were a perfume that really captured the scent of a cat’s fur? For me, that smell is so full of intangible things: purring and love, for instance.
Well, I did come across this listing (currently sold out, but it looks like a restock is pending) while bumming around etsy for a solid scent called Don Gato: http://www.etsy.com/transaction/141456114? Sounds like an effort to capture “essence of cat” in a fragrance.
I have a few of the seller’s offerings (Tapadero, Mad as Birds, Small Saga, and Vardogr are some favs), which are quite lovely, affordable, and definitely worth a try!
I think of “cat fur” smell along the lines of “baby head” and almost an impossible dream to capture. I’m glad someone tried! I’ll check out their page.
Ah, drugstore week! I look forward to it all year long.
I’ll pass on the Playboy frag, but I do want your “Maw, come git yer coffee” mug. Even if I’m very fond of my “Reading is My Superpower” mug.
Hey, I do have two of them! (Heaven forbid one should break.) I also have the matching Paw mug, which is Paw-sized and so slightly bigger.
You and Angela both have cool mugs! I have my morning joe in a Snakes & Lizards Summer of Slither mug from the California Academy of Sciences — that was such a fun day. One of the photos on the mug is of Lemondrop, the Albino Lavender Reticulated Python — I think that is such a cute name for a snake. I just purchased a disappearing Tardis mug (it’s supposed to disappear when hot liquid is added). I haven’t tried it yet.
I don’t have any appropriately nerdy mugs, but I *do* have a t-shirt that says “I found this humerus” with an arm bone on it. . . 😀
🙂
What a bunch of science nerds we have here!
Oh, now that’s a cool mug!
I would LOVE a “Reading is my Superpower” mug!
Me too! And I’ve already found it on Etsy…
Honestly, everything’s on etsy!
Maybe a “Drinking Coffee is my Superpower Mug” is good for me…
This is perfect for that romantic evening with suave sophisticated gentleman in his late 80’s. Be sure you know how to use that automated emergency defibrillator.
I think you just wrote a short story!
“Love apple” can refer to an old tradition in which a woman would keep a peeled apple in her armpit for several days and then give the sweat-soaked thing to a suitor. It can also refer to a tomato.
Wow! Well, Playboy must have been playing loose with its definition and just kept it at plain old apple.
If they had used the armpit fruit or the tomato, that would have given them some street cred with the perfumistas, I think! Ha!
Yes, I believe you’re right. MKK must have plenty of genuine love apple in it.
Haha! And here I was thinking it was some sort of Garden of Eden/ forbidden fruit reference!
Hey, you’re probably right! I often miss the obvious.
Are there any fragrances that have Nectarine as a note that are actually good? I love the smell of a fresh peach or nectarine and never really noticed Nectarine as note in anything.
I would love to find something like that! I have some Leila Lou perfume oil by Rosie Jane. According to Indie Scents, nectarine is one of the notes, and I think that I can smell it in there. I like Leila Lou — it reminds me of Petite Cherie by Annick Goutal.
I love Petite Cherie. That sounds nice!
I love Petite Cherie, too. I’ve kept mine in the fridge, and it has lasted several years. Unfortunately, my husband doesn’t like it. He was out of town for a couple of weeks recently, and I wore Petite Cherie often during that time. When I drove him to the airport and when I picked him up from the airport, I wore a perfume that he loves on me — a carnation soliflore (Laboissiere Carnation EDT) 🙂
You’re very kind to have switched to the carnation–although it sounds lovely.
Yes, I know there are. There must be. But of course now I can’t think of anything! Tomorrow’s review features a perfume with a peach note, but I doubt it would make you think of fresh peaches.
*as Nectarine
I got it!
*As a note. My mind is practically gone right now, sorry!
I knew just what you meant. (And my mind is reaching its limit for the day, too.)
When I tried these fragrances for the first time, I felt … old. How can anyone like these?
Tried them a couple of times since, and actually one of them – I think Play it Sexy is starting to grow on me, but only in shower gel form. VIP registered as nice, but with no personality, kind of the idea of a of a teenager from a blue-collar family about what class smells like.
The fact that I like Cashmere Mist doesn’t help either.
Lovely review, Angela, as always!
I give you credit for trying them. It’s so hard to keep up with perfume releases at all that I’ve passed by the drugstore’s offerings. I like your idea of trying them in body products, too.