In Paris I’ve been lucky to see some of the PR material perfume houses send out. Wow. Marc Jacobs Decadence’s press materials came in a gold-edged black folder designed to look like a purse, complete with tassel and gold chain handle. Chanel Jersey’s press packet was a hand-bound paper booklet with mounted vintage photos, envelopes inserted to open and explore, and close-ups of materials — all on thick, luxurious paper.
Miu Miu’s press materials are especially impressive. Prada sent out a finely made flat box slickly papered in Miu Miu’s signature red and quilted baby blue. The box opens to a sheaf of hard cardboard placards with gold edges and artful images of actress Stacy Martin working Miu Miu’s youthful jolie laide charm. The perfume bottle is darling, and it feels heavy and solid in the hand. On seeing the package, my first thought was: Wow, this is gorgeous. Second thought: This must have cost a fortune, possibly more than the perfume did. Third thought: Great, but what’s the fragrance like?
Perfumer Daniela Andrier developed Miu Miu. Its notes include lily of the valley, rose, jasmine, green notes, and akigala wood©. (I’ve put the copyright sign next to akigala wood, because that’s the way it’s written in the press materials.) Akigala wood© is a new Givaudan fragrance material described as “powerfully peppery” and “evoking patchouli.”
On my skin, Miu Miu almost immediately falls into two layers. On top is a pale floral in which no one note dominates. It’s aldehydic, wan, and vaguely watery. The second layer is a blast of barely woody pepper. That’s it. A whole bunch of freshly ground pepper — enough to nearly bury the fragrance’s floral component. Miu Miu comes together and quiets down after half an hour to smell like skin splashed with pepper-spiked facial toner.
Miu Miu stumps me. I don’t see how it reflects the brand’s kooky retro-modern vibe. Also, I don’t know much about making or professionally evaluating perfume, but I am an expert perfume consumer, and to me Miu Miu feels surprisingly clumsy and not particularly friendly — but not strange enough to be alluring.
Then again, while I might find Miu Miu to be meh meh, it has its advantages. Once Miu Miu’s pepper is under control, the fragrance is quiet and vaguely clean. It breaks the mold of the typical department store fragrance targeted toward young women by not being fruity or sweet, or straining to be sexy. In other words, it’s easy on the people surrounding the Miu Miu wearer.
If you were to create a fragrance for Miu Miu, what would you do? What kind of perfume would mirror Miu Miu’s brand and appeal to young women?
Miu Miu is available in 30 ml, 50 ml ($86) and 100 ml ($116) Eau de Parfum. In the US, it will be exclusive to Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman for the rest of the year.
“Meh meh” 🙂 🙂
I totally believe that the packaging and marketing are more than the juice these days! I don’t know what I’d develop for Miu Miu b/c I don’t really know anything about the fashion line but it’s supposed to be charming and youthful. But I’m sure Brent Leonesio from Smell Bent could have done something really clever. Meow Meow?
At least it’s not another fruity patchouli trying to be sexy. At the same time, I’m not 100% sure what it’s supposed to be! There are the pale, clean flowers, then a punishing wallop of pepper. I’m stumped.
I love Meow Meow for a perfume name, though!
It’s got to be a metaphor for life, right? Massive attention paid to exterior, thin on the juice. I might be simply jaded, but it brings to mind the Kardashian Kulture.
I’d rather pay for quality experience, thanks. *flips hair*
😉
Hey, I never thought of it as a comment on society! My skeptical side suspected the perfume company was determined to use some of their new tree material, pepper madness be danged.
Just so long as they move widgets, etc…
Your skeptical side has plenty of company 🙂
Thanks for your review Angela. It’s a shame the perfume isn’t kooky, or subversive or even fun . It sounds like an exercise in marketing. I haven’t tried it, of course, but I do have an ancient bottle of Cacherel Loulou in my cupboard that has a similar coloured red/blue bottle so I might wear that today and relive my meow meow past for a day.
I adored Loulou! I can completely see it melding with Miu Miu.
Yeah, I might delve into all my old Cacherel perfumes this week. I haven’t worn any of them for years and years but they were cheap and, more importantly, available in the shops, back in the 80s and 90s and I liked them. May have to re-read Anais Nin too for a total memory lane moment! Funny how Miu Miu doesn’t work…when you think of how good a perfume like Marni is, from a similarly eclectic fashion brand.
Yes–Marni definitely works. At least, to me it does.
Loulou plus Anais Nin equals a lot of sensuality. Enjoy it!
That bottle – it’s as if a time traveler tried to bring back a DeVilbiss vanity set and a Faberge perfume bottle, and they got mismated in the transporter! 🙂
I don’t understand the Prada esthetic at all, but Tableau de Parfums Miriam is what I think of as recreated mid-century perfume. It’s slightly creepy, though, and therefore more interesting to sniff, even if I never wear it.
I love the transporter analogy!
It’s been so long since I smelled Miriam that I don’t have much to say about it, but I do love your description as mid-century and creepy. I’ll have to dig out my sample (assuming I still have it) when I get home.
oh, so disappointed to hear pale, wan and watery used to describe this one–had high hopes based on the extremely appealing packaging. When I read it featured lotv, was hoping for something along the lines of Goutal’s Eau de Charlotte, perhaps less gourmand. But if I were Miu Miu, I might have tried to do something along the lines of Bvlgari Black.
And Miu Miu is way way far from both Eau de Charlotte and Bulgari Black. The bottle is fabulous, though! I love your idea of taking Miu Miu in a more kooky direction, just like the brand.
Hmm..after this review, I am not particular interested and over the moon for trying it out, when it hits the stands here in Denmark 😀 That said, it sounds like it could be a fun perfume for men to try out? If they don’t mind having a feminine bottle on their desk 😀
Hey, I didn’t think of that, but maybe it would!
Bummer. This doesn’t sound appealing at all. Shame with such a cute bottle and all. And Miu Miu clothes are really cute in a quirky sort of way (even if I can only afford to look at them in a magazine). It’s puzzling to me since Daniela Andrier has created such wearable and pretty scents on Infusion d’Iris and Candy.
I was surprised, too, but maybe other people will love it because it’s so different that so many new releases. I agree, too, on how cute Miu Miu clothes can be. (The thrift store junkie in me can find a way to kind of do the look on a budget.)
A Miu Miu perfume? How about something Dzongkha-ish infused with suede and iris scented face powder?
Oh, that sounds great! That gets in a nice weird and retro vibe.
Also not sure what i would like to experience in a mainstream fragrance.
Had anyone else tried Fille de Joie, by Joie (clothing line)?
I got it in a Birchbox and it sparked my rabbit trail experience – thank you, Joie! It’s a California light woods, near the ocean, if i remember correctly.
I would like to see more scents like that, kinda citrusy, kinda woodsy, kinda cologne (not calone). And almost soapy? It retails for $120 or so, and that felt like a fortune to spend on perfume at the time. How things change, lol.
Thank you for the lovely review, Angela!
Whoops, that’s Folle de Joie 🙂
Ha ha ha, I like fille de joie better.
I’d think you could definitely finds fragrances like that for a better price, too. (Not that any spring to mind immediately.)
By the description, I now expect Miu Miu to smell like adiluted verion of (the pretty and kinda nice) Stella in two Peony. That strange, pale flower with black pepper and a splash of salt water.
If I was head of Miu Miu, I would go for a Marni type of scent. Or, skipped on the Prada Candy L’eau and used that juice. That fantastic top note would fit perfectly with the Miu Miu bottle.
Prada Candy L’eau really would have been an ideal first scent for Miu Miu!
Your description of this: in particular the ‘blast of barely woody pepper’, actually made me think of Marni… Unfortunately Marni didn’t work for me either!
Marni holds together better, feels more “of a piece” to me than Miu Miu. Plus, it’s spicier and has more body. Miu Miu is worth giving a try if you pass the tester, though.
This was probably the fall release I was most excited about, so it’s too bad that it’s confusing and meh. I’ll stick with Marni and Bottega Veneta for now. 🙂 Thanks for the review!
Marni and Bottega Veneta are both happy members of my perfume collection, too! And you’re welcome, of course.
Such a shame…. I was really looking forward, to trying the Miu Miu perfume 🙁
While I cannot afford Miu Miu clothing, I do love the brand’s aesthetic…. fun, quirky, and retro yet still classy. There was so much potential for a signature fragrance! At least, the bottle is perfectly Miu Miu. If I had to design a Miu Miu perfume, it would smell like a weird cross between Prada Infusion D’Iris and Marni.
Anyway…. guess I will just stick to Miu Miu’s wonderful sunglasses.
Now that’s interesting–Infusion d’Iris plus Marni!
Miu Miu does have fabulous sunglasses! And shoes. I really think you can approximate the style through judicious thrift store shopping, though.
The more I read this review, Angela, the more I think that (Infusion D’Iris meets Marni) is what Miu Miu was attempting to emulate with their fragrance.
I agree that Miu Miu’s aesthetic is fairly easy to pull off on a budget. Whether it is at thrift shops, or chain stores,like Zara. Though, I would not trade my Miu Miu Noir cat-eye sunglasses for anything…. lol.
You should smell them side by side, though. I don’t see a lot of similarity–although I get you mean, style-wise. It’s a mild-versus-macho sort of thing almost.
Now I really want a pair of those sunglasses! I’ve been needing some good cat’s eye glasses.
Something Daringly Old-Fashioned Elegant, yet, Playful would be what I’d do for a fragrance, just to subversively go against type of the label… which is kind of what Prada is about!
Something… Very Dry and Floral, But Sparkling… An Amber/Cashmeran /Galbanum/Labdanum/Castroeum Base glittered with Fizzy Aldehydes.
Lush Apricot, Tunisian Orange Blossom Absolute, Cassis Bud, White Freesia and Lily-of-the-Valley to open with a Backbeat of Narcissus and Black Cherry to open…
Middle notes of Hyacinth and Water Hyacinth juxtaposed against Cardamom, Anise and Rose Geranium, Cypress, Juniper, Lilac and White Nectarine with complex notes of Elemi, Opoponax, Styrax and the Creaminess of Tiare and Melon like Mimosa.
Perhaps a Vein of Ylang-Ylang and a trace of Civet… I think It’d be Incredibly Elegant, but kinda Tough… Like Kate Hepburn back in the 40’s, However it would also be Upbeat and Gay, not Serious and Humourless… Sly is a good word…
Just my idea… i can see this fragrance fitting in with that Kooky Bottle.
Oh my gosh, what a great description! I feel like someone should set it to music. I want to listen to your perfume, or maybe see it as a movie. Thank you!
(Sorry it took me so long to respond–I’ve been traveling.)
I know most of you won’t agree with me but I find most fragrances by Daniela Andrier rather meh…An exception might be Infusion Iris Absolue
I confess that I don’t charge out to sniff each of her new scents, either, but I admire them, even if I don’t own any (at least, I don’t think I do). But, like you, Infusion Iris Absolue is my favorite, too.
I just got this fragrance on Friday and am contemplating returning it. Brought it to office to ship back today, but am still not 100% certain of the decision!
I collect fragrances, and this one is definitely unique – not sure if it’s a good unique or a bad one!! For me, it’s pretty undecipherable and I’m finding a difficult time categorizing it in terms of the type of scent it is.
I definitely don’t have the “falling in love and must have it now” feeling I’ve gotten with fragrances like Marni, Bottega and “Untitled” by Maison Margiela!!
It definitely smells more green and peppery initially, but then it dries down to a more somewhat medicinal scent….maybe with a tad bit of musk.
I definitely don’t smell patchouli because there’s a layer of something green overpowering it.
Usually I can smell the various nuances of fragrances, but this one definitely has me confused (as evidenced by my rambling review here!!).
Thanks for chiming in on this! At this point in my own perfume collection, I tend not to keep something I don’t adore. But I can understand feeling flummoxed by Miu Miu. Good luck with your decision.
I just got the roller ball size . On me Miu Miu smells like peppery ,green wild roses in Kansas . Absolutely gorgeous. I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to get the big bottle and ancillary products .
It sounds like a winner on you! Bonus: the bottle is fabulous.