Reviews of two recent mainstream designer fragrances: Jason Wu Eau de Parfum and Ralph Lauren Woman. Do comment if you've tried either, or if you have tested any other recent mainstream designer fragrances that you'd like to tell us about.
Jason Wu Eau de Parfum
Jason Wu's eponymous scent is his first, and is meant to reflect the jasmine growing near his childhood home in Taiwan — a focus the designer chose after blind-smelling hundreds of raw materials with perfumer Frank Voelkl. Wu may have found his notes by trial and error, but he had a specific idea of what he wanted his fragrance to be like:
I wanted it to have a transparency to it. I’ve never liked heavy fragrances. I wanted to make sure this was light, not overwhelming, like when you walk into a room and can smell someone’s perfume. Similar to my brand, it’s about subdued sophistication and glamour versus all out va va voom, and I think that holds true for the fragrance as well.1
Voelkl's juice fits that bill reasonably well. Jason Wu Eau de Parfum is a clean, fresh and soft floral. Other than the jasmine, none of the notes (pink pepper, fig, freesia, peony, and musk) really stand out, and even the jasmine is mild. It goes on bright and citrus-y, with tart fruity accents, then dries down into a sheer, jasmine-y blend, a little watery, with mildly green and mildly fruity undertones. The base is a pale woody musk, ever-so-slightly creamy, and while the overall longevity is not terrible, the pace of the proceedings runs along somewhat faster than you might expect.
Verdict: I wish I could remember Marc Jacobs's 2004 scent Blush in more detail, because Blush and Jason Wu strike me as having similar profiles. Jason Wu is a pretty floral, far too muted to satisfy a true jasmine fiend, and too unassuming in general to be perfumista-bait. What it does have is just enough jasmine to perhaps function as a jasmine fiend's office-friendly day fragrance, or as the perfect "starter" jasmine for a not-jasmine-fiend. You could surely find more sophisticated and glamorous jasmines, even if you wanted to stay in this subdued tone, but Jason Wu is nicely done and worth a shot. If you were a big fan of the now departed Chantecaille Le Jasmin, also by Voelkl, it might be worth your while to test Jason Wu, although going on memory, the Chantecaille, while hardly a jasmine bomb, was not quite so light as Jason Wu.
Jason Wu Eau de Parfum can be found at Saks Fifth Avenue in the US or Hudson Bay in Canada. It is $70 for 30 ml or $145 for 90 ml, and there are also matching body products.
Ralph Lauren Woman
Ralph Lauren's latest stab at a mainstream pillar is Ralph Lauren Woman. It's been almost 10 years since their last such effort, Notorious, which as near as I can tell flopped entirely — it never even got a flanker — leaving the brand with only the stalwart Romance, from 1998, to hold up the fort. So, what do we have now?
Introducing Woman By Ralph Lauren. A scent that embodies the essence of modern femininity. A blend of blooming white florals with rich vibrant woods. Fearless yet feminine. For the woman who strikes an alluring harmony between audacious power and feminine grace.
Righto. The Jessica Chastain commercial adds more palaver about women and strength and yadda yadda yadda, and we've got a matching hashtag: #WomanAboveAll. They've even latched on to the old saw about a feminine scent with masculine characteristics.2 They're aiming at women in their 30s, currently the biggest cohort of fragrance buyers, and reportedly, L’Oréal is shelling out the brand's biggest marketing spend to date.3
The juice, developed by perfumer Anne Flipo, stakes its claim to gourmand territory early on, with a loud and sweet opening of pear shampoo, tart fruit, sugar and cream. The heart is meant to be "tuberose driven",4 and I guess it is, but in the modern photoshop manner, de-clawed and blurred and scrubbed clean (other notes include rhubarb, blackcurrant, orange flower, rose, sandalwood and hazelnut). It isn't going to matter all that much whether you like tuberose, but you will have to like big florals — Ralph Lauren Woman is not going for subtlety, and it does not really "quiet" until a couple of hours in. The dry down is a nutty-creamy comfort scent, with pale woods, a dash of spice and a velvety finish.
Verdict: It's competent and wearable, even pretty, and it touches on all the current trends. I did not at all mind wearing it, but nor was I dying to wear it again (really, I'd rather wear Jason Wu). There are no surprises here, and there's an awful lot of competition in this particular sector of the market — can you say La Vie Est Belle? I wish them luck.5 It has fabulous reviews at the online stores, which is usually what happens when you give out lots of free product in return for reviews (a factor many of the reviewers mention in their descriptions). One particular review at Sephora struck me as pretty much encapsulating who might want Ralph Lauren Woman:
I currently use Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb as my everyday go to but I'm switching to this asap!
If she had switched to La Vie Est Belle in between, the lineage would be complete.
Other modern tuberose options: Gucci Bloom, McQueen Eau de Parfum.
Ralph Lauren Woman is available in 30 ($64), 50 ($84) and 100 ($110) ml Eau de Parfum and in matching body products. There is also a 10 ml rollerball ($26).
1. From Jason Wu Makes His Fragrance Debut -- And It Smells Like His Childhood at Forbes.
2. From the fragrance description at Sephora:
"When I started designing women’s clothes it was with a menswear sensibility. I love women who take something that could have been masculine, and make it exceptionally feminine."—Ralph Lauren
Mind you, Ralph Lauren Woman doesn't smell even slightly masculine, and it has no more of a woody base than any other fragrance on the market.
3. Via "Ralph Lauren’s New ‘Woman’: Jessica Chastain" at Women's Wear Daily, 7/24/2017.
4. Ibid.
5. Just in case you think that I think that I know what I'm talking about, I'll point out that I would have said all the same things about Notorious. I was surprised that Notorious flopped — I thought it was perfectly fine if somewhat dull rendition of a clean floral gourmand. I am nearly always surprised by what sells and what doesn't.
I do not have either fragrance, but I have a sample of Romance that if i remember correctly smells quite nice. I am also curious if RL Blue is still around/on the production line. I think that was RL’s best offering to date, and my own FB lasted for quite some time.
They do still sell it!
Yay!
I love Blue! It shows up in stores around the winter holidays, but last time I checked, you could order it online from Macy’s year round (not affiliated, that was just the one place I could find it last time I restocked). 🙂
I loved Blue, too! Went through 1.5 FBs before moving on to L’Instant + its Magic flanker. I’d bought Romance, too, but never took to it (unsure why not…); Still have a barely-touched tube of Romance lotion, but gave the FB away. So, L’Oreal owns the RL brand?
In here only to say I found a bottle of Notorious at an antique mall. A courtesy spray later and I wasn’t surprised it flopped. Strange soda top notes and a boring amber base. Totally indigestable. Actually it reminded me of Covet, which I love, if you scrubbed out the interesting parts and put a too-white filter over it to blur the details.
But I should add, thanks for the reviews! I’m sure I’ll try these on a card next trip to the mall.
Yeah, hard to know what to make of that. I liked Notorious better than you did, but would agree it’s not exactly interesting or compelling.
I guess what I always think is that if Chloe can sell, to name just one example, (I’m pissing someone off now, sorry!) then it isn’t about being interesting, it’s something else. I don’t know what that something else is, and I suspect it’s not really about the juice.
Chloe is very popular among the You Tube people who like to show their collections, If you watch them, alot of it seems to be a keeping up with the jones mindset. They all seem to have the same perfumes.
Right, but how did Chloe get to that place, when so many fragrances from equally popular designers fail? I do feel like there’s some secret sauce that comes from a combo of the advertising, the packaging, and a relatively inoffensive juice. Notorious was missing some piece of the sauce…
It’s true, Notorious was not as vapid as some. I don’t know what it is about Chloe but that juice is very very dull.
The designer fragrance game really is a crapshoot at this point.
I’ve tried a few mainstream releases recently. Elie Saab’s Girl of Now and Gucci Bloom probably appealed the most of the ones I’ve tried simply because they did not have that raspberry-sugar opening that goes with a lot of mainstreams…i found Armani’s Because it’s You and Kenzo World just far too pink sugary. Dior’s J’Adore in Joy has a strange salty-fruit note ( like fruit tinned in brine ) . If I was going to go mainstream floral ( fot a similar price) I’d probably buy Estee Lauder Pleasures as it seems a much more rounded and interesting/complex wearble perfume…it doesn’t fall apart and drift off as it dries down but retains its structure.
I need to try Girl of Now! Although that name doesn’t do anything for me.
I think the mainstream thing I’d most like to buy right now is Angel Muse.
I bought Angel Muse but don’t wear it very often. It somehow feels like a perfume of two halves to me ( the Angel and the the vetiver) that have been pasted together. Maybe if I liked Angel or vetiver better it would be more successful for me but as it is Iget tired of it after an hour and want to wash it off.
Interesting! I don’t wear any of my scents very often because I just have too many, but wonder if I would feel the same way and never reach for it?
Which are the few you do wear often?? Do you ever drain a bottle???
Melissa3boys, I am not being coy, it is just too hard to answer! I don’t drain bottles very often anymore. A few I have had to replace: Hermes Osmanthe Yunnan, Diptyque Philosykos & Tam Dao. I’m sure there are others I don’t remember.
My two favourite new designer releases are Bottega Veneta Eau de Velours and Mugler Alien Musc Mysterieux. Not sure if it counts as “mainstream” but Mugler’s Les Exceptions line has a nice new scent too, Wonder Bouquet.
And I have tried none of those 3! 2017 is going to be a wash for me, I will not come close to catching up.
Is the Mugler a jasmine, or mixed, or ?
Jasmine, white musk, cashmeran, vanilla, spices and saffron are listed. Although it says white musk, it does not smell like laundry detergent musk, it smells a bit dirtier than that. I am totally off oud, so the previous oud variation was a no go for me, although I thought it was well done.
Thanks. Was mostly wondering if it smelled like a jasmine perfume or more like a blended floral.
I’m so excited, my Wonder Bouquet sample is on its way! I’m still testing Mysterieux, but so far I think I like the oud one better.
I am a jasmine lover, and I’d love some suggestions for perfumes that, unlike Jason Wu’s new offering, are on the heavier side of jasmine.
Links to some others here:
https://nstperfume.com/2015/10/06/diptyque-essences-insensees-2015-fragrance-review/
And you can find more if you scroll through the jasmine tag above.
I don’t feel the need for either of these scents, but that Jason Wu bottle is stunning.
It really is pretty, and I love that RL Woman bottle too.
I tried the Wu at Saks (lol) and liked it enough to want to try it again should I ever see another tester. Agree with those who like the bottle. It is luxurious to look at and to hold.
Of the recently-released easy-to-find-at-the-mall florals, I really like Gucci Bloom the best. I hope they’ll do a little travel spray someday.
Thank you for the reviews and all the comments. I enjoyed them.
I still need to try Gucci Bloom myself!
My sister who lives in the wilds of Wyoming got to a Sephora one day, and Gucci Bloom is what she bought. But now she never mentions it. I will ask her if she still likes it. To me, it was one of those “smells like everything else” perfumes, but that could just have been the Sephora overload, where I was smelling it. 🙂
Sephora carries a travel size. I think it’s a rollerball.
Yep, it’s a rollerball.
I’m a big RL fan, wore Lauren in H.S., then Safari, Blue, Lauren Style and Pure Turquoise (both patchouli bombs, no wonder I adored them!).
I was incredibly disappointed when I tried Woman a couple of weeks ago – a pure sugar bomb. The dry down got incredibly sweet.
Will be interesting to see if it gets a flanker — no idea if others will love it. “Incredibly sweet” is a selling point, after all.
I want a perfume that smells like my horse pastures the last week of June when my little leaf linden trees bloom – wild bergamont ( bee balm, monarda sp.), wild spearmint, white and yellow yarrow, linden flowers, clover flowers, wild roses – flower and leaves, freshly cut hay, juniper bushes, (with some cut branches for a cedary dry down) and just the very slightest hint of horse in there somewhere. 🙂 Why don’t they make a perfume like that? Enough of these overly blended mixtures of manufactured odors, you know? Sorry. End rant now. 🙂