Modern Muse

Buckle up, this will be a long one. So I have this grandmother... No! This is not the beginning of a "matronly" diatribe! My grandmother is unrelentingly chic - more than I will ever be. She has a talent for choosing clothes/patterns/colours/smells that seem random to the uninitiated but, upon closer examination, turn out to be masterpieces of class and originality. One of the few things I have in common with this force of nature masquerading as a grandmother is a love for perfumes. We also both love white florals (although she seems to prefer creamy indolic tuberose, while I prefer green LOTV etc). Makes sense then that she frequently buys me a new scent for my birthday. This is how I discovered every single one of my favourite white floral smells. And I kind of resent her for it because, without fail, I always open the perfume package and have to hide my disappointment when I see a bottle that I have already tried and dismissed at my local perfume counter (or, even worse, havent tried but have decided against purely based on Fragrentica reviews/note profiles). Every year I think she's missed the mark but EVERY YEAR it turns out she saw (or rather smelled) something I had missed. This year, she gave me Modern Muse. And I was like: "Oh, yay, a boring floral from a house that peaked with Pleasures (just my personal view), in a pink (bleh) box and a stupid little bow. I'm pretty sure Fragenticans called this one 'Office Appropriate. What high praise..." And now I love it. And, most importantly, I disagree with almost every review here. Let me qualify that: I am most certainly not a "nose" and dont purport to be a scent savant. But I am enthusiastic and obsessed with smells, so it perturbs me when my take on a smell differs so vastly from other reviewers' takes. Let me just say it. Honeysuckle and leather. Yes, you heard me, I smell leather. And no, I'm not getting confused with the flanker Modern Muse Chic - I tried it and get no leather from it. But in Modern Muse, a smell described as a boring but well-blended floral, I smell honeysuckle with a touch of gardenia hiding the smallest hint of leather. And not the faux leather of Tom Ford or Dior's Leather Oud. You see, I wear a lot of leather. I love leather. And I collect leather smells, but (shhh, unpopular opinion alert) none of them actually smell like real leather. And yes, this perfume is well blended and inoffensive (although more unique than the word "inoffensive" makes it sound). Now I am in a bit of a quandary, because I dont want my signature scent to be a something in a pink box that people more experienced than me dismiss as mainstream! But I keep reaching for it... Damn. My grandmother wins again...

I’m in love with this fragrance. To me it smells like Chanel No 5 should’ve smelled. (Not a fan of Chanel No 5, other than its history and its image.) I’m glad I found ‚Modern Muse‘ I had different fragrances in the past, with a similar vibe, like Le Parfum by Elie Saab (The EDT version!) and Idôle by Lancôme. I wanted a sophisticated, „grown up“ scent, which was still young and sexy. The opposite of girly girl but still feminine, not tomboy. I loved Elie Saab (the EDT) , but it became too womanly for me after a while. Maybe it was my fault, bc I stored it in my bathroom, I might give this one a chance again. Same happened to me with Idôle. I smelled Idôle on a female neighbor of mine, it was gorgeous on her!! Simply gorgeous, but somehow it was too strong on me, and became much too orange-y and scratchy after a while. ‚Modern Muse‘ with the soft musk and Jasmine reminds me of Narcisso Rodriguez For Her (edt) but ‚Modern Muse‘ is fresher, cleaner, and more natural smelling than the former. ‚Modern Muse‘ smells like a rich girl that is the personification of the ‚clean girl aesthetic’ . She got old money, she’ll never wear a monogram bag or anything too loud. She’s vibrant yet chill, she’s lean and healthy. Her skin is glowy, her nails are always done but natural looking. Her hair is long and shiny. Her makeup minimal. she wears a crisp white shirt, perfectly fitting blue jeans and ridiculously expensive lingerie underneath. Everything about her is sexy, yet effortless. Her fragrance is merely the cherry on top, not the whole desert. This to me, is what ‘Modern Muse’ achieves! You don’t get a crazy silage, but anyone who comes close, knows you’re wearing something that elevates you. It doesn’t overpower who YOU are, it just makes you a bit better. I made the comparison to NR For Her bc of the jasmine and musk combo. It’s got a very similar dry down, but a completely different opening and overall vibe. NR too often than not, smells like damp laundry of a heavy smoker, combined with the sweetness of laundry detergent. It doesn’t matter, who I smell this on, this unfortunately is always the impression I get. NR’s jasmine smells artificial, while the ‚Modern Muse‘ jasmine smells like you‘re standing in a garden. It also has honeysuckle in it. When I smell honeysuckle, I think of huge, elegant mansions in the South and endless summers. The opening of ‚Modern Muse’ smells like the green of freshly cut flowers and then the Jasmine & Honeysuckle come through, and something soft and woody afterwards. To me this fragrance is perfection. It’s my personal Chanel No 5. A modern classic. It could last longer, tho. 9/10

Modern Muse is the first non-classic, post-1990 Estee Lauder fragrance that I ever enjoyed. Before that, I loved White Linen, Private Collection, and Tuscany Per Donna, while Knowing was my signature scent for 15 years after it was first released. Because I've always thought highly of Estee Lauder perfumes, I picked Modern Muse up, blind, when I found it for much less at TJ Maxx back around 2014/15. I wore the juice in that first bottle a fair amount, actually, back in the day when I only had 8 or 10 perfumes; only now, I just cracked open my second bottle that I had as a backup... Modern Muse has always been a scent that I low-key love, as opposed to "love with absolute abandon," but I do really enjoy the stuff. I'd describe it as cool, collected, put-together, a bit in the same family -- especially in the clean, fresh opening -- as aquatic florals like Elizabeth Arden 5th Avenue and Tous Gold (though it doesn't smell like those, it has a bit of the same effect). As it dries down, the jasmine + honeysuckle really comes forward -- I ADORE honeysuckle and MM has the best honeysuckle note I've ever come across in a perfume! -- along with an astringent note that sort of reminds me of tea, over a clean, white musk in the same vein as the original Tous with the silver teddy bear top. It's subtle and very well-behaved -- some might say TOO well-behaved to make much of an impression -- and very fresh and pretty. I have to positively BATHE in it, spritzing a ridiculous amount of times, to create the kind of scent cloud I enjoy. It's an understated, classy, cool, sophisticated yet easy-wearing fragrance for when you just want to smell nice and don't want to make much of a statement. I find it clings to the skin, wearing fairly close, for about 4-5 hours; this is when I spray about 6-8 sprays up and down each arm and another 6-8 on my neck & decolletage (I think that qualifies me as an oversprayer...?). But, in spite of this crazy spraying, I got no complaints, nor compliments, for that matter, from my somewhat discerning husband, so that cements my impression that Modern Muse "reads" as just clean and fresh. Clearly, I really enjoy it and will always have a place for it in my collection. Incidentally, I don't think it's that similar to any of the Narciso Rodriguez for Hers (which I also love) mostly because they have so much sweet osmanthus that give those perfumes a fruity, apricotty warmth, while Modern Muse is so resolutely cooly FLORAL.

It is March 1st and I just returned from walking my dog and collecting the trash barrels. It's 36◦ F in New England. The fragrance was definitely projecting at least arm length. When I first sprayed it on I could detect fruit. I see mandarin orange is a top note. But the fruitiness gives way to the flowers -- for me these florals remind me of spring. I know Lily of the Valley/muguets are not part of the scent profile, but that's what I pick up or I am reminded of. I see quite a few comments writing this off as "Meh, nothing special." I dunno. We or I at least live in a time where people seem to have a lot allergies or asthma etc. This fragrance is very well blended like a good smooth whiskey. It doesn't tickle the nose or elicit a sneezing or coughing reaction. This fragrance was inspired by the New York- based ballerina Misty Copeland. If you're a dancer, you probably want to minimize wearing strong or for that matter any kind of fragrance.I could see Misty Copeland wearing this once the top and middle notes have dried down. It has a pleasant and friendly quality to it. I can imagine the dancer and the choreographer working together and being envelopped by this fragrance. Not everyone wants a beast mode fragrance or a fragrance that demands attention. Sometimes you just want to smell pretty or pleasant and invite others around you to appreciate your scent. This is a good choice. It's good for everything, every occasion and priced at $40. Holy moly! Sure, there are plenty of other choices. Fine. But if you want something that is classy, well-composed, pleasant and easy to wear that suits everyone, and won't kill your purse, you won't be disappointed with Modern Muse. It smells as good if not better than J'adore by Dior (no hate on j'adore - just comparing). This is marketed as a female fragrance, but it might be an interesting choice for a man. Men like flowers too. For what this perfume is I rank it 9/10 for longevity (6hrs +/-), composition, affordability, likeability and mood enhancement. It's an easy reach.

I've had this perfume for sometime and I have just never gotten around to reviewing it. Which seems crazy to me, because I find nuances of loveliness in its breath every time I spray. Come to think of it, I don't particularly wear it often, and again, why the heck not?! There is a gentle stream of the most realistic honeysuckle babbling through each layer of this perfume. For a gal from California, fragrant honeysuckle could be found around any body of water, natural or manufactured, and always projected the clearest, sweetest nuances of crisp white floral, summer ever knew. The smell itself was radiant light, and touched some of my earliest, and best childhood memories. Jasmine is also present, with its regal stature and tender expression. This seems uncharacteristically simple for a Lauder, but I think that was an intention manifested properly. Dry down offers some woodier, musk driven chords placed surely, as a means of balance and symmetry. Without looking at the press release from 2013, I would say that Modern Muse offers us a precise experience of the entire honeysuckle plant...from the satiny petals, to the sweet nectar you can pull from the stamine to anoint your tongue...to the wooden branches, limbs, and bark...and the fertile earth containing its tender roots. I just love it! I see that it has received fairly lack-luster reviews here on Fragrantica - my home away from home - which is also slightly perplexing. Then again, when we love something, it's hard to think of any other valid perspective. This takes me back, for a moment, to a time when the sun shone brighter, and kids ran barefoot down dusty roads. Bright colors housing the world, whizzed by the periphery, carrying the most miraculous fragrances of our fleeting youth. There was such freedom found there, amongst the swimming holes, salty skin and soft blooms. All things warming under an omnipotent sun - lazy exhilaration! What nostalgia saturates my soul when I glimpse into that expansive soul, and find such bliss!