White Linen

At the time, people on the internet had started drawing comparisons between this scent and Chanel No.5. I didn’t connect it at all to No.5. No.5 has been a staple in my life for over a decade. I wear all its concentrations. So as more and more people began linking White Linen to No.5, I couldn’t help but wonder: What are they picking up on? But as I experienced WL, I began to understand why so many people draw the connection. ⸻ My first encounter with WL was when I was working for a small company based in Santa Clara that made custom chips for specialized computers. The Sales VP wore it. My co-worker, a senior female tech specialist, wore it, and an intern — who worked the front desk — wore it. And what struck me was that it seemed to suit everyone. All ages. All styles. It just worked. ⸻ Many years later, I was gifted a travel-sized bottle of WL by Estée Lauder when I purchased other items from them. That was the first time I experienced it on my skin. The way I experience perfume, I need to wear it — applied in different ways, in different environments, worn through and through. That’s the only way I feel I’m doing a scent justice. Even if not all of them are for me, I still want to understand their unique beauty. So I did just that with my WL. I wore it down to the very last drop. And luckily, that WL — when on my skin — felt unmistakably mine. No wonder different former coworkers can all wear it and still feel like themselves. Even though I feel White Linen is mine — as much as my No.5 is — I still consider them to be two completely different things. However, I began to understand why other people draw the connection. To me, these two perfumes feel like two entirely different languages expressing the same idea. It’s like this: you speak English, I speak Chinese, Gabrielle Chanel spoke French. We use different words, but those words can convey the same concept. They sound different in their own languages — but the core message remains the same. ⸻ White Linen is not a perfume that wears you or imposes its character onto you. You wear it — and define its character on your own terms. Wear it with makeup and a suit. Wear it bare-faced in a hoodie with your company’s logo. Wear it with a floral skirt. It adapts to you, in the way you invite it to become part of you. It doesn’t extend an invitation either. Yes, it’s powdery and floral — but not in the way that says, “I’m ready to be hugged.” It says, “I’m minding my own business.” And when it’s on you, you feel clean, independent, and confident. Such an American interpretation of femininity and independence — one that echoes the very philosophy behind the quintessential Chanel No.5. ⸻ WL is exactly like American English — and maybe the American spirit, in my opinion — it gets straight to the point. Less nuanced. You can grasp the full intention without needing much unsaid context or subtle implication. It seems to carry fewer legacies that fetter the freedom of modern identity, which gives it the license to make its statements more pronounced. Yes, that’s what I consider “American straightforwardness.” But maybe, to some, it also lacks that special kind of beauty that comes from the European style of “not giving it all.” Still, as a language, it’s beautiful in its own way. ⸻ In 2021, my initial plan for a 40-day trip unexpectedly stretched into 7 months. Due to COVID, it was nearly impossible to return to Mainland China — the flight fare was extortionate, and the paperwork was a nightmare. My 10ml travel decant of No.5 lasted only until the beginning of the second month. I took it as a sign to try something else — especially since I didn’t need to restock No.5 (I already had a very sufficient stash). So I bought a 75ml bottle of White Linen. I’ve been happily wearing it ever since, and it has since become a staple on my tray. (Though I sample and decant A LOT, I only keep a limited number of full-bottle staples.) Now it looks like I’ll finish this bottle in the next few months. I also want to record here the scent and my experience with this bottle.

If you like this, it's probably best to stock up before the current stock is discontinued in favor of the new Legacy edition. Whether the Legacy edition is an improvement remains to be seen, but what does not remain to be seen is the price difference. The Legacy edition was presided over by Frederic Malle, and it is priced like Frederic Malle as well--I'm glad I have an almost full bottle of the old stuff in my refrigerator. As with so many women in my age group, I have many fond memories of older female relatives who wore this and gave me travel-size bottles when I was in my teens. I also associate this fragrance with a former coworker at the used record store where I used to work: she was into punk rock, and she dated a guy in a regionally famous hardcore band, and she wore black leather and tattered denim and Docs, not white-linen dresses, but this was her signature scent, so much so that when I put some on one day--a gift from my great-aunt--my then-boyfriend and co-worker at the aforementioned record store said immediately, "Now you smell exactly like Lisa!" Anyway, the fact that this aldehydic floral powerhouse could appeal both to my great-aunt, a small-town Southern Baptist, and to Lisa, my former punk-rock colleague at the record store, says a lot about the genius of Sophia Grojsman. I fervently hope that Malle's team of fine-fragrance niche fancy-pantses doesn't fuck this up. Update: I have tested against the new "Legacy" version, and the new version is completely different--much more contemporary, but lacking all the starchy rigor that made WL so special and so distinctive. This one has a sharp carnation note, a hyacinth that smells like the forest and like delicious violet candy, a recognizable rose. It smells like blindingly white sheets flapping righteously in a cool breeze. The Malle-ified version smells like slightly sweaty laundry, a salty tang that undermines the soap smell that ought to be ascendant. But apparently the Malle team thought it might be better if they added some indefinable salty unwashed skin to the accord. The fact that they call theirs the Legacy version defies comprehension, unless they think "Legacy" means "Let's put something really fucking weird and gross in here, charge more than three times as much for a small bottle, and coerce our few remaining loyalists into buying it." Stock up on this version of White Linen if you can, Grojsman fans. If the EL suits get rid of the original in favor of the Legacy versions, they might as well just kill them right now, because I guarantee you that it won't sell very well at this price point.

White Linen is the epitome of clean, fresh, cool, invigorating. Sparkling. It may not be my favorite aldehyde (Rive Gauche and Calandre hold that spot, along vintage N°5) but it’s my benchmark as an aldehyde with the above statements. Vintage has a dark animal vein running thru, and modern feels the same minus the potency and the dark underbelly. I’m starting with the modern version, of which I usually go through a bottle a year. The diminished power requires copious spraying, but with that it ensures it lasts all day on skin and clothes. And there’s no other fragrance that conveys such a sparkle. It’s at once complex and simple, layered but understandable. If I close my eyes I can see and smell pure fresh mountain air. That clean breath, that coolness that permeates your nostrils and opens up your nose. Everything else smells magnified. I sometimes struggle to use it in winter as it feels like an ice pick piercing thru my veins. But I still do. And in summer, it’s the best tonic, for skin and soul. Aldehydes rule here, the flowers and green notes get lost in translation. What’s left it’s a veil of colors that dances on skin. Green, yellow, pink, purple, white. Shades of aldehyde that smell like everything at once, at moments green and herbal, at times rosy, sometimes even white floralish. Always I sense an undercurrent of moss and when it reaches its long drydown, a warm ambery goodness that slightly warms the soul. I wouldn’t say it reminds me of white linen hanging in the sun as that would imply a warmer fragrance. It reminds me of that feel, stepping out of the beach with a wet swimsuit and lying under the sun. The contrast of the heat hitting your cold skin and droplets evaporating. It’s a scent of emotions. The vintage; the first version feels decidedly creamier and more powdery. The aldehydes are as potent as ever but they stay as a background note given a couple of hours. The flowers bloom and the mossy side covers the entire landscape. The civet and honey cast a slightly bruised patina of warmth and sensuality and the amber drydown feels somewhat spicy and sexy. It goes from cool to hot and from effervescent to sizzling. Dirtier but still clean! Sillage and longevity. 6/8 modern and 9/9 for the vintage. Tip: a spray of a musk heavy fragrance and then modern White Linen on top adds some lost dimension and brings it closer to the original while still respecting its marble coolness.

(Vintage EdP, “parfum spray”, bottle c. 1987) Every time I wear White Linen I am reminded of why I love it so much, and I say it specifically in that way because, for some reason, I always end up forgetting the context and the details of why I love it. Not this time! To my nose, White Linen is an expression of all of the classic ways a person can smell “clean”. There are shimmering and cold aldehydes overlaying a very gentle tree fruit accord at the top. It smells like I’ve just washed my hands in cold, infused water. It is bracing and refreshing. This textural theme of coolness continues into the heart as well with a strong lilac note. Lilacs have always smelled to me as a cold yet rich and heady aroma - but there is a trick here, because there is an unctuous note at play that calls to mind muguet when placed in tandem with the sweet headiness of lilac. Predominantly though, the heart is rosey - Grojsman loves her roses - but with the cold lilac note, the unctuous muguet, starchy and dry orris, and some musk/civet material, there is a strong evocation of the floral animalic musk-based soaps popular in the 60s and 70s (Yardley comes to mind). It’s very much like I’m smelling a vintage soap infused with floral oils, or a vintage fabric starch. The base is a very gentle aromatic cedar and sandalwood, and quite a bit of damp oakmoss, like a spring rain has just nourished and cleaned the moss but this is far from the oakmoss-bombs popular in White Linen’s day. Again: gentle, fresh, understated, and clean. White Linen is gorgeous. What seems to be a simple and clean floral musky chypre actually has a lot intricacies, corners, and little hidden gems working underneath the surface. When you pay attention to those details that’s when White Linen puts a smile on your face, the smile of contention and the vitality of freshness like you’re being swaddled in a freshly laundered down comforter. Ahhhhhh, lovely.

This scent has always intrigued me. I love Floral-Aldehyde fragrances, and this one has LOTS of aldehydes in the opening. I usually would spray this at the department store whenever I was there, because I loved the opening. I recall that the aldehydes stayed sharp but faded, and this became more floral. I spotted a few bottles of this at TJ Maxx, and of course I couldn't walk out of the store without getting one. I wore this for the first time today, and in the opening as I said, you get alot of aldehydes. I get sharp, fresh, lemon peel vibes from these aldehydes. After the aldehydes evaporate a little you get a clean, floral scent. I got mostly hyacinth and rose. I think the hyacinth may have caused me some hesitation to spray this on my skin in the past before I had a bottle, but actually wearing it, I'm shocked to say I don't mind it. Hyacinth notes in other perfumes I've tried tend to be too strong and overbearing for my tastes (I'm looking at you, Charlie.) Here it's nicely blended with other florals and Woody notes. This is called "White Linen", but it only slightly reminds me of white linen. I think the newer Estée Lauder fragrance "Pure White Linen" does a better job of capturing that and is overall soapier and lighter. This also had better silage than I expected. It definitely radiates nicely and you could likely get a whiff of it at a close distance. This also lasted fabulously long, and it was still going strong on me after a few hours. Overall, I'm very pleased with this perfume, and I think Estée Lauder knocked it out of the park with this one. It's checked almost all of my boxes. I would definitely repurchase this one.

oh my i was so entertained by the reviews on this scent lol.......people really dont like aldehydes or this scent lol.........it is a very old school classic estee lauder scent which i am happy to say i love !!! someone has to give white linen some love here :) i do agree its not the kind of scent u want to wear in an enclosed space with lots of people lol - maybe back when it came out that was fine cuz we all smelled like powerful aldehydes back then so who noticed ha ha but i get a total fresh clean linen vibe - its like freshly washed linens hanging on the line outside your home in the mountains with hills of rolling grass surrounding you & all the beautiful floral scents blowing thru the breeze its not a scent for everyone but it is a beautiful classic estee lauder scent that has a special place in the perfume world (well at least to me lol ) on me i get a lot of the beautiful florals i love - i literally love all the florals in this scent except orris but luckily i dont smell that..............and oakmoss can be a toughy for some but it works well for me where im not of fan of honey & luckily i dont get honey in this scent i wont argue its a complicated scent (meaning lots of notes going on ) but back then perfumes were big on many many notes & big on aldehydes & strong scents..........but i appreciate the scent for its time & i love it - i hope they never discontinue it :) however i am not a fan of pure white linen - that smell sour & nasty to me lol anyway im a cheerleader for white linen but i get why it can not be popular lol

It is nearing spring 2019 and this means that white linen and I are celebrating 19 years together. This cannot be said of any other scent except for Muglers Amen,DKNY 1999,Tommy Girl,(15 years) and Hypnotic Poison (10 years). These scents have stood the test of time in my book due to their constant compliment factor and longevity. White Linen till date remains such a clean,icy,bracing fragrance, that it still turns heads whenever somebody new smells it off me, and it's almost become a signature of mine, heck I even wore it through my winter rotation and brought a chill to the spines of those who were embalmed in their warm sweet vanilla scents (if I want that embrace I go big or go home, looking at you Amen and Hypnotic Poison). Just today I had some trainee girls hug me as I got into work and once again I experienced that oh my god you smell amazing reaction that I always have gotten with White Linen. So to cut this tale short, I'm just here to give credit where it is due, thank you White linen for always being my ice queen from my high school days, through to campus and work. A fragrance that has been with me from my teenage years and is still with me whilst I am about to turn 32. My clothes have remnants of you and indeed you've become a part of my soul, heck I'd probably go to my grave and the soil around me will probably reek of it for an eternity. Still a 10 in my books. And Yes I am a man who wears White Linen. I'm gender neutral when it comes to fragrances.

Surprised I love this. I normally don’t go for soap (unless really green) or powder (unless really sparkly) but White Linen is special. Its green is the greenest lily of the valley. And it sparkles, just not with pop. Once I recovered from the initial blast of aldehyde/orris/oakmoss powder, I fell in love with the sparkling lemon that is nothing like soap and everything like fresh, lightly fizzing, barely sweet lemonade. The spice from the carnation comes in quickly and is a striking and refreshing counterpoint. I grew up in a mountain valley suffused with lilac from purple and white bushes that bloomed for a short but magical month in the summer, and Linen’s lilac is both real and hyperreal. Great benzoin and honey too. Subtle. And necessary. Every note is pretty much perfect. That extraordinary tea thing associated with Grojsman is present but mild, more a smooth, steady trickle than a rollicking stream. Berry-like, interestingly. This is one of the most elegantly balanced fragrances I’ve ever experienced. Ever. That alone makes this art. But it’s also a pleasure to smell on my skin as the scent softens and blends, softens and blends. Until it coalesces into a puff of whisper. So. Pretty. But far from usual. Creamy citrus sugar. Incredible. Again, I’m surprised how much I love wearing White Linen as I didn’t think I would. Or that I’d keep smelling my arm during the wear to enjoy its beautiful unrolling.

This is a very strange yet gorgeous fragrance and can be hard to love, but it’s worth it if you keep trying it as I have come to love it. I tried it 4 times in store before eventually deciding I do in fact love it. The opening is a blast of aldehydes and lemon. It almost smells like a lemon cleaning liquid which can be very off putting at first. It softens slightly but the star of the show is definitely the aldehyde lemon combination. Over time the white floral notes emerge and reinforce the cold crisp clean fresh laundry smell it has, the carnation in particular stands out. It has a very slight green quality in a subtle woody mossy way. It's clear that White Linen has definitely been reformulated over time as my mum remembers that my grandma wore it and considered it a gorgeous fragrance, until she tried the current formulation which my mum does not like. This fragrance needs time to develop on the skin and you need to take time to fully understand it as it is easy to write this fragrance off as smelling too “old fashioned” or smelling like cleaning liquid. This feels like a clear predecessor to Eternity which was also created by Sophia Grojsman. I adore this fragrance but it’s not for everyone as it can require time to understand, but if you continue trying it you may find it very rewarding. It also lasts a very long time on my skin, I’m talking over 24 hours!

Lately I have become enchanted by aldehydes and have fallen madly in love with White Linen! This was so popular when I was growing up, I'm not sure how it escaped my radar until now. Clean and crisp, White Linen positively sparkles in the summertime. It is so refreshing and invigorating on a scorching hot day! White Linen would be the perfect scent for a beach vacation... It brings to mind clam bakes and summers on Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard. If "The Official Preppy Handbook" 1980s cult classic had a fragrance guide, this absolutely should have been included. An all-American icon from days gone by, White Linen has withstood the test of time and remains a classic beauty today. While I do not care for Frédéric Malle's recently reimagined "Legacy" version, Estée Lauder's current formulation of White Linen has held up well and is still readily available. But I have also been stocking up on vintage bottles via eBay. Introduced in 1978, the brilliant Sophia Grojsman is the nose behind White Linen. She also created other favorites of mine including Paris by YSL, Beautiful (which was a signature scent of mine in high school during the 1990s), the sadly discontinued Bvlgari Pour Femme, and many more. I am delighted to finally have White Linen, Grojsman's original masterpiece, in my collection!

I love other people's bathrooms. They tell so much about them. Bad habit or not, since I can remember, I have sniffed bottles in those bathrooms. I remember like yesterday my first encounter with White Linen. I was just a kid. It didn't impress me at all, it didn't smell like a perfume, it was too different from everything I have smelled. There lies the reason of its success. If you haven't grown up in US or around someone who wore it, you would not have any associations and no idea when was it created. Dispite clearly floral aldehyde composition, the result is very abstract. And that is the reason why it ages so well, why it's still quite popular. I'm way too young for this kind of perfume, at least it's what ladies that sell perfumes keep telling me. And I keep telling them that selling perfumes is their job, but to me it's a passion. Better than telling them how sadly ignorant most of them are. I can't help myself, I like smelling clean, so floral aldehydes just keep coming my way. I came to the conclusion that to me maternal kiss smells like a hair spray, make up and floral aldehyde. White Linen almost makes me want to be a nice lady who drinks Chardonnay, but I'm sorry, Mother, I prefer beer and I'm not going to apologise for it. I just like smelling like that nice lady.

I am your typical consumer who purchased this in loving memory of my lovely aunt and I hope describing her just a little will assist my brief interpretation of this fragrance. My aunt was a lady who came from an inland farming family to live at the coast. She was remarkable for her beauty and femininity but was accustomed to hard work and was fearlessly adventurous, she learned to fish and surf when she came to the coast. This fragrance reminds me of her so much because it is as though the type of delicately picturesque country cottage garden where she grew up came impossibly to the salty seaside air where it should never survive and instead it thrives. That is a sort of modernist paradox. It is easy for me to see why this fragrance is so significant, its accord is stunningly romantic and conjures up the idea of the adventure of an intimate sensibility into the boundless freedom of open spaces. I will wear this whenever something exciting happens to me that I would want to share with my aunt, and I will confidently ignore that it's maybe too feminine for a man to really get away with. I don't think I care if I can get away with it anyway. I see this as an elegantly frosted springtime fragrance that might not be well suited to hot weather but maybe that's just me.

I immediately get the aldehydic top note, airy and almost frosty like clean linen drying during a beautiful day with the sun slightly covered with subtle white clouds. White linen smells clean and a little bit soapy, but a gorgeous soap, not the discount type but the luxurious type. After the aldehydes I get a transparent but recognisable vetiver, a little citrusy and green. It’s all very subtle like the white floral and the heart of shy rose that my friends smell on me when I wear it. It’s strange because I love rose in perfumery but I don’t get it so clear here. I think all in White Linen is barely mentioned (except the aldehydes) because this perfume want to be delicately elegant and beautiful but it’s there and it’s glorious not like an old Opium that it’s bold and proud. White Linen is just beautiful and comforting in a soft way. Sophia Grojsman is a genius and after some hour I can get her trademark, the peach note that is not clear like in Yvresse or Trésor but it’s there. The longevity is quite good as the projection on space. The drydown has a sort of salty citrusy scent and an unexpected ambery side. A marvellous fragrance, quite cheap in the price but it’s one of a kind. It’s one one my favourite perfume and I have about 100 fragrances, so...

I wore the treads off of this in the late 80s.... until I started my first job and my boss (my aunt) told me to never ever under any circumstances wear it again. Apparently, it was basically putting my co worker in the next cubicle into near anaphylactic shock. I complied and showed up the next day wearing Poison in rebellion. Anyhoo, I have not smelled it in nearly 25 years and recently got a hankering to order a sample just to recall it better. And it still smells so freaking good to me. I thought if this wasn't the extraordinarily dated "White Linen" I would buy a giant bottle of it. Yes, I think we all have an aunt, mom or grandma who wore this and who we associate it with...but you know what? I decided who cares! The stuff smells so good and is the absolute BEST nose resetting scent out there. If you OD on gourmand and sweetness for a while, break out the White Linen and you will be good to go again the next day. Something utterly refreshing about it with its mega dose of aldehydes and crispness like no other. As others have said, nothing else smells like White Linen. So, 1978 smelling grandma or not, I don't care, I am now the proud owner of a giant bottle. Now if I can locate my old co-worker I will go by and say hello......

The inexplicably low rating for White Linen makes me think that the current formulation of this must be sorely lacking. My own bottle is about 10 or 15 years old, and it has been in the refrigerator, mostly full, for a long time because a little goes a long way. But this is a beautiful floral aldehyde, every bit as iconic as Chanel No. 5, although it doesn't really resemble that fragrance much, aside from the florals and aldehydes. But my formulation of White Linen smells like a beautiful aldehydic floral over a clean sandalwood-cedar base. It really does remind me of clean laundry on a clothesline on a sunny day, with the scent of freshly mown green grass, sweet hay, and velvety moss. The floral aspect is very abstract; you can't pick out individual notes, just a diffuse but powerful impression of cleanliness. Perfect for a hundred-degree day and that just-stepped-out-of-the-shower feeling. I know there are people out there who dislike White Linen because of their scent memories and associations, but I will always feel nostalgic for White Linen, the first nice department store fragrance that I ever owned, thanks to my great-aunt, who regularly hooked me up with her free gifts with purchase.

It's happened! I found it!! I finally own this and I'm so excited, because I paid next to nothing for a 2nd hand 2/3 - 3/4 full vintage bottle from a pawn shop in Moncton. Oooooohhh! It's even more magical than I imagined it could be. It's perfectly aged, and exactly as clean and powdery as I could have possibly hoped. It's enormous! And I smell that oakmoss everyone is upset about them removing from the reformulated version. This is something straight out of the 70s/80s powerhouses. Like a pillow fight straight to the face with the cleanest of laundry and when they hit, poofs of talcum clouds billow out, blowing drifts of oakmoss and woods below it. I LOVE it. Can't get enough! This will be a dream after a hot bath before bed. This is so complex, I was getting really upset reading about all you people who have been disappointed by the new and weakened reformulation. Go on the interwebs find yourself a vintage. It is worth the price for this. If you love a powdery clean scent, that also is sexy, this is a must have. I just want to keep smelling this forever. Why do they have to go and ruin all the good things? This was perfection. Find a vintage.

I truly don't understand how anyone could dislike White Linen. Even to modern noses trained on sheer, synthetic skin scents and bakery smelling nonsense, it's still anything but offensive. The opening is the smell of a brutal, unapologetic clean. It's a cold dose of aldehydes that immediately snaps you to attention. Imagine a starched white shirt, ironed by someone with a grudge against softness and the 12-hour civilian clock. It can come across as aseptic and unisex. But if you have the patience to let it develop, that serious opening melts beautifully into a soft floral musk. It's the absolute antithesis of cloying. It loses the brutality and shifts into warmth and a soapy bouquet of abstract white and pink florals. It's a very comforting fragrance. The real brilliance of White Linen is its versatility. It is perfectly appropriate for any occasion. You can wear it casually with jeans and a t-shirt, or you can pair it with formal wear for black-tie. It never suffocates. It simply presents itself as proper. You absolutely cannot go wrong with this timeless, structurally perfect masterpiece.

I'm always surprised how great this is when I wear it, usually after forgetting about it for a while. I originally bought it because my lovely grandmother used to wear it and I was missing her. The smell reminds me of being little and hiding under her long skirts or watching her put her scarf and rain hat on to go out to the shops. Definitely a bottle full of aldehyde sprites, hissing and fizzing to get out of the bottle and dance. I find the florals are in the background and become more prominent over the duration of the wear, after the aldehydes get tired of dancing. I get a bit of an incense smell from it too which is also more prominent than the florals; I think this might be the combination of the woods, oakmoss and vetiver. I think white linen is great all year round. In the summer it smells clean and the florals are more noticeable. In the winter it embraces the cold and smells all icy and chilly!! I also like wearing it when I want to feel like my grandma is standing beside me xxx

I don’t really do the seasonal thing for my perfumes but, if I did, White Linen is one that would work in all seasons. In the summer, it is a clean, floral goodness, and in the winter, it is icy cold and clear. I haven’t really got any associations with this as my mother and grandmother never wore it (being spicy oriental and chypre ladies). This is really a restrained, elegant fragrance and the drydown is amazing. I would think White Linen can be worn pretty much everywhere and by any age group. You do have to enjoy aldehydes, and lucky for me, I do. This often gets mentioned alongside White Diamonds and Chanel No 5, both of which are drop dead gorgeous perfumes, but I don’t really notice the similarities aside from that first aldehydic blast. The dry downs are not the same at all, at least on me. Longevity is great, between 6 and 9 hours, weather depending. I’m wearing it today with a Slurm logo shirt (whimmy wham wham wozzle) and jeans to go to the grocery store.

This perfume will forever remind me of my Aunt and her best friend who helped raise me. My Aunt sadly died quite young, over a decade ago now, and I love to smell White Linen and think of her. The perfume itself is absolutely lovely, and I adore the aldehydes and all the flowers, but I do not wear it well myself. I just occasionally spray some on a piece of paper and enjoy the fragrance in and of itself. It isn't an issue of it being too dated for me (as I think White Linen is timeless), I just struggle with Estee Lauder DNA now for some reason, as even Sensuous is not quite right for me now (and it was my scent at one point when I was younger, and I also did wear White Linen and White Linen Breeze). At any rate, it smelled like heaven on my Aunt and her friend, and is just okay on me. I highly recommend trying it out for yourself! It's a classic!

Sophia Grojsman, who would later introduce to the world the "hug me accord" with her composition Trésor, imparted more of a "please do hug me, but not too tight and for not too long!" with her first perfume White Linen. The ionones, Iso E Super, and galaxolide are all here, but the beaming aldehydes, violet, rose, and lilac, simmering down to mossy vetiver make it feel just a teensy bit remote. Yet it is by no means a ice queen, and Grojsman knows her way around "scent sculpting," where its Niagara starch meets sweaty collar meets Ivory soap meets botanic garden in heat, over time in its development, feels immersive and warm. I am surprised that some consider this to be chaste, as there lurks a bit of leaking sex drive in between the sinews of vetiver and amber glaze. This is no doubt an absolute American classic.

White linen by Estee Lauder, conjures up a couple having an intimate, anniversary pinic at a cabin. They're sitting outdoors near a cedar wood fire. Placing a minimalist, elegant, embroidered cloth on a table, while of course wearing preppy white clothing attire. There is a beautiful garden surrounding with iris, violets, etc. They have fresh peach tea and an assortment of sandwiches, and cute desserts. The day is sunny but a bit dewy from the rain earlier in the morning. After they eat, they both exchange romantic cards with a letter inside being lovely handwritten poems. This scent is unisex leaning more masculine & green. The opening is quite assertive, but the dry down is soft like opening a fresh vintage envelope, or book, and smelling the fragrant glue.

I was so worried to buy this one because of the crazy negative reviews and I’m so glad I did 😍 I’m on a vintage kick lately (after so many gourmands, fruity florals, sweet launches. I still love them but I wanted to go deeper in history). And experience something new to me because I was a baby when this came out 😅 I thought this was going to be a crazy aldehyde but no, it just smells clean 🤷🏼♀️ Ok, this arrived today and it’s a new formulation, maybe it will be stronger later. I love green earthy fragrances as well so this it’s lovely to me and quite frankly, not that strong 😳. I think it’s great when you want to feel really fresh and awake. And plus, it’s a Sophia Grojsman creation, I just had to 😬

I fell in love with White Linen back in the 80s, but used up my last drop, at a time when perfumes had become a very low priority in my life. Returning to fragrance, I've been hesitant. So many tales of reformulations bearing little resemblance to the originals, but I've had fairly good luck with it so far, and just bought a fresh bottle of White Linen. To my delight, I find it touches my heart and memory exactly as it always did. Maybe if I smelled it right next to the original, I'd notice a difference, but barring that, I sense none at all. It's beautiful, tasteful, elegant, clean, and fresh. White but never stark. A hint of sweet with no syrup or candy. I am addicted anew!

The magic is in the drydown on my skin, and, it smells heavenly! Back than, in my youth, ca 1981, everybody was wearing this perfume; my mum, my 3 sisters and my best friends, except me, I was wearing Youth Dew, but, I always envy the other girls' beautiful perfumes... To me, this is a very familiary and kozy scent, reminding me of our very large house, "Playa del Sundtsvei", full of people, cats and dogs; Mimmi-Pimmi and Ginnie, and our bright future to come, now, my brand new big bottle smells wonderful, from freshly cut flowers, and other goodies and good vibes, but, this perfume may not be for everybody, but for me, a vintage lover, it is just PERFECT!!

I absolutely love this perfume. This fragrance is clean smelling and powerful. I want to keep smelling it over and over again. It’s a complex smell that gets better with the warmth of your skin. It reminds me of a school teacher that is highly organized and clean and sort of preppy. That’s the image I get when I smell this. It warms the soul and makes me feel peace. My favorite perfume of all time is Chanel 19. Both of these perfumes have Oakmoss in them. It’s a very earthy, very long lasting smell that is the foundation of this beauty. I have a vintage version of this and I use it very sparingly. I don’t want to be without it.

Estee Lauder White Linen (1978) - aldehydic chypre - Say what you want about Chanel no 5 and aldehydes, but nothing comes close in showcasing the substance in all its glory as this #sophiagrojsman creation. Here, aldehydes are marketed and blended to connote texture. Sparkling, waxy, crisp and citric. This is meshed with an array of florals that work in unison on a traditional and “masculine” chypre base. It’s as if #chanelpourmonsieur amped up the aldehydes! Incredibly universal and timeless. *p.s. I’m referencing this vintage bottle. I have yet to smell the newer formulations. Bravo sophia!

The opening is aldehydic. Very close to no5 soapy aldehydes not like First's VcA pungent first moments. Very clean. Not fabric softener clean but out of the bath clean. Then the middle notes are so very powdery... Hyacinth creates a velvet mattress for the base If you are familiar with Grojsman's creations you can tell that is one of her babies! How? Powdery peaches or apricots are lingering all day on skin or clothes. In my opinion this is one of the best Perfumes of all times. Longevity is very good and projects well. I honesty love it for winter and spring time!

Continuously clean with soapy floral green radiance, this classic has never been matched. The vetiver in the base is the nonstop chic, nonstop sophisticated, nonstop clean, nonstop feelgood note that keeps the nose coming back for more effervescent joy. The vetiver note is as classy if not classier than Vetiver Pour Elle by Guerlain, but there’s really no comparison. This fragrance is so comforting, so tasteful, so crisp, so enchanting, and so multifaceted that it is really beyond comparison. It also wears well year-round.

I have 2 large 3 ounce vintage bottles this one I think is from 1988 or 1998 one of those the vintage have “Parfum Spray” the new ones “Eau de Parfum” I sprayed 2 sprays on my shirt and since I do not smoke anyone things are so strong now! This crap is so strong! This is not floral at all to me! This is straight soap smell! Like dove smell! As a straight man guys this would smell so clean on ya! God bless you all! Jesus Christ is Lord God and King of all! All will bow and confess that he is Lord! You have no choice!

Nana and Mom love Estee Lauder and own many of their perfumes but this one is something I could always come to terms with. It is has everything — aldehydes, florals, earthy and green tones. With orchids and ylang-ylang. It is very pleasing to my nose. Longevity and projection are long-lasting. It's crisp, clean, and unisex. After smelling this for just a short time, I love it! It makes me think of sleeping on the Wish Tower Suite onboard the Disney Wish. I totally recommend White Linen.

I own this and love this. I first smelled it when I was given a sample of it in college about 1994-1995. I put it on because it was there and fell in love. It is aldehyde clean scent with an underlying floral warmth but never sweet. It has fairly big sillage. In college, I had no idea and could care less about the quality, history or nose behind a perfume. I was delighted later in life to discover I had accidentally fallen for an excellent perfume by a fantastic perfumer.

This is one of my mom's favorite in the late 70's that l did not really like. Last year l smelled this on a man and asked what he wore. He smelled clean and fresh in a classic way unlike the new standards with tutti frutti florals and aquatics. I tested this on me and it turned out to be very good, not feminine but neutral. Just clean, fresh and powdery. I liked it and purchased a full bottle. This is unisex nowadays. Another great find. Men can absolutely rock this.

I love my fresh, laundry scents on hot, humid days but there are times when I crave something more substantial, more complex in my wardrobe. On days like that, I find myself reaching for White Linen. I love every aspect about this perfume, from the aldehydes in the opening, through the lemon kissed florals all the way down to the elegant, clean veil of a dry down. I can see wearing this one year round.

Stunningly well-blended soapy aldehyde bomb that harkens back to a time before perfume smelled like candy or food. Its name is apropos. Crisp white linen on a monied woman sitting on the patio of her country club eating a Cobb salad. Not office friendly for a reason - the woman who wears this doesn't have to work and wouldn't be caught dead in sensible shoes or fluorescent lighting.

For some reason a certain scene from the Stephen King movie "Dolores Claiborne" comes to mind when I think of white linen, and when I wear it. *Picture it* Kathy Bates (Dolores) is hanging bedsheets, and other fabrics on a clothesline. On a dreary, cloudy, and very sharp windy day. During a finger numbingly cold period in the dead of winter. One of my absolute favorites!!

Airy but not so harsh aldehydes that provoke the sense of fresh clean laundry that are being dried by the spring sun in a cool day. I think White Linen is the modern interpretation of Chanel No 5, with a Chanel 22 twist. Many women ,even in their fifties, still find it too old- fashioned for them. On the other hand, this all- time juice it's not suggested for blind buy..

Linens washed in aldehydic detergent swaying on an outdoor clothesline. It's absorbed the various floral scents nearby; mainly the hyacinth, rose, lily-of-the-valley. Gets woodier and muskier as it settles on my skin and more noticeably powdery. This is lovely in the warmer months, very cooling and mood-boosting. Sits just at arms length on me, but lasts all day.

I find it unusual the ones saying it's old fashioned are using profile images of film stars from the 50s & 60s. I think there's a need for a fresh perfume, like white sheets drying outside in spring or summer and this is it. Maybe they need a modern marketing campaign like other perfumes from before this was made, and then many won't think it's old fashioned.

I have decided it is time to add a few summer fragrances to my wardrobe due to the fact I do not have too many or perhaps I am not sure what constitutes a good summer fragrance. I saw this at Macy's and decided to try it, I think it was a good thing to have in my wardrobe for 2020. Overall, not a bad fragrance for the price (of course not the price at Macy's)

White Linen is a gorgeous floral soapy aldehyde, that is definitely a more vintage scent. I find it to be very clean and fresh smelling, not at all stuffy and busy. I am a huge lover of aldehydes and this does not disappoint. It smells very clean and soapy, and just the right touch of florals to balance it out. It gives me late 70s no frills rich lady vibes.

Wow!!! I love aldehydes and these lift me up straight to heaven. White Linen is so clean and fresh that it's actually helping to clear my head and is giving me an energy boost! I'm sorry that it took so long for us to meet my love, but I'm so glad that we have. I think that I'll keep you around for the rest of my life. I hope my hubby won't get jealous!

White Linen is a classy fragrance that does not age. It's as fresh today as when it was first released. It's such a genius composition of flowers, aldehydes, lemon, amber, honey, benzoin, and tonka beans that somehow smells like fresh laundry on a sunny day. It's a green, crisp, fresh scent that works nicely with your body chemistry.

A sharp and classy aldehydic floral which I enjoy wearing. Its very substantive base makes it sing, and I appreciate the length and projection of this perfume. Pretty and feminine with more of a woody-ambery base rather than sweet gourmand, I can smell this on me throughout the day and still enjoy it hours later.

This fragrance reminds me of a pale, quiet morning at your grandma's house, folding laundry or daydreaming in the backyard on the swing chair, or lying on a freshly made bed watching white shards of mid-morning sunlight fall vertically onto the wallpaper. Clean, comforting and nostalgic.

My grandmother was one of the most beautiful, resourceful women I ever knew...We are both Cancers and perfume was our special bond...This was her signature...It sat right next to her Albolene and container of some soaps...Smelled like diamonds and pearls to me...Sparkly, bright, warm. <3

Clean, crisp, and ohhh the hyacinth. It is simplicity at it’s finest. Personal memories of my ”perfect Christmas “. My gorgeous Aunt Cynthia wore this the entire time and that warms my soul...memories of simpler times. It will always be close to my heart and my signature fragrance.

Almost everytime I wear white linen i can taste the aldehydes and feel it in the back of my throat. I honestly don't mind this aspect. I only have vintage bottles (aka the ones without the shell on the bottle) The older the bottle the fatter and more waxy the aldehydes are

White Linen has become my signature scent lately. I wasn’t much of a fan when I was younger, but now it’s a very comfortable scent for me. It’s very fresh and clean—starts off somewhat sharp, but relaxes to a warm, soft scent. Great for office wear.

I like this. Really gives idea of fresh linen. Loved sleeping in it. And wearing it to work. Scent is strong, long-lasting, a bit romantic. Reminds me of grandmothers perfume, but in a good way.