Jacqueline

Am I the only one on Fragrantica who has this fragrance? I wish there were more reviews because this is a scent that I adore and is in my top 10 of all time favorites. I'd love to see what others get out of this perfume and to see how it coincides with my experience. Jacqueline at this point is over 25 years old. It was created by Jean Jacques Diener who did not make many perfumes during his career, his most notable one was Must from Cartier in 1981, and he also created the drugstore favorite Cafe. More importantly, he worked for Givuduan, a very old Swiss company that manufactures "flavors, fragrances, and cosmetic ingredients" and later he moved to New York and became the VP at International Flavors & Fragrances in the Fine Fragrance Division. I imagine he spent most of his work on creating aromachemicals and perfume bases for the big houses. In the 90s Diener moved to New York State and bought a horse farm with his wife and his daugther, Jacqueline, for whom this perfume is obviously named. From what I can understand there was really big backing for this perfume when it came out. It was originally was created to be exclusive at Nordstrom for at least one year and then it was to branch out. The perfume house was called "Z Parfums International" and honestly after this they must have fell apart because I can't really find any further information about this company. It sounds like they had some expansive plans that never really panned out. and Jacqueline was the last perfume made directly by Jean Jacques Diener. Back in the day this would be called an Oriental Floral. It's loaded with white flowers, green herbs, woods, and amber. I guess now it would be a Floral Amber. It's done in a pleasantly loud, dense style, richly floral, especially with a HUGE white rose, a starchy white lily bouquet, and a softening sweet "orchid" note (I put it in quotes because orchids are usually a fantasy note.) Underneath it are pleasant bitter greens, the sage note I imagine, combined with the dry slightly smoky vetiver, give a nice background to all the white flowers. The base is a full on vanillic amber with sandalwood and cedar and balsams threaded through, the white flowers never go away but dim a little and become a bit dusty and musky at this point. I don't really think of this as a patchouli perfume, while I detect greenery and woods I just can't call out that note. What I love about this is that the woods feel very real to me, the (supposedly) Mysore Sandalwood is not the dry chemical warfare of today, it's rich and smooth and blends so beautifully with the White Roses and Flowers. The vetiver and cedar are wonderful too. The amber is aI guess I am used to being disappointed by loud Iso E/Ambrox bases of today that if used in excess cut through the entire perfume and just ruin it for me. Of course there are synthetics in this scent, all perfumes are "manufactured" one way or another, but this perfume smells decidedly "vintage" 80s/90s to me because it's so fleshed out and just...not a sweets bomb on top of a bunch of cashmeran. White the flowers and amber lend a touch of sweet to Jacqueline, the green herby backbone and the cedar/sandalwood hold it all back. It's just so lovely! Jacqueline reminds me a bit of Guerlain Samsara. Mind you they don't smell alike but the Big White Floral on Sandalwood with Green in the Back and Amber in the Base structures are similar. The timeline is similar too while this was made at the end of the 90s this could really fit in with the big 80s florals. This fragrance can wear pretty loud but I don't think that's is like...offensively loud. It's not Poison or Giorgio. I use 3 to 4 sprays at a time and I get a good scent bubble around me, and this wears up to and past 8 hours. I'm guessing that Jacqueline had its initial run in 1997 and was not manufactured after that, so all the bottles are originally from that time, and they've held up wonderfully. I got my first bottle about 10 years ago and it smells fantastic and shows no signs of going bad. I have 2 backups because I can't be without it. They don't make perfumes like this anymore and I'm so glad I discovered this -- through a swap no less! Jacqueline still pops up here and there on Ebay but that is basically the only place you can find it anymore. IF you like rich florals, if you are tired of the La Vie Est Belles, if you miss real sandalwood in your perfume and not what is "sandalwood" today, if you like a good complicated Oriental Floral fragrance I'd try to check this out while you still can. It really is a gorgeous fragrance!

I can’t really add or improve upon TillyWave’s review, but want to at least post as much as that, so this luxurious perfume gets a little more attention. Definitely old school, rich sandalwood floral gorgeousness. I also get the Samsara vibes (not dupe) and has the overall feeling of richness that I like in the fall.