American Cream

Freshly homemade whipped cream with a generous dash of vanilla extract. It's mid-May afternoon, and the breeze whisking in from the open window, with its faint and distant aroma of strawberries and its herbal blooms in the garden, adds a brisk contrast to the pure, warming sun beating in a defined spot on the wooden floor of the cottage. Powdered sugar scooped off in a miniature bowl on the side, ready to sprinkle upon pastries that were just placed into the oven, not yet filling the dwelling with bakery smells. Still, the whipped cream and powdered sugar add a sensual reminder and gentle reassurance of the sweet treats soon to come. It's creamy, it's dreamy. A very comforting, addictive, everyday, and every-season fragrance. The best allegory would be getting a vanilla milkshake as a child, the giddy happiness you would feel, not yet hardened and sullen by age and circumstance, but innocent and full of whimsy. There is no cherry photogenically atop the mountain peak of whipped cream—instead—a single strawberry wedged on the side of the glass with its leaves still attached; slightly fruity and herbal overshadowed by the sweet, inviting whipped cream. The dry down does bring out more of the powder, which I don't mind, and the entire scent profile transforms into something more caramel-y, still creamy. Decent moderate sillage and longevity, there are stronger hitting fragrances from Lush in those regards. As a Lush perfume fanatic, American Cream is a staple as their more feminine-leaning scents. This is such a fun, innocent, cozy, and playful fragrance—it is unimaginable how anybody who has gotten their hands on a legit, untampered sample in-store could dislike it, this is literally one of their most wearable, inoffensive fragrances that still has that unique Lush edge. This got me the compliment "You smell sweet, like you work at an ice cream shop!"

To me, this is the gold/white or blue/black dress situation but in perfume. The notes as listed on the back of my bottle: Naturals - Vanilla Absolute, Clary Sage Oil, Lavender Oil, Benzoin Resinoid, and a variety of other naturally occurring fragrant oils are from the aforementioned oils. Synthetic - Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, and Couramin When I smell this, I get two very distinct compositions: 1) A lovely creamy, floral, herbal, and powdery lavender/vanilla combo supported by a deep and resinous benzoin to add depth, and a slight touch of clary sage to support some of the floral freshness of the lavender. Gorgeous. 2) Freshly picked (but not quite ripe) strawberries on an early summers evening. But in order to sweeten them up, you chopped them up and sprinkled them over top 2 big scoops of vanilla ice cream, and a small drizzle of honey because honey makes everything better :). As you sit on your porch, the warm breeze mixes the smell of your little treat with the bloom of the flowers all around you. Yummy. Regardless of what YOU smell, this is a FANTASTIC creamy, vanillic, and slightly herbal fragrance that is a must try for anyone looking for a different yet super pleasant take on vanilla. When I smelled this in the lush store and was immediately was head over heels for it and had to buy a 30 mL. One of, if not my current favorite from Lush, and I’m really happy to have this in my collection. Surprisingly versatile for being vanilla focused. Really good longevity with moderate projection throughout the majority of the fragrance. 9.5/10. Signature Scent worthy. Song vibe - Good Life by Kanye West & T-Pain

when i was very young, there was a man who tried to kill me. these things age you. they can make you wise. but they can also make you unbearable to the people around you, as if you wear the mark of the beast, as if they can sense your miasma of despair from behind baby blue gap sweaters and tortoiseshell warby parker circular frame glasses, behind trust funds and curated instagram pages and canada goose jackets. i am a woman whose past supersedes me. people look at me and know, and i look at them looking, and i look at them knowing, and from the tension of this looking is a wall which sometimes separates me from the joys of a normal life. but lush's american cream makes me feel like a girl again, like my hair is long and there is still hope to live for. it is strawberries and sugar behind a thick film of nostalgia, yellow and pink and full of sweetness. it's tall grass and meadows melting across my pulse points; it's the first snow day of elementary school, pink pajamas and shirley temples, touching another girl's hand in the dark before either of you have a word for what's growing between gas station slushees and practice-kisses in her bedroom. the scent molds beautifully with the skin while maintaining its own unique personality. the vanilla is not too artificial; combined with the powder-smell, it creates a downy, antiquated aura. i wear this perfume, and it makes me feel like a white cable knit sweater. a good thing to wear on an old battered heart.

I am writing this referencing from my veryyyyy macerated bottle, so it might be a little different from a new bottle. American cream is not an outwardly fruity perfume which some people are a little disappointed by, the strawberry + orange + lavender notes are the 'pillars' to hold up the main lactonic vanilla blend, which makes it a truly unique vanilla frag. Do not expect these notes to stand out first sprayed or dried down, but expect them to be present in the background. This does smell like a doll head, in the creamiest way, and I absolutely adore it. This is what Vanilla Powder by Matiere wishes it could be. Like a powdery lactonic vanilla with more nostalgia, like it simply has more memories attached to it. This was my signature frag for years for good reason, it projected extremely well and came out of the washer still on your clothes with a creamier and warmer washed scent. To me, this is the most soft and innocent frag you could wear. Do you miss your days playing with dolls and wearing cheap scented lip gloss? Wear this. If you are looking for a strawberry scented plastic doll scent like some of you are, I pair this with Demeter's Strawberry Icecream (you can find it for cheap). This frag is so extremely soft, fuzzy, powdery, subtly fruity, this will always be one of my top Lush grabs.

I thought about this fragrance while I was hiking along the coastline with my friends this summer, and we ended up in a seaside trailer park with an indoor pool and a little shop selling waffle cones. The heat was blistering, the sea turquoise, and everyone was middle aged and lobster-red and slurping down melting soft serve. I wished I was wearing this. Sadly I was smelling of sweat and sunscreen and some cheap aquatic body spray, but I wanted to smell exactly like this - powdery and milky, like a drying-out milk and honey soap bar slowly hardening in the sun. It would’ve put the grainy vintage filter on the scene, the heart shaped sunglasses, and placed a big red-striped cartoonish bucket of popcorn in my hands. Don’t expect the promised strawberries, there are none. This is the fragrance equivalent of the big fibreglass ice cream cones they put outside beach shops - powdery, a little plasticky, with a retro feel and a comforting lightness. There's a lavender note that reminds me of lotions for bruises, antiseptics and sleepy afternoon naps in patches of sunlight. I love it. If I lived at the beachside trailer park and had peroxide blonde hair perpetually in rollers and a little white dog named Sweetie, this would be my scent.

I love this scent but it’s not strawberry milkshake by any stretch of the imagination! It’s an unusual creamy vanilla scent with a slightly chalky, candied violet tone. If you look at the actual ingredients, the way American Cream smells starts to make much more sense.... Vanilla, clary sage, benzoin, lavender, coumarin (like tonka), anise, geraniol (sweet citrusy rose like scent), Benzyl benzoate (faint balsamic, occurs naturally in essential oils such as ylang ylang, rosewood, cinnamon), Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone (powdery, woody and floral scent, very similar to violet and Iris). So yeah.... Not a strawberry milkshake. More like a Violet, lavender and Iris vanilla with a hint of aromatic herbs and some citrus! The drydown feels very tonka heavy to me and it’s super pretty, but the advertising is misleading! Imagine candied violets, rose and iris, sitting on some fondant icing. That's American Cream! That’s the trick with lush - they use pretty natural ingredients so if you want to know what their perfumes actually smell like, look at what is listed under ingredients. I find that’s a much more accurate way to decipher what the scent will actually smell like because their notes never represent their perfumes well!

Lush describes American Cream as "inspired by the creamy milkshakes popular in American diners in the 1950s" which may be the reason for a lot of the negative reviews as if I was also blind-buying I would imagine it to be a realistic lactonic milkshake scent. Instead, the scent itself seems far more inspired by the time period of its description rather than the milkshake itself. In short, American Cream for me is an addictive unique vanilla with a range of powdery notes (strawberry milkshake powder, makeup powder, a slight hint of baby powder). I imagine a girl in the fifties doing her makeup at her vanity but at the same time making a strawberry Nesquik milkshake. I personally adore it, and although this may not be for everyone, there's a slight 'dusty' quality to the smell as well which I love. There's a slight floral note, but again this seems to be a sort of violet which in turn adds to the old fashioned, nostalgia soaked smell. If you like extremely feminine perfumes that feel vintage or just want to smell delicious, I completely recommend this, and for the price point the unique smell and longevity is unreal. (It's also amazing for layering too!!)

When I first smelled this, I thought it smelled like play-doh. For some reason I wanted to love it and so I bought the solid perfume and over time I really did end up loving it and ultimately bought the real perfume. It still smells a bit like play doh to me, but in a way I have come to like! I really really love this scent, especially at the start. It's clean, it's classy, but also complex and honestly so addicting. I like powdery scents so the drydown is nice too. My only issue is that the liquid perfume drydown is reached within like 30 mins and any notes of strawberry or sage are gone (and I use like 6 sprays!). The solid perfume lasts a little bit longer, but I'm just not a fan of smearing that oily stick on me and the tube it comes in is so frustrating. So yeah, I rea;;y wish there was an American Cream Eau Intense so that I'm not going through this stuff so quickly. I love layering this with Burberry Her Elixer, which really turns the fruity strawberry up a notch but still has the lactonic note.

Straight up the best vanilla on the market. It's worth noting I don't like those vanilla-on-steroid scents a la Bianco Latte though (I like them well enough on others but they're too intense to put on my own skin). Also the scent pyramid is comically incorrect! There's no orange, and certainly no honey (I detest the stuff!). The "milk" and "strawberry" make sense as it does have a vaguely strawberry milkshake type vibe to it, but it's predominantly vanilla that's creamy and sweet but also savoury, herbal and aromatic -- this has clary sage and lavender in it after all (I suggest looking at the website's listing to see what's really in it.) and while they never take over the vanilla their presence is known. If you like Twilight/Sleepy but wish the lavender took a back seat to the vanilla this'll be RIGHT up your alley. It's one of Lush's more affordable offering too which just makes it all the more sweeter. Heh. If you're craving a vanilla that separates itself from the herd, look no further.

I'm having a renewed love affair with Lush perfumes. After enjoying many of them some years ago, I stepped away in favor of more highfalutin, "serious" releases, but now find myself coming back to this well established, admirable brand for its creative, fun and captivating creations. I'm finding many of the new and old LUSH perfumes far more interesting than some of the much more expensive niche offerings! Anyways, American Cream is one of the many I loved and have returned to, greatly enjoying that powdery-strawberry-milkshake aroma that gently wafts around you for an impressive number of hours! Personally I LOVE a powder note, so that to me is what makes this comforting and extra lovely to wear. The strawberry here is quite subdued by the milky notes, giving it the effect of a mostly vanilla milkshake (extra thick!) with a hint of strawberry powder. DIVINE!!

i got this as a present when i wasn't into perfumes like i am today. the person that gifted this to me knew one thing; i love lush, i love smelling like lush whenever i get the chance due to its steep prices. when i tried it out, i wasn't sure what to think, it was a basic scent. as time went on, oh my god. this smell is beautiful, and somewhat strange. i definitely smell the plastic doll head smell people hate, but this is something i adored as a little girl. there is something tangy hiding in it, but it mostly comes across as a sweet baby smell without bothering other people too much. i love that it pairs well with most of vanilla and musk frangrances, but also with some stronger woody, aromatic fruit ones. so unusual, so innocent. the only problem i have is a lame plasticky atomizer, lush pls invest in your bottles. i love you american cream!

Herbal, strawberry, powdery vanilla. I used to love this stuff a few years back, but I felt like the longer I let the perfume sit, the more herbal it smelled. A few years later, I stopped smelling the strawberry, powdery milkshake notes I once loved. It was replaced by a more earthy, green smell. Like a field full of unripe strawberries. You smell grass and strawberries. I smelled it in store again for the first time in years and I would say I enjoyed it. I probably wouldn’t repurchase. I don’t see the strawberry coming through as much as I once did. It smells like powdery playdough or the hair of your new Barbie doll. Something about it is sharp to my nose. Something about is is less lactonic and more... green. Not bad, but not my thing anymore. I will say, it’s pretty, though.

This is one of those instances where the notes listed here are inaccurate and completely misrepresent the fragrance. From the Lush website the ACTUAL notes are: Vanilla absolute, Lavender oil, Clary Sage oil & Benzoin. Once you smell it, your nose will definitely confirm this. It is not a gourmand "milky strawberry shake" (thankfully), but rather a lovely aromatic semi-dry sweet elixir that is super addictive & one of the best Lush has to offer. In some ways it sums up the "Lush store smell" rather well. Herbal with a dusting of non-cloying sweetness. I think it's perfect for any season & is quite unisex. It should have been called "American DREAM" because it's more dreamy than creamy. A beautiful composition & a must have for any collection!

Strawberry milkshake? I don't think so. However, perhaps that's for the best? I love American Cream, and after previously having tested it in in shop, as well as having the shower cream, I settled on the solid version of this perfume. To me this is a soapy, slightly artificial-smelling, clean and sweet. Can't speak for how the perfume spray behaves, but the solid is like a lovely, cozy hug - very intimate for a scent, but it lingers for hours. I can agree with the play-doh, and doll-head comments, but for me this one simply works, weird notes aside! While I love it, it should go without saying that the Lush pefumes should be tested before you purchase - I'm a fan of almost all of them, but this brand loves to surprise.

Absolutely perfect all-seasons perfume. To me this is a gorgeous creamy lavender vanilla, very herbal yet milky and slightly bright, yet I would not attribute it to strawberry as I do not get any, and my friend who hates strawberry notes absolutely loved this scent. A bit resinous, slightly complex, but just very delicious. Also perfect to elevate any perfume layering combination I totally can see the resemblance to the perfumed doll heads, but fully in a positive nostalgic way (at least for me). Yet, I would not say plastic-like at all. Truly wonderful fragrance, made it in the lush podium right below my all time favorite, rose jam. Will most definitely repurchase.

This perfume is one of, if not my favorite, fragrances that lush has come out with and it has stood the test of time for me as well!! It's playful, sweet, and somehow still complex and bold. Im unsure why but I get bubblegum notes from this one, specifically the one that comes on a long pink roll....you know. I get a bit of strawberry but not in a juvenile or super fruity way, sort of more artificial and dense. Smells like the old strawberry shortcake dolls from the 2000s, I love!! It really projects and lasts for me personally, and I've repurchased for the second time now! If you love authentically sweet yet chic and unique fragrances I think you'd like this.

I originally bought American Cream because I loved the conditioner and this perfume was an instant love. My bottle was from around 2017 or 2018 and I only finished it recently because I was weirdly protective of it. On me it smells like a faint strawberry mixed with soft, clean vanilla. It is creamy, milky, and nostalgic rather than edible. I completely understand the “doll head” comments, because it definitely has that sweet, plasticky comfort vibe in the best possible way. It is a soft, close to skin scent with moderate longevity and I do wish it shouted a little louder instead of politely whispering. But I adored wearing it and I would happily repurchase.

I previously gave this an average review and said it 'smelled like nothing'. After having it a few months, I tried it again and now I'm converted! This is great clean-girl, subtle scent that has a dry, powdery feel and a milky, lactonic scent. I wouldn’t classify this as a true gourmand. While the name and listed notes might suggest a sweet, edible scent, the actual fragrance tells a different story. Many people approach this perfume anticipating something much sweeter than it is. Instead, if you experience it with the expectation of a dry, soft, powdery-clean linen aroma, you’re much more likely to be pleasantly surprised.

I don't care what anyone says, it's beautiful, cozy, comforting, peaceful, warm, relaxing, whole also bold and banging at the same time. I went through a 30ml of this in 6 months, I just had to order the big version and a small as a back up. It reminds me of being a child who spent time with their gma so much they lowkey started to act like her, you adored her so much she was your fav person ever. I can never get enough of this it reminds me of my grandma and she literally smells nothing like this, it just comforts me in a way only your grandma could yk.

As a vanilla lover, I do enjoy this scent quite a bit; that being said, it is not what I would consider a fruity vanilla despite the notes listed. For me, on my skin, I get a creamy, slightly sweet herbal smell, with a hint of lavender. This makes sense to me, considering clary sage oil is in this along with lavender essential oil. I do not get starwberry at all or orange (or any citrus at all). Longevity is not great to me I get a few hours out of it, but it refreshes well. Sillage is close to the body, definitely within the personal bubble.