Marc Jacobs

There is quite a story with this one... To begin with, I have never liked Marc Jacobs' scents. Daisy was just "blah" on me, and Blush is one of the worst fragrances I have ever had the "privalege" of sampling. I was first drawn to Marc Jacobs' signature scent because I was looking for a gardenia solifore. My favourite flower is gardenia and I am a floral lover. Initially I rated it as "not bad", but not really what gardenias smell like - so I crossed it off. Then, through routine perfume sampling I fell in love with Kai, the Californian boutique scent that celebrities have been going crazy over. I loved Kai very much - until one day my mum told me it smelled like acetone. What an insult! Then my sister agreed with her! I smelled it again and suddenly saw what they were getting at. Back at Fragrantica, a few negative reviews were saying things like "green bananas" and "frangipanis" and general "tropical" notes. Over time I began to smell these notes too. Now Kai only smells remotely like gardenia, and much more like acetone, bananas etc. So I had to look for a new gardenia scent. I decided I hadn't given Marc Jacobs a fair trial, since I only sampled it on paper, and didn't give it full time to develop (because of my usual disappointments from that brand). But this time I smelled it on skin, and tried to picture true gardenia as it developed. It smelled just "floral" for ten minutes - THEN it became gardenia - real gardenia. I was convinced it was the incredibly natural gardenia I had been searching for, but a very different one to Kai - more creamy and as if it had dew on it. I purchased Marc Jacobs right away. Now I have been wearing it for the better part of a week, and I am not tired of it yet. To tell the truth, now that I have become really familiar with it, I revert back to saying it doesn't smell like gardenias - it is just one note in a composition that is much more complex than Kai (you really have to use your imagination to think it's pure gardenia...) What I like about it is that it is such a light, pretty floral that fills an empty space in my perfume wardrobe. I'm sure it's similar to a lot of other florals out there - but there is nothing quite like it in my collection. It is as pretty as Flowerbomb (never thought I'd denounce my beautiful Flowerbomb), but more delicate and subtle - like Issey Miyake poured over Flowerbomb... It's just so delectable. Not too sweet, not too brash. Its colour varies between white, light pink and pink (in my head). It's flowery, feminine, and not overdone in those respects. It is a lovely composition. My only quibble is its sillage and staying power are not very good.

DISCONTINUED FRAGRANCE REVIEW NO.#13 / 10. Review No.#13. Unlucky slot. Makes sense as this is discontinued and it's a crime of outrage! *flails* I only came across this recently and COMPLETELY unexpectedly. It was being sold in my neighbourhood and I pounced on this baby like a kitten on a ball of wool! Jesus, isn't this some white floral perfection? Look, I don't want to be angry at Marc Jacobs. Company has released some of my favourite scents, but the discontinuation of this deserves jail time. I've mentioned before that I have a hard time with gardenia, but lately that has started to slowly shift and for the first time EVER, I understand the ABSOLUTE JOY that is banana-y, bubble-gummy yummy gardenia/tuberose! TBH, I don't get much of the other notes. No bergamot, no white pepper, no ginger. This is a fairly linear white floral, but it's so gorgeous, I can't even deal. It has a smooth, sweet creaminess to it that is particularly divine! This is sweet, sophisticated, feminine, flirty, intoxicating, elegant with a twist of coquettishness. The glorious "Mod Noir" by MJ is a lovely gardenia, but so much greener and fresher compared to this. "Florence" by Tocca comes close, but has that distinctive apple note. Kim Kardashian original perfume in the black bottle with...pink/purple lettering is fairly close, I find. "Gucci Bloom" is similar, but I much prefer this one. It's more understated, yet supremely elegant. Also, "Beyond Paradise" has definite similarities, but this doesn't have the same "wet dust" aspect to it. You read that right, Perfumites. Wet. Dust. Anyway, I will treasure this gem because of its white floral perfection. Yet, how not to use it up when this deserves inclusion as one of those scents I want my babies to remember me by?! Treachery: thy name is Marc Jacobs. *** Kitty rating: 10/10 (Yes! Quite!)

MARC JACOBS WOMAN-EDP, by Marc Jacobs Opens as a ravishingly gorgeous aquatic-white-floral with citric bergamot flourishes. Develops into a headily-sweet, creamy-fresh, cool-dewy, crisp-green and pristinely beautiful non-indolic jasmine/honeysuckle accord. Everything is swirled through and through with delicately spiced peppery-ginger which provides a touch of exquisite piquant complexity and depth to the intoxicatingly heady white floral “gardenia” core. On my skin this perfume is a perfect balance between the cold-dewy-green-freshness of the jasmine/honeysuckle accords and the zesty-dry-warm-spiciness of the peppery ginger accord in tandem with the tender cedarwood base. The enchanting tropical green vegetation melds seamlessly into the sultry-sweet florals, and remains consistent throughout the development. This is without question one of the most ravishingly beautiful rainforest-fresh-florals I have ever tested on my skin. A clean and unobtrusively elegant and smooth cedar dry down, with the barest hint of an anchoring white musk finishes this blissful olfactory experience. With this scent, visions abound of pristine tropical rainforest vegetation and the most stunningly exotic dewy fresh-flora imaginable. Never too sweet, never cloying. Never sour or bitter. No harsh edges. Everything blended to seamless, silken-smooth perfection. No overdone heaviness in the base to sully or detract from the perfection of the celestial white floral mélange. This is stunningly beautiful to me, and on me. Thank you forever from the bottom of my heart to Steve Demercado and Loc Dong.

Smells like a classy young Upper-East-Side twentysomething with a trust-fund: super feminine and youthful, but mature for her age. Wears her mother's Chanel tweed jacket with jeans to class on campus. Probably gets hit on by rich men twice her age who think she's 30 instead of 19, but she knows how to use that power for more than just jewelry and cars. Think Blair Waldorf, not Paris Hilton. This is the consummate white-floral perfume. Obvious comparisons to Fracas but more complex to my nose (probably because it has the gardenia, jasmine and a hint of spice from the ginger too - this isn't just a tuberose grenade like Fracas). Pretty heavy sillage at first so go easy - I'd spray it an hour before leaving the house just to let it settle and dry down first, so it doesn't overwhelm people who sit next to you. Save this one for a date when you want something to linger on the pillow when you leave his place in the morning ;-) UPDATE: I just figured out with the first wear that the smell actually makes me depressed! I love the scent on me, hence why I bought it, but if I am smelling it constantly for a few hours (which you will because the EDP lasts - on me it was more than 12 hours before I had to scrub it off!) it makes me lethargic and I actually feel like crying, and not from happiness! I'm keeping it still because I love it so much, but instead of wearing it during the day I'm using it before bed to help me sleep. Works like a charm, and far less dangerous than a sleeping pill. Plus my bedsheets are smelling great now!

I take forever and a day to get through my fragrances, because I rarely spray liberally—I’m sensitive to too much fragrance so I spray/dab just a little every other day or so. I finally ran out of this (and to be honest, it had turned ever so slightly), one of my favorite scents; I casually went to look for a new bottle, expecting to find it easily as it strikes me as their flagship scent. Imagine my horror when I discovered it was discontinued! It’s crazy! It’s a crime! It’s a crazy crime!!! Pardon me, but I’m apoplectic! Also in a bit of a haze, realizing that I really don’t keep up with the times anymore, ha ha, and this iconic scent slipped away when I wasn’t looking. When I first smelled Marc Jacobs, it felt like it was made just for me. Just heavenly, and reminded me a bit of my dear vintage Anne Klein, but a gardenia more sensual and softened. I also had the solid fragrance compact, which was a misty, wispy version, and even though it felt like a little brick in my evening bag (that sucker was heavy!), I always took it with me when I went out back in the day. This comment ended up longer than I meant it to be. I hope they’ll bring it back, and not reformulated beyond recognition. Ach. So sad. Just...all the sad emojis and gifs. Update: I snagged a couple of dabber minis. It will have to do.