Privilege

Update: I was able to find a more vintage, full bottle of this beauty online for a reasonable price. It is definitely more smooth, mellow and well rounded than the later reformulation. This is such a classy, gorgeous floral and brings back so many good memories. I remember getting a few samples of this perfume from the dept. store in the mall, back when I was a teen. I was a perfume lover even then and I absolutely loved this lovely floral aldehyde. As others have noted, this is not a floral fruity. It's a soapy, slightly green floral, which isn't too loud or heavy, like a lot of other 80's florals. And while it does not smell the same as White Linen or indeed, VC&A First (which I also own and love), it is in a similar vein. I still have a couple of my vintage samples, and surprisingly they have not turned. I compared them to the newest version, which I bought recently. While the new one is definitely similar enough to the vintage to satisfy my longing to have this in my collection, the vintage is richer and has more depth. It also lacks the slightly sharp, synthetic opening of the new version, which is so common with less expensive perfume reformulations. Thankfully, the sharpness of the opening settles down after a while and the lovely essence of this perfume is allowed to shine through. Longevity is not as good as the vintage, but for the price, I don't mind spraying more often.

I'm by no means an expert nose, but I was quite surprised to see this fragrance listed as a Floral Fruity. I would probably classify it as a Floral Aldehyde. I don't really get a "fruit vibe" at all, and to my nose there's more to this than just the jasmin and fruit notes listed here. But what they are, I am clueless to say! [Hangs head in shame!] It's a fragrance I wore in the 80's, and I think it's a good representative of that fragrance era... not a 'soft-spoken' fragrance, it has great sillage and is very long lasting. It's bright but not overly sharp, certainly not creamy or what I would consider warm. Yes, it's a "power fragrance". It's one I liked a lot and always gathered many appreciative compliments from when I wore it. Don't readily remember where I first discovered it, but am thinking more drugstore v. department store. Even back then, though, it wasn't widely recognized or popular. Several months ago I was looking at the offerings on an internet site and was surprised to see it listed, and for a reasonable price, so decided to treat myself to a new bottle. To my recollection - some 20+ years later - it smells the same as I remembered it, and it's just as lovely as it ever was. It reminds me quite a bit of a somewhat 'brighter' Van Cleef and Arpel's "First". Top notes through the dry-down are wonderful. Still smells way more expensive than it is.

Privilege was a favorite of mine, still is except I'm a fan of layering and you can't get the soaps, cremes, shower gel or perfume anymore except for a spray. I loved because it smelled EXACTLY like the tiny wild tulips I grow every spring. Not a fragrance for everyone. Not fruity at all, more soft musky floral. The dry-down is warm and fresh like a spring day when the humidity is high and you can smell all the flower scents carried on the breeze.

I don't know how Privilege managed to pull this one off. The notes aren't the same, but this smells identical to Estee Lauder White Linen. I have ELWL as well and did a side by side comparison. The results were astonishing. Privilege smells exactly like White Linen. Sillage and longevity is also the same. They're both powerhouse fragrances.

Ohhhh, how I loved this! I wore it my sophomore year of college in 1988, and just loved it's spicy, fruity, flowery goodness. I see some have compared it to White Linen, which I hated. This definitely had more spiciness to it. I would love to smell this again! Went through at least 2 bottles of this! Definitely a "love" for me!