Design

After several years of perfume preoccupation, I've finally gotten 'round to reading from THE GUIDE, by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez. This controversial book is often referred to as some kind of Bible by perfume illiterates like myself, but for me personally it's actually a weird ride. They have a decidedly irreverent attitude, coupled with a MOST opinionated knowledge of their subject. Naturally, I disagree with them from time to time. In particular, they seem to enjoy bashing inexpensive beauties for their lack of expensive ingredients, an outlook which I find circular in reasoning if not downright hilarious! Which leads me to this particular budget classic. Tania Sanchez gave Design exactly one star, meaning a deplorable scent, mere 'floral shampoo'. I do understand her point of view, especially when reading her puzzled remarks. Given just a few minutes to spray a blotter and sniff, I have come to conclusions just as arbitrary. It took me a full year to acquaint myself with Design, trying her in all sorts of weather and moods. Like Tania, I initially wondered, what makes people BUY this stuff?! Granted, Design is no exotic masterpiece, but rather a powerful, lingering floral of the most tenacious variety. It shines best when misted lightly or applied sparingly indeed. The aura is ever so slightly fruity ( black currents, disguising themselves as that insidious shampoo note ) while always uncompromisingly floral. This particular weakness is actually it's strength, delivering - sometimes loudly! - the essence of fresh greens, lilacs, and gardenias. In reality, the apparent simplicity is intelligent understatement. Civet, rose, honeysuckle, carnation, and Musk are all part of this deceptive siren song. It's simply so well blended that at first you don't notice.... Like a supposedly unsophisticated young woman in a gingham dress, who you then realize is the diva you've admired from afar, Design holds allure for those persistent enough to look twice. ( Or in my case, More than twice! ) In answer to why this perfume is still selling, I reply that it is GOOD. Not brilliant, but certainly worth a second glance. There are moments when I want an elixir of civet, musk, and florals to announce my presence, and this is IT. For those of you who feel the same, Design delivers longevity, sillage, and cracking good value.

My mom wore this in the 90s. I always considered it a mature scent until I smelled it on one of my sorority sisters, and thought it made her seem deep and mysterious to wear it in her early 20s. So I grabbed a bottle at TJMaxx back when. Couple years later, long story, but lost my whole perfume collection from college, over $2000 in scents. I couldn't even try to reconcile that for over a decade, but am finally building back what I lost, despite reformulations, and extinctions. Design is one of the first ones I bought, simply because it is now so cheap. It wasn't expensive back when I found it at TJX, but it's like $17/3.4oz at CVS now, which is really cheap. The bottle is a relic, totally not cute now, but easing into the grace of classic-ness, I guess. But the scent, for me, has memories, and otherwise, it's just pleasant to wear. It lasts FOREVER, so totally worth the bargain price, and then some. I've gotten some sexy compliments on this, but it's not a youthful sexiness, more of a Vanessa Redgrave character from the original "Mission Impossible" 1996 movie. She's the sexy older woman in the limo who kidnaps Tom Cruise for intel. That said, I still would make this more of a daytime scent. Can transition to night, but better night options are plentiful for a hot date. This is definitely a classic, much more sexy, IMHO, than a classic like Chanel No. 5, which was my grandmother's go to, like PS Design was my mom's. Both deserve a place in the fragrance hall of fame, and I know how established and cherished No. 5 is to the world, but I guess I'm a cheap nose here, and the PS Design would be my preference. Pick it up! You won't be disappointed. A cheap back up in your collection, if nothing else. Covers well, lasts forever, and even if this isn't your smellhouse, you'll smell nicer than you would with nothing!

I have had a bottle of Design consistently since the 90s! I can’t even tell you how many bottles of this beauty I have owned! I always purchased it at Macy’s in the good ol’ days (actually fabulous local department store later taken over by Macy’s) especially when they had free gifts with purchase, which used to be fabulous! I had so many beautiful vases, a ceramic clock, many trinket boxes, and candle holders all free from Paul Sabatian gifts! For you younger folks, that was an amazing time! Fragrances were affordable AND they gave you other useful items just for buying them!! Imagine!! But I really didn’t need insentives to purchase it! I adored it! It is a truly elegant and beautiful fragrance ! I hadn’t worn it in a long time due to all the others in my collection getting attention but I did want to remember it in the summer, and I decided it was finally, after all these years, a little tiny bit dated. But I decided to put it on today and instant delight swept across my face!! This is perfect for the winter!! It’s a bit heavier than scents I wear today, but in the cool weather, it is absolutely fabulous!! Don’t be scared by the civet note. It obviously isn’t real civet anymore, and it’s just a warm floral musk. Honestly, the leather and suede notes in a lot of other fall winter fragrances are way more animalic to my nose. This is beautiful and creamy! It projects well and lasts a long time. I love it all over again!

I just picked up Design today and it absolutely reminds me of Giorgio and the White Shoulders I had in the late 1970's (I picked up a new bottle of White Shoulders a few months ago and it was horrible and not at all what I remember from the perfume I had in the late 1970's :( ). Design, however, is a little simpler and less of a chypre than Giorgio. But Design has a dark, incense-y, more animalic note that Giorgio doesn't have. It strikes me, too, that Design is in the same family as the original Juicy Couture -- another white floral -- but Juicy Couture has a more gourmand note than either Design or Giorgio -- which makes sense, given that it was formulated in 2006 when gourmand notes were popular. Overall, I love Design and, after wearing it for a full day, I'm really impressed by its staying power. It kind of glows and smolders throughout the day with this beautiful tuberose/civet combination, the heady sweetness of the tuberose grounded by this radiant, velvety civet note; but it smells clean and fresh. It's not a loud scent at all, but rather radiates continuously without changing a lot from top notes to base. It's absolutely lovely! I'd always seen it for sale at Ross and TJ Maxx but didn't pick it up until I saw a YouTube video by Shana J, in which she sang its praises. What a beautiful scent!!!

I just recently got a bottle because it was my favourite scent in 1989 when I was a young teen. Every-time I wear it the compliments never end. It is a very sophisticated, slightly musky floral scent and in my opinion it is slightly sweet. It opens up a tad indolic because of the civet but it quickly dies off. It has carnation in it but it does not smell like a funeral home like one would think. Its a very nice smell because of the tuber-rose not being too strong you can smell the other flowers like the jasmine, YLANG-YLANG, honeysuckle and lilac quite well. This is different from any fragrance I have worn. It lasts all day long. It is well worth the money and the bottle is very nice with a elegant burgundy cap. I get more compliments when I wear this than any other perfume. It is very opulent. I will continue to stock up on this just in case they discontinue it because that is how much I love it. Its best worn in the spring and summer due to the intense floral notes. Not a winter scent at all in my opinion because its not at all spicy and a little goes a long way. Paul got this perfume right! Its so lovely I cant say enough good things about it. And do not listen to SCBohemian its not tacky AT ALL.