Mainstream Monday: Sniffing (2) Popular Perfumes
This year clothing line Banana Republic relaunched two of their popular perfumes from the mid-1990’s: W and M. I have never tried the originals so I apologize to any W or M fans. I can’t say if the new relaunches are similar or not.
Banana Republic W with notes of citrus, wet green leaves, pink grapefruit, honeysuckle, white magnolia, water lily, amber, musk and blonde woods. Relaunched in 2013. PERFUMER – Jean-Claude Delville
W opens as a soapy, clean fragrance with lily of the valley and vegetal green notes. There’s a hint of orange blossom soap. With time, the fragrance becomes a full-on dewy floral. It’s an abstract composition of leafy greens and dew droplets running down white petals. It’s soapy, shower-fresh. And then it dries down to a dusting powder musk. It’s a rather synthetic smelling fragrance but all soapy fragrances are.
Give it a try if you like “fresh out of the shower” perfumes or perfumes like Jessica McClintock, Estee Lauder Pure White Linen, DKNY Pure Verbena, Penhaligon’s Bluebell and/or By Kilian Water Calligraphy.
Projection and longevity are below average. This wears more like an EDT. May be a good choice for “office”/classroom wear or for wear in warm climates.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Shower fresh dewy floral. It’s one of those squeaky clean florals. It’s not what I typically wear. In fact, while sampling it, David said, “You smell green and vegetal. You never smell like that” and he continued to say that was “nice”. So, yeah, I don’t usually wear perfumes like this. This is a fresh, floral and I’ve sure you’ve smelled something with its DNA before. However, there are people out there charging a lot more for the same sort of thing.
Banana Republic M with notes of lime, bergamot, wet green leaves, lavender, sage, violet leaf, white musk, tonka bean and sandalwood. Relaunched in 2013. PERFUMER – Jean-Claude Delville
M opens as a fresh citrus that reminds me very much of the opening of a few Atelier Colognes. It’s a dewy blood orange and tangerines. It really does open as a freshly squeezed clementine. So juicy! Black pepper and lavender peek through but the fragrance is predominately a juicy citrus with greens. And then it dries down to tons of white musk that manages to still hold on to the juicy citrus and some black pepper.
Give it a try if you like citrus scents such as Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine, Annick Goutal Eau d’Hadrien, Malle Cologne Bigarade and/or Jo Malone London Grapefruit. In my opinion, M is unisex. I could see some finding the base more masculine.
Projection and longevity are below average (however, it is labeled as an EDT) but would be a nice “eau de cologne” for warm weather wear.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Juicy tangerine and white musk. Not bad for about 34 cents a ml/$10 an ounce! It’s simple but so are citrus fragrances retailing for much more (cough, cough Atelier Orange Sanguine).
I usually don’t comment on the bottles but this are hefty and are rather nice for the price. They’re better bottles than perfumes retailing for $100+…and the bottles are huge.
These scents are available in two sizes (1.7 and 4.2 oz) with prices ranging from $35-$45 at Banana Republic shops (not available online).
Want more reviews? Try…
Examiner – More info on the scents
Parfum Plus Mag – More info on the scents
Fragrantica – Member reviews of W
Basenotes – Member reviews of W
Basenotes – Member reviews of M