Mainstream Monday: Sniffing a Popular Perfume

I rarely talk about lily of the valley perfumes on EauMG. So, let’s start with a big ‘ole lily of the valley, Jessica McClintock.

BAM. Lily of the valley all up in yo face. Plus some citrus. And some greens. It’s a dewy white floral. And then it becomes a huge jasmine accented with ylang-ylang. On me, the dry-down is a green tea-ish white floral with lots of musk. Sometimes I wear it and it smells like plastic, other times I can ignore the plastic and it smells like squeaky clean musk. Sometimes I like wearing Jessica McClintock, other times I don’t. What I find, as with all lily of the valley perfumes, is that I feel like an imposter while wearing them. They don’t feel “me” and sometimes that is a good thing and that’s why I occasionally wear Jessica McClintock. For example, I like to have a “Cindy Sherman” range of perfumes in my collection. This is my WASP bridal fragrance which is sort of fun for an iconoclast to wear occasionally.

Perfume ramblings: So, Stella McCartney made rose vogue to the mainstream market again with her signature Stella. Rose hadn’t had the mainstream/designer spotlight since YSL’s Paris. Well, when the line launched L.I.L.Y, I expected a resurgence of lily of the valley perfumes inspired by L.I.L.Y. which I’m sure was inspired the 1980’s best-seller Jessica McClintock. And Jessica McClintock was inspired by muguet perfumes 30 years her senior by Dior, Coty and Caron. So, I thought, hey, here’s Stella McCartney using an out-of-fashion note that hasn’t seen the limelight in about 30 years… Well, that didn’t’ appear to happen. My perfume soothsaying skills are off. Please excuse your cologne’d Miss Cleo.

Notes listed include bergamot,lemon, cassis, ylang-ylang, basil, lily of the valley, rose, jasmine, and musk. Launch date 1987.

Give Jessica McClintock a try if you are looking for a lily of the valley fragrance. Or if you are looking for a “virginal” white floral. Or if you like perfumes like DSH Perfumes Muguet de Mai, Penhaligon’s Gardenia, Dior Diorissimo, Van Cleef & Arpels Muguet Blanc, Caron Muguet du Bonheur and/or YOSH Sottile. It’s difficult for me to not view Jessica McClintock as a feminine since I’ve been brainwashed that lily of the valley is a feminine fragrance note for my entire life. Even my grandmothers have been conditioned to believe this.

Projection is above average and longevity is average.

One of the joys of Jessica McClintock is that you can find it online for crazy cheap prices. For example, Perfume.com usually has a large bottle for like $20. I can not complain about the price and if we’re talking about value per ounce here, you’re getting a lot for your money. A lot of flowers.

Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Innocent, iconic dewy lily of the valley that will probably remind you of spring. Being such a lily of the valley, squeaky white floral, this is something that people will love or most likely hate. The other issue is that it was a popular scent and you may or may not have positive associations with it. Now, here I am a person that isn’t a lily of the valley fan and I can say that I appreciate it. It was a star of the 80’s that was based on retro perfumes of the 50’s. Jessica McClintock covers a chapter of popular feminine perfumes. It’s worth sniffing because of this.

Want more reviews? Try…

Fragrantica – Member reviews

Perfume Posse 

Brad – Youtube review

*Bottle purchased by me. Product pic from Fragrantica. Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy from Vogue. Post contains affiliate links. Thanks!