Susan D. Owens Child perfume is one of those cult classic perfumes. In the late 90’s, it was one of my first introductions to niche perfumes (via Internet). Back then people were all about some of this heady white floral perfume oil made in California. If you haven’t sniffed it, you wanted to sniff it so you could talk about it with your cool makeup friends in forums. Back then, it was all about being exclusive…
Child is a heady white floral with a clean musk. It opens with a a heady, yet “clean” tuberose and jasmine/pikake. The tuberose in this is almost candied and contrasted by spring florals like white lilac. Child is a linear scent in that it wears as jasmine/pikake with a my-skin-but-better musk. Really all you need to know about Child is that it is a “clean” jasmine or a pikake soliflore.
In 2014 sniffing Child, I think I can say that this perfume, even though not completely unique to start with¹, has been copied numerous times. I mean that Jennifer Aniston perfume was just a watered down version of Child. Child, like Kai, helped to define that California nouveau-boho aesthetic. Even to this day when I smell musky white florals like this, I think of rich hippies. And being a gal raised in a landlocked Southern state, I always dreamed of living on the coast, and younger me wanted to flee to California to be one of these nouveau-bohos that made living look so easy.
Notes listed include vanilla, lilac, magnolia, jasmine, tuberose, violet, crème musk, rose, and mimosa. Launch date 1990. PERFUMER – Susan D. Owens.
Give Child a try if you really like jasmine. Or if you like perfumes like Philosophy Amazing Grace, Philosophy Baby Grace, Jennifer Aniston by Jennifer Aniston, TerraNova Pikake, Kuumba Made Pikake Lei, Auric Blends Mystic Blend or Star Jasmine and/or Alyssa Ashley White Musk. Also, wear it if you buy things because you heard that celebs use/wear these things. 😉
The perfume oil has average projection and longevity.
Child Perfume comes in 2 sizes with prices ranging from $59-$98 at Beautyhabit. Samples are also available for purchase.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Heady jasmine and clean musk. It’s like a lei. For nostalgic reasons, I like Child. But, I admit that I don’t usually crave jasmine/white musk, so the cheaper alternatives are just as “good” to me. Please don’t tell any Child fans that I said that…
¹Not a read. Just saying that West Coast macrame-making, crystal-wearing folks were mixing up heady floral and musk perfume oils before Child’s launch in 1990. Chlid was wise enough to market it to a crowd that was more into luxury (rockstar hippies with $$$). Around this time we saw a few California-style boho blends launched like Auric Blends Egyptian Goddess (’93) and Sarah Horowitz’s Creative Scentualization (’94). Oils have always been cool amongst the “alternative” crowd.
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[…] white florals or sheer musk scents. Or if you like perfumes like J.Lo Glow, Terra Nova China Rain, Susan D. Owens Child, Le Labo Neroli 36, Jennifer Aniston Lolavie, Philosophy Pure Grace and/or Serge Lutens Clair de […]