Swimming in the Mainstream (Patty)

First, the folks at Perfume Fairy in the UK are sponsoring a giveaway of a 50 ml bottle of Marc Jacobs Daisy.  To enter, like all of our giveaways, just leave a comment to this post, and I’ll draw the winner via random number generator (I assign a number to each original reply, not to the replies to replies) and announce it next week.  Perfume Fairy will send the bottle directly to the winner.

Daisy is one mainstream, commercial scent that I think was well done and very much fits the target audience it was aimed at and is really easy to wear.  If it’s not a scent you wear yourself,  I’m sure there are a lot of people who would love it as a gift

So when I pull out a new celebrity scent or mainstream scent, I keep that in mind.

Which brings us to Jennifer Aniston’s new perfume, with notes of citrus grove, rose water, jasmine, violet, amazon lily, musk, amber, sandalwood.  It’s designed to encompass some of her favorite memories of jasmine and the ocean.

Okay, it’s just not me, but I’m guessing most of you already knew that. I’m trying to evaluate it with an open mind, thinking of who her target audience is and if it fits. It’s a clean white floral, running light on the TFA, which sorta blooms over into a slight aquatic feel on the open.  Blessedly that watery feel diminishes..  It seems to be aimed at the 20-something, but the naked Jennifer on the front of the box confuses me a little.  Naked, sex?  Um, no, there’s nothing naughty about this at all or that even hints at naughtiness to come. It’s a 10 on an innocence scale. That doesn’t make it bad.

It seems to be pretty well made, the aquatics and clean underpinnings give it a little bit of a plasticky smell on the white florals that I’m not a fan of.  The drydown does soften that out a lot to where it’s mostly undetectable or at least it doesn’t jump up and annoy my nose.

Nice clean white floral.  Not groundbreaking or particularly different from lots of the same out there, but if you’re a fan of hers and like squeaky clean white florals, you won’t go wrong getting this.  It does wander into Daisy territory of being easy to wear with broad appeal.

Okay, yes, yawn. There, I said it.  I hate to say this too loudly, but I’m looking forward to the Lady Gaga perfume that smells like sperm and blood. Of course Etat Libre was there first, but nobody’s been there second or will get that sort of scent on every Target/Macy’s/Sephora/Ulta/massmarketmassmarketmassmarket perfume display, which cracks me up. She better not wimp out on this because I’m looking forward to sitting quietly in the patio furniture area of Target with binoculars and watching people sniff that.

Has there been any celebrity perfume that was groundbreaking? Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely came the closest, all musky, and I really do like that one.

  • Warum says:

    Am I too late? I know a friend who adores Daisy! :)

  • L says:

    I haven’t gotten around to trying Like This or Daphne, but I want to. The only celebrity scent I own is Lovely and I think it was aptly named.

    Thanks for hosting another draw!

  • dwadebryant says:

    Staying in this blog is like a chance for me. I can just give my comment/s regarding your vision in every topic.

  • Nicole H. says:

    I would love to be entered, I like Daisy, although my husband DOES NOT, and he had no problems telling me so much.

    As far as originality in celebrity perfumes goes, nothing beats Like This. And I do think Lady Gaga will wuss out and it will end up smelling just like a Britney Spears.

  • Dana says:

    Please enter in the draw. Thanks!

  • blessedta says:

    Please enter me in the draw!

  • Aparatchick says:

    “She better not wimp out on this because I’m looking forward to sitting quietly in the patio furniture area of Target with binoculars and watching people sniff that.”

    That, Patty, was genius. :d

  • Isa says:

    I had high hopes on Like This, after reading so many good reviews, but when I tried it I felt disappointed. It smelt good but there was a little bit of licorice (reglisse) and that’s a note I dislike.

    M by Mariah Carey, however, was a nice surprise and I have enjoyed wearing some samples of it.

    I would love to be entered in the Daisy draw. Thank you!

  • lucky bamboo says:

    It’s rattling nice article. Thanks for conversation about it as I am curious in this subject.

  • dDub says:

    I think Jessica Simpson’s Fancy Nights and Queen Latifa’s Queen are quite nice. Not groundbreaking, but really wearable (which is great cause I love QL!).

  • Caroline says:

    I quite like Daisy as far as mainstream scents go. Enter me please!

  • helenviolette says:

    I really liked Lovely too! I almost bought a bottle on several occasions but I own Narcisso Rodriguez and it is so similar I couldnt justify the purchase. My Mom is a fan of Daisy and often wears the perfume solid ring!

  • CC says:

    The other night I was out with friends, and one of them was wearing a wonderful fragrance that smelled very familiar – it turns out it was Daisy! I was impressed by the scent and I am continually checking myself for signs of niche snobbery..

  • Rednails says:

    I wore SJP Covet for a while as an office scent, before I passed it along to my daughter. I love Daisy’s bottle and generally like MJ’s esthetic, so please enter me in the draw.

  • Cheryl says:

    Celebrity scents. Well you can remember their name I guess. I haven’t had the interest to try many, as I think why-buy-into-it-at-all. Using blood as a scent reference ? (gaga). I find that disturbing. Women + blood + sexy. That kind of upsets me. The daisy perfume is one of the few that struck me as good match of bottle to contents. Please enter me in the draw.

  • Thea says:

    I guess the only celbrity scents that I find interesting are the sort of anti-celebrity niche celebrity scents by niche brands, Daphne and “Like This” specifically. Although, I did think about getting a partial bottle of Jessica Simpson’s Fancy for moments when I just wanna smell like a strawberry shortcake.

    Please enter me in the draw!

  • Sherri M. says:

    Groundbreaking celebrity perfumes?..well I think we have to give Elizabeth Taylor
    White Diamonds credit for having the first mass marketed celebrity perfume that has stood the test of time and consistently sold well.

    Please enter me in the draw–I have several daughters Daisy would be great for!

  • annie says:

    Love Marc Jacobs for gifting….It was the first perfume I purchased for my diva-princess grandaughter…she was thrilled!….she’s already a sniffer-junkie….please enter me,and carry on…

  • Johanna says:

    Hello, wondering if i’m too old for this, when so many people say that they’re claiming it for their young daughters! If someone could bottle Colin Firth I’d sniff that… But until then would love to try Daisy, so please do enter me in the draw. Thanks.

  • dremybluz says:

    I find most celebrity scents to usually be pretty blahhhh—and i bet that the Lady GaGa won’t be any different, except that it will add a few more $’s to her bank account. Please enter me in the draw.

  • odonata9 says:

    I don’t think any celeb scents are groundbreaking, except maybe the niche ones (Alan Cumming, Daphne Guinness, Tilda Swinton). But enjoyable, yes there are a few. I have a bottle of Jenifer Lopez Deseo and it is quite nice in the summer. I also enjoy Harajuku Lovers “G” (Gwen Stefani) and Queen by Queen Latifah. Even Avril Lavigne’s Black Star wasn’t terrible! And I’ve heard that Kate Walsh boyfriend one is interesting, so will have to try that.
    Please enter me in the draw!

  • maggiecat says:

    What I wonder is – if I hated the celebrity but liked the scent, would I buy the scent anyway? I know that liking the celebrity is not enough: Halle Berry is a wonderful, gifted actor but i don’t care for her scents. I think, in my case, judging by the fact that I won’t even pick up Paris Hilton bottle, much less sniff it, the answer is that I have to like both. And I do adore Lovely, like many of you, and unlike many of you, I also like the jennifer aniston scent, very much. It’s very wearable, affordable, pleasant. And it doesn’t make DH sneeze!

  • Lisa S. says:

    Love Tilda’s “Like This” That said Kim K’s is pretty good too.
    I’m not a Daisy girl, but sweet daughter is so I’d love to be entered
    In the drawing.

  • AnnieA says:

    The Daisy car is too cute, and in an alternate universe I am driving one — oh and it also seems to be the 60’s and my legs are perfect for miniskirts. Would like to have a sniff at Cumming to find out if it’s a coniferous as advertised…

  • angie Cox says:

    No but many that should be broken on the ground .

  • lemonprint says:

    Actually, it’s funny you mention this today, as I have swallowed my pride and am wearing Kim Kardashian’s perfume today! (Oh god. Apparently a pushy thrift store saleswoman can get me to buy ANY perfume if it’s $20. I also got the very nice shower cream and sparkly body lotion. :-)

    It’s actually fairly nice. It’s fruity, it has some musk to it (sexier musk, not the detergent kind), and it’s wearing very pleasantly. I suspect it was intended as an evening fragrance, but it’s not particularly sexy or complicated; I’m perfectly fine wearing it during the day.

    I have a few celeb-fumes; mostly they’re just not very interesting. It’s not that they’re objectionable; they’re boring.

    That said, I’m not sure how many days of the year will see me wearing Kim. :-)

    • Elisa says:

      I sampled Kim Kardashian several months back and was pleasantly surprised that they went with a slightly naughty/sweaty musk base! It’s definitely a step up in interest from, say, Light Blue.

      Does Rossy de Palma count as a celebrity perfume??? It’s one of my favorites.

  • jen says:

    I like Glow, Covet and Cumming! La Anniston’s scent sounds like a waste of everyone’s time.

  • Jean says:

    I would love to be entered in the draw, thank you!

  • rosiegreen62 says:

    Please enter me in the draw. I love the Daisy bottle. The only
    celebrity scent I am tempted to wear is Covet, and they have discontinued it. I love the image of watching people try the Lady Gagga scent.

  • mocards says:

    “She better not wimp out on this because I’m looking forward to sitting quietly in the patio furniture area of Target with binoculars and watching people sniff that.”

    That’s the funniest thing I’ve read on a blog forever!! Thank you.
    Kate Walsh’s BOYFRIEND is actually very nice from what I’ve read. She apparently had a lot of input in its creation and she formed her own company to make and distribute it.

  • Teri says:

    I’m seeing the Lady GaGa perfume as more Walmart than Target, but would still pay to see you stealth-spying on the spritzers.

    Please enter me for the Daisy draw. My niece would love it. She tried it at the mall and it was perfect for her.

    I remember wearing J Lo’s Miami Glow one summer. Not sure I’d buy it a second time – and I think they disconned it anyway – but I did like it as a summer change of pace. In most cases celeb perfumes are scents-by-committee and have thus lost any edges they may have originally started out with. And if there’s one thing that doesn’t thrill me, it’s bland.

  • Rappleyea says:

    “She better not wimp out on this because I’m looking forward to sitting quietly in the patio furniture area of Target with binoculars and watching people sniff that.”

    ROTFL!!

    Just goes to show that if you hang in there until the bitter end of a review of a scent you’re not remotely interested in, you’ll be rewarded!

  • Tiara says:

    Perhaps Gaga won’t wimp out, but have to believe the company behind her fragrance will. Can’t believe they’d put the big bucks on the line for something like that. Nor do I believe retailers are going to promote a sperm and blood scent.

    I think Like This is excellent, but perhaps that’s not mainstream. With Love…Hilary Duff is well done and I have a small bottle. Wasn’t originally purchased for me but (long story) ended up with it and now happily spray away.

    I’m not in Daisy’s demographic but certainly do like it. I have 2 teenage nieces who love both Daisy and Lola so I’ll have share if I win!

    • Karen G says:

      With Love was a nice surprise! I also have a small bottle…and it’s such a pretty bottle, too.

  • Alice C says:

    Daisy is a scent my daughter wants…So enter me. If I win, it will be hers! Thanks for the chance.

    As for the Lady Gaga, I mentioned her upcoming scent on Facecrack and the response was a universal “Yuk!”. (But I bet they’ll all try and get a whiff of it when it comes out…) I’ll bring popcorn and hang with you in Target on launch day. It should be entertaining!

  • hotlanta linda says:

    Peeping-Tom-itis is forgiven in this instance, for yt revolts in all her senses at the thought of that vile stench-in-a-bottle trend, and yt cannot imagine anyone liking this new monster cousin of Rosemary`s baby!! Thank you for putting my name in the hat!!

  • Mals86 says:

    Daisy is quite a nice wallpaper scent, IMO. The CEO (perversely) finds it really snuggle-able, so I can count on being nuzzled if I’m wearing any from my mini bottle. Go figure.

    So I’d love to be in the drawing. Gotta keep the man happy…

    Smelled Halle Berry Reveal the other day and thought it was rather pleasant, if sort of cheap-smelling. Ditto S by Shakira. (Okay, fine, sue me – I wander aimlessly around the CVS, sniffing things…) The Jen Aniston thing annoys me because she was so insistent on it “not smelling like perfume,” in which case I wonder, Why Bother then??

  • pam says:

    The way I see it, there’s Mainstream and then there’s Celebrity. I can do Mainstream, but will pass right by most of the Celebrity. I refuse to fund some of their egos, for one thing. Paris Hilton? Won’t touch it. Once I tried a new celebrity frag (can’t remember which singer) and when I crinkled my nose, even the SA spraying the stuff in the middle of Macy’s said “Yeah, I agree with you”. And she wasn’t that old.

    Please enter me in the draw. My daughter loves Daisy.

  • Mrs.Honey says:

    Thank you for reviewing a mainstream scent. It is nice to see a review of something that we can find locally without going to the big city. (Or at least the touristy city-Orlando and Las Vegas, I’m looking at you.)

    That said, it is very interesting to read MUA or Fragrantica reviews of perfumes.

    They had a very different take on BS Midnight Fantasy (which I kind of liked) than had Chandler Burr.

    Skip me for the drawing. I don’t know anyone who wears this.

  • DinaC says:

    Like many others, I steer clear of celebrity scents. I figure that scents that are determined by focus groups, marketing executives, and the occasional singer or actress tend to be a mish-mash or blah. That said, I know plenty of people who do like them, so I’d like to be entered into the drawing. Thanks!

  • Olfacta says:

    Good point about the GaGa perfume! But I wonder if the “Blood & Semen” thing can possibly survive the…Coty, isn’t it?…marketing meeting.

  • bookhouseshell says:

    Blood & sperm, would love to smell that…the combo brings up interesting images. I don’t know if I’ve tried Daisy, like the bottle though.

    Michelle

  • Kirsten says:

    I’ve always steered clear of any celebrity scents, but my daughter likes to pick up the latest Britney Spears, and she fell in love with Katy Perry Purr – she is 10 afterall ;)

    I think the only things I’ve sniffed and enjoyed were SJP’s Lovely and Covet, but not enough to buy.

    I’d love to be entered in the draw for Daisy too please.

    K

  • Marte says:

    I’m not a fan of celebrity scents, but there are some mainstream gems out there. I really like SJP Lovely. Tilda Swinton’s Like This is gorgeous, but I don’t know if that counts as a celebrity scent. It’s not mainstream at least.

    Please enter me in the draw, would love to try Daisy.

  • Kristin says:

    I know the mainstream isn’t lauded here, but I do like many of the things out there. Daisy is pretty good. I avoided the bottle thinking flower syrup, but, it’s pretty good.

    Not having tried much niche, I enjoy the department store offerings.

  • Alica says:

    I prefer Narciso Rodriguez to SJP Lovely, that is quite similar. But I would definitely like to win the Daisy, thanks for entering me!

  • KT says:

    Sadly, the mainstream scents are the ones that elicit the most compliments for me. I go for years without a comment on Mitsouko, but tons of people flocked around me in the locker room wanting to know what I was wearing…when in fact it was just a Victoria’s Secret lotion.

    Please enter me in the Daisy drawing.

  • taffynfontana says:

    I have not had any terrible experiences with Celebrity perfumes but I haven’t had any great experiences either. Almost all follow a cookie cutter approach that make them just blah. Curious about Daisy please enter me in the draw.

  • Amy K says:

    Patty, I forgot to mention that I sampled Absolue Pour Le Soir the day before your post and had the exact same reaction – how do people wear something so skanky out of the house?! I’m not sure why, but I gave it another chance today and it’s TOTALLY different on me. Slightly mentholated smoke, honey, benzoin, a hint of cumin-y B.O. but nothing like my first impression. In other words, lovely. I’ve never had a fragrance go so Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on me before! You might want to give it at least one more try, maybe in different weather. I understand why so many people love it now.

    • karin says:

      I had a similar experience with this one. I got all honey when I first tried it. Totally tame. Second time I tried it – all skank!!!

  • Francesca says:

    I’d love to be entered for the Daisy. I’ve got a young friend at work who likes it, and, get this, when she broke up with the boyfriend who gave it to her, he made her give him back the half-used bottle. A$$hat.

    • Melissa says:

      Wow. Was he planning to re-gift it? Display it on his dresser and wear it to work?

      • Francesca says:

        maybe he was going to sell decants. In any event, she now has the wonderful boyfriend she deserves.

  • tammy says:

    I am such a dork that the only celebrities I am aware of are the ones I see on the perfume blogs.

    I have no bias against a perfume being fronted by a famous name, even if I don’t know the name.

    I just Googled Ms. von Teese, and she seems like she’d put out the kind of scent I’d enjoy….vintage, and not for sissies.

    Thanks for a chance to win some Daisy!

  • HemlockSillage says:

    Mainstream celeb scent I wear? Covet, also by SJP. I know lots of the perfume world writes it off as a hot mess! For me it is so unusual,it fascinates me to the wrist-glued-to-nose state that no other celeb thing can.

    Usually I have to find a hard core niche fragrance from Tauer, Vero Profumo, or Lutens to hit that level of interest. It’s fun to have a few loves that I can find as a bargain.

    Some other lucky soul should enjoy the Daisy–it’s nice, but not me. BTW, I’ll be disappearing for a bit from the perfume boards, not that I’m a huge voice out here. . .but I’m taking a step back from the blogosphere for a month or two. My daily life needs more attention, and my pocketbook needs a wee break from the fun lemmings you guys create :D Be well.

  • parisa says:

    I’m not biased against mainstream scents, just harder to find an unique masterpiece in the midst. I admit, I’m terribly curious to sniff Lady Gaga’s creation, when and if it’s ever released. I’d love to enter the draw for Daisy, too.

  • Lindaloo says:

    LOL at the image of you sitting with binoculars watching people at Target smell the Lady Gaga scent. According to one headline she’s planning/threatening to use her own blood in the scent. Meanwhile, I know a couple of young women who would love to have a bottle of Daisy so do please enter me into the draw.
    Thanks.

  • Jocelyn says:

    Dita Von Teese says that her perfume will have nothing sweet about it- all lust and fear. I am looking forward to it!

    And I would appreciate an entry into the Daisy drawing.

  • Gwyneth says:

    Generally I avoid “celebrity” fragrances because I tend to find them boring and generic. AND I don’t necessarily want buy into the whole “smelling like Famous Person X is my dream” …..

    However,I am an equal-opportunity sniffer and think all fragrances should be judged on their own merits — not just because Famous Person X’s name and face are on the box.

    Groundbreaking? Well possibly not….
    Well-made and enjoyable? Some qualify for me:
    Britney Spears Fantasy – when hankering for cupcakey vanilla.
    SJP’s Lovely – is actually “lovely”. Go figure.

    Eld’O Tilda Swinton Like This. Made with creative input by TS and is actually what most of us would consider “niche”. It is interesting and well-made. I like Like This.

    My daughter sampled Daisy and pronounced it “Very Nice.” Please enter me in the draw. Thanks.

    • Tom says:

      I thought “Like This” as well. And Alan Cummings scent. Those wacky Scots!

      • Karen G says:

        Yes, and don’t forget those wacky Irish as well; Daphne Guinness’ scent is pretty unique, and I’m loving it more and more.

  • Amy K says:

    Like This is in the bizarre realm of niche celebrity fragrances, so it probably doesn’t qualify, but that’s the best one associated with a celebrity that I can think of. Lovely is my favorite of the mainstream celebrity perfumes.

  • Josephine says:

    Patty, I could not agree more. With all of it. And you’re right, Lovely is the only celeb fragrance unique enough to actually wear. And I know several who would love Marc Jacobs Daisy so please enter me in the drawing. Thanks!