Vera Wang Glam Princess

Glam Princess is the latest in what’s becoming a long line of sweet and floral designer perfume royalty. It’s about as competent as the other princess fragrances but at the same time suffers from a rather glaring problem. It smells really, really, really generic. Glam Princess

In Bottle: Indistinct sugar floral, a bit of a toasted sticky marshmallow note in the bottle. Weird because the marshmallow is supposed to be a base note but Glam Princess isn’t the kind of gal to go by steps I guess.

Applied: Super sweet and fruity top notes with a hint of florals. As the scent ages it digs deeper into the floral territory and the old familiar sweet foody floral from original Princess surfaces. The scent is smooth, creamy, very sweet fruity floral in the mid-stage. Not at all special or unique but it’s a pleasant enough fragrance. Glam Princess smells like a lightly flowery foody scent that, like the original, is reminiscent of cake batter. Only there’s a notable lack of the dark chocolate note in the original here. You get white cake batter in this time instead of dark chocolate cake batter. We also get sticky marshmallow that injects itself right into the teeth to save some time on the whole cavity-inducing thing. The dry down isn’t much more exciting as we get sweet floweriness until it disappears entirely.

Extra: If you liked the original Princess fragrance, you’ll probably like this one because the two are built on the same very familiar formula and they do sort of resemble each other in that they’re both sweet gourmand florals. If you loved that dark chocolate note in the original Princess, though, you might want to sit this one out. I really liked that chocolate note in the original. The lack of it in this flanker just makes it smell really generic.

Design: Bottled in the same heart-shaped thing as the rest of the Princess line, Glam Princess is adorned by a string of star designs on the glass. The bottle itself is a golden-yellow, the crown cap is gold with multi-colored jewels set into it. I’m still not a fan of the bottle design. I don’t think there’s anything you can do to a big glass heart to make it appeal to a woman in her mid-twenties with a penchant for simple aesthetics.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral

Notes: red berries, guava, pear, orange blossom, vanilla orchid, ambrette, marshmallow, cashmere wood.

Maybe this line of princess fragrances just doesn’t appeal to me. I can see how it’s cute and girly and stuff but the bottles just don’t speak to me and neither do the fragrances.

Reviewed in This Post: Glam Princess, 2010, Eau de Toilette.


Popular Young Fragrances

The following is a list of popular recommendations for young women interested in popular perfumes and wondering what everyone else is smelling like. In no particular order:

Harajuku Lovers Ad

Harajuku Lovers Ad

  • Britney Spears Fantasy
  • Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy
  • Britney Spears Curious
  • Juicy Couture, Viva la Juicy
  • Juicy Couture, Juicy Couture
  • Harajuku Lovers Collection
  • Aquolina, Pink Sugar
  • Jennifer Lopez, Glow
  • Jennifer Lopez, Live
  • Jennifer Lopez, Live Luxe
  • Dolce and Gabbana, Light Blue
  • Miss Dior Cherie
  • Dior J’Adore
  • Vera Wang, Princess
  • DKNY, Be Delicious
  • Paris Hilton, Heiress
  • Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton
  • Paris Hilton, Can Can
  • Calvin Klein, ck One
  • Calvin Klein, Euphoria
  • Marc Jacobs, Daisy
  • Marc Jacobs, Lola
  • Ed Hardy, Woman
  • Ed Hardy, Love & Luck
  • Ralph Lauren, Hot
  • Ralph Lauren, Ralph Rocks
  • Burberry, The Beat
  • Burberry, Brit
  • Gucci, Envy Me
  • Gucci, Flora
  • Chloe, Chloe
  • Escada, Marine Groove
  • Escada, Ocean Lounge
  • Escada, Sunset Heat
  • Thierry Mugler, Angel
  • Clinique, Happy
  • Hollister, August
  • Victoria’s Secret PINK Collection
  • Victoria’s Secret, Love Spell
  • Victoria’s Secret, Appletini
  • Victoria’s Secret, Juiced Berry
  • Victoria’s Secret, Sexy Little Things
  • Victoria’s Secret, Sexy Little Things Noir
  • Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Collection
  • Bath and Body Works, Warm Vanilla Sugar
  • Bath and Body Works, Japanese Cherry Blossom
  • Bath and Body Works, Moonlight Path
  • Bath and Body Works, Coconut Lime Verbena
  • Tommy Hilfiger, Tommy Girl
  • Marc Jacobs, Daisy
  • Marc Jacobs, Lola
  • Viktor and Rolf, Flowerbomb
  • Anna Sui Dolly Girl
  • Anna Sui Secret Wish
  • Michael Kors, Hollywood

Notice any trends? First of all, fruity florals are quite well represented in the above list. So is sweetness and candy, and benign fresh and citrus scents. Which explains practically 80% of the things the perfume industry has put out in recent years.

Know something that should be on this list? Please leave a comment. I’m positive I’ve missed something!


Vera Wang Flower Princess

With the wildly popular original Princess, Vera Wang’s Flower Princess flanker is a follow-up that wanted to appeal to cute culture (it exists). Not sure why they had to create a flanker to pitch the Princess line to the cute revolution. The original Princess is practically an embodiment of cute. I don’t even like cute. Flower Princess

In Bottle: Light florals and not a whole lot else. As I understand it, Flower Princess apparently did away with any sense of discretion and amped up the flowers.

Applied: Smells like flowers upon initial spray and top note discovery leads to more flowers. Indescribable flowers that mix into a miasma of floral that I can’t even begin to separate though the mimosa in this peeks its head up from the Flower Princess shaped hole to say hello now and then. Flower Princess is pretty true to her name at this point in time as the concoction of light florals starts dissipating. The mid-stage is very similar to the original princess, that sweet, floral scent though it is missing the dark chocolate note. I actually miss that dark chocolate note. It was my favorite part and it gave the original Princess something to brag about. The dry down is also extremely similar with a warm, vanilla and clean musk exit.

Extra: The thing about Flower Princess’ availability is interesting. It’s permanently available in the Asian market but is a limited edition for everybody else. You can no longer get a bottle of this stuff unless you’re in an Asian country. Why? I don’t know! Probably has to do with the prominence of cute culture in places like Korea and Japan. But if you’re looking to get Flower Princess, hop on a plane.

Design: There isn’t a whole lot of difference between Flower Princess and Princess’ packaging. Actually, I think they’re exactly the same with Flower Princess having a  pinker hue to it and a silver cap instead of gold. Other than that, they’re identical.

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Green ivy, tangerine, water lily, orange flower petals, Moroccan rose, exotic jasmine sambac, mimosa, apricot skin, amber, precious woods, musk.

I found Flower Princess to be a little less invasive on the sweet side though I’m not wild about how uninteresting it is as a flanker. It is just a bit more grown up than the original Princess though.

Reviewed in This Post: Flower Princess, 2008, Eau de Toilette.


Vera Wang Princess

Vera Wang Princess is a wildly popular girly fragrance released in 2006 and marketed toward women in my age bracket, the late teens to mid-twenties girl. It seems those of us in this bracket are wild about fruity, floral, candy scents because Princess is all of those things lumped into one big, purple package. Princess

In Bottle: Fruity top notes blended with clean girly florals. Very sweet, very feminine, and extremely young and lighthearted scent. There’s something a bit musky about it too.

Applied: Princess is a weird mix of foody floral peppiness and clean musk. It’s trying to go two ways and I’m not really sure that’s working out for it. However, what Princess does get right is a pleasant, sweet light floral swirling in pretty chocolate cake batter being mixed in the shower. The musk in this prevents Princess from being an all out gourmand. Dark chocolate mixes very well, I have to admit and this is coming from someone who thinks most chocolate notes smell terrible. The dark chocolate present in Princess is a rich, cakey note that is often one of the first notes to fade on me. Eventually, all I’m left with is sweet and clean musk. This is pretty much what a Disney Princess would smell like.

Extra: Seems like I’m on a sweet and floral binge lately with my fragrances. Princess is one of those scents that, for some reason, goes straight up my nose and blinds my sense of smell after a while. I smell this on everyone though, as its popularity means every young woman in and around my age is rocking the purple heart.

Design: Bottled in a big glass heart, Vera Wang Princess is an appealing look for–well, anyone younger than me who likes that kind of thing. I find the bottle to be  garish and a bit tacky. Cute, yeah, but it’s a big purple heart. You can also pop the cap off and wear it as a ring. The design is just a little too young for me, I think. Or maybe they just completely missed me when they designed this bottle because everyone else seems to love it.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral

Notes: Water lily, lady apple, mandarin meringue, golden apricot skin, ripe pink guava, Tahitian flower, wild tuberose, dark chocolate, pink frosting accord, precious amber, forbidden woods, royal musk captive, chiffon vanilla.

Jeez, look at that notes list. It’s pretty much like a recipe for some of the craziest cupcakes ever.

Reviewed in This Post: Princess, 2010, Eau de Toilette.