When Sarah Jessica Parker decided to put a two-decade-long dream of creating her own fragrance into action, she didn’t start with a blank slate.
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According to the Sex and the City star, she knew what she wanted even before her first meeting with her perfumer. The fact is, she already had her unique fragrance ready to go.
How? Well, she’d already been mixing her signature scent through a combination of three aromas. First, she’d buy a $7 drug store musk, then mix that with an Egyptian oil bought from a Lower Broadway street seller. Finally, she would combine this scent with an expensive male cologne.
This concoction is what became the first draft of Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker.
The finished product is a truly magical scent now we’ll take a deep dive into what makes this scent so special.
Who Makes SJP’s Lovely?
Sarah Jessica Parker oversaw the creative direction of the fragrance, but she couldn’t do it alone. To achieve her dream, she employed the help of the Lancaster creative perfume house – one of the most prominent houses for helping designers and celebrities translate their fragrance ambitions into reality.
They assigned Clement Gavarry and Laurent Le Guernec to the project, two New York-based Frenchmen with roles at International Flavors and Fragrances.
Laurent Le Guernec Clement Gavarry
Scent Notes
The fragrance opens with gorgeous notes of lavender, mandarin orange, bergamot, martini, and palisander rosewood. The heart then brings forth patchouli, orchid, and narcissus before aroma settles on musk, woodsy tones, cedar, and white amber.
Packaging And Presentation
The feminine vitality of the fragrance is reflected in the pretty pink coloring of the bottle. The ovoid decanter is elegant in its simplicity, with the perfume’s name and its creator printed in modest, gold capitals in the center of the bottle. The egg-shaped form is topped with a pristine looking spherical stopper.
Personal Impressions
This is a celebrity fragrance done right. At the outset, it’s mildly sweet with ethereal green apple notes giving it a sexy, apple-martini feel. As the flavor develops, the patchouli and musk give the fragrance a mature, slightly masculine edge.
It’s inoffensive, but with the feeling that there’s something naughty in the air, that the innocence could strip away at any moment to reveal a darker side.
It tends to last around 6-7 hours on the skin, which is great for how light it is.
Who Would Like Lovely?
This fragrance is well rounded enough that it would suit a younger lady just as well as one more mature. Though, it does lead more towards the more mature woman.
This fragrance would be well suited to an office environment, for feeling pulled together and professional. It’s best suited to day-time wear in the summer.
Similar Fragrances
The resounding impression of this fragrance is that is similar to For Her by Narciso Rodriguez. This is far from a criticism, however, as For Her gives that same great aroma but at a fraction of the price.