Luxist Review and Giveaway: Nicole Miller Fragrance

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jun 3rd 2010 at 11:01AM

When I heard that fashion designer Nicole Miller was making a new fragrance my first thought was that given her love of dresses we'd be seeing yet another heavy floral in an already crowded marketplace. I needn't have worried, in an article in WWD last year she stated that she doesn't like perfumes that are too floral or "old." At first sniff the new Nicole Miller scent is so aggressively not floral that it almost seems like a men's fragrance or at least an androgynous one. For those burned out on sweetly girly-girl perfumes it's a nice change.

This isn't Miller's first fragrance, she had an earlier Nicole Miller (launched in 1993) and Nicole by Nicole Miller (1998) as well as a men's fragrance but all three have been discontinued. This new scent is a partnership with ParLux which is also behind scents for Paris Hilton, Natori, Jessica Simpson and others. Perfumer Caroline Sabas is behind the scent which is classified as a modern chypre.

The perfume notes say that it has top notes of cassis sorbet, bright orange and clean aldehyde, heart notes of yellow gardenia, ylang ylang, orange flower and a base of black patchouli, oakmoss, white cedarwood and amber. In this scent the woody notes, amber and patchouli immediately rise to the top but they are tempered a bit by some of that citrus so the overall effect isn't too redolent of incense and black velvet. There's a crispness to the scent, it's feminine but briskly so. You could wear this to a business meeting with ease. As it mellows the heavier notes fade leaving a subtle, spicy warmth.

The bottle was inspired by classic French shapes and has a metal Celtic knot design inspired by Miller's apparel. The scent is available at Nicole Miller boutiques and at Sak's Fifth Avenue. A 3.4 ounce bottle is $80.

I've had my sniff, want to have yours? I'm giving away the review bottle I received to one reader.

* To enter, leave a confirmed comment below.
* The comment must be left and confirmed before June 10, 2010 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
* You may only enter once.
* One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
* One winner will receive one 1.7 ounce of Nicole Miller Eau de Parfum Spray, valued at $65.
* Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.

See complete giveaway rules here.

This contest is now closed. Thank you for your participation.

Tags: fragrance, luxist giveaway, nicole miller, nicole miller fragrance