What is a modern muse?
Estee Lauder created the new perfume Modern Muse inspired by:
...the complexity of a modern woman, with the same dynamic contrasts as her life and her personality. Her creative energy and magnetic femininity are captured by its multi-faceted, sparkling floralcy. Her sleek style, strength and sensuality by its sleek woods.She asks:
"Who is a Modern Muse?"And answers:
A chic new vision of today's woman.It looks like the modern muse is everything.
She's confident and independent, soft and strong, feminine yet dynamic.
Stylish and original, she inspires everyone she meets--without saying a word.
Irrespective of this "dual" definition, Modern Muse is a soft and flowery perfume. It has none of the "strength" and "dynamism" that Lauder describes.
And I think it is a good thing.
Here are the notes for Modern Muse:
Top Notes: Mandarine Orange
Middle Notes: Lily, Honeysuckle, Jasmine, Tuberose, "Flower Petals"
Base Notes: Patchouli, Amber, Musk, Vanilla, "Woody Notes"
The perfume is lovely. It does start off a little strong. Could it be the tuberose middle note? I've never liked tuberose in perfumes as it gives them a harsh scent. Or the citrusy orange top note? Citrus notes are my least favorite. But fortunately this doesn't stay long, and a delicate flowery scent - possibly the lily or honeysuckle - takes over for a while. Then we're left with a jasminy-musky-vanilla finale.
I think it can work both for a day and a night perfume. I think it is best as a winter/fall perfume, and is a little too strong for spring and summer. It is just strong enough to give a "dressed-up" feel for an evening, but light enough to wear on a winter's coat.
The bottle is also well-designed, in a modernist sort of way. The long, rectangular bottle resembles the tall modern skyscrapers (very masculine), but the dark bow on top gives it that feminine touch (women shopping in big city department stores?). I like the contrast of the very pale pink of the bottle, which is not the color of the liquid, but rather the enameled bottle, with the stiff navy blue bow. This is not a bottle that men would be attracted to.
The nice shop girl at Sephora's gave me a sample, although I went looking for Elizabeth Arden's "Untold," which is being advertized in magazines and on TV commercials. Again, it is the "multi-faceted modern woman" who is being featured in Arden's new perfume. But the jeweled facets of the bottle more creatively allude to this modern woman. The notes for Untold, though, are very similar to Modern Muse, although Untold doesn't have the vanilla and jasmine base notes which soften it and make it very feminine.
I thought perhaps the perfume designers were the same for Modern Muse and Untold. But it is Karyn Khoury (who sounds like she has Lebanese origins) for Modern Muse, who worked as an assistant to Estee Lauder for thirty-five years, and the French Clement Gavarry, with several generations of perfumers in his family, for Untold.
I will do a review of Untold in the near future.
Karen Khoury, Senior Vice President at Estee Lauder says about creating Modern Muse:
We built Modern Muse by carefully selecting every ingredient to reflect the personality, style and distinctive femininity of today’s woman.The "we" in Khoury's team consists of the French Master Perfumer Harry Fremont:
The “dual-impression” creative approach offers each woman the opportunity to connect with the fragrance in her own way. Some will focus on the sparkling floral elements of the fragrance, while others will view the warm, rich woodiness as the defining facet.
Parfumer; born in Cannes, France, graduated from the ISIPCA or "Institute Superieur de la Parfumerie" located in Versailles in 1981, he received two consecutive awards for his olfactive creation by the prestigious "Societe Technique Des Parfumeurs de France" in both 1984 and 1985. In 1987, joined the Firmenich International Fragrance Center in New York after spending three years at the Corporate Headquarters in Geneva; has created fragrances in partnership with Ralph Lauren Fragrances, Calvin Klein Cosmetics, Intimate Beauty, Bath & Body Works, Cacharel, Nino Cerruti, Valentino and Lancome
Harry Fremont and Karyn Khoury showcasing Modern Muse
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat