White Linen (1978)
by Estée Lauder

Way back in the 1970s my mother got free purse-spray bottles of Lauder fragrances when she purchased her Estée Lauder makeup. She'd give these bottles to me. As a child, I was already fragrance-crazed, so being gifted with a Real Woman's Perfume was thrilling. Over the years I'd been given cast-off EL minis of Youth Dew, Private Collection, Azurée, Estée Super Cologne, and Cinnabar,etc. I loved having the little bottles, but it never occurred to me to wear any of these fragrances. I believed they were obviously for Older Sophisticated Women. I was 12 when White Linen was launched. I remember watching my mother test it by spritzing the purse-spray she'd gotten with her makeup. She crinkled her nose, and claimed it would give her a headache. I remember when she smelled White Linen on me, she was astonished at how pretty it was. "You wear perfume well," she said. I agreed happily. I was thrilled with White Linen. I thought it smelled like lilac and crisp green leaves. None of the familiar woman's fragrances had smelled so natural, and summery. I treasured my White Linen because it made me feel vivacious, and quietly elegant. As a scent, it was like wearing a white eyelet blouse, and fresh flowers in my hair. I think White Linen was the groundbreaking forerunner of many popular clean-floral fragrances, but it doesn't smell outdated to me. The aldehydes in the top-notes give it a timeless refinement, and add sparkle to the unique blend of flowers, and the dewy-yet-airy feel that makes White Linen a classic. If you like YSL Paris, Calèche, Clinique Wrappings, Calandre, and/or Nocturnes de Caron, you should not miss giving White Linen a test run.

Cheap and phony, like it's trying to be clean laundry or something, but didn't quite make it. Very strong and chemical like. This would make a great bug repellent. Really. It's quite potent. It dries down, but it just stinks awful. There's nothing clean about this.

a nice pleasant fresh fragrance. It's trully classic and you can not go wrong with this one.

I like the smell, but I don't use it everyday. Somehow, it's so classic that make me older when using this.

Clean, soapy, feminine white floral -- easily a Lauder classic. Probably a better choice for casual days -- very light, airy and soft.

I never wore this when it first came out; I didn't care for it then, but I thought I would try it again. White Linen smells like an old-fashioned aldyhydic floral minus the florals--soapy, cean, bright, and high-pitched. If I had to name any notes, I would say there is some nose-tickling carnation and dry cedar, but none of it smells natural to me. It smells like a chemical designed to nullify the scent of anything it touches. I concede that it does have the aroma of freshly laundered sheets, which is a good thing, but I prefer that aroma on fabric instead of skin.

Its a really nice classic. I agree with everyone else - fresh, clean, and easily wearable.

I remember for a long time, my mum just kept to her 9 precious perfumes, and never ventured away from any of them. They're all nice perfumes, but after 18 years, it got a bit much.

So for her birthday last year, my girlfriend and I went shopping to find three small to medium sized bottles of nice, classy, non-offensive, not overly sweet, and non-fruity perfumes, just to do something nice, give her a nice suprise and get her something different.

After 4 hours of shopping, we came up with three perfumes: Paris, Fragile and White Linen.

On her birthday, she, suprisingly, took immediately to White Linen, remarking how lovely and floral it was without being over-bearing and sweet, and how nice and clean it smelled.

Couldn't put it better myself.

(btw, her '9 precious perfumes' are Chanel No. 5, Joy, Je Riviens, Aromatics Elixir, Hypnotic Poison, Opium, Rive Gauche, Youth Dew and Shalimar - in addition, she now has, thanx to me, White Linen, Paris and Fragile, all of which she adores!)