Private Collection Jasmine White Moss (2009)
by Estée Lauder

My daughter's wedding loomed. 'What perfume will you wear" I asked. Her face turned inside out "It has to be something that nobody else is wearing, what do you have?" I had a little something that I thought might work, all thanks to a very sophisticated but supremely approachable SA at Nieman Marcus Alamoana Centre. Because it was her nuptial perfume of choice I handed my gorgeous sample to my daughter, who instantly fell in love with Tom Ford's Champaca Absolute. It met the criteria too. Aha! Not the subject of this review, you ask, what are you blithering on about? The bride is the star of the show, but what does the Mother of the Bride wear? What says 'I know enough about perfume to get this mix right' ? I racked my brains and decided that Cristalle could translate that mixture of joy and understated elegance, but hell, Cristalle wouldn't last past the first hour. Jasmin White Moss isn't a clone when compared wrist to wrist, but let's face it, the Queen is dead, Long live the Queen; Cristalle is barely supported by Chanel as all the marketing energy has gone into the Exclusifs and a certain Pitt stop. The wedding is next week. Thank you Aerin Lauder, thank you Estee, for this perfume's conception. I think there's a trace of 'Beautiful' in it, but perhaps I'm brainwashed. Whatever White Moss Mist is, I'm a believer and I love it. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

01^st April, 2014

l'm surprised & delighted to have found a chypre that it seems l can wear! Galbanum is usually a difficult note for me, but here it is done with a light hand, & along with a nice, dry oakmoss it gives an elegant crispness to the top notes. ln the heart is a very pretty, clean jasmine, which projects & lasts for several hours before softly fading. Very refreshing on a summer's day.
This fragrance deserves it's place alongside the other two in the Private Collection series, which l also love, & l would seriously consider a bottle of this.
lf, like me, you find most of the classic chypres too challenging, give this modern version a shot, you might just love it too.

05^th July, 2011 (Last Edited: 05^th February, 2012)

I give this high marks for an original jasmine fragrance becuase it starts out drier than any other jasmine frangrance I have ever smelled. I would rate it higher if the dryness stayed throughout the fragrance. It starts with a strong grassy, salty accord that offers a counterpoint to any floral sweetness. The grassy note is my favorite part of this fragrance. It is an extremely clean vetiver that smells like dried grass, which is beautiful. As for oakmoss, it may use a certain percentage of the real ingredient (which I always think smells a bit like salted popcorn) but most of the moss note consists of a technologically-rafted accord that is stronger and drier than the real thing. As this part fades away, a more traditional jasmine fragrance emerges, one that is creamy and fuity, almost cool and aquatic because it involves a
lovely melon aroma. By itself, this part of the development offers a sweet, pleasant, abstract jasmine. I would like to see the dry part hang onto the wet part longer because that trick elevated this fragrance to a unique take on jasmine.

02^nd June, 2011

This scent has a very retro style that may not be for everyone, but i think it fully represents what the good old days of E.L. were and it takes a lot of confidence to release a scent like this in the current market.
This is a very green chypre very saturated floral with heady , rich white flowers and if used sparingly, it is a very nice elegant and chic scent, it has a base of moss and woods. The top smells very much like galbanum, similar to the top of YSL's Y, but where Y remains green throughout the drydown, this one changes from green to jasmine-ylang to white moss. It's good, but can be cloying.

09^th August, 2010

An extremely boring, aggressively, synthetically "fresh" green/white floral that assaults my nose.

24^th April, 2010

A modern version of Diorella, or - should I say Eau Sauvage?
There's no doubt about the overall theme here - white flowers in the background, helional, of course - and the "modern chypre" ingredients. What I love about it is it's freshness and staying-power, the greenery is present through to the final lingering notes.

It's the sort of self-assured MODERN green perfume I like and have been looking for for ages. Tenacious, honest and uncomplicated, though not very "innovative". I prefer it to many recent expensive "niche fragrances" of over-cultivated sophistication.

08^th March, 2010