Celebrity Perfume Review Series Part One: Mary J. Blige "My Life"

This post marks the first in a series of meditations on celebrity perfumes. I am a bit strapped for

spending money at the moment, but feeling the perfume ache. My solution: find the cheap gems and write and think about them for awhile! Celebrity perfumes are justifiably poo-pooed my many perfume lovers for the obvious reasons; they are crassly commercial, often built by a committee, and are part of an assembly line of products meant to help the top 1% of artists and famous-for-being-famous people (and their handlers) reach even higher levels of wealth. 

All this is true. But sometimes, someone on the celebrity team thinks to retain a great perfume artist, and even better, let her do her work. Then the rare but wonderful happens--the world is blessed with a cheap, beautiful, high-concept (because attached to the ineffable but fundamental qualities of some celebrity) fragrance. 

SO now for the first celeb offering on my shelf: My Life for Mary J Blige.

Gorgeous, steamy gardenia. A tight dark floral, with a hint of smokiness. Here I may be projecting more smoke back into the frag than the incense basenotes strictly allow because I first smelled this on a friend (a super-powerful, brilliant lady) who does smoke--it smelled absolutely perfect on her. The hint of vice of the gardenia and the green background, with the ciggies? Damp, compelling, with more than a hint of vice.  Definitely creamy, maybe even buttery, but not in a sweet vanilla-y way. more like a white-flower petal feeling, with a bit of milkiness--a milk or even peach lactone? Lovely!

What has this to do with MJB or the charity the scent supports, which helps women (FFAWN, The Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now)? Very little perhaps. It is unapologetically sensual, feminine, and damp, perhaps even dank. Is this the essence of Mary? Maybe? She seems like a woman of great taste and glamour. But who cares, in the end? It is thoughtfully crafted, a great gardenia perfume, and very cheap if you can get it--it's not in production, but occasionally the bay or one of the big perfume discounters will get in a box set or a loose tester. 

A final note--this bottle is also deeply satisfying. It is heart-shaped, but somehow manages to avoid kitsch, perhaps because the bottle is so deeply weighted and fits so perfectly in the palm. It is a beautiful thing to hold, and it fits the folds of the hand with gorgeous snugness. I often bring it on short trips, because it is so compact, durable, and pretty on a counter. Plus it is good to wear year-round, great for day and evening, and lovely between the sheets.