Note Pyramid
Pleasures
Pleasures is the house's other great success alongside Youth-Dew, and Estée Lauder Pleasures Eau de Parfum still smells exactly like the moment it arrived in 1995.
The opening is the part that made it famous. Freesia and peony give a cool, watery, almost dewy brightness, violet and violet leaf add powder and a green crushed stem sharpness, and pink pepper crackles over the top. Tuberose is in there too, but thinned right down, so you get the shape of a white flower without its weight. The effect is of flowers in a glass of water rather than flowers in a vase, and in 1995 almost nothing else smelled like that.
The heart keeps the same temperature. Lily of the valley, lilac, lily, rose and jasmine are all present and all kept cool and translucent, with geranium adding a green rosy bite that stops the arrangement going soft. Nothing here is sweetened. That restraint is exactly why the fragrance works at full volume without becoming tiring.
Underneath, musk gives a clean skin warmth, cedarwood a dry pale wood, sandalwood a creamier one, and patchouli a quiet earthiness. Alberto Morillas and Annie Buzantian composed it. As an eau de parfum it has real longevity, six to eight hours, and it projects clearly for the first two. Spring and summer are its seasons, daytime its hours, and it suits work, weddings, exams and almost anything short of a cold evening out. It is pitched at women and has been bought in enormous quantity for thirty years.
The house is American and dates from 1946, when its founder and her husband Joseph started it in New York. Of the fragrances made under its own name, this one and Youth-Dew are the two it is known for, and the group has also gathered up Aramis, Clinique, MAC, La Mer and Jo Malone London along the way.
Please note: images are a guide only. Packaging and bottle design may occasionally differ from those shown due to manufacturer updates or promotions.
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