Perfume Review: Jimmy Choo

Let's just start here, for lack of a better place: I do not own any Jimmy Choo products. Not shoes, not handbags, and definitely not the Uggs.

I'm aware of the legacy of Jimmy Choo, and I admire Tamara Mellon for being a savvy and successful business woman.

Mellon and Choo certainly have a great understanding of the luxury market! I clearly do not have a great understanding of the luxury market. I wear Skechers. I own numerous t-shirts, none of which cost more than $15. My "handbag" is from Target. Much of my jewelry is hand-crafted by artisans (I like craft shows), but doesn't really have a lot of value. Let's just say Lindsey won't bother stealing any of my stuff.

Tamara enjoys it...

The only luxury items I own are cosmetics and perfume. The former I know a lot about, and the latter I'm learning.

Mellon, who also poses in the ads, is apparently "into" perfumes. She's been wanting to create one for 15 years, the press releases assure.

Reviews of Jimmmy Choo's first perfume are mixed. It seems to be the kneejerk reaction to assume new, mass-merchandised scents are bad. Some are. Some aren't. But is this one...?



Let me describe it, first. The opening is a musky peachy citrus blend on my skin. Not sharp, plastic, or fake. We're off to a good start! It quickly adds a floral aspect that's a bit harsh (like the spike of a high heel?) at first, then slowly rounds out a bit. The lower notes of Jimmy Choo perfume are a gourmand-inflected patchouli. Not foody, but somewhat caramelized.

It wears well, with a presence. Sillage is moderate-to-strong; lasting power was medicore (fading on my skin in about 4 hours).


This is a people-pleaser scent, in a way, but also somewhat more complex than most of the recent launches I've smelled at Nordstrom and Saks. It's got the fruity bit that's so common popular right now (and I think it does it well). It's got that woody (not oud-y) bit that's so common popular right now (and I think it does it well). It also has that sugary bit all the kids like (and I think it does it well). It's a little of everything and as slippery to pin down as JELL-O. It's kind of like some of the Jimmy Choo shoes which, to me, appear to have a lot going on even when providing fairly minimal coverage.

I like Jimmy Choo perfume. I enjoyed the various phases. I also like that, thanks to the aldehydes present, this seems like a Perfume (Big 'P') rather than simply a perfume. Dressy. "Night-time". I'm a bit cavalier about wearing perfumes whenever the heck I want to, but many may consider this a scent to pair with A Big Girl Dress... and Jimmy Choo slingbacks, of course!

That said, I still don't own anything marked with the Jimmy Choo label. While I found this perfume interesting and pleasant (and will use the rest of the sample eventually) I prefer the floral-patchouli of Flowerbomb (Viktor & Rolf) and Chinatown (Bond No. 9) to the genre of "fruitchoulis" or neo-chypres or however one might label this perfume. Still, I wouldn't say no to a free bottle. Tamara?

House: Jimmy Choo
Fragrance: Jimmy Choo
Perfumer: Olivier Polge
Released: 2010
Notes: green notes, pear nectar, sweet orange from Italy, Tiger Orchid, caramel, Indonesian patchouli.
Sample: obtained at Saks; also liberally spritzed from tester.

Final Word: pretty.






Other reviews of Jimmy Choo: 

• 1000fragrances: Jimmy Choo eponymous perfume - new fragrance review
• Perfume Posse: Jimmy Choo perfume
• The Scented Salamander:  Jimmy Choo, The Perfume (2011): Mix and Match Like a Fashionable Cameleon {Fragrance Review}
• On Basenotes 
• On Fragrantica 
• On Makeup Alley