Stella McCartney Pop Review
Stella McCartney Pop Eau de Parfum ($22-$92) is Stella’s third fragrance launch with marketing that appears to target a more youthful demographic. With the injection of Lourdes Leon, Madonna’s daughter, and the promise of modern, bright notes, Pop sounds like a more flirty, youthful sister to Stella’s regular fragrance releases.
I’m noticing a lot of designer fragrances releasing lighter perfumes lately with eye-catching packaging targeted towards younger girls or guys. So Stella McCartney Pop is just one of a few brands I’m seeing going for a more youthful look and feel. Dior is another who will soon be launching a fragrance called Poison Girl and even Thierry Mugler is going a little lighter with his latest fragrance launch coming in April called Angel Muse.
Blame it Spring or blame it on brands that wish to target twenty-something girls and guys but none the less a lot of fragrances we’ll be seeing this season put an emphasis on fun, flirty notes.
Stella McCartney Pop comes housed in a pink and metallic polka dot box. The actual bottle is clear and sports an exaggerated metallic pink dot top. It’s very playful packaging and very, very different from what we’ve come to know from Stella in the past.
Pop is a woodsy floral that has a strong focus on tuberose and sandalwood. Unfortunately, the advertising misses the mark and can be confusing at times calling the fragrance “empowering to young women” and “bold and irreverent” but the actual notes aren’t terribly complicated nor bold. I think it is a great fragrance for someone who likes something light and airy. It’s also a lovely fragrance for those who can’t wear something strong to work.
I decided to purchase the smaller $50 bottle blindly from Sephora.com, and if I ended up liking it, I’d go for the larger bottle. I can see buying a larger bottle in the future.
At first mist, I can’t smell anything at all. This fragrance is very, very light, so you do have to be up close and personal for someone to smell it. As it sets and develops it becomes warmer and more evident. It’s a funny little fragrance because most of the notes that it apparently has aren’t easy enough to smell here. For example, there are notes of both tomato and violet leaves here as well as green mandarin and violet flower. I felt for sure this would be some weird mix of earthy greens and powdery violet. Not the case at all! Tuberose is very dominate here with sandalwood creating warmth and cedarwood adding coziness to the blend. It wants to be a fruity floral but warmth from the sandalwood and cedarwood prevent it from venturing into that territory. To me, it kind of smells a tiny little bit like tanning oil and has an almost Jennifer Aniston Near Dusk element about it.
Stella McCartney Pop is rather addicting. You’ll find yourself sniffing your wrists throughout the day to catch that faint warmth it leaves behind on your skin. The fragrance is very comforting and soothing and not at all as “fun” as one would expect from the marketing and the packaging.
I must admit although I adored this it isn’t a fragrance you want to indulge in if you expect a good throw. It’s a very intimate fragrance so you kinda have to right be right on top of a person to smell it. It does linger, though…on your clothes, your skin, even your hair so when someone does get close, they’ll likely ask you what it is you are wearing.
It’s a very sensual fragrance and not at all what I expected it to smell like. The marketing can be potentially confusing especially for Stella fans who are used to a more elegant look and feel from her fragrances.
Is it youthful? Not really. Can it be enjoyed by someone younger? Yes, it can! I can’t imagine all ages loving this fragrance. It might be light and unintrusive, but it leaves behind an impression.
Stella McCartney Pop is available now at Sephora.com.
