SJP NYC is the latest release from Sarah Jessica Parker. It’s a tie-in with her upcoming movie, Sex and the City 2, and is meant to be a reflection on the fictional character Carrie Bradshaw as opposed to a reflection on Sarah Jessica Parker herself. Which works out very well for Coty, apparently, since they’ve found that Sarah Jessica Parker is not always an easy sell:
In the case of actress Sara Jessica Parker, Coty has had varied experiences. Lovely, which was easily relatable to Parker’s television persona, was a success. Covet, meanwhile, which tapped into a different side of the celebrity, proved a bigger challenge. [Catherine] Walsh explained that Coty’s next launch with Parker, SJP NYC, again focuses on the personality that the consumer wants.1
And the personality that the consumer wants, apparently, smells like strawberry. I suppose I should stop here and admit that I was never a fan of Sex and the City, although I did sit through several episodes at the urging of friends who found the show mesmerizing.2 It was not for me. Still, Sarah Jessica Parker has expressed surprise about the strawberry note in SJP NYC,3 and I admit I was surprised too — is the fan base for Sex and the City that young? I wouldn’t have thought so.
So, SJP NYC is a strawberry-based fruity floral. You know the drill: sweetish, red berry top notes with a touch of sharp citrus, a clean and pale musky base, and a bunch of indeterminate, vaguely exotic flowers in between. There’s a peach-apricot jam undertone in the heart, but the whole thing isn’t nearly as sweet as it might have been — and on skin, it isn’t nearly as Jolly Rancher-like as it is in the magazine scent strip I tried. It’s comparable to Ed Hardy Woman or Ralph Lauren Ralph Wild — if you liked either of those, there’s a good chance you’ll like SJP NYC too.
Whatever you might think of the fragrance itself, the packaging is clearly a major step down in terms of what Coty has done with the Sarah Jessica Parker line so far. It’s basically a plain glass bottle inside of a (reusable!) plastic canister lined with a paper label meant to mimic fabric designs. It looks inexpensive, and luckily, it is (see prices below).
Sarah Jessica Parker SJP NYC was developed by perfumer Honorine Blanc; the notes include mandarin, white osmanthus, strawberry, gardenia, honeysuckle, mimosa, rose, sandalwood, vanilla absolute, rum flavor and creamy musks. It is available in 15 ($25), 30 ($35) and 60 ($49) ml Eau de Toilette.
1. From CEW Fragrance Rainmakers: Creating Scent Success in a Crisis at GCI.
2. I never saw the first movie, but Anthony Lane’s review in the New Yorker (6/9/2008) nicely sums up my feelings towards the show:
On TV, “Sex and the City” was never as insulting as “Desperate Housewives,” which strikes me as catastrophically retrograde, but, almost sixty years after “All About Eve,” which also featured four major female roles, there is a deep sadness in the sight of Carrie and friends defining themselves not as Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, and Thelma Ritter did—by their talents, their hats, and the swordplay of their wits—but purely by their ability to snare and keep a man. Believe me, ladies, we’re not worth it. [...] I walked into the theatre hoping for a nice evening and came out as a hard-line Marxist, my head a whirl of closets, delusions, and blunt-clawed cattiness.
3. Quoted in Women’s Wear Daily, 10/16/2009:
The reason it surprises me is because I have this idea in my head that strawberry is very youthful and juvenile, but this fragrance doesn’t smell candy sweet. It amazes me that this essence of strawberry mixes so beautifully with the more sophisticated floral notes and the musks that I love and will always have as part of my fragrances. In a million years I would never think, ‘Let’s work around strawberry.’
Sarah Jessica Parker also notes in this video on YouTube that…
…what we arrived at was very surprising to me because it’s not notes that I generally cotton to… it’s really simply surprising to me…but I love it.
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I like it, but then I don’t like it. I dunno what’s wrong with it. It is just like Wild and once upon a time I loved wild. I don’t wanna grow up!
LOL! Then don’t, why should you? But don’t know that anybody needs so many of the same fragrance: if you have Wild, why get this?
(of course, I say that but probably own 20 vetiver scents)
No, I didn’t ever get Ralph Lauren’s Wild. I almost did, though. I see Miss Dior has a new EDT 2010! I’ll try that. I guess one Strawberry scent wouldn’t hurt
Carrie doesn’t really strike me as someone who would smell like strawberries. The way she dresses is pretty outrageous. I imagine her smelling like cigarette smoke and lipstick and some fruity alcoholic drink.
But I also hate that show, so how can I say? Haha
There’s supposed to be a rum note in there, and it’s too bad they didn’t do more with it — I can’t find it at all. This is not an outrageous fragrance in the least.
I haven’t smelled it yet–but you’re describing something like a strawberry margarita or a strawberry daiquiri, definitely within Carrie’s comfort zone. And isn’t SATC the show that broadened our experience of fruit-tinis?
If they had done something w/ the rum note, yes, but I really don’t think most people are going to notice it at all (at least, I didn’t). And let’s face it, a daiquiri without rum is just strawberry candy
Robin – I’m with you on really wondering why SITC was such a big success. I know this doesn’t make me popular and I don’t normally express this, but I found all the women in the show particularly juvenile, childish and very very selfish. In any case, I will admit that I did enjoy about 4 episodes and I did watch all of them, but did not see the first movie. I recall sometime in the past few years SJP confessed in some article that she was sad/surprised that so many young women felt that Carrie Bradshaw was a kind of high water mark of achievement and personal style – that so many young women just aspired to walk around half naked (or with their underwear hanging out, specifically thongs) and sleep with many men. I know that a lot of press is spinned beyond belief, and I don’t know what she really thinks about all this business as it is a business after all. But now all these very young women can run around half naked and sleep with a lot of men smelling like candied strawberries. And for the record, I do own a bottle of Covet.
You know, I’m not even sure I mind “particularly juvenile, childish and very very selfish” — I mean, that could describe the heroines of many of my all time favorite screwball comedies! It just seemed really dull (did not think the writing was all that great, and there’s so much great writing on TV these days) and a really bleak portrait of female friendship, and maybe of women in general.
Although now I want to add that it was a bleak portrait of men too. I found the whole show kind of depressing. There wasn’t a single character, male or female, that I felt any connection to.
Yes, the characters were really quite a type. At least Samantha was a bit fun. The only male character I liked was Mikhail Baryshnikov! Yes, please – take me to Paris and make me hang out with all your fab art friends! And if I can’t think of *anything* to do in all that down-time in Paris, shoot me in the head.
Did a double take for a moment, then remembered — never saw those shows, but I think I did know MB was on the show. That’s pretty funny when you think about it.
Absolutely, “bleak “is the word, in the sense of “is that all there is?” Four women spending their lives snagging guys, dressing to snag guys, obsessing about snagging guys, and talking to one another about their success at snagging guys. Sure, it may not have been meant to be taken seriously, but then why subject yourself to the boring plotlines?
As for the strawberry: I think an undercurrent to the series was that these women were getting to be “d’un certain age”–how much longer do they have to snag the right guy? A major concern is how to look, feel, act younger. Strawberry fits right in.
I saw a few episodes, and then got bored. I didn’t think it was to be taken especially seriously, but I suppose I was older, and perhaps better able to put it at a distance, as a fantasy. It’s a worrying thought that young women would take it seriously, and apsire to all that stuff. Sorry, not expressing myself very well.
That was the thing for me — it was REALLY hard to tell if you were to take it seriously or not. Anthony Lane mentions that in his review of the movie, too. If it was meant as fantasy, well, it wasn’t appealing enough on that level (and I say that as someone who LOVED drivel like Dallas)
I used to love Dallas.
I’m a professional writer. I hang out with writers. Carrie Bradshaw was a piece of work–pure fiction. She lived in a tony brownstone and spent $500 on every pair of shoes on a writer’s salary? And what was her job? Writing about her sex life, for which she got a ton of money as a newspaper columnist? On the planet YaSure, maybe.
wow, you mean you cannot afford jimmy choos whenever you feel like buying them ?! life sucks….
Well, I guess her character proved to be such a success because this is exactly what most of the 20-30 around women ever do ( or dream of doing)- sleep around with living men they can find and wear trashy clothes that cost about a fortune
) It’s the essence of MTV, American Idol and tens of other sub-productions 
))
*sigh*
Poor SJP. She should have hooked up with Etat Libre instead. Maybe it’s not too late…?
Thanks for the Anthony Lane quote. I remember feeling so grateful to him for that review–so rare to see a man write something smart and feminist. I was often deeply irritated by the show, but I watched every episode, gleaning the things I loved–fashion, New York, women talking to one another. I’ve always suspected SATC’s devoted fans were hungry for a portrait of female friendship and the boyfriend woes served the same purpose they so often do in real life female friendships–they made the characters seem vulnerable and available though, eventually, at least for me, they also made SJP’s character neurotic and annoying.
Yes. In retrospect it’s really too bad she went mainstream. Guess it’s paying for her real life clothing though!
I sympathize with her since I’m also stuck with a personality the consumer doesn’t like. I don’t think strawberries are going to help me, though.
LOL!
Maybe if you dipped them in chocolate and handed them out…
Thank you, Rick. That really did make me laugh out loud!
The show was a guilty (actually, not-so-guilty) pleasure for me, and I actually thought many of the episodes did a good treatment of thirtysomething angst, in spite of the fact that the characters were like in the top 3% income demographic. Even as a guy, I could relate to it.
I have no desire to smell this, though, and I think that packaging is one of the most tacky-looking things I’ve ever seen. I’ve also not smelled SJP’s first two scents (or any flankers).
May I ask which smells better*, this or Halle Pure Orchid? Both seem equally inexpensive. (* I realize better is a matter of taste.)
I think both fragrances are equally crappy, in their own way.
The Halle Berry orchid just smells like every other cheap floral on the market, and this smells like one of those strawberry-scented car air fresheners. Now that I’ve put it that way, I’d say the strawberry is worse.
I should have rephrased that: “Which is the least mediocre?” (which is an inside joke between me and a friend who said a certain CD should have been dubbed “[insert band name]‘s Least Mediocre Hits.”)
Thanks for weighing in.
I’m not rushing out to sample either, in case you were worried.
Yes, I was worried. I was afraid we were going to have to do some sort of intervention.
I don’t suppose it was Nickleback?
No. I’m not even sure I really know who Nickelback is (way after “my time”). I’m back in the late 80s days of Stock, Aitken, Waterman.
Ok, late 80s were my time, but….who? (Directed at Joe; sadly, I *do* know who Nickelback are.)
I was in college in the late 80′s… who are Stock, Aitken, Waterman? (I guess I could google them, but I’d rather just sound dumb.)
“Mastermind” producers behind Rick Astley, Kylie Minogue, Dead or Alive, Bananarama, and many more.
Heeeeyyy… I really liked Rick Astley! And Dead or Alive. Not so much Kylie, although my boyfriend at the time was a huge fan of hers. He was a college DJ, and made me some MIX TAPES, ooooh… they’re around here somewhere.
Gosh, blast from the past.
Oh, I love/loved a lot of that music, believe me. Packrat alert: I have two carriers full of mixed and regular cassettes at the bottom of my closet. Don’t ask me why…
That’s hilarious. On my ipod one day I discovered that I had named a playlist “The Most Tolerable Songs of Missing Persons.” I don’t even remember doing this, but it did end up being pretty accurate.
Gosh Joe, that’s a really hard pick. If it were me and I had to wear one of them, I might pick the SJP just because it’s a bit lighter.
Will say that I do think there was the makings of a really great perfume in the original Halle Berry — if they had spent more on the materials, it might have been a more interesting scent than any of the SJP line, or at least have been a serious rival. The Pure Orchid, nah, wasn’t worth investing any more in it, and same with SJP NYC.
I have laid out a good amount of money for perfumes, but never for a celebrity fragrance. Have not found one worthy of me laying out money just to line their already rich pockets. Without even smelling this perfume, I know that it will be a “no go” since in addition to being a celebrity fragrance in also has the fruity strawberry note. I love floral perfumes, but have not liked fruity florals.
Well, look at it this way — when you buy a designer fragrance, you’re just lining someone else’s already rich pockets! I don’t care who makes something if it’s good.
I don’t like the show at all and yes, their fan base is that young. My step-daughter’s mother used to watch it with her as a “bonding” experience when she was a teenager and it drove me crazy. It was wildly inappropriate and I almost had a seizure when she was 16 and told me she lived her life according to that show. It would have been entertaining to listen to her try and explain how it really is deep with meaningful symbolism, thoughtful, well-crafted story arcs and character development analogous to how “real women really are” – except that my husband and I were breaking our backs trying to provide her with a safe, stable home and family life for her and expose her to real art, literature, music, and multiple cultural, social, and educational opportunities to prepare her for the really real world.
And I am very, very tired of “SJP.” I liked her back in the Square Peg days, before her image became that of a vapid, vacuous, self-obsessed shoe ‘ho. Unfortunately, the more I read or listen to what she says, the more I feel the line between Carrie Bradshaw and Sarah Jessica Parker is disappearing. The self-importance she projects in the above quotes gets under my skin and reminds me of Homer Simpson saying, “Movie stars – is there anything they don’t know?”
Sorry. I do go on. I will be skipping this one, but because of any personal animosity aimed at her or celebrity fragrances in general. I don’t really like fruity florals and I hate the packaging.
Sorry again for the typos and the screed. I wish we could edit our posts.
Sorry. I did test one plugin that would let people edit their own comments but I wasn’t happy with it.
Anyway, interesting but still would have guessed that your average SATC fan was in their 40s now…and wouldn’t have thought that age cohort, by and large, would find SJP NYC appealing.
I can’t understand this obsession some women have with shoes. I’m totally bored with them, I only have about4 pairs and a few old sets of trainers or running shoes. It annoys me when people say “ALL women LOVE shoes”. There, my whine of the day.
I understand the shoe obsession and possess it, in fact. Shoes are beautiful, never make you feel fat when you try them on, can make one outfit look different in 100 ways, and can simply be wearable art (much as perfume can be, or jewelry). And high heels can make your whole body look different… the higher the better I say! I’m sorry, but I felt that someone had to jump in here and defend shoes on behalf of womankind!
Later: just realized how rich it was that I was complaining about anyone being obsessed with shoes when I’m like that about perfume. Each to his/her own! I was having a negative moment.
I hate this. I think it’s insipid and awful. And that makes me sad because I really, really like Sarah Jessica Parker. I LOVE that a woman who is not conventionally attractive is such a success. I am so excited to see what she will do at Halston (she just signed on as their creative director). But SJP NYC = Not4Me.
Really!?! Oh, I’m so excited! Thanks, Ari, for the little ray of hope.
Of course!! Isn’t it so exciting??? I think she is just perfect for Halston. Definitely a much smarter decision than Ungaro bringing in Lindsay Lohan!
Good lord, yes! The only way is up from that choice. Gah!
I think the problem now is that the “Sarah Jessica Parker” fragrance brand — separate from the person — has become sort of cheapened. Not sure she can any longer attract the kind of people who might have been interested in that mythical musk blend she supposedly wore and that perfume fans kept hoping she’d launch under her name.
Yeah, as Julia says, above, Sarah Jessica is disappearing into Carrie. I liked Lovely and identified it with the person I took to be Sarah Jessica. I didn’t like Carrie, so I know without sniffing that I’m not gonna like NYC.
Lovely was easy and graceful, and a fragrance like that always has a spot on my dressing table, even if there are plenty of days when I want something with a bit more character.
I think there’s room on my counter for an easy going fruity floral too…just not this one.
Did think Lovely was a great scent, although I don’t know that I really associated it with SJP in any big way — don’t know enough about her.
I have to throw in my two cents (ha ha–accidentally typed “scents” at first) about her not being conventionally attractive and being successful. I feel the same way, and yet would say that a lot of the press I’ve read about her focuses on how wonderful it is that she’s a size 0 and blah blah blah, and how much women look up to her because of this. So as much as I do love that she isn’t a plastic surgery queen, it does irk me that looks still do factor into things.
Miss Kitty, I never really thought about that. I guess that SJP is really just another blonde, white, skinny actress- not so unconventional at all.
Yeah the scent is totally not for the SATC fans. Were there 14 yr olds watchin this show? I dont think it really evokes the character either. She was more funky and daring than STRAWBERRY!!! Covet would have matched her personality more then this! And yes, the rum note would have made this so much better. It is to bad about the packaging too. If it had to be plastic, I would have prefered no paper label around it. O well. It’ll end up at Marshalls and TJMaxx really soon and I’ll get me a bottle then. I love SJP so I do have to have it. : )
It really is too bad. I think they could have done something fun & youthful — even something fun & youthful with strawberry — but made it less generic than this.
I found that with SITC, I enjoyed it enormously when i watched it with a group of my girlfriends and split a couple bottles of wine. But when I try to watch by myself, I get bored pretty quickly. I actually think I appreciated the fashion and styling the most. Patricia Field is out of her mind! (in a good way)
Anyway, I know I won’t be getting this one. Strawberry is definitely a scent of my early youth (my mom washing my hair with Redken Amino Pon shampoo) and while it’s a comforting scent, I sure as hell don’t want to wear it as a personal fragrance. SJP’s quotes are a bit disheartening to me as well. That “I like it” at the end of her explanation about the strawberry note seems to be hastily tacked on. I’m really losing hope we’ll ever see the Skin Musk/Incense Avignon/headshop Egyptian musk tribute ever!
Also for the record, I just bought my second bottle of Covet at Gordman’s the other day in a giftset for $14 and it had the adorable little solid perfume in it too. *warm happies*
As I said above, not sure they’d even be wise to launch that tribute now. If they were going to do it, they should have done it before this, because this is going to turn off the people who liked Lovely and/or Covet. (Sweeping generalization, of course, because some people will love SJP NYC, but don’t think *most* fans of Lovely & Covet will).
Lucky you on the Covet solid, I want one of those!
Yep! Im jealous!! I wish I got my hands on a Covet solid!!! Do solids typically not last long? I bought me an L and Fantasy solid like in Oct. and they dont quite smell like they did. Kinda unpleasant actually. I dont even care to wear them anymore. : (
I have some solids that are YEARS old & still great. Others seem to lose their scent pretty quickly, or to go sour. Did not have great luck with the Harajuku Lovers solids.
Most of my solids are still true to their scent but I am always careful to only touch the solid with clean fingers. I remember how quickly the solid testers went bad when I worked retail because of everyone sticking their grubby fingers in it. *blech* It may also help to store them in small resealable plastic bags if the lids aren’t air-tight.
I Have Had It Up To Here with the celeb-scent drek! Sarah Jessica Parker may be a talented actress, I don’t know…but the show was Unwatchable, IMHO. I would never buy a fragrance associated in any way with SitC. AnnS pegged it perfectly as “juvenile, childish, selfish…” and you know what? Candace Bushnell, the author of Sex and the City is too! She actually had the nerve to compare herself to Balzac. Read the comments at http://tinyurl.com/yztglrd
Whew, sorry.
…er… I meant Flaubert. But you get the point?
Flaubert? Seriously? Madame Bovary is a pretty heavy read. I seriously doubt that Ms. Bushnell would appreciate people falling asleep on her books, lol. The concept of female ennui and dissatisfaction, maybe yes. The delivery, sadly no. You’ve come a long way (baby) Mme. Bovary!
As I’ve said before, if somebody makes a great scent, I’ll buy it: I don’t care who it is. And I won’t buy dreck no matter who makes it.
Huh. I didn’t really pick up on the different aspects of the perfumes (Carrie personna or SJP) as far as the marketing.
And why should you? One of the problems, IMHO, with the whole way the fragrance industry goes about their business is that they assume consumers are paying way more attention than they are.
Well, I was a fan of SATC (it was the TV equivalent of comfort food for me, though I didn’t care for the movie), and I don’t think this sounds like something any of the SATC women would wear. I did like Lovely and really liked Covet (I hate that it flopped). But this sounds very blah and really girly and young. I think you’re probably right that fans of Lovely and Covet won’t be going for this one.
It’s blah mostly in the sense that it’s been done before. Several times. I do think they could have done a flirty sort of fruity floral without covering territory that was already pretty well covered.
Well, I for one, love SJP – always have, from Square Pegs on. I also saw every episode of SATC – and loved it. It was a guilty pleasure for the fashion loving, shoe loving, Cosmopolitan cocktail loving, shallow me . Ha! Plus, some episodes were just downright hilarious! I have to say though I’m a bit mortified that the [very adult] show had such young fans. As far as this disappointing fragrance goes [as well as Covet Bloom and that trio of scents, whatever they were], I’m not giving up on the girl. I’m such an optimist.
That’s the second mention of Square Pegs. I’m going to resist the urge to google because I’m sure to forget all over again anyway.
I give up on her in the sense that if she’s saying she loves this, then obviously whatever integrity she started out with, pre-Lovely, is basically gone. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care: if she makes a great scent, I’ll still buy it, but I’m not as interested in the brand as I was.
Oh, Robin, do look up Square Pegs! It was “on demand” a while back on cable, and a friend and I stayed up all night watching it. It’s mostly good for a laugh and great 80′s nostalgia.
Square Pegs perfectly captures the early ’80s for me …
I loved square pegs when I was little. It was a very memorable tv show. She was so cute with all that hair! Definitely as you talk about identifiable characters, square pegs was really a great geek show.
Square Pegs is a great show. It is definitely a geek, 80′s show.
Loved Square Pegs. Guess I was an 80′s geek, too…
R.D.: SatC fans, Unite! We have nothing to lose but our street cred!
What’s funny is that I’m very against vapid, shallow, selfish, material culture (if y’all only knew how humorless I can be). My idea of a good time are contemporary Central Asian and Mongolian verité-style existential films. Heh. However, SatC was very entertaining and I could really related to some of the characters’ life and relationship dilemmas. Maybe that says something bad about me. Woops!
LOL Joe. I do have a deeper side also [though not deep enough to "enjoy" cinema verite].
LOL — but I do promise I like plenty of vapid, shallow culture. Just not this particular vapid, shallow culture.
Only if all the slutting around you do is with soo many fragrances! I hope you practice “safe scents”! I did like the initial story line with Charlotte and Harry. What a guy.
Gosh, none of those ladies (other than Samantha) seemed *particularly* slutty to me. Hmmmm.
Ah, well everyone has their own personal dramas & experiences for sure. And I am no lily white woman. Live and let live. I was poking fun at your and my admitted tendencies to be fragrance ho’s…
I have to say I loved SATC too and I am surprised by how many people here say that they hated it! Speaking of SJP blasts from the past, any one else remember Girls Just Wanna Have Fun? The movie that also had Helen Hunt and Shannen Doherty? With the dance contest? So classic!
I never watched a single episode of the show but was “obliged” to see the movie (it was for a friend’s birthday) and I loathed it. Of course, I ruined everyone else’s night by not being able to hide my reaction to the film. I found the characters to be, as many of you did, selfish, juvenile and shallow. It sickened me to know that that type of person is apparently what we all now aspire to. And so now I read about this fragrance with some interest and amusement – to find that, while we all thought our appreciation of the SITC franchise and desire to emulate its characters (Cosmopolitans, Birkan bags, Jimmy Choos etc.) was a mark of our sophistication, what we all really long for is to smell like our old Strawberry Shortcake dolls?
It is very strange. Those women, presumably, would have bought a fragrance that cost considerably more than Lovely, but Lovely didn’t strike me as out of the question for those characters — this one does. I mean, it would be really odd to pay for Jimmy Choo shoes and then wear cheap strawberry.
No kidding! You got that right-on. The Charlotte character wouldn’t even be caught dead in anything drugstore!
I must timidly mention that the vast majority of SATC fans hated the movie. It turned the characters we loved into two-dimensional harpies who were annoying as all hell (ESPECIALLY Carrie, SJP’s character). The show is very, very different from the movie. Promise!
I totally agree Ari. They had what, six seasons worth of shows where the moral was essentially that marriage is not the fairy tale ending that everyone needs, and then what did Carrie do in the movie? Get married. So irritating.
It’s nice to know other people don’t like that show either. No strawberry for me, thanks… I sprayed some of that Ed Hardy one on a paper strip, sniffed and promptly tossed it as far away from my person as I could get it lol
If you did not like the 1st Ed Hardy, doubt you’ll like this. I thought the 2nd Ed Hardy was great — wish they’d copied that one.
When I was about 13, I had a spiritual sky strawberry perfume that I loved! I would smell this just to see what SJP’s rendition of strawberry is, although it is only one of many notes, whereas the strawberry perfume oil I had was JUST strawberry and smelled very strongly of it. As for the SATC series, it was unwatchable for me. Saw a few minutes of it – yuk. ack. Not for me!
This is not a straight up strawberry at all…might not remind you of your old perfume oil!
Robin takes another one for the team! I admire your work ethic, Robin.
This one fit its mold so entirely that it was easy, LOL…seriously, there’s no surprises in SJP NYC, it’s just exactly what it says it is.
I thought that, too. Wasn’t going to say it, after the review of… what was it? Heat? when I asked how Robin got stuck with it.
I do understand that plenty of people are coming here looking for info on mainstream & drugstore & celeb scents, and they’re not looking for niche/weird/exclusive things like the rest of us freaks.
Hey, but even us freaks like fun and/or uncomplicated scents once in awhile, right? And you never know where you’ll find one.
True. And I’m still Queen of Cheap (reviewed Sand & Sable from my personal bottle recently). I suppose my point was, I’m glad I decided not to be professional about testing/reviewing most new things. I have selfishly staked out the “I only review what interests me” ground. So I admire you, and I’m glad I don’t have to stalk the mall…
I totally agree with you, Robin. I’ve been disappointed in everything SJP has released post-Lovely and my opinion of her has definitely changed. How the woman who launched something as timeless and impossibly chic as Lovely could degenerate to the tackiness that is Covet and SJPNY baffles me beyond belief.
I still wonder about that mythical musk blend she wore before all this and wonder how different things might have been had she collaborated with a niche house instead of a giant like Coty.
Oh, but we don’t agree on Covet — I liked it!
Ah ha! Another lover of Lovely in this community. Yay. I didn’t love Covet, not that I thought it was bad, just not for me. Interesting point about SJP and niche houses I wonder if any would have taken her on though?
This…this does not sound lovely or covetous at all.
I personally LOVED SatC. I didn’t watch it while it was on TV, but I plowed through it in my second year of undergrad on YouTube in prep for the movie. I loved it. I was just starting to explore my sexuality, and here were these fabulous yet flawed older sisters to learn from. Not always to condone, but to accept and love because they weren’t about begrudging people a good time. I was just eighteen at the time. I’m still attached to the characters, but the movie wasn’t nearly so empowering as the show was. Miranda would NEVER take back a cheater. Carrie would never let Big’s big selfishness off the hook. I mean seriously, it’s just a wedding.
…So, we’ve got one crazy fan still here.
But I still think Lovely’s a plain derivative of NR, so, ultimately, it’s not as though it’s the falling of a titan here.
It is true, Lovely was not wildly original (although I’d argue that neither is NR — they’re both essentially expensive variations on inexpensive Egyptian musks).
Sorry, but what is NR? I mean which perfume?
I liked the SATC show…didn’t like the movie as much.
As many have said, it looked like they were disguising the story of 20 something year old gay men as 30 something straight women.
And that would explain the pathos, the selfishness and the immaturity… hehehehe (please no one take offense … I am talking about personal experiences here!) For me the stories were too close to home and therefore tragicomical at best.
Now I loved Lovely. and I too was intrigued about the street bought egyptian musk. I mean I “bought” the PR story, and I guess Chandler Burr should be credited for that.
I did not like covet, but I understand where she wanted to go with it: Rediscover gourmands successfuly just as she had “rediscovered” florar musks.
I hope she gets some other stuff soon… else the “street cred” of this line is kaput.
And sorry for the long post
Narciso Rodriguez For Her
Thanks! sometimes I get the Acronyms straight away… but today my acronym detector is off
And great review by the way
I am on vacation this week. On an appartment near a beach. I am catching up with NST and all the other things I love to read but usually don’t have time to.
Lucky you!! Enjoy the rest of your vacation.
I love Lovely!
Never watched SATC. Disliked Lovely (the patchouli) and Covet (the chocolate). Think the packaging for NYC is horrendously, cheaply, awful. I don’t think this one will be making its way to my nose.
But glad to see reviews of the inexpensive here as well as the niche and high-end mainstream.
And hey, they not only did a 30 ml but a *15 ml*. I hope that’s the next trend, 15 ml bottles! Can you imagine?
15ml bottles! yippee!
Oh no… if that catches on, my collection will mushroom.
WILL mushroom??? MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Now that wasn’t nice…
Will mushroom even MORE?
Yes, the 15 ml bottle is encouraging!
Especially if, oh say, AMOUAGE starts releasing 15ml bottles. Or, heck, even Chanel. I’d love to have a 15ml bottle of all the Exclusifs.
I’d love 15ml bottles of all the LEs too, but only if they increased the strengths to parfum/extrait LOL. I went through a 5ml decant of 31RC in 2 weeks…so at that rate…
I cannot imagine any scent LESS like New York City that this description. Not counting John Lennon’s Strawberry Fields in Central Park, I cannot think of one other strawberry thing in the city. The marketing, name, scent, everything is all miss matched here.
I’d guess their target market is not meant to be New Yorkers though
I never got into SITC. It began when I was in my late teens/early twenties and I, being a total artsy nerd, simply couldn’t get into it at all. I had geeky/artsy/nerdy friends of both genders (and a couple gender-bending types) and just never felt that passionate about fashion, shoes and snagging the next huge catch in an endless game of one-upmanship with my friends. There were always great books to discuss, films and cultural events to attend together and of course, cheap wine and good music on a Friday or Saturday night with good company.
I did, however, find Lovely very nicely done and still kick around the idea of buying some since it can be had for a song now. I didn’t like Covet enough to buy it, but admired it for what it was and thought it smelled good. Just not something I’d wear.
Strawberry isn’t a deterrent for me, either, since I actually like Miss Dior Cherie, Hanae Mori and some of the Escada LEs.
Most times, I have absolutely no idea who a particular celebrity is unless they’re practically supernova a la Beyoncé or Halle Barry. I bought the first Paris Hilton frag just because it was pretty and simple though all I knew about her was her rep for being pretty vapid and the whole sex tape thing. And Halle… I think most people know who she is even if you aren’t necessarily a fan. But all the newer celebrity frags now… I haven’t a clue who most of them are, and quite often the perfumes are so disappointing anyway that I’m never moved to find out. Though to be fair, I did love Danielle by Danielle Steel.
If it smells nice and is worth the price, I’ll buy it. It’s nearly impossible these days to find a product range that isn’t backed by some celebrity, from soft drinks to shoes, makeup to clothes, and I’m just not creative or angst-filled enough to try and live off the grid in that way.
The one thing I really liked about the Danielle Steel effort was that she didn’t even pretend she had anything to do with making it.
I’d have been upset by this if this had happened before the first SatC movie (I am a HUGE fan of the show, especially the early years when it was less fairy-tale) but I’m not surprised now. They’re selling Carrie as a product now and it’s been happening for a good long time now. And it was depressing because SJP actually is really talented.
This whole scenario reminds me greatly of Bill Watterson’s (apparently brutal) fight to keep Calvin and Hobbes from being merchandised; he feared that it would lessen the quality of the comic. Apparently he was right.
Go Calvin & Hobbes!
While I liked Lovely, and really enjoy covet. This is total meh to me. Good thing, because I need to save money somewhere!
As do I.
I haven’t really been able to get past the name, SJP NYC is so clunky. When I first saw the ad, I searched for the actual name of the fragrance until I realized SJP NYC was the name. It doesn’t really tell me anything about the fragrance. The packaging tells me everything, though, and what it tells me is that it’s CHEAP. Both literally and figuratively.
As for the strawberry fragrance, I have distinct memories of strawberry scented stuff when I was a little girl. The cheap lotions, and lipglosses that companies like Avon made for little girls all had this weird scent that was supposed to be “strawberry”, but really smelled nothing like strawberry. A few years back I ordered a body lotion from Garden Botanika and had it scented with some berry fragrance that I took one smell of and was thrown back to my childhood, because it had that fake berry scent.
It is a clunky name, I was surprised by that too.
I would never buy a SJP perfume, nor would I ever sniff it… Why ? She is just too ugly to sell perfumes ( she loks horrible ). It is enough I have to see her in lots of magazines … Now I have to buy her stuff too ? There are lots of wonderful looking young actresses( all races and nationalities)- why bother with this horse-looking one ?! Thanks God we ,in Europe , do not have to put up with her annoying celebrity…
That’s just mean, Rosabelle. Don’t like her? Don’t look at her. Don’t like her fragrance? Don’t buy it. But there’s really no need for such a ‘personal’ attack. Question: What’s with women knocking each other down like this anyway? Does the cattiness make you feel better about your station in life? An unsolicited hint: Cut it out. It’s really unappealing.
Everyone is allowed to express their opinion, but you’re not allowed to pick on other readers…please see the comment policy.
http://www.nstperfume.com/about-now-smell-this/comments-user-accounts/
I think she’s pretty! But I don’t buy perfumes based on people’s looks anyway.
I think she’s pretty too. But like you, I wouldn’t be swayed to step away from the fragrance counter if I didn’t like the “model”. The only things that matter to me are 1) Will I be able to eat and pay bills if I make this purchase? and 2) Does it smell good? Sorry I lost it there
That’s ok!
How hideously tacky! My god that bottle…
It’s worse in person, IMHO.
I have seen only a couple of episodes of SATC, because, really, I don’t even own (or wish to own) a TV.
I didn’t find it particularly dull: it was describing a certian lifestyle, or a sterotype of a certain lifestyle, and I had a couple of laughs with my friends, thought it was a bit thin, and that’s it. There are worse things out there, I’m sure.
For what concerns the leading lady herself, someone so brilliant in Ed Wood earns a huge sympathy bonus. That movie is firmly palced in my cult movie section, along with Mars attacks (in which she does a cameo appereance). Personally I find her beautiful and much more so because she is not molded on a barbie face. She has a nose, and she’s fine with it.
That said, I won’t try any of those SJP scents, because they just don’t seem interesting.
…and strawberry is a *yuk* note, for me anyway… How on earth, with all the possible notes available in a perfumer palette, one should consciusly reach for strawberry?!?
LOVED Ed Wood, agree!
I wonder if how much one liked SaTC depended on when you first saw it. By the time I actually saw an episode, it had been on for years and the hype was huge. As a result, I was disappointed, especially in the dialogue, which was nowhere near as witty as I had been led to believe. You want witty? Try any Mae West movie from the 30s, skirting its way around the Hays Amendment or the classic scene in The Big Sleep where Bogey and Bachall discuss “horse racing.” Maybe that was the problem with SaTC: when everything can be said openly, there is no room for innuendo and wit.
Too bad about the scent, though. Chandler Burr made SJP sound like just the nicest girl ever and committed to the perfume creation process.
Interesting though, to see how much she is already learning to compromise in that book, and then to imagine what it’s like by the time she’s done another pillar scent and 4 or 5 flankers. I can completely see how we get to SJP NYC.
I’m so glad you brought up THE PERFECT SCENT. Mr. Burr had me completely convinced that SJP was a different kind of celebrity who was fully committed and passionate about the perfume making process. But when I smelled the new NYC at the Macy’s on Broadway in the heart of “Carrie” territory, my heart sank. I kept trying to justify the lollipop sweet notes but then I just gave in and admitted, this is not the SJP I read about in the book and it certainly isn’t New York.
Pity.
Someone earlier had mentioned that none of the Jimmy-Choo-wearing SATC characters would ever wear something as lowest-common-denominator as SJP NYC, and it’s so true.
Just off the top of my head, I’d imagine that Carrie might wear a whole ton of different quirky niche fragrances, including Etat Libre d’Orange’s Jasmin et Cigaret. The Park-Avenue Charlotte would be loyal to classic vintage Chanel No 5 in extrait. Miranda would like the expensive, semi-androgynous clout of, hmm (assuming she’s not put off by Tom Ford’s marketing strategies) TF Japon Noir in the square black bottles. Or maybe Amouage Lyric Man, which is gorgeous on women. And sex-bomb Samantha would fill the room with a great big extroverted cloud of Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb Extreme.
I love this game! I think SJP would wear Bond – the urban names, plus the candyish flavor because she is a romantic at heart. Both my husband and I find SOTC witty, bawdy and hilarious, and we watch reruns constantly, we can even tell which expletives have been removed. I’ve met SJP actually and she is very appealing and smart.
I confess here I love SATC – I mean, you do not have to take it too serious, each scene, each shot they are wearing new clothes, new bling, new ,ake-up. C#mmon – but it is fun and sometimes it is self-ironic enough. Never smelt at the SJP scents, I do not care for celeb-scents.
I think the packaging is self-ironic, so I consider it funny. Strawberry not so sweet sounds interesting though.
I don’t much care about clothes & bling, I guess…it wasn’t fun to me!
I believe the actual character of the show (Carrie) wore Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood. I saw the bottle standing at the window in her appartment. Can’t remember the episode though.
Excellent, thanks — I was surprised that nobody mentioned perfume references in the show.
I thought I was the only one who didn’t care for Sen in the City? I no longer feel so alone. Every other woman I spoke to LOVED it! I just didn’t get what was so appealing about the characters of this show. No woman I know has three best, BEST friends who she goes out with very regularly all at the same time, to expensive restaurants and trendy bars all dressed-up to discuss men and sex ad nauseum. Some of their discussions were very teenage like too. Things me and my friends discussed when we were teenagers, trying to understand boys.
It really did used to seem like everyone on earth loved it, LOL…
I have 4 best friends of all ages that I go out with and we are never jealous. It’s the best. We are there all the time…
The perfume smells fabulous. It’s light yet lingering and has an easy on the nose smell. Doesnt’ give people a headache. Men love it!!!
Thanks!
It smells exactly as Ed Hardy Women, with two exceptions: the price is cheaper and I don’t get a headache of it.
No headache is good
Always good. But you know, I think the target group is very young. I doubt whether they have seen or liked Sex and the City. I found Sex and the City always amusing.
hmm this was a bit of a let down…it does grab tour attention (the packaging!) but I tested it in Macys and it didn’t wear well on me. good that you can get 15ml. my favourites from her are the two covets and twilight.
The 15 ml is a plus…but yeah, it isn’t her best.
This perfume smells like those tiki bug replants LOL it doesn’t smell good at all! At first I thought it smelt good, but in the end it is a gross smell. Don’t waste your money, please! I didn’t have to because I got a sample in the mail.
Oh, good thing you got to try it first…
I watched Sex and the City 2 the other day and Carrie had a bottle of Tresor on her bathroom sink. Mr. Big, her husband, had Dior Fahrenheit and Miranda, the red head, used Bvlgari Thé Vert. Ive been meaning to get me a bottle of Thé Vert. It would be perfect for this summer weather. : )
The Vert is lovely! You can find little travel sizes at Sephora.
I got my bottle 2day! I know, I know! I’m awful! I’m a sucker for refreshing & juicy strawberry! I know I shouldn’t luv it cuz it’s totally not SJP and totally not NYC but dang is it perfect for this hot summer weather! Please don’t disown me Robin! LOL! : )
HA…we do not disown anybody so easily as that!
Well good! I’m glad. : )
Wow… didn’t realize I was so in the minority! I used to LOVE SITC, mostly for the fantasy and the visuals… The biggest fantasy being one of having the time and so-inclined girlfriends to sit around in coffee shops daily, bonding over sexual escapades and feats of death-defying shopping sprees. Does no one else enjoy ogling clothes, and suspending disbelief for 25 minutes? Sure, the characters (esp. Carrie) are a little vapid and self-obsessed, but it is HBO. The latest perfume sounds boring, though… I was intrigued and delighted (at first) by the strawberry in Miss Dior Cherie, but it’s being done so much now. Bleh.
You couldn’t really be in the minority, it was a very popular show!
Totally agree there is enough strawberry on the counters already.
p.s. I thought that Charlotte and Harry had a sweet story line… and her wardrobe: sigh…
I found this on ebay. I wonder if it’s something new, a tester, or a fake? We’ll see I guess. The description says clean bubble smell. I don’t adore soapy stuff so I’m hoping that’s not the case. Haha. http://cgi.ebay.com/SJP-NYC-by-Sarah-Jessica-Parker-2oz-EDT-Spray-women_W0QQitemZ280654344936QQcategoryZ11848QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8234936267384478824
That looks weird, and wrong somehow (a plain white canister??). We’ll see.
Yeah I emailed Coty and they told me they have no future plans for a new Sarah Jessica fragrance. Poor Sarah! So weird though right? I was thinking it might be legit because the seller is selling only fragrances from Coty so I was thinking they worked for them or something. Oh well. : )
It did not look like a fake to me, but it also didn’t look like a consumer retail product. Who knows !
SJP NYC Pure Crush is floating around a few sites. I wonder why we haven’t heard anything about it yet? Hmmmmm. I wonder if it’s the real deal. I can only assume it’s something fresh or citrusy but have no clue really. No site has the notes. I’m curious. : )
It’s on ebay too. It looks legit. I contacted Coty asking about a new SJP scent like 2 months ago and they said they had no future plans to release another scent from SJP any time soon. LIES! Haha. I guess the customer service reps don’t know as much as I think they would. Haha. : )
I’m surprised…but wonders never cease, right? Had not heard a word about it.
Nor I. I guess I should give up hope about that unisex scent she talked about a few yrs ago. Oh well. I still only have one bottle of Covet. I need to find me a few more before it disappears forever. If it already hasn’t. Haha.
I found an open bottle of Pure Crush at Marshalls! They have it there ALREADY! It’s a light coconut. Coconut has been done much much better I think. G and Miami Glow kick its little butt. Poor SJP! Coty told me they didn’t have a new NYC. Too weird. I’m going to email them saying I found it. We’ll see what they tell me than. Haha. : )
Weird!