Frederic Malle Eau de Magnolia was created by perfumer Carlos Benaim in 2014. Braja Mookherjee, a scientist at IFF, analyzed components that make up the magnolia smell and found it was close to a citrus. Benaim took this information and made Eau de Magnolia, a fresh take on a gorgeous flower with notes of Bergamot, magnolia headspace, vetiver, patchouli, cedarwood, amber, and tree moss..
From Perfume Posse - "if you are expecting Eau de Magnolia to be a completely photo realistic scent copy of a magnolia grandiflora then you will be sadly let down, so what you have to expect is an artists rendering of a magnolia. Here the structure of the journey is laid out in bright and sizzling citrus to open that lasts well into the heart and even hints still remain in the base."
From Olfactoria's Travels - "I find the heart of the perfume so relaxing it makes me sigh deeply, become heavy lidded and long to while away a languid afternoon on a hammock in the shade. It’s also very pretty in a completely unconscious way, like a naturally alluring woman who is oblivious to the effect she has on the men left in her wake."
More information and Frederic Malle reviews can be found at:
| Perfume Name | Frederic Malle Eau de Magnolia |
| Year Introduced | 2014 |
| Perfumer | Carlos Benaim |
| Gender | Unisex |
| Strength | Eau de parfum, edp |
| Notes | Bergamot, magnolia headspace, vetiver, patchouli, cedarwood, amber, and tree moss. |
| Country of Origin | France |
This is a nice, light fragrance for warm weather. It reminds me a lot of Cristalle EDP with the citrusy start and floral heart. The magnolia is not as rich and creamy as Vero Profimo Mito EDP which has a rich magnolia middle note. This is a safe, everyday scent you can wear anyplace.
I really like this new Magnolia scent, but it is not all magnolia like I expected. There is quite a bit of added citrus notes and other white florals, such as jasmine and gardenia. It is light and fresh but lacks the creaminess and richness of real magnolia blossoms.
This is a nice, light fragrance for warm weather. It reminds me a lot of Cristalle EDP with the citrusy start and floral heart. The magnolia is not as rich and creamy as Vero Profimo Mito EDP which has a rich magnolia middle note. This is a safe, everyday scent you can wear anyplace.
I really like this new Magnolia scent, but it is not all magnolia like I expected. There is quite a bit of added citrus notes and other white florals, such as jasmine and gardenia. It is light and fresh but lacks the creaminess and richness of real magnolia blossoms.
Light flowery creamy magnolia scent. Perfect for summer day time wear. Highly recommended.
I like this but not bottle worthy. It's a good try at trying to capture not just the fragrance of the blossom, but the entire tree. Starts off very lemony and citrus and ends up vegetal, almost woody with some creaminess and sweetness representing the blossoms. I like the imagination behind it.
While it does have a true-to-life magnolia accord, there isn't much else going on here. After awhile it becomes a boring, bland room plug-in scent. A rare miss for this otherwise superb fragrance house.
I have fond magnolia tree memories from my East coast childhood, though I don't think I've ever deliberately sought out a magnolia perfume, if others even exist. When I started reading about this one on the interwebs, it went into the mental "try it" file drawer. Just got a sample today and my initial impression was *exasperated sigh* "Huh. Another summery citrus thing." One of the cats leapt up on the table and the latest Trader Joe's flyer arrived in the post along with 3 other scent samples, and after a few more not very much improved sniffs of this new Malle citrus thing, I got distracted and forgot about it. I was about to go back and sniff Providence Perfumes' Branch & Vine (trust me-do not bother!) when I felt a sneeze coming on and lifted my right hand to my nose. ZAP!!!! I was back in my grandmother's yard in New Jersey in July, in front of what she always called the "saucer magnolia" tree. I was 8 years old, wearing a baggy, damp from heat and humidity cotton tank and seersucker shorts, nose buried in one of the enormous magnolia flowers as my sockless, Keds clad feet sunk slightly into the freshly watered lawn. Big magnolia leaves tickled the sides of my face and my slightly salty fingers pressed down on one of the branches so I could closer to the flower. Hell yes, I really did smell all of that in Eau de Magnolia. That part of the fragrance did not last terribly long-20 minutes maybe, and I am now getting a somewhat synthetic clean/citrus dry down. This definitely won't be a full bottle purchase for me, as this was more of a Demeter Pick Me Up experience than something I would spritz on lavishly and time travel in all day. With the right skin chemistry, your "face in the magnolia" experience might last a lot longer than mine, but nevertheless, I very much enjoyed my short olfactory journey back to July in Nana's yard. I
