Estée Lauder Pleasures Delight {Perfume Short (Review)} {New Fragrance}

Estée Lauder Pleasures Delight is the latest twist on the original Pleasures introduced in 1995. This new perfume will be a permanent addition to the collection of Pleasures fragrances, which apart from the original also comprises Pleasures Intense (2002) and Pleasures Exotic (2004).

This time, the inspiration is indulgently and charmingly gourmand with sweet notes of whipped strawberry meringue, sugared rose petals, caramel, and fluffy marshmallow delicately folded into the fragrance. The scent is comforting, sheer, and very pretty, evoking the carefree atmosphere of a holiday spent by the sea in an elegant resort like Martha’s Vineyard eating Italian strawberry and vanilla ice-cream accented with a dash of patchouli added by a slightly eccentric new-cuisine local chef and accompanied preferably by a long drink of refreshing cool peony-scented water that is almost tea-like in its delicacy.......

Pleasures Delight despite its fun, gourmand notes is actually quite refined and sophisticated in its rendering of a food-inspired scent. All the proportions in the scent seem to be right and precisely calibrated to pleasantly titillate the nose playing convincingly with both lightness and depth of impressions. The perfume is in fact excellently designed, very clearly conceived, with the initial transparent fruity-floral notes of pomegranate, fresh greens, peony, and dewy freesia being readily contrasted with an earthier yet light patchouli in the base, which adds a satisfying sense of contrast and structure and spices up the mix. Both main impressions showcase a soft creamy gourmand core that is never too heavy thanks to the tartness of notes like pomegranate and strawberry and the maintained dewy quality of the scent. The delectable cute strawberry note that peaks through is suggestive of such treats as the Haribo strawberry candies and a cone of swirling strawberry Italian ice cream. The dry-down is lightly gourmand and oriental and the marshmallow is angelic. The perfume offers very good tenacity.

The fragrance although not earth-shatteringly original per se - and not pretending to be so - holds one’s attention and offers a very well-done clean light summery twist on the oriental gourmand patchouli family of perfumes inaugurated by Thierry Mugler Angel. Some thought was given to the featuring of gourmand notes that are less run-of-the-mill and technical excellence was sought and realized. Finally, it succeeds in creating a relaxed, playful mood, while keeping a measure of sophisticated femininity seemingly following in this regard the philosophy of Miss Dior Chérie, which proved that the most mundane of smells such as caramel popcorn and strawberry sorbet could still be incorporated into an elegant and feminine perfume with a twist.

Top notes are pomegranate, fresh greens, freesia, whipped strawberry meringue. Heart notes are white peony, lily, muguet, heliotrope. Base notes are sugared rose petals, caramel, marshmallow, vanilla, and patchouli.

The perfume is available on the Estée Lauder site, $45 for 1.7 oz and $65 for 3.4 oz. 

(Source: Estée Lauder press release)