Tommy Hilfiger Dreaming (2008) {Perfume Review} {New Fragrance}

With its new perfume Dreaming, Tommy Hilfiger is hoping to reach a slightly more mature cohort of women aged 18-35 than with the Tommy fragrances and colognes, which were aimed more at teenagers. The brand also wishes to offer a more sophisticated image by harking back to old Hollywood and enlisting super model Mona Johansson glamed up as Marilyn Monroe.

The new project is at its most creative in its marketing approach to enticing consumers. A special interactive website for the US and Italy has been set up, Dreaming About You, which demonstrates once more the interest in and development of online interactive marketing but going a step further fully explores the dreaming thematic by enlisting a dream specialist, Craig Webb, and opening a dream board called "Dream Confessions" where one can pen down and have one’s dreams interpreted. According to the press release, three dreams a week will be picked and interpreted by the expert. However "For visitors whose dreams are too personal to share with the world, they will be able to use the automated dream interpreter.   A special feature in this section, which will also be available on March 17th, allows visitors to receive automated dream interpretations via keywords they submit regarding their dreams, as well as forward their dream interpretation to a friend."

The pure parfum version of a Tommy Hilfiger fragrance is also a first for the brand and only that concentration comes with a book that enables you to decipher your dreams.

Hilfiger went as far as commissioning a study on dreams amongst the US population to Harris Interactive. The results offered are short of complex and reflect a surprisingly simplistic consumerist and materialist bent only mitigated by an altruistic orientation. According to this survey,....

“When asked about their "ultimate dream," money appears to be an important factor in working to fulfill those dreams. Most frequently, adults describe their ultimate dream as "having a money tree" (27% of adults) or "being able to travel the world," (22% of adults).

When asked to describe their "dream" day, women spoke of "shopping with no spending limit" (31% of women), while men wanted to have access to their own plane with a pilot to take them anywhere in the world (22% of men).

So how do Americans plan on making the money to fulfill their dreams? One of the most popular dream jobs is working in "entertainment" (30% of adults, 46% of 18-34 year old women), most likely because this field would not only be fun, but provide the means with which to realize their dreams.

Not all dreams are financially oriented, however. Americans do have a philanthropic streak as well, describing their dream legacy as "being a good Samaritan" (32% of adults) or "helping the world" (20% of adults).”

The perfume itself composed by Stephen Nilsen (see another recent creation of his, Bond No. 9 Union Square) is unabashedly through-and-through formulaic, reasonably pretty and is meant to please the most women possible. It is a standard fruity-floral at the core which opens on some crunchy green notes in the beginning and lingers on with an oriental base of slightly spicy woods rounded off by musk and amber. The scent starts fresh becomes a bit creamy and offers a sandalwood base mixed with some hazier, glacé orris which together add a tad more mature touch to the scent. The orris becomes a bit doughy with time as it gets rolled further in vanilla and perhaps might feel comforting for some. Discreetly sharp sexy nuances emerge thanks to the woods and the musks. The white peach note is discernable as such (but less so than in the gloss where it is quite realistic) and when it starts mingling in a pas de deux with the orris, it becomes a bit more of an interesting contrast.

But in the main all of these sensations retain a neutral character. The scent does not offer any asperities, twists, or depth to speak of and just delivers a decent, one assumes for most, commercial perfume. Dreaming is a remarkably mainstream perfume, the equivalent of Jane Doe’s essence captured into a fragrance, a Jane Doe dreaming furtively of being a little bit like Marilyn Monroe.

For this very reason, it should appeal to a number of people who are looking for pretty, non-offensive perfumes with a discreet flirtatious edge.

Notes are: white peach, tuberose, freesia, white hibiscus, white woods, and orris.

The limited edition gloss/rollerball duo at $20 is a good way to see if the scent might fit your lifestyle. The pleasantly scented gloss color is a transparent nude cherry that covers well and shines just as well and is meant to complement a large range of complexions, a philosophy it shares with the perfume.

The eau de parfum retails for $35, $45, and $60. The parfum for $125. There is also a limited edition pendant with solid perfume for $45. Ancillary products also available.

Please see Amy's review on The Scented Life for an alternate view of Dreaming.