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kbjamesi4 – :
This is what almost everyone in my childhood smelled like. Love the memories this brings. I had a bottle but never used it so i gave it to my aunt. Really like it on others but on me it gives me a headache .
ynior07 – :
I had this as a young teen in the 80’s and tried really hard to like it as I had saved up my allowance to buy it. Just remember it as unpleasant and sour. Trying a vintage mini and it’s full of oakmoss and last century’s musk (no laundry here!). Really very good. Don’t get much magnolia, though, but I love oakmoss, so no loss there for me.
aidar44 – :
I really like this, it often gets compared to Anais Anais which turns my stomach and gives me a headache. This one is lovely and gives me no adverse reactions at all and lasts all day! I’m lucky enough to have a mini and will use it when I’m craving something floral (which isn’t often!).
Николай Васильевич – :
Magnolia has been one of the most hard perfumes to get for me while its production has been years ago discontinued. I craved this for a long time now and finaly im having it!After a lot of research it was possible to buy it on Ebay from a Russian shop seller. It is still in production in some Europeion countries such as Russia . It was a blind buy but i dont regret it at all. I would say is a chypre category perfume. Divinely beautiful, unique the smell of it!!The cedar is very distinguished followed by a light smell of flowers. In the first begening it is a powerful smell, reminding me a lot of Maggie Noir but after the dry down it gets soft gentle similar to the dry down of Flore by Carolina Herrera.To me Magnolia is definetely a spring summer fragrance.It is a skin scent. Proper fresh office scent. It is all about flower, bitter green . It is such a great surprise to me.Magnolia to me is a beautiful romantic softer version of the unforgettable Maggie Noir and Flore by Carolina Herrera.I will cherish this little gem and use it sparingly cause is so hard to find.Let me mention that the bottle is a truly piece of Art!
cheap caps – :
Anyone else noticed the Magnolia scented shower gel of their Jardins du Monde line more or less smells identical to vintage Magnolia ?
Invalidka – :
My best friend in high school gifted me this in 1996. So many great memories.. Smells so fresh and floral.
poleaved – :
Steel Magnolia A White Floral Southern Belle Scent
This is a fragrance I imagine would have been in the vanity dresser table of Dolly Parton or for that matter Vicki Lawrence as Thelma Harper from Mamma’s Family! You know, Southern, domestic, hospitable, friendly, sweet but mature lady like scent. It is decidedly feminine and clean, fresh and fruity, with vanilla tone and a creamy buttery tuberose that embraces all white flowers! It’s like a little basket of white flowers inside a Southern home. Reminds me of my mother though she never wore this perfume. It has a nostalgic old fashioned air.
The green apple note comes through first. It’s fresh and fruity like sliced apple in a shampoo like style. Then the white floral notes arrive. I smell all of them in a jumbled hot mess. There’s gardenia, jasmine, lily, tuberose (possibly a white rose) and of course the star of the show magnolia. This is not a photorealistic magnolia but it is not bad. It does not remind me of magnolia blossoms from my home state of South Carolina but it is a lovely magnolia with more tuberose than anything else. If you like white florals and you know how they play on your skin or as a perfume then you’ll like it. It’s classically composed and sweet powdery and fragrant. This is not a shy scent. It projects and flourishes as a fragrance leaving a trail of sweet floral femininity. It has a wedding day kind of mood. A bride could totally wear this on her special day.
Yes it is outdated and very vintage retro 1980’s but that’s why I love it! This is absolutely charming. The motherly white florals are so nice. I also detect vanilla almost the whole time. There’s woodsy notes too consisting of sandalwood and cedar, green notes of patchouli, and moss. The oak moss is not very powerful as compared to other moss based scents but this is a very noticeable green dry down with moss and woods. This might be classified as a floral chypre if I have my terminology correct. I do love those florals.
I find this fragrance to be elegant and dignified. It smells like a Southern socialite in a large white brimmed hat, white gloves, white dress, and white perfume! This is a Kentucky Derby fragrance! A big hat and big hair perfume. It also seem to match up with pearl earrings or necklace. It’s dressy and formal but can also be casual and relaxed. I have noticed that it shares many of the same notes as Giorgio Beverly Hills and comes from the same time but this is much more pleasant and much better and not as frightening. The Yves Rocher line was not as commercially successful as Giorgio at the time but this is a much better alternative to Giorgio if you want to check it out. Ladies this is divine. If manners, appearance, glamour, romance, etiquette, chivalry and charm, and loving Jesus your mamma and your good country folk is your way of life this perfume is for you!
poorySype – :
This is the very first perfume I wore! (Wearing my mother’s L’Air du temps on special days in my childhood doesn’t count!) At my sixteenth birthday my big sister offered me a bottle of this and a bottle of rosé de Provence (!) as I was about to go to France for the first time.
I always kept my precious bottle. (The perfume, not the wine!)
This was a lovely choice she made for me.
This is the smell of innocence. The scent I wore as I kissed my first boyfriend and became a woman. To me it also captures the innocence of that era, the late 80’s, where the world was socially so naïve and optimistic compared to the world we now live in…
Very white, soft, floral, tender, sweet, nostalgic smell.
StasMihalkov – :
To me, Magnolia is the master of the lost treasures, the Goddess of discontinued loved scents.
qbf312InsuffBooni – :
Fragrance Review For Magnolia
Yves Rocher
Top Notes
Magnolia Apple
Middle Notes
Tuberose Lily Gardenia Jasmine
Base Notes
Sandalwood Musk Patchouli Vanilla Cedar Wood Oak Moss
Magnolia is a stunning classic white floral scent. The white plainness of the bottle matches up with the straight up white flower smell. So beautiful. It’s a day wear perfume for the leisurely woman who loves to smell the flowers. If you don’t care for florals, much less vintage florals, don’t read this review. If on the other hand you’re a floral slut and you like vintage florals like Fracas Anais Anais and Truth or Dare, read on.
This is not a shy flower. The first notes include apple and perhaps a dash of citrus. It’s fruity as it opens which evoke summer time and day wear, a white halter top dress, spaghetti strap dress, or a white sundress. It also suits a plain dressy white blouse. It reminds me of secretaries receptionist and public school teachers from the 80’s. Very 80’s by the way but that’s not bad. The theme is white. It might even suit a wedding dress. My mother used to wear this perfume and always smelled so great on her. It is strong so it does leave a trail, but that’s a trail one would follow.
The floral notes of magnolia, gardenia, tuberose, lily and jasmine are all there. Of course this is a big magnolia but it only means that it all goes back to magnolia. The background of other white flowers add a touch of soapiness, cleanliness, freshness and virginal beauty.
Think Madonna Truth or Dare for comparison with any of today’s perfumes. This is no Fracas however as it has a magnolia that is fragrant and dipped in vanilla cream, which Fracas never had. A vanilla flower gardenia is also a big player.
Creamy, buttery, rich and gorgeous glamorous. At this point it reminds me of a young woman, not an older mature woman as so many white floral scents seem to evoke. I think of Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With The Wind who would have surely enjoyed the scent of magnolia from the Southern State of Georgia.
It’s also a rather sweet and pretty but “touch me not” type of scent, so it would match with the Scarlett we first see as the movie begins dressed from head to toe in that white muslin dress in the porch of Tara with the Tarleton twins.
When dry this fragrance is moss and sandalwood, cedar wood. It’s green with patchouli as well and the moss. The realism of this magnolia is to die for. Smells just like going Down South to smell magnolia growing on bushes and trees. It smells like the garden of a Southern belle, but she’s older and retired. Think Amanda Wingfield from Tennessee Williams play The Glass Menagerie.
As it gets drier and drier the perfume becomes a bit more introspective and melancholy. Patchouli and anything green in note & tone is usually coming off as tragic to me. This starts to smell like a faded Southern belle who has lost her money during the Civil War and is now an older woman still struggling with finances during the Depression in the 30’s!
But don’t let my imagination and my comments keep you away from this perfume. It’s a lovely experience of white flowers with the most gorgeous magnolia ever committed to perfumery.
AntoshinVlad – :
This was my grand mother’s daily fragrance for a while,she gifted me a bottle which I liked very much because this small cute simple white bottle,reminded me my kind lovely granny I always smelled it over the bottle but never thaught of wearing it personaly,I believed this is too old for me
Once I decided to spray it on my skin,just to feel I’m still a kid..I was surprised to see how nice it is and how much I like it
It’s not too old,not harsh and cloying like some old white floral scents,all I can get is a lovely sweet magnolia,lily and a soft creamy mix of other florals,it’s powdery and milky the same time with a very nostalgic feeling which dries down to a woody musky base,a little soapy and not as gorgeous as first hours which was a soft and delicious magnolia cream,but still wearable and likable
It has great longevity and very good sillage without becoming overpowering
I’m going to wear this clean,innocent white scent more during spring days
cpl740InsuffBooni – :
I still keep a small bottle of this. Soft, sweet, nice and uncomplicated white floral, whit a hint of spices, a bit in the Anais Anais vibe, a pity that they have it discontinued. Very reminiscent of an Eau de Toilette very popular here in Spain back in the 80’s, Clyo, by Louis Phillippe Monaco, which is not here in the Fragrantica database and now is discontinued and largely forgotten too.
The bottle and the box were very cute. Simple, but romantic.
apc164speagoessenda – :
Im loving rediscovering vintage gems at the moment and just rediscovered this beauty thanks to fragrantica and the fab reviews here!
I was a little too young to appreciate it in its hayday but I remember my mum owned lots of the lighter smelling Yves Rocher fragrances when I was young and she always smelled so lovely…like a light clean breeze of freshly washed skin it reminds me so much of her – I’m sure she probably owned this one at some point.
Its a deliciously clean smelling creamy white floral, very feminine, great for everyday wear and hubby approves too! Bagged a bargain at a local charity shop for a 100ml bottle (almost full and smells perfect still!) I am so lucky to have found this by chance after reading the reviews here, I am totally over the moon and the bottle looks so simple, classic and classy! Love it!
anton_3210 – :
Last night i was out just wandering around and came across this classic! remembered it bang on fro its bottle “YR magnolia” , i think my mom used to wear this so with that lovely price tag(for 60ml bottle) it was just a “blind BUY” and im really happy i did first sniff its so Magnolia accompanied by apple (it gives a sharp smokey and dark feel -!!Loved it!!-) its beautiful and not so generic it has white florals in mid but not sweet at all after the top it gets a clean feel to it n the dry down is nice vanilla-y a bit smokey and also dark ,the white ceramic bottle is Classy and sophisticated – and last of all if i smell a girl wearing this i would kiss her cheeks as hard as i can – girls no kidding blind buy this 😉
EDIT : i found a reformulation of this its just a bit dark magnolia at the top and after 15mins its gone , dont buy this stuff if its not the old formulation, plus it was not made by YR , so a no go on this one
kazantipchick – :
I bought Magnolia when it came out in the 80’s.
My first love (talking of parfumes now 😉
The clean, fresch flowers, the oakmoss that gives depth.
A hint of wood. Nothing heavy or sweet.
Looking back- this is the fragrance that set my referenses! Still a favorite…
Got a mini- but longing to find a big bottle I can use whenever I want to.
Equallmub – :
ماندگاری متوسط به بالا
پخش بو متوسط
رایحه عالی
البته من تولید لبنان را سال 85 گرفتم که متاسفانه الان بوش خراب شده.
بطریش هم که درکنار ارزان بودن آن موقع باعث خرید آن شده بی تاثیر نبود آدمو یاد قدیما که همه بطریهااز جنس چینی یا فلز بودن می اندازه
2108ig – :
I have a small amount from original bottle made.
I dont detect magnolia flower on my skin ,yet denifetly i can say its classic. Reminds me of Knowing by Estee Lauder. But a light version if would exist. like L’eau de toilette Knowing.
Great mixed juice ,all ingredients together making a composition. not my style, long lasting.
TheVano – :
I own a small bottle from back in time. It was perhaps a gift from a neighbour and at first I was not so happy about it because the bottle reminded me of Cacharel Anais Anais which I could not stand since the beginning. Silly girl I was! This one smells clean, simple and a good magnolia rendition, still perfumey but lovely and utterly feminine and got no pungent smell like Anais Anais that was so widespread around.
Old Yves Rocher Magnolia is relaxed yet knowing.
It is the smell of a feminine clean charme, but it is a dated scent. Not a bad thing in itself, rather nostalgic of times when women still smelled like flowers and not like bubble-gum.
vasiljadin – :
This scent is the one of the scents of my youth. My mother used to wear this, and she gave me a bottle as as a present. The Yves Rocher shops nowadays don’t sell it anymore. I only have a very small bottle left (a miniature) and I savour it (i.e. smell it one in a while, never use it).
fefowuld – :
Just bought it , at first spritz it was a bit sharp & reminded me of Anais Anais which I don’t like at all !! but it setteled into something really “cleaner” as most people here would describe it… Very strong magnolia plus lots of oakmoss & no apples or vanilla at all …Old school floral without any sweetness ..I love a bit of sweetness with my florals ,but this is a nice addition to my collection anyway , as it’s so different from what we have now …The bottle is sooooooo beautiful white ceramic & very well made …I love a beautiful bottle can’t deny
Update : I have tried it again and think I am really loving it , very unique 🙂
Another update : Loving it for the Summer (I live in a warm country ) clean , refreshing and still elegant ..MUCH better than Anais Anasis by Cacharel which I never loved its animalic notes ….and I got a spray deo made local under license from the parent company , can’t be happier 🙂
Another update : I have moved this beauty to my “love” shelf , but sadly it longevity and sillage are hardly moderate…Still a unique beauty that I cannot find anything like it …
hjhj – :
Wow! This was my very first perfume and first purchase from Yves Rocher back in 1983 or 1984. I was still in elementary grade school. I have great memories of owning this scent. All these years I could remember the white bottle, the light soft scent, but I couldn’t remember the name. Nothing but happy memories.
egorzaz – :
I remember YR Magnolia as a feminine and soft white floral scent. I had a big bottle in my twenties that I enjoyed to the last drop. If I were to smell it again it would bring back happy memories.
devka – :
I love this perfume. It’s so feminine, sweet and summery. However it has no staying power. On me it lasts 2 hours, tops.
WOLFMAM – :
doesn’t have anything to do with the original magniolia
KENT_VIRUS – :
Pretty, nice, charming, feminine – these are the kind of words that spring to mind here.
It’s the usual good-quality, well-crafted old style Rocher fragrance. I don’t get much of particular notes, just a well-composed melange of white flowers, with maybe the jasmine slightly dominating. The drydown is mostly musk to me. No oakmoss, that’s for sure.
The longevity is quite poor on me which is a surprise for a Yves Rocher composition. Usually the lasting power is spectacular from this house. Sillage is moderate.
You can see why these fragrances are no longer made. The presentation is irretrievably dated and mumsy. However, the juice is of high quality.
disis – :
Good old days.
First birthday gift for my mother bought with my own money,I was 10 years
»likeable
🙂
gfp730speagoessenda – :
I remember this perfume cause it was my mothers signature scent for many years. I loved it. A fresh feminine unique scent. I have tried to find something similair but havent! I really really whish that yves rocher would produce it again =(
ssv3 – :
First I thought I’ll buy Cacharel Anais Anais, but then I opted to buy Magnolia. To me they smell very alike, but Magnolia somehow smells “cleaner”, if that makes any sense:) My Mom used to use it about 20 years ago, and I used to steel a little here and there:) I rememeber how much I liked it, and although my taste in parfumes changed a lot I am pretty sure I will still love this beauty once I receive it! Just ordered a 100ml, not many to find nowadays, so I thought I’d better grab one before they completely vanish…:/
olkas – :
OK, it actually managed to settle on the skin before vanishing into the unknown ( as opposed to Vie Privee that is definitely nothing but a ghost dissipating instantly into thin air ). It is a soapy floral, wearing which could actually be nice after a long bath, emerging all fresh and clean. BUT – the initial surge of floral powderness dries down to nothing, a faint soapy scent detected only with your nose buried tight in your skin and only for the first 15 minutes, after that – forget it. I got to give it to YR, it does have the loveliest bottle ever: so romantic, reminding me of vintage porcelain painted over flakons our grandmothers used to have.
trade14 – :
It’s a very clean, fresh floral scent. Definitely smells like something more popular in the 90’s, and definitely reminiscent of the stuff my mom used to put on me when I was 4 (after all, scent is the strongest sense tied to memory).
Obviously, the strongest note in here is the magnolia. I do get some of the lily, tuberose, and jasmine… but it all mixes together to form this 90’s era-like scent, if that makes any sense at all. Personally, I love it. I love clean soapy scents. It’s something I’d splash on right after a shower on a warm day.
Nir67 – :
In the 90’s it was one of most popular perfumes.Floral,fresh,green,feminine…like the wind of the spring.I don’t think it was a sweet scent.Very pleasant…
slamjack – :
Soapy, peppery, clean white floral with a complex composition. I really, really like it – it’s an instant mood uplifter!
It’s very similar to Anais Anais, and I would say that they’re close enough for me to not miss Magnolia, should I never find it again.
deli4ka – :
And I love you Sofia!!
hahol-80 – :
Simple and nothing spectacular. Nonetheless, a nice take on magnolia and nice to have in the collection.
zarembaanton – :
Magnolia reminds me of my most favourite fragrance Anais Anais, and feels almost the same, as in everytime i wore them, they made me feel like an Alabaster Greek Goddess in a crisp, gossamer white flowing gown with a bit of green gauze lattice-work. romance of Gods according to me 🙂
needsLynC – :
I recall getting a small bottle, just tad larger than your regular sample sizes, with my YR cosmetic order way back when.
This fragrance was pretty but too flowery-sweet for me. The name “magnolia” was right on, a very strong magnolia indeed. All I was getting on my skin was 80% magnolia + 20% vanilla. No real lasting power though.
I gifted the bottle to my friend and she loved it.
apa786speagoessenda – :
Well, Sherihan I do not know a perfume exactly the same as this one, but it is a ‘cleaner’ version of the perfume Anais Anais in the vintage formulation. It is like they cleaned AA from the animalic notes that went on too strong. Then you have somekind of Magnolia.
Magnolia is an extremely complex perfume that you wear like an aura, you cannot always see it, but it really imprints your mood and spirit!
sasha09091971 – :
It was my lovely Aysu that gifted me a big bottle of this perfume. I have been treasuring it ever since. I was able to buy one bottle of this gem later on and decided to offer that 2nd bottle to my sweetheart Persephone. It is like liquid gold to me, it is sheer heaven and one of the most beautiful perfumes ever. Thank you Aysu, your gift stayes with me always.
Love,
Action
lionsb – :
I had this in the 80s. Much too white for me, like Anais Anais and Lily of the Valley… a pity because I’m certain on others, the fragrance is lovely. But it did nothing for me. Too sweet, too strong.
aleksaiwanow1586755 – :
One of YR’s best fragrances. I wish it was still available. I remember it as being a soft, floral delicate scent. Hope YR makes it again.
mybuhowo – :
Thanks to Aysu I now finally have a larger bottle, the 60 ml! SO, Persephone, whenever you want to try out my 15 ml bottle, let me know!!
Action
Agetsreftiege – :
If you are looking for a fragrance with pure light living magnolia, Magnolia by YR is not light floral.
This fragrance is created in the style of 1980-ties. Oily, fruity, intense heavy floral. Some perfumes of that time I can describe as mix of everything ;o)) When I was young, I didn’t think so. This fragrance together with Creation by Ted Lapidus were my “light” florals ;o))
I like it.
deniskin78 – :
Another true Yves Rocher vintage…
They have so many beautiful ones..
This one is actually quite green!
Flop17 – :
This was a lovely scent – I wish they still made it. It was soft, feminine and seductive without being overly anything.
hebyDothhiemy – :
Do they still make and sell this fragrance? Because the last time I sniffed it was probably in 1992 or so. A long time ago anyway! Brings back memories from my teenage years 🙂
Madmars – :
One of my first perfumes, very nice, fresh and long lasting. I had several bottles.
nzs716elipseskism – :
I love it, maybe because of sweet memories. 🙂