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rewat – :
A sharp and classy aldehydic floral which I enjoy wearing. Its very substantive base makes it sing, and I appreciate the length and projection of this perfume. Pretty and feminine with more of a woody-ambery base rather than sweet gourmand, I can smell this on me throughout the day and still enjoy it hours later.
emercom83 – :
White Linen isn’t nearly as bland as its name would lead one to believe. This modern Estee Lauder fragrance is powerfully sharp out of the bottle, with harsh notes of something undefinable, maybe orris? No actual linen ever smelled like this!
I suppose this fragrance is meant to conjure up breezy summer
days and linen dresses, maybe bedsheets dried on the line. Sadly, my nose only gets powerful aldehydes, sharp and lingering. I’ve tried the edt, edp and the pure perfume. Of the three, I prefer the edt, the higher concentrations are too strong for me.
I’ve written before that I prefer the older, vintage EL scents like Youth Dew and Cinnabar. Something about the newer, recent formulations turns me off, which is kind of sad. So I will continue to try out White Linen as well as Pleasures. Maybe with time I’ll learn to like, if not love them.
MorCoampCog – :
I’ve worn this on and off since the mid-80s, lately more off than on. Today though I impulse bought a new bottle. So far it smells to me much as I remember it, which is to say clean, almost shockingly sharp at opening but softening somewhat as time goes on while always retaining something of the initial spike of freshness. I have a slight sense of it being less strong than I remember, but I’m not sure. If its volume has been turned down a bit that will not bother me too much; it was always a little too powerful for me, hard to wear quietly.
I have never been able to identify a single floral note in White Linen and this is still true. I can accept that it has notes of hyacinth, rose etc and I know what those flowers smell like as flowers but I never detect them in the perfume. White Linen always smells uniquely of itself, to me.
samsungr540 – :
The name doesn’t match this potent perfume at all!! This perfume would have smelled better if it had a softer base, the benzoin just made it fall in a weird category. I can’t say floral nor oriental. The quality of the ingredients is very noticeable. but has a very old vibe.
titran – :
White Linen radiates elegance, beauty and endless class.
Hyacinth and lily of the valley make it unique and unforgettable.
For me, an absolute masterpiece!
elumen – :
I don´t know why some people distinguish between modern and old-fashioned fragrances. Modern people prefer smelling like sweet fruit, citruses, sweet flowers and nothing complicated, just one-way ticket. Old-fashioned people prefer soapy, spicy, flowery and really difficult fragrances. Is it really true? It sounds like something you read very often here, but I wouldn´t agree at all. I think that you can be really modern and wear soapy aldehydes if you like them and if you can wear them. So my conclusion is that no fragrance is old-fashioned or old lady-like, there are just people who can´t wear them and are not able to apreciate them and then they write comments like that. And can you tell me why it is old-fashioned smelling clean and pure?
Grimkings – :
I love strong, distinctive vintage/classic fragrances & have a large collection of them— so I bought a bottle of vintage (1980s-90s) White Linen EDP spray back around 2010. This was soon after Turin & Sanchez’ “Guide to Perfumes” was published and White Linen earned 5/5 stars for being the “American beauty ideal.”
Since obtaining this bottle, I have tested it two or three times, hoping to unlock that White Linen Magic— but emotionally and viscerally, this stuff leaves me cold. The liquid is clearly well preserved and smells freah, but I just do not like the formality and aloofness this fragrance seems to present. It is, objectively speaking, beautiful; yet I don’t like it.
WL has a heavy dash of brisk soapy aldehydes up top, bringing to mind Chanel No 5 or Arpege. These gradually fade to reveal a heart of ponderous Bulgarian rose and thick, heavy jasmine that soldier on for hours without ever becoming warm or inviting. To make matters worse, something in the aldehydes and/or florals strongly suggests “urine” to my nose and won’t stop.
I can see this working very well on a sophisticated woman with impeccable and dressy tastes, who is not so much concerned with making you feel
comfortable as she is with making an impression on you. There’s a place for this kind of person, and I appreciate her when I meet her— but I will leave the White Linen to her!
Le
Zmey2007 – :
I first encountered WL over 30 years ago when I would sneak into my aunt’s bathroom and try it on. I loved the smell and it was one of the first adult fragrances I bought for myself. Fast forward to today I have always had a bottle in my wardrobe but the scent has changed – the initial notes are quite harsh and not as soft as they used to be. Whether this is a reformulation or reaction on my skin I don’t know but I suspect I will be retiring this one from my wardrobe after I finish this bottle.
It makes me sad but I guess no perfume stays the same forever and my new love might be just around the corner. That’s what I love about Fragrantica you can discover fragrances you never knew existed and reviews and descriptions are so helpful when selecting a new fragrance.
dima12 – :
wow,amazing scent, so glad I have tried this. will be buying today based on sample. absolute classic perfume, can see why it’s popularity has withstood the test of time, floral, woody, adhelydes, love it
mad4ik – :
I love wearing White Linen when I need to feel sure of myself, calm, and confident. On my skin, WL is the best woody violet I have ever smelled. I will always have a bottle of this.
Invalidka – :
Today’s version is quite different than the original White Linen in the splash bottle that I had. We weren’t (my mom and I) Estee Lauder “types” for whatever reason. But White Linen was the exception as a summer fragrance, especially the bath and body line. The spray edp I have today is about two years old. It is still identifiable as White Linen, but it just isn’t as good as the old one. The old one was a little strange. In an interesting way. HOWEVER, today’s version is still very nice to wear. It is totally clean, starched, pressed laundry aldehydes, and it is strong in the EL style, so you don’t want to overspray. In summer it is more floral and has a sweeter drydown on my skin: heliotrope I think, mixed with some woods. In cool winter weather I get less of that. It’s cooler and dryer, and I suppose it smells powdery on me, since one of the students where I teach commented that the room smelled like powder when he walked in – I knew that was my WL because I had put on quite a bit that morning. But powder is ok. I like powder. I think you will smell of WL whether or not you smell it on yourself. I have no idea what fragrance to compare it to.
nev01 – :
There is a distinct textural quality, olfactory style to Estee Lauder fragrances that is utterly unique and distinguishes them from other brands: Scents that have an underlying texture of material, of a wardrobe, of creating the impression of literally wearing an Estee Lauder fragrance. From the obvious steamed and pressed ensemble of “White Linen” to the more florally lush bridal bouquet of “Beautiful”, all share a subtle, underlying buzz of fiber and metallics that adds an elegant impression of haute couture to the overall blend.
As I mentioned above, “White Linen” would seem like the most obvious choice to showcase this Estee Lauder quality but that’s only because it’s the one of their blends that actually names the star player. Gauzy aldehydes open “White Linen” with a dry, squeaky sparkle and that squeaky dryness remains throughout, so if you’re not someone who enjoys woods, grasses and “crisp”, tart blends in any measure, “White Linen” is not for you.
This is the scent of steam sanitized, terry cloth towels drying on a line in the sun or the bleached canvas of boat sails blowing over glimmering seas and sunlight bouncing off polished brass or hot veranda umbrellas at a golf club. It is pressed, natural fibers, sun-bleached flowers and the sun-rays, themselves in a bottle.
In Winter, it’s the smell of snow blindness, of the brightest Winter’s day shimmering and bouncing off ice crystals and snow banks you can possibly have. At night, it comes through like the shining Moon and star sparkle in inky skies, the dew damp cotton hammock you’re swinging on during a Summer’s night and the fresh, cozy sheets you’re tucking into during a snowstorm, on the night before Christmas.
It’s easy to dismiss the “clean, fresh” laundry type blend today because it’s become so popular over the past 20 years, that it’s now just the general smell of things, of fine perfume and utility products. But go back to the dawn of this trend, when Estee Lauder had to really work to sell a completely novel idea and create the most idealistic version of this kind of scent, in order for the public to go out on a limb and give it a chance. If this is your type of style, “White Linen” is the Queen of the genre.
Annetichek – :
This is a happy, clean & crispy perfume…
It is bright, sparkly, radiant and soapy….like after spending some time in the summer sun and having a good shower after.
I love wearing this in summer, it makes me feel clean and cool despite the soaring heat and sweat.
It reminds me of Chanel No.5, just much stronger….
Its good for office wear, encourages integrity and honest dealings, funny, I know, but it does.
and8806 – :
White Linen was my signature fragrance for about a year and got a lot of compliments. It is a little heavy on me so a little goes a long way. The last time I tested it at a fragrance counter I was not so smitten anymore. Ah well, it was good while it lasted.
sergynjik – :
A soft, fizzy, aldehydic green/floral. White Linen is right, this is a pristine, sunny, early summer afternoon of a fragrance. Windows open to blue blue skies, with small puffy white clouds floating by, white sheers open and fluttering in the soft breeze. White and soapy, the epitome of laundry notes. A bit dated, yes, but still fresh and charming.
haidaicek – :
It is very close to Rochas-Madame Rochas but not as strong/agressive maybe, if i recall correctly. Reminds me of a church and after a while when it is less intense it’s more enjoyable.
Ulter88 – :
This is less of a review than a personal reverie.
Back in the early 2000s, someone I had a serious affection for gifted me a bottle of EL White Linen. That person knew I loved WL. We were poor university students and I’d always drag both of us to the perfume counter for a good sniff. At the time of the gift, we were nearing the end of a bittersweet and ambivalent friend-relationship. One of those things that never got defined but seem more than just… you know. Anyway I couldn’t bring myself to touch/smell/wear WL after that, because of the associations. It sat at the back of my closet, boxed.
Years later, I had moved on, married a wonderful Husband and moved out of my parent’s place. One day I suddenly recalled I still have this perfume somewhere, perfectly preserved and untouched. And I thought, “Hey, that’d make a good semi-vintage, right? Cool!”. I went back to my parent’s home and rummaged through my adolescent wardrobe. Couldn’t find it. When asked, my mom said she’d never touched or seen this perfume before. It had disappeared into thin air. Till this day, where this perfume had gone is still a mystery.
I’d still walk past Estée Lauder sometimes and give this a good sniff like in old days, but it’s different from what I remember. I can still smell it in my mind’s nose. Back then, it had burst out of the bottle with fluffy effervescent aldehydes, giving me the feeling of expansiveness as vast as the sky. It spoke to me of the promise of endless possibilities. Yes it might be old-ish in a vintagey way, yet it’s unmistakably optimistic and ebullient. The olfactory equivalent of the cliché image of a path that leads over a mountain pass to new adventures abroad.
I have had countless adventures since. And I’m in a new and much better place now. WL still evokes for me a sense optimism for the future, alloyed with gratitude at how far I’ve come.
demons85 – :
I’ve tested this twice now. I want it. Don’t know why it has never been on my radar before. I think it’s the vetiver, which I love. The aldehydes and vetiver blended they way they are must be why this makes me swoon a bit at first spray. It’s like a fresh, green burst. Unexpected to me. I read these reviews before testing and kind of thought maybe a bit old lady, a bit heavy , and I hate that expression. But no way. It is fresh. I have to get this. I have nothing even close to similar to it.
Veiguewtiewly – :
My first negative review.
This perfume is aldehydes and only aldehydes…
Strong smell that lasts for hours and awful in my opinion…
Did not develop into anything….
Old lady smell but not a classy one…
Dislike
maksim140835 – :
During my youth and early twenties ,in the late seventies and early eighties, WL was a great hit. Everyone were speaking about it with great appreciation. I could not undarstand then what was all the fuss about. Times and fashions have changed. so have I. .Now I knew I would like it. I tried and i did. I even get compliments hours and hours after applying. I thought it has some similarities with rive gauche (YSL) but i find RG more freshy since WL has a nostalgic, vintage mossy aura on me. It is not a crowd pleaser. Suits women over 40 all year round.
sveta73 – :
So sad, the reformulation doesn’t smell right on me. I used to love this scent – I wore it to my wedding. It’s not a bad reformulation. You can tell that they tried to emulate the original and the result is quite similar (not like Beautiful which in an entirely different fragrance)but something is off. It is flatter. I have a bottle from the nineties that has lost some of the top notes but the dry down is still pretty good. When that is gone I will bid this classic goodbye and commit it to memory with other favorites.
Tavda-66 – :
Even though I am very much into deep Orientals, sultry roses and incense, choking clouds of benzoin and so on, I was very happy to rediscover this fragrance, which I used to wear in my early twenties (so almost 20 years ago).
My review is about the current formulation, I must admit I have not smelled it for so long that I cannot say if this one smells different from the one I owned in the late Nineties, but it surely is still perfectly recognizable.
It is a very complex fragrance, it does not just smell of aldehydes or soap; there is a strong rose here, along with lily of the valley and woods, giving it some greeness but also some warmth. It smells sharp but not in an unpleasant way, I would probably describe it as “sparkly” in the beginning; then it later mellows into a comforting woody scent.
The longevity is great; I love applying it before going to bed and to wake up in the morning still surrounded by this clean, dreamy aura.
I would wear White Linen in a city in summer, when you look for something clean, crisp and refreshing while the tar is so hot that your heels sink into it, and everybody else is sweaty!
Also I think it is perfect for office wear or for professional events (such as meetings or courses), when Amarige or Black Opium would be unsuitable.
Maybe it is not the sexiest fragrance out there, but everybody has different tastes so you can never tell!
kyzia3006 – :
رائحة صابون و نظافة
apazissiori – :
White Linen est un parfum qui cache bien son jeu. Il peut paraître BCBG au premier abord mais, peu à peu, il se dévoile, laissant apparaître une autre personnalité : faussement sage, presque impertinent, il se montre plus séducteur (sûrement la présence de l’oeillet) et sensuel au long de la journée. Sa tenue et son sillage sont franchement bluffants pour un floral bien plus complexe qu’il n’y paraît.
mikis – :
Hair dark as ebony
Lips red as the rose
Skin as white as snow….
This is still such a beautiful fragrance! There’s a lot I can cover about this classic FIFI award winning fragrance. I don’t recall the exact year it was launched but I wore it as the Ronald Reagan administration commenced around 1981 and 1982. It’s a throwback to aldehyde florals like L’Air du Temps (Nina Ricci) and Arpege (Lanvin) as well as Anais Anais (Cacharel). The scent is also in the same category of very pretty white florals like White Diamonds Elizabeth Taylor and my signature White Shoulders by Evyan. My kind of perfume! The reformulation is very similar to the original. I have only worn the spray bottle as pictured in this page. Estee Lauder scored a big hit with this perfume. It’s still such a commercially successful fragrance. This is a soothing calm powder based floral scent. It opens with fresh and zesty lemon, joined by aldehydes. The fresh opening is also sweetened with a fruity peach note but it’s bigger on lemon and citrus. The rest of the performance is less fresh and more floral. It feels like floral soap and dusting powder. So many have commented on the likeness to linen material or sheets hanging and drying in sunlight but I don’t get any of that. If I wanted a smell like that I’d reach for laundry detergent! This is so much more of a beautiful classically feminine floral and powdery perfume.
Oh and never mind the old lady “grandma” association. I AM a grandmother and I wore this when I was not yet a grandmother so for me this was never about age. My children and grandchildren love this frag on me! They say it is beautiful and love to hug me when I wear it. If you like flowery scents this has flowers up to your ears. I smell so many different flowers: rose, orchid, lily, ylang, violet, hyacinth, lilac and iris. The color scheme of the flowers are white and purple. Each of these flowers are personal favorites. I can detect plenty of lily or rather lily of the valley, with something like a white carnation and white rose. The flowers are lady like and very fragrant. When the flowery smell begins to fade, the dry notes emerge out of which I can smell a warm honey note, some woods (sandalwood) some green notes (vetiver) but not heavy or strong enough to make it as green floral or chypre. The woodsy base is what I get most out of this plus some vanilla which comes through as tonka bean notes.
White Linen has a very delicate and powdery dry down compared to the bright fresh aldehyde floral opening. White Linen is a feminine lady perfume. It’s also a very clean white lily-white scent, like beautiful milky white skin, a princess with a tiara and white gloves, smelling of the softest white soap. This is a debutante in a white gown. This fragrance is for Southern belles like me. Let me tell you! White Linen is a cotillion. It evokes white linen tables with white flowers on them, beautiful ladies in white dresses that would pass for prom dresses from 1962, ladies with bouffant hairstyles and updos, French twists, and more flamboyant flips in the style of the Ronettes, or Lesley Gore, or those pretty Jackie Kennedy style hairdos. They smell of white floral perfume. This is either evocative of a wedding or of a débutante ball. The whole theme is white. White satin, kid gloves, white linen tables, white or creamy soft beige walls, and sparkling white wine on the table. Oh no. Forget the ‘old lady’ association. This is my youth! I am dancing with my handsome dark haired tuxedoed escort and the entirety of Charleston society is watching me having the time of my life. I’m only 16. And the music is playing only songs I requested like Blue Velvet, Put Your Head On My Shoulder, Venus, Puppy Love, Diana, and Little Peggy March’s I Wish I Were A Princess!
Sigh
Dem_Green – :
Crisp and bold and daring. I only know the original and it projects a beautiful cleanliness that remains unmatched. It is joyfully stimulating, and perfect for picnics and evenings by any beach, lake or ocean. It’s what my mind imagines what sand would sound like if it was laughing under my feet.
keef – :
I am very sorry, but I am among those who thinks it’s a cat’s pee. There is a funny sauvignon blanc wine called “cat’s pee on a gooseberry bush”, which actually has relatively high ratings :). I feel the same about “White Lien”. I agree though that we all have a different skin chemistry and it may not interact well with mine (I have a bad history with garden type of flowers).
Alibaba – :
Try also the wonderful, the new versions – Pure White Linen and Pure White Linen Light Breeze.
devlessa – :
Another Lauder classic ruined by reformulation. Barely reminiscent of the original. I’m sad…again.
selek2 – :
To me, White Linen is genius and pretty unique in that it’s an aldehydic floral that smells totally unisex. The stonking aldehydes in the opening calm down after a few minutes to reveal this incredible, almost smoky cedar note that, to me, absolutely makes the fragrance. Overall it is clean and crisp, as expected, and almost unsexy enough as to be asexual. I can’t believe my hyper-prude grandmother didn’t wear this, but she didn’t. She once told me, when I was 7 or 8, that nothing could make her prouder of me than if I decided to become a nun, and this perfume, to my nose, smells perfect for people who would say things like that, so there ya have it. Not all of us always want to smell sexy.
Go light on the spritzes with this one; it could turn overpowering and headache-inducing pretty easily, I think.
And as a side note, White Linen is another, like a couple of my favorites, Youth-Dew and Passion, that smells outdated enough to be really freaking cool in this era.
самячсм – :
This was the perfume my grandmother always wore, and she would give me the empty bottle to sniff and it always made me feel so fancy. I remember this fragrance as beautiful, elegant, and very fresh.
ольга78 – :
This is my favourite summer perfume. Deliciously fresh, crisp and feminine – the name ‘White Linen’ is perfect for it.
julaig – :
I am totally passionate about White Linen! It is decidedly adorable! Gorgeous.
I love the scrumptious vetiver. And the lily-of-the-valley, and the beautiful rose. It’s a completely wonderful fragrance – most unique. And very sophisticated – for a woman who knows her business. Divine.
nevareklm – :
Exquisite! More like a sparkling white diamond, than mundane white linen! It is so sparkling and ethereal – a precious jewel!
Editor_FIL – :
Such a supreme perfume. So fine, and superbly crafted. So delicate and yet rich and strong; just like a spring breeze, cool and warm at the same time. Silvery/white, and gold. Shimmering and translucent. Quality. Perfection.
cvm304Negeltzex – :
LIke others, I love this for its simplicity. Light and sweet, no afterburn. One of those borrowed-from-Mom’s-collection back in the day, but still modern enough to wear twenty years hence.
roman2170 – :
Oh what a scrumptious perfume! It’s beautiful. Delicious! Thrilling! I just simply LOVE it!
And I love wearing it together with Beautiful and Pleasures. They are fantastic together!!!!
_L_ – :
Love it but don’t like the drydown, particularly on my clothes. So it’s a no for me I’m afraid!
seregazima – :
I adore it! For me it’s predominately vetiver, from beginning to end (which is a long way – 24hrs!), which I completely relish! But, the other notes definitely are there too: lily-of-the-valley, rose, violet, jasmine, oakmoss, amber and orris. It’s exactly the notes that are on Estée Lauder’s webpage. Exactly. I guess this must be the latest version? Anyway, who cares? IT’S WONDERFUL!!!
It IS: fresh, clean, soft, crisp, refreshing – warm breezy spring day. Absolutely divine!!!
I am totally smitten with Estée Lauder’s perfumes, which I have only recently bought (all blind-buys), and she has instantly become my signature brand!!! They are soooo beautiful.
White Linen is a divine perfume!!! 5 stars!!!
Зверь – :
I have two vintage mini bottles of this perfume and I’m somewhat surprised to say that I love it! Especially considering that I used to find aldehydes to be too much. They assault my nose and give me a headache I used to think. Not any more. I don’t know what happened, but somewhere along the way I began to embrace aldehydes as cleansing, bracing and purifying to my nose, and yes sparkling. But hands down, my favorite part of this fragrance is the middle and dry down. On me it turns warm and ambery sweet with a spicy undercurrent, all the while feeling clean and bright, yet not sterile. Warm like a hug from an old dear friend. I think this scent is in my childhood subconcious and all memories attached to this scent are full warmth, security, and goodness. I wear this when I want to feel uncomplicated and free and leave the drama behind. Five stars. 🙂
nursdark – :
I am a guy and I wear white linen.
It is a blast of clean linen,powder,which goes on strong and gently tapers into this squeaky clean unisex laundry scent.
I’ve had nothing but compliments when I use this scent during the hot summer days, in fact people always think I am using Lacoste White or some other masculine cologne meant for summer and are left open mouthed when I tell them it is white linen.
Ive even had guys at work who smelt it off me and saw how mostly girls go crazy around me when i have this scent on buy it for themselves as well and come back to tell me that their wives or girlfriends etc had told them they smell amazing.
White linen is a classic feminine floral aldehyde which in 2016 is an almost forgotten piece of perfume art, so the few people who use it end up smelling a notch away from the crowd.
Guys all I can say is if you want to smell great and get compliment after compliments especially from ladies then get this perfume, forget that it is for women and cloud out the feminine tag that goes with it and test it with a cleared mind and trust me you may find your perfect summer day cologne in the form of White Linen By Estee Lauder.
9 out of 10
While Linen along with Tommy Girl and DKNY for Woman the one in the long rectangular bottle that is frosted and resembles a sky scraper in a way IMHO are some of the best if not the best choice for guys to use for summer cologne if they find that all summer scents for men smell exactly the same.
I wear all the above mentioned and I know that by the compliments I receive on using them I’ve never been told I smell feminine but I have been told to smell super clean, sexy, and “Oh my You smell amazing” is the General comment I get.
So it is up to you to decide can I rock a ladies perfume or can I not.
I for one am rocking it and its gotten me nothing but compliments.
If I like a perfume and be it for ladies I would use it and not bat an eye whilst using it.
Хочу пива – :
I have worn both the new ‘re-formulation and vintage and I can easily pick out the notes in the vintage more than the current one.In the vintage I get aldehydes in the opening which lasts on my skin for about half an hour,than other notes come through and I can detect rose and carnation.After two hours the oakmoss kicks in and lasts for awhile,and then oddly enough I get the aldehydes back.Now with the scent that out in stores now all I can smell is aldehydes and a sort of sparkling lemon interplaying with it and for me that’s it and that’s all I smell for hours on end.I definitely have more longetivity with The current formula but don’t get the other notes as I do with the vintage.
RithTinuouh – :
It is a fragrance of perfect purity, simplicity, untouched, asexual; an small convent bedchamber. Sophia Grojsman’s award winning fragrance is a perfume to treasure for years and years. When I first wore White Linen, my personality did not match the fragrance. This is a Julie Andrews perfume, Melanie Wilkes from Gone With the Wind or Betty White in The Golden Girls. It’s for good girls who live in a bubble and don’t know too much about carnal relations. It’s a landscape of white snow where flowers miraculously bloom. The scent opens like soap, like putting your nose to hand soap. A sharp lemon flavor greets my nose, mingling with aldehydes. If you don’t like aldehydes, you might as well forget about it. The top is dominated by the aldehydes. Fresh, bubbly, like taking a bubble bath. Before long I detected a peach scent that turned into a carnation, a gorgeous carnation. Other florals in this scent include ylang ylang, jasmine, iris, violet and hyacinth, and there is a faint lily of the valley. Beautiful flowers. It’s not quite a floral bouquet. Usually floral notes in perfume that wear like a bouquet have flowers that I can pick out individually. This is a very sweet floral mix. The strongest note is the carnation, followed by hyacinth and violet, iris, jasmine. So many lovely flowers make this perfume one of the loveliest florals created by Sophia Grojsman. In fact I don’t know of any other fragrance that followed that she made with this many flowers. My husband at the time never liked this scent on me. He would call it old lady soap that’s gotten old while stored in the shower. . This is the same husband who did not like my Magie Noire. He really disliked my perfumes! I divorced him LOL This is a fragrance of comfort, serenity and warmth. It does smell like white linen tablecloths, or like freshly laundered clothing out in the light of the sun. It’s easy to fall asleep wearing this perfume. I don’t wear this out in public because it’s such a therapeutic fragrance for me. When I’m feeling a bit sad or disappointed in mankind, I wear this scent for myself to feel better about myself. The dry down is just as good as the aldehydes and flowers. There’s a rich amber in the base, along with benzoin and oak moss, notes that I’ve always liked. It’s woodsy with sandalwood and resinous with amber. There’s also a good deal of honey, which really goes well with amber. Sweet and a bit powdery, soapy. Gorgeous and well made perfume. It’s also a good lesson in how to make a good perfume. Thank you Sophia.
BelyiShaman – :
I love this perfume! It is so classy and womanly! It is a classic!
ivan14130 – :
Very complex and very clean. Freshly ironed clothes, sweet breezes, and sunshine. Love it.
Алексей40 – :
This is a heartbreaker for me. I love love love the spicy-clean-almost-soapy-and-ever-so-slightly-smoky-woody dry down and would so very gladly declare that my new signature, but the massive “purple” cloud at the opening and especially the honking big hyacinth at the core just knock me out cold. My averse reaction to hyacinth appears to be getting stronger with every whiff, so I sadly must admit defeat and continue my search …
Segreysamedoman – :
It’s a beautiful perfume. So elegant, feminine and classy.
Dellka – :
I love this perfume very much. In many reviews I hear it referred to as cool, crisp, clean. On me, it invariably smells gothic, mysterious, sexy, even dirty – in a good way. I must have pretty strange body chemistry 🙂
skazo4nik – :
Just reconnected by buying a vintage (only) bottle. This is a perfume I grew up with. My grandmother who raised me first received it as a gift and being interested in fashion and all things fabric from an early age, I became intrigued by its name “White Linen.” Hmmm, what could that possibly smell like? Answer: clean, crisp, feminine, elegant, gorgeous. I love it.
wik777 – :
Although WHITE LINEN has been around for decades, it somehow had escaped my notice until a couple of years ago when I received a free mini along with a purchase of something else. Before I’d finished the mini, I went back to buy a full bottle (and lucked into a good sale by that time, which is always nice).
This is a polished, crisp and cool fragrance, with aldyhyde notes very much in evidence in the beginning. With dry-down, it becomes more green and more floral. I don’t pick up powdery notes. On me, sillage is moderate and the longevity is impressive. I prefer to wear it in spring and summer.
Without an original or even an older version to compare it to, I don’t know how WHITE LINEN has been changed over the years, but for me the current formula produces a sense of familiarity that makes me think I must once have known someone who wore this as a signature scent. It brings to mind a picture of crisp summer dresses