Madonna in White

Photo by Martin Schreiber, 1979

Madonna Truth or Dare. This is a difficult post, I spent too long just poking around for the images to post, trying to decide which to use, mulling over all the various "looks". I couldn't find my copy of Sex,  I think I sold it on ebay a couple of years ago. Madonna has gone through so many re-inventions over the years, too many to count. Interesting. Obviously she's got style,  or would that be from her stylist? Everyone has a stylist today, don't they? I don't follow fashion and celebrities enough to know. For her to make a perfume should be a snap, right?

Not so according to www.wwd.com

"“The time was right,” she said of partnering with Coty Prestige. “I’ve been working off and on on various fragrances over the years, and [have been] approached by a lot of companies and have tried to create fragrances. They were always abandoned projects. I’ve always loved perfume; it’s always been a big part of my life. But every time I tried to create the scent I was looking for, it never reached the stage where I thought it was good enough or I was told that the ingredients would be impossible to re-create in a mass way. Then I’d say, ‘let’s try and do a synthetic version,’ and it never smelled as good as I wanted it to. And if I’m not going to wear it, I’m not going to sell it. So, I finally was able to create, with my partners [MG Icon and Coty], a fragrance that I could stand behind. We tested a lot of things over the past few years, and [Lourdes “Lola” Leon, her 15-year-old daughter] has told me what she likes. She is a very opinionated young lady, and she likes this perfume.”
She had her late mother, also named Madonna, in mind when creating the scent, too. Her mother, she recalled, wore Fracas. “I wanted to create a fragrance that would remind me of her.”

Reading Chandler Burr's The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris & New York, was eye opening to me, I hadn't really thought much of the process of making perfume, the behind the scenes stuff. I kind of imagined an artisan in a studio or lab mixing various concoctions of steeped herbs and flowers, bubbling pots of scented potions. Or flowers soaked in vodka and similar ancient recipes for making perfumes and toilette waters. The flowers soaked in booze never worked out, me & my friends tried it way back when. Anyhoo, my ideas of perfume making were off, to say the least. Well, who would've thunk it?

Sarah Jessica Parker pulled a decorative egg and grosgrain ribbon out of her purse to demonstrate the inspiration for her scent for the peeps at Coty during their perfume meetings, something along those lines. Plus her layering of Bonne Bell Skin Musk, Comme des Garcons and Egyptian Musk. At least she had a hand in the pot, the perfume pot, some of the other celebrity perfumes, well, I don't know.

Back to Madonna....

According to The Celebrity Fragrance Guide, Madonna wears:

Madonna by Steven Meisel, 1992

IF(orders it in bulk), Fracas, Hypnotic Poison, Folavril,Youth Dew, Fleurissimo, Perfect Veil, Dirt by Demeter, Eau D'Hadrien, Mat, Folavril, Nanadaberry Pink, Child, Grand Amour, Nocturnes, Narcisse Noir, Nahema, JP Gaultier, Lorenzo Villoresi(Sting & Trudy commisioned LV to create a custom musky oriental scent as a birthday gift), Pois De Senteur, Habit Rouge, Tuberose Indiana, Pink Lotus, Kisu, Escentric Molecules Molecule 01
Mae West ~ Femme by Rochas, Shocking by Schiaparelli

Not too shabby of a list, no? Lots of white and orientals, an impressive list, don't know how accurate the list is.

Truth or Dare. I like it,  I really do. It's creamy, loaded with tuberose, gardenia, vanilla, amber and musk. I think of it as a white perfume, there doesn't seem to be any color involved, if that makes sense. IMO, in the color scheme of things Fracas has a stripe of green to it, Versace Blonde has buttery notes and animalistic notes-splotches of yellow and beige, and Bond no.9 Saks for Her has a smokey accord, so it's got a grey-ish hue to it. Serge Lutens Tubéreuse Criminelle, it like an abstract painting, it's got splotches of everything: gasoline, vicks vapor rub, wintergreen gum, Scope mouthwash, ugh, don't get me started, it was a big disappointment for me. And I tried so hard, enduring that horrid opening, waiting for something beautiful and got nada. Back on topic,Truth or Dare is big white floral, devoid of other colors. One that doesn't scream, it's quiet. Not that screaming is a bad thing....I am a fan of the big white florals. Truth or Dare is the modern white floral, light enough for work, light enough for warm weather, applied heavily it could be date or "romantic wear" worthy.

It's easy to wear, just spritz and enjoy, no thinking or advanced dissecting required. After a few hours on my skin, I get a hint of chocolate, but no chocolate note listed. Maybe the amber and vanilla is making chocolate to me? It's a comfort scent, it's comfortable. Borderline gourmand with my chocolate note. Am I going to rush over to that horrible Macy's to buy a bottle? Nah, I have enough samples to last me, and other white florals already in my stable of perfumes. If I was given this as a gift that would be fine, although it's not birthday worthy ; )