I remember Juicy Couture’s glory days (approximately 2003-2006) very well. We’re talking the The Simple Life era, when walking around in a Juicy tracksuit and Uggs was fashion-forward rather than hopelessly tacky and accessorizing with a chihuahua was mandatory. Sadly, time has not been kind to Juicy Couture. Paris Hilton went to jail; The Simple Life was cancelled. We gradually came to the realization that Uggs are more hideous than stylish, and purse-size chihuahuas can be a little annoying.
While Juicy Couture may no longer hold the sway it once did, its fragrance line remains very successful. Juicy’s first fragrance, the self-titled Juicy Couture, debuted in 2006. It is still my favorite of the Juicy fragrances. I’ve always liked the way this perfume smells. Juicy Couture pairs an excessively sugary watermelon note with an elegant tuberose note. The tuberose actually makes Juicy Couture a little too sophisticated for its target audience- many of the MakeupAlley reviews call it “old lady”. Still, this ain’t Coty Chypre. If you do not like sweet fragrances, stay far, far away. Someone at the Juicy factory was a little heavy-handed with the sugar.
Disclaimer: I got my sample of Juicy Couture from Nordstrom.
SCENTS OF SELF 
Interesting — I’ve never smelled watermelon in this, I’ll have to look for that note. I agree that they overshot their intended crowd with this clean, classy-ish tuberose scent. It’s sweet in the manner of all tuberose perfumes, but not candy-sweet like other fruity florals aimed at teens, IMO. (I find it much less sweet than Fracas!)
Elisa, I think they corrected that overshot with Couture Couture, lol. I would be very pleased if more teens started wearing Juicy Couture instead of less pleasant fruity florals.
I watched exactly fifteen minutes of The Simple Life – an episode in which the fancy gals were running behind in preparing milk bottles at the dairy, so they put a little milk in each bottle and filled them to the top with water. I was aghast. Watering the milk is a serious crime among farm folk, but they took the resultant lecture with rolled eyes, as if they’d gotten caught throwing spitballs. I never watched it again, it made me too angry.
As for Juicy Couture the fragrance – well, you know me: I lurves me some tuberose. And I don’t mind “sweet” sometimes (witness my BFF, Vamp a NY). But JC was a hideous combination of Watermelon Bubblicious and Giorgio Beverly Hills.
(Folds hands and purses lips.) I did not like it.
Oh my goodness!!! For shame! I am even less of a fan of Paris than I am of Kim Kardashian. At least Kim, a brown girl above a size 0, does something to widen our standards for beauty- Paris just enforces those standards. In an interview a while back, Tina Fey said that Paris is proud of how unintelligent she is, and I think that may be true.
I am sorry you didn’t like it! There is something bubble gum-y about it, come to think of it.
I love original Juicy Couture! One of my favs.
Uh…”THE” original JC, that is.
Glad you like it, Karin! How do you feel about the other Juicys?
Hi Ari…I have a rollerball of Viva la Juicy, and want to give it to a 12-year-old niece. Too sweet for me. Haven’t given Couture Couture a try – only smelled it in a magazine strip. What are your thoughts about them? I think they’ve also announced another upcoming fragrance…Peace, Love, and Juicy?
I think Juicy Couture was my first forray into tuberose scents; although I didn’t realise it at the time. I love that sugary white floral quality that JC has and I think it’s just a bit of fun. I think it would have recieved better press had this perfume come from a different brand.
I think the Juicy name has both helped and hurt them. I’m sure it boosted their bottom line, in terms of profits, but it probably lost them some credibility among the perfumistas. Though as I recall, Luca Turin gave it 4 stars in the Guide.
He did — I doubt I ever would have tried it if not for his review.
I tried it again last night and I definitely get the bubblegum effect, though I wouldn’t have identified it as watermelon-flavored without your suggestion. In any case I think tuberose marries naturally with fruit (especially creamy fruits like coconut and peach) and the melony take is just fun, light and girly. Not a masterpiece by any means, but cute.
There’s a lot to be said for cute! Sometimes I have to step back and remind myself that not everything has to be straight-from-the-Victoria’s-Secret-catalogue-sexxxy every minute of every day. Have you ever tried Carnal Flower, Elisa? I’ve read that it has a “bubblegum” effect too, but it sounds very different from JC.
I’ve only smelled CF at the Barney’s counter (on multiple occasions); I’ve yet to order a sample to try for a full day’s wear. (I’m partially reluctant because I know I’ll love it, and I already long for one big tuberose, Beyond Love, that I can’t afford.) It’s definitely very different from JC, and I didn’t get a gum effect, but maybe I’d have to look for it. To me it smells cold and alive, like a tuberose growing in the forest. It has a coconut facet, but not as much as BL in my opinion.
Gaaaah! A tuberose growing in the forest…. lemming activated…