I wouldn’t dare call Marc Jacobs Gardenia the best gardenia fragrance of all time.
OF ALL TIME!!!!!
But I feel confident in declaring it the prettiest gardenia I know. Gardenia is a warmer, less aquatic take on Marc Jacobs’ original perfume. It’s certainly sweet, but still more sophisticated than the vast majority of its sugary neighbors on Sephora’s shelves. A spritz of Gardenia functions almost as liquid sunshine, evoking carefree summer days at the beach and fresh-faced girls with natural, uncomplicated beauty. Think Blake Lively or Lauryn Hill; ladies who are so innately lovely that the barest hint of makeup seems laughably superfluous.
I swear to God, Blake Lively IS California.
You know, while I find Penn Badgley to be completely insufferable on Gossip Girl, and feel a strong desire to yank every single hair out of that Brooklyn hipster goatee every time his smug face pops up onscreen, I am completely devoted to his and Blake’s real-life relationship. They are nothing short of adorable together. Gardenia would be just perfect for Blake, by the way. It’s a California gardenia, beachy hair and tinted chapstick, as opposed to more serious, red-lips-and-stilettos New York gardenias like Fracas. I generally tend to skew more New York, myself, but I can certainly appreciate the charms of this mellow beauty.
Gardenia was discontinued a while ago, but can be easily found online. The lasting power is about what you’d expect for a fragrance that comes in a 10 oz bottle.
SCENTS OF SELF 
“about what you’d expect for a fragrance that comes in a 10 oz bottle.”
I’ve wondered about these—the fig one almost caused me to click “buy it now” more than once—but the size of the bottle prevented me! Where do you even store a bottle that big? In the fridge? LOL.
I love gardenia in life, but I haven’t quite accepted it yet in perfume—I skew more Queen of Sheba than California Girls. 🙂
I’ve never tried Fig, but the Gardenia does need pretty frequent refreshing. It’s too big for my college dorm fridge!!!
Queen of Sheba sounds just fabulous to me. I might covet Blake’s hair, but you couldn’t pay me to live in L.A. Not the right kind of glamour for me!
I have the Cucumber splash. It’s great in the summer, and has good lasting power. I found it at TJ Maxx for I think less than $20 last year. The new bottles sell for $68, so it’s definitely better to wait til they hit the discounters. I’m curious about the Apple – it got some good reviews; plus, the perfumer is Yann Vasnier!
Oh, and I just heard about the new ones by Yann Vasnier coming out soon – Curacao and Ginger (also a Cranberry by perfumer Richard Herpin). I’ll need to try these, but if I want a bottle, probably won’t purchase til they hit discounters!