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Monday, November 30, 2009

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Ageless Fantasy will make you smell 8 years younger

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Once, I was trapped on a bi-coastal flight next to an old lady who actually had her husband's cremains in the overhead storage bins. For the rest of the day, I smelled exactly like a retirement village, a distinct blend of dusty rose and mothball. We all know exactly what is meant by "old lady perfume": certainly no teenager is going to dab Shalimar or Youth Dew on her whale tail. Perfumier Harvey Prince suggests that the reverse is true and it is possible to smell younger too. In fact, they asked 15 men to smell women wearing the new fragrance Ageless Fantasy and the men reported that, on average, the women smelled 8 years younger. Fifteen guys, huh? Huge sample! To be clear, there is absolutely nothing in this fragrance that actually purports to make you look younger but rather that you'll be perceived to be more youthful. You'll have wrinkles, but maybe they'll be attributed to too much time in the tanning bed rather than advancing age. Fine line, you're soaking in it. (P.S. Check out this new wrinkle zapper that we love.)

I had some fair doubts that a simple fragrance could transport me back to my 20s, but I had to give it a go in the name of science! I was thinking it would be something like my go-to fragrances (Love's Baby Soft or Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth) for cruising the roller skating arenas in the early 80's but it wasn't even close. Ageless Beauty is reported to be a tropical blend of pineapple and mango, with undernotes of musk and jasmine, so I was expecting it to bring the fruity goodness but when I popped the top, I was hit by a distinct smell that read "air freshener". I asked my husband for his opinion and he said one word "hospital". Ouch. Don't judge it based on the first whiff, though, because thankfully, once you apply, the notes open up and translate to a light, feminine fruity smell with a definite undertone of pomegranates and it seemed to have a mood lifting component as well. I certainly didn't look any younger in the mirror, nor did I receive any compliments on my fragrance during the week of testing it. Perhaps my "spray and walk away" method only turned back the clock 4 years? I wonder if I bathed in the stuff, could I get back to my teens? Would the bouncers at clubs start carding me again?

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In the end, there are so many amazing therapeutic products out there that actually do improve skin tone and texture that I'd rather save my $120 for something that is more than a Fantasy, but if you've already got the best serums and moisturizers that money can buy, Ageless Fantasy might be just the thing for you. But seriously, did you know that you can still buy Love's Baby Soft for practically nothing?

--Wendy

Image via Ageless Fantasy

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Comments 1-10 of 18
  • MochaMama42's Avatar
    Posted by MochaMama42 Thu Oct 9, 2008 5:50pm PDT

    Nice idea, but even when I was in high school, I word Youth Dew , Charlie , Poison, Chloe, fragrances popular with adults at the time as well..

    This sounds like a good idea, but being young is a state of mind....it will emit from you whatever perfume you spray on.

    Report Abuse
  • health freek's Avatar
    Posted by health freek Thu Oct 9, 2008 9:27pm PDT

    Wendy is inaccurate. The study was done on 75 men not 15. The clinical studies are posted on the website agelessfantasy.com

    there is something fishy going on here by the writer who are from condenast and Allure.

    Report Abuse
  • KristaB's Avatar
    Posted by KristaB Fri Oct 10, 2008 9:01am PDT

    ...i looovvvveee chanel no.5 and get made fun of every time ive worn it...im 27 and apparantly thats way too young to be wearing my beloved no.5...

    Report Abuse
  • Scarlett's Avatar
    Posted by Scarlett Fri Oct 10, 2008 4:52pm PDT

    When I was much younger I wore only two perfumes - Oscar de La Rental in the winter and White Linen in the summer.

    Now that I much older, I am aware that my sense of smell has dimished. I try not to wear any heavy scent at all. I have two favorites- lst choice Bvlgari-Extreme and Michael Kors original scent. My goal is to only wear perfume that can be detected if you are nuzzling my neck. There is nothing more offputting than to be in a confined area, i. e. - an elevator and have someone's perfume waft around the entire area. I remember Tea Rose- it could empty a room in nothing flat.

    Report Abuse
  • vickie's Avatar
    Posted by vickie Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:07pm PDT

    youth dew is and always has been designed for the older woman!

    a young women should not wear heavy perfumes...not unless she is

    trying to cover up body odor.......

    Report Abuse
  • lipstickchick's Avatar
    Posted by lipstickchick Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:45pm PDT

    Oh Lord !!!! If you were really feeling you smelled like an older woman, I wouldn't wear it. It sounds like a big scam to me !!!!

    Report Abuse
  • Stuart J's Avatar
    Posted by Stuart J Sat Oct 11, 2008 5:25am PDT

    Having repped frag. for a year with P&G I had a nose full of the 'old lady" stuff. Better suited to chemical warfare in my opinion.

    If it weren't for the old bags pushing the stuff on other old bags our noses wouldn't endure such misery.

    Ditch the old stuff!! Make room on the shelf for some fresh scent. Isn't that what we call 'young' anyway. Besides, Walgreens will love the additional product.

    Report Abuse
  • KathyL's Avatar
    Posted by KathyL Sat Oct 11, 2008 7:01am PDT

    It's been proven that men perceive women as younger than they actually are when the gals are wearing the scent of grapefruit. Jo Malone has a very nice grapefruit fragrance that you can get at Neiman Marcus for about $50 and the bottle will last you a year (which is all the opened perfume will stay 'good' for anyway). This has been known for years, by the way. Also, I have a theory that men would rather smell something you eat rather than dead flowers on a woman's body. Floral scents, to me, are very funereal, and definitely Old Lady. Why take the chance? Most people like the smell of fruits.

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  • Susan's Avatar
    Posted by Susan Sat Oct 11, 2008 4:01pm PDT

    and just where do you buy this and does it come in gallon sizes?

    As to the wrinkle issue I have had incrediable luck in this area

    I am 48 but you can't tell my my face/neck I would be glad to show

    tell about my beauty products email my at lovethetux@yahoo.com

    for more info and where to get the fragance

    Report Abuse
  • 's Avatar
    Posted by Mon Oct 13, 2008 3:33pm PDT

    It may not occur to most people that not all women like perfume, the smells are so over powering strong that it makes me instantly sick, first the sneezing, then the coughing, then the headaches. Especially the stuff that my grandmother and my mother wears. I have been forced to ask them not to wear it if they are coming over or getting into our car, my daughter and husband doesn't like it either. For some reason lightly scented lotion doesn't bother us, but the stuff that comes in bottles "au du toilet water whatever" is just more than I can stand.

    Report Abuse
Comments 1-10 of 18

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