Twenty years ago a perfumer displayed her early talent with the release of Tommy Hilfiger Tommy Girl. The perfumer was Calice Becker. I’ve always considered Tommy Girl to be one of the new classics of perfume. When I received my press sample and press release for the new Tommy Hilfiger The Girl I had a concern that we were seeing more reformulation trying to capture the Millennials. It didn’t take long for me to see that wasn’t the case. I am pretty sure Tommy Hilfiger The Girl is trying to entice the Millennials to give it a try but not by making some lighter version of Tommy Girl. This is different than that.
Calice Becker
One difference is Mme Becker is not working alone as she is joined by her Givaudan colleague Rodrigo Flores-Roux for Tommy Hilfiger The Girl. I have never found it easy to determine which perfumer is responsible for what part of the construction. If I am guessing here the floral heart seems very Sr. Flores-Roux’s style. The sharp green top accord seems Mme Becker-like. This is just me trying to perhaps figure out something which is not even a thing. There is a sharpness to Tommy Hilfiger The Girl which has been different than the approach taken by other brands in trying to capture the younger generation.
Rodrigo Flores-Roux
Tommy Hilfiger The Girl opens with a triad of sharp green leafy notes; violet leaves, fig leaves, and shiso leaves. In between all of the leafiness is a crisp green pear note. Despite the presence of the pear to try and help dull the cutting edge of both the violet and shiso leaves it never really succeeds. The shiso in particular seems to want to assert itself. This feels like a very niche aesthetic early on because of the aggressiveness of the green. The floral accord in the heart picks up the green and these notes do find a way to soften the edge. Jasmine is the keynote but it is surrounded by a couple of green hued ingredients in muguet and a synthetic from Givaudan called Karmaflor. These provide the green transition and the jasmine does the rest. It settles on to a pretty standard cedar and amber base accord.
Tommy Hilfiger The Girl has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.
Tommy Hilfiger The Girl is the first of the Millennial trending releases which hasn’t been afraid to show some edge. All of the earlier attempts by other brands seem to want to be crowd pleasers first and foremost. The creative team behind Tommy Hilfiger The Girl are placing their bets on something different. I like Tommy Hilfiger The Girl so it is a bet I can easily get behind and hope they are correct.
Disclosure: This review was based on a press sample from Tommy Hilfiger.
–Mark Behnke
