Pleasures

Pleasures was a favorite of mine in college and I went through several bottles. Unbeknownst to me, the perfumers were doing something different with this fragrance and that's why I loved it. It smelled like a wet, woody, meadow with a cool breeze wafting through. You could smell the dappled green sunshine. Lilac is a favorite note of mine and it was mixed in so well...not running the show but definitely lending its most beautiful characteristics. After 20 years, I smelled it at the Estee Lauder counter today and it smelled nothing like I remember. I nearly cried.

This is a nostalgic feminine classical beauty. A gorgeous fresh floral with the perfect touch of greens. It leans mature, yet I enjoyed wearing it in my teens as much as I do now. I was so happy to re add it to my collection.

Can there be too many floral notes? I don't know, but this would be one that has a few too many. I do love it though, especially when it dries down. Initial spray is a little overkill, but I don't care. What really makes me smile is how old it is...1995 and still around. No doubt there are comments below about how this is for old ladies, and too mature. But it's a well made fragrance and is so pretty...really a bridal scent. I will probably never buy a large bottle, but I'm tickled to be able to try it.

La mia bottiglia é del 1995,comprata personalmente perché ero rimasto ammaliato da questo profumo su una signora. É un bouquet di fiori candidi e radiosi,ha un tocco che ricorda la camomilla in sottofondo. Meglio indossarlo d'estate come adesso,sulla pelle calda e magari anche di sera.. Ha una doppia personalità. Durante il giorno é molto ipnotico,esala la sua magia radiosa come i fiori estivi dal profumo opulento,mentre di sera é calmante e sereno,come una camomilla. Non ci trovo niente da vecchia signora. Ovviamente non ho provato la versione di adesso perché sicuramente sarà stata modificata

Slightly sharp very feminine white floral. I remember when it was the rage. I got it after the hype. It's fine if you like white florals but it's nothing special.

Huele a hojas, pasto, no me gusta nada!

Both my grandmothers lived with my family in hospice and I found this perfume in the bathroom they used so idk which one wore it but I want to say my maternal grandmother: it’s nostalgic and comforting and a warm, almost linen-y floral that definitely feels like it fits the taste of a bygone era, this woman was in her nineties and I think it shows. This would be good for an event or a family function but honestly it’s not me at all it just reminds me of her

Pleasures by Estée Lauder is timeless, beautiful, and elegant. I don't know how anyone with any taste could not like this.

Dewy green insanely fresh infinite fields of flowers Minty green actually Nothing like splendor arden or any arden& taylor scent Diorissimo moschino star lalique crystal smth no no nothing Its not like ur typical Muguet scents in general Its a really well crafted luxury 90’s floral that has a modern morillas feel to it That’s incredibly cold and dewy It just gives me comfort smells like the most warmhearted aunt Smth like matilda’s kind teacher forget her name Anyways this is a masterpiece and one of the all time most well crafted floral scents in the history Morillas knows he’s florals don’t he ? He created pleasures, 212 NYC, CK One, omnia crystalline bvlgari and so many floral masterpieces I love that guy he knows what he’s doing

For me, this is the most beautiful floral fragrance ever created. It is uplifting and joyful, and reminds me of the innocence of my youth growing up in the 90s.

It has a darkness to it like raw wet moss and leaves that is just so chic with the dewy virginal florals

It's a real pleasure to be in the garden after a rain in early summer or late spring. Wet dark greenery, fresh white flowers, and large, stately blooms with a fruity or electric note in the aroma. There is sunshine and depth in this perfume. Breath of nature.

I wore this as my signature scent back in the mid-2000s for about a year or so. It smells of flowers during or after a rain. A fresh floral but it has this aquatic sense to it. It's great for the spring and warmer weather... especially if you're wanting a floral.

Pleasures is one of my absolute favorites, if not my no. 1. It has fresh white florals and green notes that remind me of a perfect summer day. It is soapy as well, but I happen to love clean soapy fragrances. I like many fragrances by Estee Lauder, but this is my favorite. I was lucky and was able to get this in a gift set that included the 3.4 ounce bottle for around $75 quite a few years ago. If you like fresh, soapy floral with green notes this is for you.

Literally the most basic and unremarkable scent ever and a waste of money

It smells intensely fresh and clean, like a potent floral soap.

Annie Buzantian and Alberto Morillas were asked to make something sheer, elusive, luminous — Evelyn Lauder’s words — a fragrance that would capture the clarity of flowers after a spring rain. They did this with a specific structural move: green notes, white lily, violet leaves, black lilac, white peony, karo-karounde, baie rose, sandalwood and patchouli. The opening is the opening of a window. The specific quality of cis-3-hexenol — the molecule that smells of cut grass, of green things at the moment they are broken — is present in the first minutes, combining with white lily and violet leaf to produce something that is not quite floral and not quite green but is unmistakably the smell of outside in a particular season. The honest criticism — made consistently and fairly by the community since the mid-2000s — is that Pleasures became the origin species of a category that has since been taken downmarket to the point of meaninglessness. The aquatic fresh floral had its Pleasures at the top of the pyramid and its Glade Angel Whispers candle at the bottom, and by the 2010s enough iterations had passed through the culture that smelling Pleasures triggers associations with things it did not cause. This is the fate of the fragrance that sets the template. What it actually is, approached without that accumulated cultural noise, is a genuinely beautiful construction: the green opening resolving into a multi-floral heart that is complex without being heavy, the karo-karounde — a West African flower with a slightly metallic, waterway quality — adding something distinctive that prevents the composition from becoming merely pretty. The patchouli base is quieter than in most Lauder fragrances, providing warmth without structure. The fragrance wears close to skin after the opening and becomes intimate without becoming animalic. It is the house’s most democratic fragrance: the one that asks the least from its wearer in terms of context or commitment, the one that simply smells pleasant and keeps smelling pleasant and draws consistent compliments from people who cannot name what they are responding to. This is either the highest compliment or the subtlest criticism depending on what you want from a fragrance.

This became my signature scent in high school after smelling it on my Mom. It's still a beautiful, nostalgic scent, but it's not really my taste. The opening is way too sharp for me...the dry down is beautiful though, and longevity is great.

It’s giving “fresh out of the shower… but that’s it.” Like yeah, it’s nice but also kind of forgettable.

This was my signature for many years - when I wasn't wearing Beyond Paradise (my grandmother was a frequenter of department stores and the Estee Lauder counter, the woman who gifted me my love of fragrance and much of my early collection) So this showed up as a gift one Christmas and I appreciated it greatly. It's a beautiful and very feminine floral scent - safe for daytime, school, and office wear through spring and summer. I'd put it in the same category as Ralph Lauren Romance, nice standard, pleasant late 1990s - early 2000s scent. I rediscovered a bottle of this buried in a box, but I am sad to say I believe mine may have gone "off" after the amount of time it's been sitting - many of the above described top notes are missing - along with some slight discoloration. Such is the fate of bright florals and citrus in fragrance if not kept well. Alas. Like many of Lauder's other fragrances, I would advise a light hand in application, it has great staying power - especially for a floral. The bottle is nothing fantastically special. It does evoke a tall water vase - the flowers awaiting the wearer within. The typography of the label fits the vibe very well. Like a dreamy romance, written with the flourish of a fountain pen - future pleasures await.

This is very strong!! Pure spring in a bottle but with a powerful base of patchouli,musk and sandalwood. The pink pepper us prominent too, it's not gentle and 100% not for the office! It's been my signature for many years, I still love it, but it's a powerful green fresh floral 🤍

Blast from the past, for a floral fan like me. I remember this scent was for grownups back in the day, me not yet. However I remember it deerly, my teachers, work manager wore it smelled great. I am so glad I purchased it recently. It is a most beautiful bouquet of flowers, the best and favorite flowers accentuated with green notes. Classy gorgeous scent of 90s and early 2000 era. This could be office, wedding, every day pick me up scent. Lasts 4-5 hours, softens with time and wears close to skin.

Pure femininity. This fragrance feels like wearing a soft pink chiffon dress as you sit on a blanket in a field in the spring time as you read Jane Austen. Floral and delicate. Not overpowering. Clings to your skin in the best way.

This one takes me straight back to the 90s, when I was a teenager dreaming about owning it but couldn’t afford it. I thought it had disappeared, so finding it again felt like rediscovering a little piece of my past. Buying it now is more than just a fragrance—it’s a soft, nostalgic pleasure I finally get to enjoy.

Ehhh I don't despise Pleasures, but there is something really acrid about it in the opening. Definitely clean-smelling. The dry down is good for those that want to smell like a big bouquet of flowers, which is not really my vibe, but I can see this being someone's signature for that reason. I used to think of this as relatively 'polite' but now I find it pretty in-your-face and the powdery florals seem to catch in your throat a bit. It isn't horrible, just not for me.

smells so comforting – it smells like my mom :) I will not get it for myself tho because it is her signature

This was a love for me back when it came out, although it held a sour note on a friend who claimed this as her signature. Clearly it depends on one’s own chemistry. Blind buyer beware! I repurchased last year (30 years later!), and unlike so many other Lauder classics, I detect no major alterations. It is perfect late Winter/early Spring rainy day gorgeousness. Crystal clean fresh flowers, absolutely beautiful. Wearer must love florals, because green and bright, this offers a stunning bouquet and little else. I find it’s as loud as you want it but never too quiet. Excellent longevity. Ageless.

Timeless sophisticated fragrance. Pleasures is so beautiful. It's has an invigorating scent, floral-green non sweet that suits all occasions day and night. It's not a girly scent but it's feminine, clean and very elegant.

Gentle, clean and fresh scent. Very feminine and suits the shy, reserved introvert girl who doesn’t like to be approached by strangers.

This was a blind buy for me and it was given a rave review by Luca Turin as being a pioneer fragrance to smell clean as a bar of soap. Initial spray and I am getting a LOT of pink pepper up top and obviously pepper always makes a perfume smell a little musty and (to be honest) a little dusty and dirty. You know the smell of cumin in food? Well it doesn't smell 'clean' does it? Cumin smells very fleshy and a bit like stale sweat. Well pink pepper is a bit like that, it gives perfume a bit of heat and packs a punch, sometimes it can be a bit medicinal smelling and other times it can smell of unwashed skin. I don't understand why you would want pink pepper in a fragrance that is meant to smell like a bar of soap? After the pink pepper, I get the smell of the stuff you put in windscreen wipers on the car. There is a strange alcohol wipe quality to it with notes of chicken soup to my nose. I am VERY forgiving when it comes to fragrances being left field or curve balls or 'niche' as the kids like to say these days but I am not sure about this and glad I only bought a small 15ml bottle. Turin summarised the perfume as 'Snowy floral' which is pretty accurate as it smells exactly like how you would imagine snowdrop flowers to smell. It may be a grower on me (pardon the pun) but it is definitely NOT a blind buy. Edit: gave it a second chance and sprayed under dirty clothes and then threw on winter wollens before going out for a walk. This may work better this way as an echoing fragrance under clothes or on clothes themselves. Yes I do see why it is compatible to soap or clean tumbledried clothes but it also retains the very heady smell of a fresh bouquet with a very heavy and dewy polleny insides. Walking around with it, it reminded me of Mother's day and I can see why people get very emotional about it. It can smell very feminine but also maternal. It smells of clean skin in clothes, lots of flower bouquets and then a warm hug all within one sunny lit day inside the family home.