What it feels like for a girl [reviewing Tommy Girl edt, by Tommy Hilfiger]

"Tommy girl was created for the girl in all of us"

The original and iconic Tommy Girl fragrance encourages you to take everything in and shape each day and every moment for the better.

Tommy Girl Eau de Toilette is an effervescent floral scent, capturing the freedom and optimism of a road trip in America. American treasures, opening with an invigorating burst of all-natural spearmint and bergamot. At the heart, a bouquet of jasmine and rose create the feeling of pure happiness. The scent finally reveals sensual accord of creamy sandalwood, warm amber, and musk.

Tommy Girl embraces you with unfiltered love and empowerment.

A little while ago I was trying to remember my first 'proper' fragrances and in narrowing down the list in my head, I definitely remember that Tommy Girl as being the first one that I received as a gift [Christmas 1996 - launch year]. However I was still into So..? body sprays and The Body Shop mists back then, so I don't think I wore Tommy Girl on my skin much (it probably became a air freshener tbĥ). I've long since muddled up my scent memories of it with another teenage Christmas gift [Ralph Lauren's Ralph] that I received when I was a bit older and starting to appreciate the world of fragrance more. 

When I went to Boots at the start of the year, I saw a reduced gift set of Tommy Girl dumped on a random shelf and impulsively bought it, because I'm just really curious about it. 

So let's go back to the past...

I don't know why bergamot isn't listed as being a scent note over on Fragrantica - it's very clear and longwearing and between that & the grapefruit, the other fruits are minimal. Inn fact the lemon is the only other clear fruit note that I confidently detect as the fragrance develops. 

Camelia is the strongest floral on me, by far; I get a strong tea note which cowmpliments the lingering bergamot & lemon wonderfully. The lily is also rich and longwearing, as well as the jasmine too.  As the florals in the heart continue to develop everything becomes more traditionally feminine and 'girly'; the rose & magnolia makes the bouquet powdery and creamy, and the violet adds more of a sprinkle of sweetness to everything. 

 I'm not sure what they mean by a leather accord; there is a muskiness wrapped around the woods in the base, so maybe that is meant to represent it?  I really enjoy how well the cedar and sandalwood combine together - quite unisex for the finish imo.

Officially listed scent notes: Apple Tree Blossoqm, Mandarin Orange, Camelia, Black Currant, Lemon, Honeysuckle, Grapefruit, Rose, Lily, Mint, Violet, Magnolia, Jasmine, Cedar, Sandalwood and Leather.

 

Tommy Girl might be an edt, but it performs as well as many edp concentrations; 8 - 9 hours n average, and whilst it is not a large projection, it's not soft either. 

I find Tommy Girl to be a pleasnt all occasions, all year round fragrance. Despite the name of this fragrance, I think that it's perfectly fine for adults to wear both as casually and for more conservative places like work, as it's not something too 'young' and it has a wide enough appeal scent-wise not to irritate the people around you. Some people call this fragrance dated, but it seems timeless to me 🤷‍♀️

I can understand why 13 year old me wasn't very impressed with Tommy Girl; I remember that I disliked anything fresh, fragrance with noticeable tea notes, as well as not being keen on overly floral fragrances when I was younger (well into my 30s tbh). However current me enjoys fresh openings in fragrances (bonus points for containing mint), loves a rich tea note, as well as really appreciating florals. In fact jasmine, rose, violet, honeysuckle and magnolia are my five favourite floral notes, so having them all in one fragrance is wonderful. I'll definitely consider rebuying it once I've finished my current bottle. 

You can buy Tommy Girl from most retailers, but I recommend that you try outlet stores like TK Maxx, B&M, or a quick Google search of the many online retailers for the day's best deal - you can easily find 100ml bottles [and sometimes even giftsets] below the £30 mark most of the time.