Sensuous Stars Estée Lauder for women and men

Immediate reaction, Sensuous Stars smells exactly like lipgloss. Like the preteen fruity lip gloss found in drugstores. Not that its necessarily bad, but I cant get past it to smell anything else.

Sensuous Stars Estée Lauder
(Store test, ELCA sale)

Sensuous Stars is fruity-iris scent. This is wired to me a bit because this is no violet involve.
I means, normally when it comes to this classic framework, it should be contain violet.

It is cake-like iris, dense and vanilaly with a nuance of fruity-floral support.
This is not the plum that I don't like, and mild tint of floral freshness is kind of there.
It light fruity, I am not mind, it is beautiful to wear and the compose well enough.

I perceive some musty note in far dry down. It quite a miss for me.

Opening 7/10
Closing 6.6/10

To me this is a very subtle scent that warms up on the skin and releases a bit of magic. It's extremely subtle to the point of being unnoticeable until about 10-20 minutes later you start getting wafts of it as you move.

The scent is barely there and has an earthy, orris feel with a hint of plum. The plum comes through in the dry down.

I think people who enjoy those skin scents like 'not a perfume' or 'escentric molecules' would like this. Eminently wearable in an office setting.

To me it's a perfect perfume to wear to bed in winter.

Sweet and feminine scent. Smells beautiful upon dry down!

A beautiful, grown-up version of a purple flower perfume. I love the scent of violets, but this perfume is a bit too serious and restrained for me.

Revisiting sample. Perhaps it's matured, but I'm getting a much better impression than the first time round. Fruity opening of the plum variety followed by a rather beautiful dry down that I would describe as clean/elegant. What I find positive is that the fruit note sticks around, but it's not harsh or screechy. That in itself sets it apart from a lot of fruity perfumes I've sampled over the years. If they fix performance issues this could be a good proposition.

I’ve given it time but it is over sweet. Reminds me of a floral cocktail with vermouth/herbal additives.
The lavender jars with everything and it’s joining Female Christ as a scrubber.
Try before buy but if you enjoy it you are fortunate that it has staying power.

Waaay too sweet. And powdery. Not a serious fragrance at all. 😭

I get cucumber in the opening. A couple of reviews have mentioned a green note so maybe that's what I am smelling. The plum stays there for a while and the iris is there from beginning to end. I do not like floral scents very much (iris has never interested me) but the cucumber-esque opening and the plum intrigued me enough to get a small bottle to play with during spring.

I just got this and I think it’s going to be a favorite. Underrated gem in my opinion! It has a sparkly quality but it isn’t juvenile. The plum is strong, but there is a touch of lavender which adds something floral and contributes to its calming qualities. The orris grounds it and adds some depth. The sweetness level is just right. It feels so pretty to me. It makes me think of a purple, shimmery powder in a good way.

Wow, so much plum! As soon as I sprayed it on the tester strip, I got a sharp blast of plum, a boozy plum that reminded me of the time I got horribly sick at a fortified-wine-tasting party. The iris/orris comes through a bit, but it really can't compete with the sharp plum-wine accord. The lavender doesn't come through at all for me, except perhaps as a medicinal-herbal note on top of the plum. It's not listed, but I'm also getting a weird patchouli-like woody-green aromatic note that almost nauseates me in this context. I'm glad I'm just smelling this from the Mini Wonders discovery set because I would have been really disappointed if I had blind-bought this on the basis of the notes, which appeal to me (aside from the plum, which I didn't expect to be so boozy). Not a fan, although maybe this will be better on skin. I'll probably test it on my wrist before curling up my nose and banishing it forever. Maybe I'll change my mind, but something tells me that if I want a woody fruity floral, I'd be better off wearing Lalique Amethyst, which has much better and more realistic (as in "berry on the bush, not turned into a syrupy liqueur") fruit notes. Or even Midnight Fantasy, frankly.

A classic plum-lipstick-powder scent. I always love this scent profile and have yet to find one that I dislike. I don't get the lavender here personally; just the plum and the iris.
I just bought 1889/Moulin Rouge from Histoires de Parfums, but this is very very similar to my nose. I don't need two of the same scent, but this one is pretty good.

Scent: I'm a sucker for fruity lipstick scents - 9/10
Longevity: Average
Projection: Average
Polarity: Feminine

If you're like me and LOVE this very specific type of fruity lipsticks, give the following a shot as well: Lipstick Rose (Frederic Malle), Misia (Chanel Les Exclusifs), 1889/Moulin Rouge (Histoires de Parfums).

Sweet powdery... not my cup of tea. It's nice but not as nice as the price asked. I think it can get sickly sweet fast if oversprayed.

Give it a try if you like sweet plums.

I bought this as I was looking for something different from my usual Coco Mademoiselle. I tried it on my skin, and to me, it reminds me of Vivian Westwood's Boudoir but more "violety". So yes, I purchased it. I personally love this and think it's a very sophisticated, womanly scent.

Sweet carrot juice and vegan muffins, made me think of Poets of Berlin. A hypster one in this collection of granny novels

Too sweet ,nauseating. I regret buying it.

Just tried this perfume at Macy's. This has a nostalgic antique book collection vibe to it. Like the smell of ancient pages that you'd typically smell in a leather bound book (only there isn't the note of leather in this perfume). This smells intelligent, astute... it has an old money vibe to it. Smells like something that would be studious... like a Straight A Student would wear this, or wear it for exams.

This could definitely have a place in my fragrance wardrobe, although it may not be a choice for me as a signature perfume. I like this, but I'm not so in love with it that I would only wear this perfume. (This perfume is much more herbal (herbal to a point where it is almost medicinal) in the first hour of wear, this is the part of the perfume that is making me hesitate purchasing this as a signature. I love the way this dries down - that part is very attractive on, the first 30 minutes to an hour is the part that makes me hesitate with this perfume).

This could just be a chemistry thing. Like I've said before, some perfumes are extremely good with my chemistry - and others have a stronger opening that you have to power through, some turn more acidic or fade too soon.

There's a trade out with this, if the perfume starts stronger, often it has more longevity...
I would need to try this again and really monitor how this unfolds in 30 minute increments.

This perfume is like reading a novel - I'm hesitant if this is one that I would like based on only reading the first few pages and chapter. As I get into the novel, this perfume REALLY comes alive - and I love reading it - and love the ending. It was definitely worth reading. I love this perfume, it just starts a bit odd with my chemistry... others may love this the whole way through.

When first sprayed, this comes across a bit strong -- it goes on herbal at the first spray, the medicinal quality of this is what I am questioning. The medicinal quality has to wear off before it moves more into the great range of the perfume with my chemistry.

Longevity - this one has lasted over 11 hours. I can still smell this.

This particular blend smells very artificial to me so I don’t like it, but being from the house of Estée Lauder (which I hold in high esteem), it’s a higher quality use of that overly sweet La Vie Est Belle-style Iris. I will say the dry down is a liiiittle nicer but ultimately I don’t like this plum candy scent

Horrible mixture of citrus fruity n powdery. Its hideous.

I tried the entire Small Wonders line from Estee Lauder and Sensuous Stars had one of my favorite openings. The plum and lavender blended together to make blueberries. Yum. Blueberries and Iris. However, after the opening settled for a few minutes, the blueberry note started to fade and a sour plum took it's place. The lavender was thankfully never prominent, but in general, I found the development of the scent disappointing. It just lost the initial magic and fell flat on skin and clothes. I feel like most of the Small Wonders line progresses in a similar manner when worn--the fragrances are top loaded and optimized for paper, not for wearing. Most of the fragrances in the line needed more support in the base, which is something that I'd expect from an inexpensive designer fragrance, but not a luxury line like this one. This line will not stick around for years to come and most of the scents will be quite forgettable--another jaded money grab from Estee Lauder.

I got a mini bottle. It's a beautiful scent and light, gentle and delicate.
I'm just a little uncomfortable with something(orris?) for the first few minutes though.
I feels like an over-40 woman scent. Classy....
In other words, This is the Estee Lauder...

Anyway, Floral Fruity scent for mature women. Not for girls.

Yes, I feel "Bibliothèque without leather" slightly.

Update: Finally, I got a full bottle. I'm getting in love with this scent :)

Well executed. My third favorite in the line, following, Dream Dusk and Tender Light. It’s aloof elegant, classy.
Good sillage and great longevity.

Update: 5/16/2023. I tried again, and I get this lipsticks but sour plum more than before. Not sure I like as much anymore.

The iris dries down to Parma violet sweets. And it got even sweeter and cloying on my skin (had to wash it off). Had high hopes for this one but didn’t meet my expectations, but one for fans of violets.

I had high hopes for this, as I love all of the notes and someone below compared it to Bibliothèque, my all-time favourite.
However, my skin chemistry is bringing out a pissy smell, which is definitely not what I was hoping for. It settles down to a wonderful powdery iris…but still with pee.
I hope others have a better time with this, because I know it would just be stunning without the urine note that I bring out in it!

This is an unusual take on iris. I've had a few irises in my life, such as Hiris, Iris Rebelle, Silver Iris, and even the long time discontinued Iris Ganache. Sensuous Stars is closer to Iris Ganache than the others. It has the typical carroty flavour that iris root can have, but also the sweetness of the flowers. It's creamy and dense, without being heavy. There are plums is here, and they are sweet, ripe and dark purple. So sweet that they actually make this scent smell like candied violets. The scent is almost gourmand. The candied violets remind me of Meteorites, and a little like Lipstick On, but the perfume maintains its individuality. It turns powdery in the dry down. It also brings back memories of doll heads, (when dolls had rubber heads that were slightly scented) and it even smells a little like scented plasticine. I cannot smell any lavender. It is definitely charming and feminine. Despite being reminiscent of many childhood things, like the violets pastilles, this isn't a juvenile scent. To my surprise it lasts quite well, and the silage is not bad either. I find it very beautiful, but I know everyone's tastes differ. The bottle is nice, heavy, the magnetic lid sort of spins in your hand. I don't think it's a safe blind buy, especially because it's pricey, but it's quite a stunner. Now I really want to smell the other from this collection.

okay so usually if I was describing a raspberry leather perfume you'd not be a fool for instantly jumping to the conclusion that Sensuous stars is just some pale Tuscan leather rip off, by Estee Lauder but actually like many in this line it keeps to the traditions on EL and actually does something creative and classy with it. So to me this perfume is about a soft, supple radiant, iris/orris based leather accord, with masses of fruity raspberry on the top. Yes I know it says plum here and actually sniffing a card i sprayed it on a few days ago I can see somewhat more of that, however when first sprayed and applied to skin I get that very tart and characteristic raspberry thing.
Now orris and raspberry have a strange affinity because some orris materials and molecules which can be used to recreate orris ( can't think of the specific one off the top of my head) have this raspberry juice effect to them. So perhaps it's that which is conjuring it for me? I dunno.
So despite this perfume not really being for me, the orris is very soft leather and cosmetic (not that I'm apposed to that I wear Lipstick rose quite happily) something about this with the raspberry is just a little too light and playfully femme for my tastes, well it's not even about taste as such, it's more... do I want to add it to my wardrobe? and I'd say....no. However, I think it's a fine perfume, This theme may exist in this format elsewhere but I'm not really aware of it and I was quite taken with just how lovely it is.

I tried it today and I must say it smells like 90s Lipsticks....it took me back when I was little and I smelled my mom's makeup

Less sweet(Less Raspberry), less leathery Bibliotheque to me.

Quite fascinating - first hit is of a waxy lipstick like my older YSL lippies (though less sweet). The Chinese plum has the slightly honeyed yet salted tannic/tart bite I’ve had with these sorts of plums before. Not the big juicy, red plums that offer a dense, sensual boozy feel to things.

More airy and fresh, I’m hunting for the lavender but it feels more of the menthol/aromatic touch it can give rather than that classic Lavendar bloom. Slowly the creamy powder pushes through the waxy top and it’s soft and buffed. This one is almost more about textures.

Soothing, light and not too much. A great meditative, or evening pre bed type scent. Or even a walk outside in the brisk air.

Definitely growing on me.

As an iris lover, I'm very impressed with this scent. A light, airy take on iris enhanced nicely by the plum and lavender notes in supporting roles, Sensuous Stars is a powdery beauty. It is rare to find iris-dominant scents among modern designer/mass market offerings, but SS features a high-quality iris note. Sweetened nicely by the plum note, and enhanced by aromatic lavender, it is simple yet beautifully composed, like this Estée Lauder luxury line in general.

SS is iris-forward at its early stages, with plum emerging after a little while, adding jammy sweetness. I get lavender as it develops, restrained but aromatic. I was very excited about the powdery orris note here - it is pitch-perfect - but unfortunately, the iris note fades after the opening subsides.

It becomes slightly lipstick-y as it dries down, fading to an airy, woody-amber skin scent. I get a hint of ambroxan or similar fixative in its later stages. The lavender remains, sweetened by plum. I would have preferred an iris-dominant scent throughout, but overall SS is still really good. Sillage and longevity are moderate.

A youthful take on a scent profile that may be traditionally viewed as mature, SS is timeless and ageless. Best worn in spring, but is transeasonal. An effortless but excellent feminine everyday scent. 4/5.

I think this is the most lipsticky fragrance I have ever smelled

I was looking for a plum fragrance just after eating one ( juicy, fragrant and middle-soft to the touch ).

There are many options with Plum , but it is not the “main star of the movie”.
So for me this perfume was worthy to acquire.

It is basically paired with Orris Root ( which helps to provide creaminess and powdery-velvety notes) and lavender just bring the ideal amount of florals to provide a fresh note to the wearer.

Airy , clean and powdery accords are perceived when it settles.

Alone is feminine, nocturnal and delicate ; but paired with creamy woods and aquatic notes could bring an interesting unisex combo, great for sharing with your partner for a nice , elegant and intimate moment.


I think it could be more appreciated when it is applied at the evening- midnight.
There’s a cold, sophisticated and calm vibe when I perceive this perfume.

Finally , the box and the bottle are very elegant and beautiful, there’s definitely a connection between of what you see and perceive with the other senses.

Sweet iris and plum. Beautiful, very elegant! Similar to Iris Goddess by Floral Street but sweeter. Very tender. Be aware, this is one of those scents that smells super different on paper vs on skin!!! I love it!

No lavender, no lipstick notes. Raspberry, instead

It took me a while to warm up to Sensuous Stars! I love just about everything in this line, but I found Sensuous Stars too basic at first. But now it strikes me as a fresh twist on the makeup/lipstick genre of fragrances, which I love. Very office friendly for those who need a perfume to check that box.

A simple plum and iris fragrance. The lavender in this is very subtle. You can smell its clean and herbal touch if you know it's supposed to be there, but this is not a lavender-dominant fragrance and I'm not sure if I would have noticed it if I didn't read the notes beforehand.
The iris/orris is much easier to pick up. It's powdery as usual and has a bit of a lipstick vibe, no earthy roots here. The plum is very nicely done, it smells warm, ripe and juicy with a slightly musky undertone. Am I the only one who sometimes gets a musky note from plums in perfume? Anyways, the blend of powdery iris and plum also smells a bit like fuzzy white peaches, with a nice 90s throwback vibe.

The scent is rather sweet and doesn't change much over the time of wearing. I like it, but I'd like it more if it had a little complexity. Performance-wise I'd say it's moderately good, perfect for daytime wear.

For anyone wondering, this has nothing in common with the old Sensuous fragrances by Estée Lauder, they only reused the name.

Strange perfume. On me - no lavander and no plum. Try before purchase. Very strange.

This literally smells like you got lipstick and rolled it across your skin.. no hate to it.. just that’s how it smells to me..so if you like super lipsticky smelling scents then you’ll like this.

This smells like bread, actual bread. Seriously im not joking.

I've tried this one on a few times now and I'm really in two minds about it: too sweet or not too sweet for me? Sometimes I get whiffs of a soft, inoffensive yet elegant orris, at other times it is clearly too sweet for me, too fruity for me. So it's been a no-buy so far. Even into the drydown I'm not sure.
Desert Eden is a dream of a fragrance, I'm already grateful for that addition to my collection. I intend to buy another bottle soon, it's really gorgeous!

I just tried this on at the only place it’s physically for sale in my country. Smells exactly like walking past a Lush shop. That smell gives me a headache so I’m not a fan.

Massively disappointed.

I had blind bought Desert Eden and Radiant Mirage and they were both so shockingly exquisite, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. Still an online exclusive where I'm at when i bought it, i had no chance to try it on. Orris root is one of my most favourite scents, and i was craving lavender at that point. Plum made me hope for a throwback to Eau de fleur de Prunier by Kenzo, which i used to wear so much back in the day. I had really high hopes for this one.

Well, that was such let down. Light, semi sweet plum, and a neutral, woody smell, like soft white wood or a fruit pit. No lavender or orris to be found anywhere, and its projection and intensity is non-existent compared to the monsters that Desert Eden and Radiant Mirage are. This smells like a body mist or eau de toilette i would have smelled in the Body Shop in 2008. Non offensive, linear, rather light, and....boring. thankfully it's not TOO sweet, the plum sweetness is rather natural and not overdone or sugary at all, but it still doesn't appeal to me. It reminds me of a front desk secretary i knew, she was very stylish with her black bob hairstyle and skinny jeans, but due to the nature of the business she was employed in, she went the extra mile to make sure she's soft spoken and unimpressive to the senses: feminine, patient, soft spoken, assertive but not loud....this is something she would wear i think. It doesn't overwhelm the place nor the senses, and it smells good without drawing attention. In other words a very safe, office friendly perfume, that i would find wearable throughout all seasons and ages. The problem here is the price point, which is way too much for what it offers, and my expectations of course, since it doesn't hold a candle to the other two i mentioned....

Took a while before I really understood this fragrance. Found it rather odd at first, but after a few wears, have come to love it. Fruity, powdery iris notes - don't really get much of the lavender from it, though the slightly medicinal note is probably just that. Very calming, relaxing, elegant type of fragrance.

I like it very much.
I can’t smell the lavender but the Orris and Plum are very prominent.
Its vibe and olfactory category reminds me a lot of « Yvresse » by YSL (Lately called « Champagne »). It’s a Fruity-Chypre for me.

This is very poetic and also « gourmand », but not in the sense of current sugary perfumes, but rather « mouth watering » and « gourmet », I mean, it makes me want to crunch into a fruit!
Very sparkly and dusty, like sparkling stardust 🤩. The purple color is a clever choice because this is exactly what I see when I close my eyes smelling this : A purple cloudy sky with bright silver stars (Think satellite pictures of the universe with saturate colors).

Sensuous stars is classic and polite but impertinent and playful at the same time. I like the fact it is ageless. I can see a young girl like an old woman wearing this. Other perfumes make me the same effect, for exemple « insolence » from Guerlain (in particular the EDT), who can play very youthful game as well as mature feeling.

I loved this when I sprayed it on the card at dillards. Couldn’t stop smelling it. The associate gave me a sample and I got it home and sprayed it on and I hate it. I had to scrub it. It made me smell like a nursing home. I hate using language like that to describe scents but it genuinely just smells horrible on my skin. Very sad

Very disappointing. What a shame. I had really high hopes for this.

Unfortunately it was a blind buy,based on Chypre.

Do I get Chypre.....not at all! Nothing but sweet cherry's. This is not a sophisticated or grown up scent. I think EL are trying to aim at the younger market,who want to feel grown up.

After 2 days,it had to go and I gave it to my friend.

I tried the fresher one at the make up counter and that was lovely,but this is really disappointing,especially for the price.

This is the first one that I have tried from EL’s new Luxury Collection. And I have to say it has impressed me. All of the perfumes in this line seem to have only a few notes. This one has plum, lavender and orris. And they play off each other brilliantly. Orris and lavender by themselves are androgynous, leaning a bit to the masculine side. But the sweet plum acts as a very smartly placed counterpoint, which brings the fragrance right back into the target range of unisex. If the plum was left on its own, the fragrance would undoubtedly be cloying, but the lavender and orris temper the plum so well. These three notes offset one another in a way that I have not encountered before, and this is a welcome addition to my collection. I do not have anything like this in my collection yet. Well done Estée Lauder! I look forward to sampling more from this new luxury collection!

Sooo... I like plum but really can't get into any iris/orris notes. When first sprayed, this is fairly off putting to me. As it dries down, the notes morph, but they remain a super strange combo, in my opinion. After a while, all the plum is gone and it is straight orris. Therefore, this one's not for me. I would caution anyone thinking of picking this up to not expect much else other than orris - if you are looking for strong, juicy plum, you may be disappointed.

Mystery fluid mixed with grape soda. Gak.

This to my nose smells like some sort of laffy taffy. Very disappointed in this one. The marketing and the perfume just don't meet up.
Edit: Later in the day on 12/12/21 this has a very plastic smell that I just do not like. Laffy taffy and plastic. Very fake. This and Infinite Sky were total losers for me. The winners for me in this line were Radiant Mirage, Tender Light, Desert Eden, Dream Dusk and Blushing Sands. Paradise Moon is just ok.

I also got the discovery collection. This is a very yummy semi sweet spiced plum. The orris and plum combination is very feminine and lovely. I think this is full bottle worthy. Love this one!

I bought the Estee Lauder Small Wonders discovery set, and Sensuous Stars is the sweetest one in the collection. This is the fragrance I would buy a full bottle. It smells like a candied plum with a sweet powdery dry down. Think pastel purple cloud. The lavender smells more like violet to me. Very feminine and light without suffocating you with too much sweetness.

I have the discovery set and this is the most feminine of the line. The rest lean very unisex to my nose, which is not a bad thing per se. I just like to smell like a girl! The plum and orris combination is magical. Smells like the color lavender.

this is my favourite of the new EL scent line. I smell plum TEA, not the real fruit, but luckily more of an unsweetened plum tea in a wonderful combination with orris root, (so not the powdery, flowery iris, it's really the slightly herby iris root that was used here). The lavender is hardly detectable and I can only smell traces of it very late, maybe after 2-3 hours of wearing. It remains mainly this lovely plum tea and orris root mixture which immediately gave me the impression of a Japanese teahouse , very soothing, protecting, quiet, almost spa-like.
The scent impression remains quite exclusive and expensive to me - especially if you are a general iris-scent fan like me and have tested like hundreds of iris scents and found that many of them resemble each other.
This one is really new to my nose, plum tea and iris root, a combination I never smelled before and very well done.

I tried this in Macy’s, it’s nice! I mostly get super juicy sweet plums, with a touch of juicy fruit gum or nerds candy? it’s not my taste, but if I smelled it on someone else I would think they smelled yummy

I just got this in the mail… And I do agree it leans slightly hairspray shampoo scent, it’s still very beautiful! There’s something very bright and nostalgic about it… I really like it… Will have to wait for the week to see if it’s a love for me or not but the nostalgia is there which I just adore… Super bright and pretty… Smells like a pretty girl..

update
this dries down to something completely different with no sweetness :( this make me so sad, because its so pretty for the first 30 mins, but dries down to a patchouli floral with a mainstream chemical perfume scent. So bummed

OUTCOME
Dries down cheap

I just bought Radiant Miracle and Sensuous Stars by Estée Lauder this week from Boots.

My, my this smells like expensive shampoo, or maybe expensive aerosol spray. It is fruity, sticky, and iris is quite synthetic. It is a strange scent in that the plum feels almost misty but the iris grounds it. Sitting close to the skin, I almost want to kiss my wrist, yes it is sensuous but it is also quite aloof. Aloof as in, I’m raptured but it dries down and reminds me of high end salons. The plum loses potency (which, I believe is what pulls me in) and the iris lounges in a distant way. That kind of aloof. Stars? Not really, it is a garden scent and not remote and ethereal enough to be wispy. I want to sleep with the lavender, but it is so distant it almost feels like it does not want me. I sort of feel rejected by this scent.

Short review:
Aloof, away, sensuous at first, dry down like an aerosol can. I do not understand the stars aspect, it’s not romantic enough.

I bought it as soon as I smelled it. Beautiful, lipsticky orris. The fruity note from the plum is well balanced and highlights the lipstick element of this perfume. I don't detect any lavender. I really appreciate that they made 40ml bottles available. Wear time is good, though I feel the sillage is quite close.

This is the one I bought first, and I am waiting to receive it, this one intrigued me the most, because I love lavender, and the perfumer is AMANDINE CLERC MARIE, it's listed on the Estee Lauder website, I really like reading on these perfumes, I really like the names of these. She is know for doing La Nuit Tresor, Angel EDT 2011, Voca Viva. I really have high hopes for this one.