Reviews of Stella by Stella McCartney

Rose with a lot of cheap fruit on top. It's that mix of fake strawberry and fake peach that signals a smellalike fruity floral. Fortunately, given time, a rather nice rose absolute smell comes pushed through all that fruit, at which point Stella gets quite nice.

If you haven't guessed by now, I really don't like fruity rose perfumes, so Stella definitely isn't for me. It's a shame - if they'd just let that nice rose do its thing, this could have been great. Oh well....

I love the rose notes, they aren’t cloying or reminiscent of old fashioned rose water. I think of it as heavy metal rose.

Stella is always the right choice when I don't have an idea of what fragrance to wear. It's perfect for the office, daytime/evening, any season, and is unlikely to offend anyone. It's pleasant and comfortable. I wish the formulation hadn't changed though....the older version was so much better!

The opening of this is an easy-to-like designer rose and peony perfume. After a couple hours, some of the floral goodness can still be smelled up close, but the projecting elements of the perfume are less interesting and enjoyable than the opening, even cloying.

This is a rose perfume. Sorry, but I don't like it. The bottle is classy though.

Nice , but not quite ...me . Passed my bargain find to my mom ,who loves rose scents. I'm pretty sure it's the "woody ambers" that are not quite syncing up with me. It gives a bit too much " heaviness " to the scent and ( perhaps this is unfair -but hey I have a lot of scents that have to compete for skin time) I had a sinus headache verging on a migraine while wearing Stella edp . Not quite a pleasant association. Another find , vintage Colors de Bennetton actually seemed to take my headache DOWN a few notches when I wore it the next day.
I think this is pleasant enough to be around but I don't really want to wear it and have it wafting up all day. Stella resembles other peony rose type scents like Ellen Tracy but with more clean musk and amber-"woods"added.

I agree with some Basenoters, Stella is a shadowy, slightly resinous,  barely mossy rose with a powdery, warm and sombre woody-ambery dry down. I detect some almost edible balsams in the blend, some dissonant spices (cumin?) and boise' ambery (ambrette seeds?) rosey facets that remind me traits of scents as Kingdom McQueen. The first blast, while soon preluding to the following darker warmth, is immediately fruity, barely green and floral with a first chord of mandarine, herbs, watery flowers, aldehydes (i suppose) and bergamot.  Very soon that touch of almost angular botanic temperament recedes and leaves gradually the scene to a dark and powdery density made by oil of rose, balsams, animalic notes (honey?) and hints of oakmoss. Really chic (in a retro way) and floral with a sort of almost sinister, solitary and quiet british classic spark of sophistication. Finally the scent becomes a bit lightler, closer, soapy and wearable. Well balanced in the dry down. A great work from Jacques Cavallier.

it is deep floral and powdery. i can't say it is fresh bu it is clean. The smell does't chance in hours. it is straigt and very confident. this smell should have been more long lasting.

I'm all smiles with this one. It's a VERY subtle and well-blended mixture of rose, amber, and orange. I really like its austere sensibility, the minimalist philosophy at work here. This is sophisticated smelling and I would love this on my girlfriend...but I dare say I feel it can be unisex and I think I might give it a go too!

Adore Stella. Wearing it, I feel like a well-heeled British lady in the 1930s, walking through a garden in the early morning. A cool, slightly sweet breeze lifts the scent of dewy roses to my nose, as my dashing suitor steals a kiss.

Vintage romance at its best. Bliss.

I found the rose in this Stella perfume quite mild and calm for a potentially explosive flower like that.

The fragrance won't change much, but just because of that, it invites to smell deeper.

It's warm and reassuring, ideal for situations in not-too crowded places, with more intimacy than clatter.

Ooooh, I love Stella! Cool, fresh, rosey, floral, feminine, suitable for any occasion, uplifting in the dark days of winter, breezy and light in the warmth of summer, this is my all round never lets me down perfume, and it's delicious!

Innocence and roses go hand-in-hand. This is one bad-arse rose with a Harley and a leather jacket. It's what I imagine a fabled black rose to smell. Romance has an edge and it's very, very seductive.

The scent's longevity is impressive. The consistency of scent is amazing; if you love how it smells when it's first applied then you will be delighted to know that scent will stay with you all day. Of course, what I love most is how naughty I feel for simply wearing this fragrance, especially at work. I liken it to liquid burgundy lingerie.

Beautiful, rosy and clean. Kind of reminds me of the clothes draw liner paper mum used to use, I mean that in the best way possible! As it wears, the fresh blast of rose develops an amber warmth ever so quietly. It's an easy one to pick out in a crowd and I have a feeling this smells better on other people than me, and I can barely smell it after a few hours but I'm hoping that I have the same soft rosy cloud following me around all day like the people I can smell it on!

I love this fragrance! I have been wearing it on and off for the past three years and I get compliments every single time I wear it! It is very long wearing on me, and I love the way it develops over the day.

If you are looking for a pure, simple, vintage-style rose then Stella is the way to go.

Stella is triple-milled rose soap of the highest quality in a spray bottle. As such, it's hard to fault anyone for liking it, for who truly dislikes a clean smelling person? As a fragrance - or even a rose fragrance - it's weak. Stella is close-wearing and subtle, but like a mezzo-soprano whose notes are always slightly sharp, there is something shrill and timid about it. There is an ever-so-slight amber warmth in Stella, but as the other basenotes are musks of the detergent variety, it's addition serves only to differentiate it from generic dryer sheets. Stella is not particularly sophisticated, but she's trying really hard!

I decided to try Stella when I read many reviews which stated this fragrance as a new classic. Stella is not your typical sweet and flowery rose scent, it is much darker and woodsy. It's actually not a sweet fragrance at all. The overall fragrance, including the dark purple bottle, reminds me of something slightly gothic or medieval. Because of my young age I didn't fall in love with Stella but I can see why people love it. Perhaps when I'm older I will retry this fragrance and like it a lot better, as I see this fragrance appealing to much more mature, sophisticated women.

l love Stella, & l guess it loves me back, because l seem to be one of a very few people on whom this projects & lasts beautifully. lt smells like English garden roses in full bloom, but not in any way retro; it has a definite modern feel, although l'm not sure why. l don't really sense amber in this; more of a musky patchouli. lt works for day or evening, for any occasion.
l also have the Rose Absolute version, which is deeper, darker & more amber-heavy. lt is the deep red rose to Stella's white rose, & is more of a winter fragrance for me.
l have a bottle of Sheer Stella for summer too, so l have one for every contingency, that's how much l love it. With Stella, l always come up smelling of roses! ;)

I love the first stuck-my-face-in-a-real-rose blast. It smells light, airy and natural. Like a real rose it wilts a short time later. The drydown smells pleasantly like the bottom of the glass of red wine you finished 15 minutes ago. But so what? Spray some more! It's like an eau-de-cologne really, a pick-me-up. I love to waltz about the house getting my chores done in a rosy cloud of it. It's perfect for what it is! If you want intensity, sultriness, sillage for days, you're out of luck, but that's why it's nice to keep more than one perfume in the cupboard.

A lovely, rosy fragrance. One of my favorites, its very soft and delicate, although perhaps a little too soft as I find that it has to be continuously reapplied throughout the day for the scent to linger. Other than that, this is an A+ perfume. I love it!

OK. I am a little bit shitty (pissed off in Aussie terms). I absolutely LOVE this frag but I feel I have to over apply to really get the silage and longevity I want. I love rose and I love amber but Stella is a little bit too polite for me. I like my perfumes to have a little of attitude and spunk and this one is too worried what others will think of her. I am going to source the Rose Absolute which I hope will give me the 'oooh yeah, I'm smellin' that reaction' rather than 'hmm, did someone scent their sheets with rosewater?'. Great office scent that is non-offensive. Myself? If I offend you? get in line.

I love roses!! and yesterday, I saw so many good reviews here about this perfume, that I could't wait to try it!I tried today, and I really hate it!! Sorry for all stella fans, but this kind of rose is the typical smell, that comes from a normal deodorant.So obvious,lacks depth, artificial, boring, I even had to ask the seller, to try another perfume and forget that smell, so i try Pure Poison, and let me tell you: Nothing can compares to Dior's flowers!

This is such a beautiful rose perfume! So innocent,and the closest I've smelled to real roses (the "Rose Absolute" version compromises the natural smell for some acidic/citric and musky notes that make it stronger, but not better- many perfumers don't understand that roses do not smell like lemon).It's not choked in sweetness, it's airy,fresh and natural. It's not too strong, true. Not a big sillage, but lasting power is decent. And it's very romantic

A feminine, modern take on a rose scent. Didn't have much staying power on me though and I found it a little too 'fresh' scented and white-rose like for me, but that's just personal preference. A 'dainty' scent nice for in the summer, but personally I like my perfumes a little headier and heavier.