(PSA for Today — if you want an 8.4 oz Guerlain No. 68 for $168.79, call the Bellagio Guerlain boutique at 702-693-7923. This is the one that was Similar to Guet-Apens and Attrape-Coeur, pretty much the same one. They still had a few left last night)
Paco Rabanne Calandre used to be one of my favorite perfumes back in my 20s. I don’t remember why I stopped wearing it. I guess some bright, new shiny thing went flitting by. As I looked at the notes for it, I was horrified — it has Lily of the Valley in it! *making sign of cross*. What kind of youthful fragrance pecadillo was that? I hate Lily of the Vally… with a passion and then just a dollop of detestation. I mean, look at it… upside down flowers, isn’t that the sign of Satan? Was I so young I just didn’t know what I hated back then? Was I possessed? Well, yeah, that must be it, that’s the only explanation I have. Since I am going down scented memory lane of all the perfumes I have loved and worn in my life, I bought a bottle to try and see if it had the same magic I thought it had (despite this wretched LotV). When it goes on, there is that horrific LotV, but that seems to get on its broom and fly back to Hell quickly and becomes the same magical scent I loved back then. Then my memory is refreshed — I did NOT like the open on this back then either, but it was worth it to endure those short horror-filled moments to get to what is still a gorgeous perfume… green and woods and it feels a little musky, in a green way.
The scented memory lane will make stops at Coriandre, KL, K de Krizia, Cinnabar, Charlie and… Giorgio in the coming weeks! Yeah, I’ll bet y’all can’t wait for that.
People keep asking me which ones of the Pud Etat line I like. My favorites are Vraie Blond, Jasmin et Cigarette and Rien. I like Palace Whore just fine, though the other three are more to my personal taste. There are several other good ones in there, as well.
And it appears Mah Baby has been hiding from me all of my life. When Serge Lutens’ Cuir Mauresque showed up on my doorstep, I was prepared to hate it… hate it with the same passion I hated milking cows in the winter with their snow melting on their backs and plopping on my head while I was down putting on their chains and milkers. Wow! Love Me Do! This really is the loveliest bits of leather and softness. You guys could have told me about it earlier, you know. I thought we were friends.
What perfume from your youth do you most want to try again to see if you really loved it that much?
Lily Picture from The Loft Gallery
Love’s Baby Soft
something called Desert Flower
Bal a Versailles (from sister’s dresser… didn’t smell good)
Love’s Lemon Fresh
something called Tibetan Musk — whew!
Miss Dior (gift from my father at age 11. Pretty bottle but never liked it that much)
Bluegrass by Eliz Arden — until boyfriend said it smelled like incense
Rive Gauche — cool plastic smell
Opium — in my 20s
#19 — in my 20’s
#22 — in my late 20s
Lauren — until boyfriend said it smelled like bug spray
and so on and so on.
Very late to the party as usual. What fun to read about people’s youthful fragrances!
My very first “grown-up” fragrance in high-school was Anais Anais. I adored everything about it: the dreamy magazine ads, the pretty packaging, the smell etc. I recently re-tried it a couple of times, and it doesn’t grab me the way it did when I was younger. It’s still pleasant, but more powdery than I remember.
I also wore a drugstore fragrance from Coty called April Fields. I think you can still get this on-line, but unlike the ubiquitous Vanilla Fields, it’s not sold in drugstores anywhere. I’d love to try this one again – I can’t remember what it smelled like at all, just that I loved it.
Shhhh…don’t tell anyone, but I love Lily of the Valley. As it turns out, most of my favorite florals have LotV in them somewhere. This is in spite of the fact that I was also given some of that hideous Tinkerbell perfume when I was a kid!
😮 I was just telling Sister Shirl, not 2 weeks ago, that I loved, Loved, LOVED Calandre but thought they had discontinued it. Found a bottle at a flea market one time and held on to it until it got dregs in it…
I don’t remember what it smells like anymore, just that it was my happy place.
Ok, a day late again, and just checking in to make it perfectly clear how old I am! :d
Charley, Lauren, Halston–and then, ta,da! my first true love, OPIUM! Lauren and Halston might be worth checking out again. . . .
One disadvantage of being of a certain age is that one’s youthful perfumes cannot be truly revisited because they’ve gotten reformulated. Femme now has cumin in it (also known as b.o. accord). I’d love to try Fleurs de Rocaille (notice the plural), but the new, totally stinky-on-me singular Fleur de Rocaille reinvention is the one more readily available.
I smell marvelous. I finally got around to doing a full-fledged application of Andy Tauer Orris. I’m in fragrance heaven, where I needed very badly to be.
DOG ADOPTION UPDATE: Our new but ancient Italian greyhound mix was not ready for us at the SPCA when we showed up to pick him up on Wednesday. They had not gotten around to doing his dental work. So we had to wait till yesterday afternoon to bring him home. He is a thorough-going cutie. Unfortunately, he is also neurotic to the max. He’s very hyper. Last night we thought we’d comfort him by putting him in bed with us. He stayed at attention most of the night, shaking himself awake whenever he started to snooze. When I stopped petting him, he’d put his paw on my hand so I would resume. Frequently he jumped off the bed and after some exploring, he jumped back on. At the SPCA they’d started him on thyroid supplments because some bloodwork showed he was HYPOthyroid. I don’t think so!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m making an appointment with a vet ASAP. Dogs are supposed to sleep most of the day; not this guy. If this is full of typos, you know sleep deprivation is the cause. And, don’t worry, we’ll try a different approach to sleeping arrangements.
Hey, Maria: Thanks for the update. I am not knowledgeable about IGs, but when I have this situation with my new fosters, I sometimes put them in a plastic kennel with lots of soft rags (flannel, etc.) so they can make a nest, and put the kennel in my room where I can talk with them but not pat them. Because I have several dogs, I also often can pair them up during the day with another dog who can exert a mellow influence. It does seem that the iggies I’ve met have been quite high-strung, but, wow, you’d think they’d chill out at his age. Good luck, dear heart!
Thanks, Ellen! I knew you’d have good suggestions. We were going to try a plastic kennel tonight with a nice soft pad at the bottom. Now I’ll also add some soft flannel pieces. I’m sooo surprised at his energy, considering his age. I knew IGs were more hyper than full-sized greyhounds, but refusing to sleep is taking all that energy a little too far. 😮
I love Chene. I want me some. Now. There’s nothing else like it. But I’m saving myself for Autumn. Sel de Vetiver and V Tonka are the FBs at the top of this boy’s list.
Cedre is unrelated to Chene, other than they both have a C and two Es…
Well, SeldeV and VT are thing truly worth having. So if Chene is on that list… damnit, DHL, arrive already!
Patty: I thought *we* were friends. Cuir Mauresque is one of only three SL exclusives I have not tried now. (The others are, to my shame, MKK and Un Lys.) I have been purposely avoiding CM because everybody who loves my favourite, Chene, seems to also love CM – and I only have room in my Paris budget for one bell jar. You’ve never had samples of CM available to purchase and I was hopeful that this meant you thought it sucked. It sucks, right? Recant! I don’t like leathers anyway. Or, I don’t know… burnt sytrax. Clearly going to hate it.
*looks sheepish* Um, Tigs, I really thought that CM would be horrible, so I never bothered getting it, honest! Then I kept hearing rumors that it was pretty great, and I got it then.
It so doesn’t suck. burnt styrax and leathers never smelled so good!
Now, Chene I had ignored, too, because I despised Cedre, but I’ve got some Chene coming any day now, so I should love it, right?
Oops – see below. I am such the l-)
I love Chene. Chene is the forestiest forest I ever smelled.
CN – now that’s a completely different animal. Or, rather, not an animal, which I had hoped for (“cuir”) but only the scent inside a hippie/new age store full of incense and scented soap. Big meh.
I love Lily of the Valley!
As long as it stays in the valley.
I’ve gone back and retried (and blogged about) Habit Rouge, Royal Bain du Caron, and Pierre Cardin Pour Monsieur. Only the last one didn’t make the cut into “hmmm, gotta get a bottle of that”. The only ones that I haven’t gone back and tried are Halston 1-12 and Z-14. I think only Z-14 is still available.
Which Valley? Death Valley, I’m thinking.
Z-14 was pretty darn good
awww geeee :(( such hating on poor lily of the valley. C’mon, folks, it ain’t that bad. (sniff sniff….HOONNNNK) It’s my natal flower (May baby) and it’s actually more Pagan than Satanic. The tiny white flowers are fairy’s bells and they only chime when the fairies gather and sing. (Yes, of course I know this for a fact lol)
As you may have guessed, I was devoted to Muguet des Bois as a pre-teen. All of my friends were wearing Sweet Honesty or Oh de London, but I couldn’t be swayed.
Yes, I still like their scent, and have always grown a few whenever I’ve had a patch of ground for a garden.
I also remembering liking Jontue, Le Jardin and a short-lived fragrance from Coty called Elan.
Elan! I remember that one. Don’t remember a thing about it except it was perfect (then) for the 15 yr. old me. Was it a light chypre? I also liked Woodhue and Muguet des Bois (sorry Patty). My Mom kept the local Avon lady in business with her purchases of Topaz,Occur!, and Honeysuckle perfume cream.
Now, now, I have heard LotV described as Mary’s Tears, allegedly the tears she shed at the cross. I think it is Satan’s sweat. 🙂
Oh, sure, it eventually lands with a pretty drydown about a century after I put it on.
Now, I do love LotV fresh in a garden, I think they are gorgeous and great smelling, but they I do not like them in perfume, not a bit, not at all.
Teri, I think lotv are nice fresh–except for the whole poison thing. My problem with them in fragrance is that when I was small I was given a bottle of a cologne called Tinkerbell. It was straight lotv, as I found out later in adolescence when I tried Muguet des Bois at a store. They smelled the same. Although I thought the scent was pleasant, I didn’t want to put on something that had once been called Tinkerbell and had been aimed at little girls. I was a mature girl of 14 or 15, after all. 🙂
Oh Maria…I hope you don’t mind me laughing with, not at, you and your Tinkerbell. Believe me, I’d have abhorred it too with such an association. \:d/
My first comment, even though I’ve been reading your terrific blog for months now!
I can’t wait for you to stroll down Coriandre Lane! I have such specific memories of that scent from the summer of 1977, being trapped in an apartment in Morningside Heights in NYC during the blackout that summer … and lots of other very fond memories attached to it as well!
Other favorites from back in my day include the original Youth Dew (how on earth did an 18 year old pull off Youth Dew?)the old Hermes Amazone, Cinnabar and a Courreges perfume that I adored, but can’t remember the name of. It came in a bottle with the Courreges C logo raised in gold. I spent the 80’s with No.5, Opium, the original Coco.
It’s so interesting to contemplate the influence that Estee Lauder has had on women of a certain generation. It seems no one escaped one formulation or another.
Welcome to the posse, Martha!
I don’t think an 18 year old DID pull off Youth-Dew. We just thought we did! I can picture now my room in the co-ed dorm, ca. 1981, where I smoked profusely and, to “cover” the smell, SPRAYED YOUTH-DEW! Yikes! My main guy, who also smoked constantly, bought me the whole gift set for Xmas (prob. because it came in a lovely cardboard chest, red with a gold design), so I could drench myself in a variety of media. And, yet, many other guys stepped into my room and a couple of them even kissed me. Such is the power of youthful beauty & hormones. Amazing, huh?
Coriandre is so lovely, too. Wish it didn’t make me sneeze…
Welcome, Martha! Coriandre is pretty awesome so far.
I think Youth Dew tended to be worn by the young a lot. It was my sister’s first grown-up perfume, and she must have been like 19 or 20 then? Whenever I smell it, I still think of her. Cinnabar was more my fragrances, along with Private Collection, but that one mostly because it is what my favorite auntie wore.
But, yeah, Estee Lauder is really the company that made women start to buy scent for themselves and enjoy. When I think of what a short journey that has been, it’s pretty stunning.
When I think of having to wait for someone else to buy me perfume that they would like me to wear, I wake up screaming and look for some Xanax. 🙂
Right now, this minute, I’d like to try again Venezia by Biagiotti, Chamade, Nahéma, Jean-Louis Sherrer, Loulou….too many to remember.
I love the natural scent of lilies of the valley.
Divin’ Enfant I didn’t like at first, but my skin loves it so I had to cave in:)
Really on the Divin’enfant. I’m going to go splash some on, it got ignored except some cursory sniffing.
I love that sample you sent to me of one of the new ones, I definitely want that one when it finally comes to Bendel’s!
Brave woman! It’s not one of the easiest scents in the line! This one was my favorite on a bloater. Loved it, loved it, but then my skin said no:)Ah, well, maybe with time.
Thank you for Putain des Palaces:) I like it now that I have tested it on my skin. A very nice jammy rose.
Does anyone remember a fragrance called Votre by Charles Jourdan?? This piece is making me remember all of the perfumes of my misspent youth. I’d love to find Votre again. I think that I need to try Aliage again too now that enough years have passed since I walked around in a green cloud of it.
Kathy, have never even heard of Votre, sorry! Anything about it turn up on eBay, the land where all dead frags eventually show up?
Nothing so far, but I have only begun to look! It was a gift from a friend in Barcelona, so it may not have been distributed in the US. I did find about a quarter of a bottle left in my great big box of everything, and it smells a little lighter than I remember it. It has to be at least 20 years old, so I guess it’s allowed to mellow.
I remember loving Calandre and will keep an eye out for it to sniff again esp after the LotV thing. I love the smell and look of the flower but I don’t want to smell of them oh no! I had Choc du Cardin for a bit back there in the 80’s – would love to track that down and discover if I still love it. I am looking forward to your coriandre review – another old favourite!
Choc du Cardin? I’ve never heard of that one. Does it smell like chocolate, or does that mean something else. Coriandre is just as I remember it, but better since I got my hands on the parfum. Squee!
Yes, it should smell of chocolate! But no, I’ve seen it described as a fruity chypre and that chimes with my memory of it – quite rich actually. Think I was too young for it at the time really. Oh no! I just checked – it has the dread LotV!!! Which I don’t remember AT ALL lol!
Isn’t it odd how that smarmy little flower is showing up in favorite perfumes? I think it’s paid off perfumers to list it as a note when it’s not really there.
PBI and FYI and any other acronyms you want; “Choc” means “shock”–nothing to do with chocolate! 🙂
Wow, two mentions of Aliage above. That was one of my first perfume loves as a teenager and no one else was wearing it around here. Now I’m going to have to search it out again and see if it smells like I remember. Don’t think my local dept store has it…
Hey, Gail: You can be my excuse to get some. If someone can get me your email so we can communicate, I’ll decant you some. Ellen
I’m a little worried about this Aliage love too. I don’t think I’ve tried it!
Note to Self: try Calandre.
Marina, I think Calandre is definitely one you would like. There’s enough of the *whispers so Satan won’t hear* LotV to keep you happy, but it doesn’t should so loud in there that it upsets me. :0
Marina, do try to get hold of the extrait! It’s gorgeous, even better than the other concentrations (which I like as well)
Oh, my, Patty! Just yesterday I bit the bullet & decided that $14 was not too much to pay to find out whether Cachet by Prince Matchabelli still smells good to me. As I mentioned recently, my Germanic mom smelled (on special occasions) like 4711 or Coty Muguet des Bois. I have minis of 4711, which is pretty darn good still, though too much neroli for me. I’ve been gearing up to try the other soon. (Sorry, sweetie — muguet & I will probably have a pleasant reminiscence together.)
Last week, I took a sentimental sniff down the shelves of the local discount perfumer (Ulta 3) & found out that: Azuree, Cinnabar, and Youth-Dew are still lovely but too strong for me; I somehow missed Aliage but think I’ll buy some soon — lovely mossy greenness; I’ve broken up with aldehydes & hence can’t renew my friendship with Coco or start one with Chanel No. 5.
OK, who wanted to try Chaos by Karan, even though it’s frightfully expensive & nearly unavailable??? THERE ARE LIMITED QUANTITIES OF CHAOS SAMPLES FOR $10 AT PERFUMEBAY. There, that’s my public service announcement of the day. I personally have a sample of Chaos, which I like but do not find worth the frenzy. If there is an addict out there who needs it, I will pass it along if Patty or March will broker the exchange of addresses.
We will need a report on the Cachet. I know I’ve sniffed it, but can’t remember it at all, which might say something,but probably not. 🙂
Awwwwww, poor little LOTVs!! My grandparents’ house had several beds of LOTVs around it, and the sight & smell of them speeds me back to my childhood in a sweet and melancholy way. Sadly, they don’t grow where I live now, and I miss them.
You have inspired me: I’m going to look up the following fragrances from my youth: Jontue (feeling a little nervous about this one), Lauren, Sweet Honesty. I started wearing Halston when I was 17 and wore it pretty much exclusively for 20 years, and still do. It’s a gorgeous frag.
Lauren is definitely worth looking up. I can’t remember Jontue at all. Sweet Honesty, though… wow, I know I wore or tried that one. It was pretty sweet, wasn’t it? Well, the name, of course!
Halston, I’ve never tried that one. I know the men’s fragrance, was it Z-14? Something like that. That one was pretty awesome.
Hey! Lilies of the valley are lovely, one of my favourite flowers (flowers, not florals, they turn to soap on my skin) not Satan’s spawn! Well, maybe they are, it’s not like I’m a Christian anyway… After all, MY first perfume was “Satan Instinct”, a supposedly aphrodisiac concoction with flames on it… And the second… Taylor of London’s Lily of the Valley EdT… :d Alright, I see the signs too, LofV IS Satan’s flower…
I still have my first perfume bottles, the LofV is almost full and scarily yellowed. I got them in my teens but I seldom used them and I’ve only been a perfume junkie for two years now, tops. Heck, I never even finished a sample yet! There are just too many new ones to try!
My Pud Etat favs are Jasmin et Cigarette, Putain des Palaces and Divin’Enfant. I’m shocked, I was so sure I’d be more interested in the masculine ones. But there seem to be a general agreement JeC and PdP are among the better ones. Eloge du Traitre smells just like Yatagan to my nose, I like it but I like Yatagan better.
Cuir Mauresque was pure headshop to me… orange flower incense… where’s my leather? A huge disppointment, I mean SL + leather, does it get much better?
Solander — aha! See! 🙂
Satan Instinct? They put that name on a perfume, and… you . bought . it?
you liked the Divin’enfant? I’m surprised. That one is okay at first, and maybe I need to just spend more time with it, but seemed sooooo sweet. The whole Pud Etat line struck me as the best kind of science experiment. And the lovely thing is a few of them are actually pretty great perfumes.
Well… “perfume” is perhaps too strong a word, some $5 concoction I bought in a drugstore… “Eau envoûtante… Un monde nouveau… Satan instinct… Dangerously sensual… A carnal mixture, X rated…” the whole legend reads. It smells like strong, boozy, spicy, citrusy vanilla, which could be a good thing, but in a bad way. I was maybe 15 and into metal, give me a break 😉 YOU bought Secretions Magnifiques!
Well, I’ve only tried Divin’Enfant once, and yes it was sweet, but I think somewhere deep down beneath the tough facade I’m a sucker for orange blossom… Yes, ghastly, a floral! After being hit on the head by Elixir de Merveilles earlier today my love may be decreasing though (I know, it’s supposed to be orange peel but it smelled like orange blossom to me. Aggressive orange blossom with powdered sugar on top. I’d rather have Profumum’s Dulces in fundo any day, if I wanted to smell like a walking candied orange.)
You know, I googled some and it’s actually listed on Basenotes and quite sought after in forums… A not quite full bottle apparently went on Ebay for $48, with 8 bids… Well, it’s not a bad scent for $5, but $48?
I wore Chloe’ for about 15 years until I could not smell it anymore. Back then I was perfume-repressed though, had been indoctrinated on how you should wear one perfume only, forever, no matter what… much prefer my current scent sluttiness >:) so would never go back.
I love your posts, thanks.
Silvia — I know I had a Chloe period, which was right around my Escada by Escada period. They sort of go together. I’m two-day anosmic to all of my fragrances. If I wear them for more than two days, I really can’t smell them anymore. This explains why I have so many perfumes. 🙂
Back in the day (way back…) I wore Aviance Night Musk (when my perfumeophobic parent wasn’t around.) What was I thinking? I’m sure smelling it would bring back a flood of memories I’m not prepared to deal w/. Also wore Coco (in the EDT strength, God help me.) DD1 (the tweener) has much better taste…She wants a decant (if not a bottle) of Jasmine and Cigarette!
Sybil — I think I wore the Night Musk for a day or two! Yeek! yeah, Coco in the EDT is a little scary. The EDP has monster sillage, but it’s richer and doesn’t feel as bitter as the EDT. The parfum is olfactory heaven.
your daughter wants JeC? Hahahaha! You’ve got your hands full there, hon. But you probably already knew that. At least it is a worthy perfume to want!
I’m still trying to absorb the news that Calandre had…you know…*that* flower in it. OK, I admit that I’ve worn Diorissimo in the past (but only in Russia during winter in order to conjure up the spring), but, frankly, LOTV is just such a virginal flower that I really can’t do it. I didn’t come out of the womb that virginal. I just ran to find my Calandre and spritz some on. Thank God. My olfactory receptors appear to be blocking the lotv or maybe it’s my skin chemistry. Either way, I’m grateful. And Cuir Mauresque is just pure heaven. That will be my afternoon scent today.
Elle, you also are a woman of discerning, impeccable, (In Mommy Dearest Voice: no LotV EVER) taste. But it does a quick fade, so I think Calandre must have used enough to skim off the good evil in it and make Calandre really lovely. 🙂
Hey, I did CM for today too! Well, and a little First spritzed on my neck. I need to quit reading, I keep throwing on everything everyone talks about, if I have it. i’m a fragrance patchwork.
I’m w/ you on the fragrance patchwork. I’ve reached a point where I won’t even put on scent in the morning until I’ve read the blogs because I *know* I’m going to end up feeling the need to wear something that’s been mentioned. Sl*t that I am, I’ll still wear another scent anyway, but it will at least be one that is harmonious w/ one of the blog scents.
All the lucky girls wore Lauren; I couldn’t sucker my parents into buying me a bottle (it was, what, probably $30 back then?) so generally it was Avon and stuff from DrugFair, but mostly I didn’t bother. I re-smelled the Lauren recently. The first time, I was so caught up in the memories it was hard to think about how it *smelled.* Then about a month ago I smelled it again, and you know what? It’s actually pretty great.
I wore Lauren for about a minute back sometime, not sure when. It really is pretty great. Ralph isn’t very good at naming his perfumes, is he? I mean, heck, I could do that, make a perfume and call it “patty.” Hey, I think we should do that!
Yes! I think everyone on here would be interested in getting a sample of “Patty” EDP. It is wayyyy more dignified & attractive than many of the names out there. So, let’s see, it would have leather, NOT contain LotV….
It would be a leathery with monster white floral sillage and just a bit of skank at the base … and some woods… and incense. Patty Perfume Stew! 🙂
I loved your post – you crack me up – ‘sign of Satan’! Ha! You’re the only perfume blogger that refers to flowers that way, you know.
My first perfume was Givenchy III (I haven’t sniffed that in forever, I have no idea how it is anymore), and then my Mom broke it by accident so she gave me First and Anais Anais (she’s really generous). Both of them still in my faves list. I used Charley as a teen as well, everyone did (I think). Then my friend gave me Tamango for my birthday and I used it for years until I fell in love with Miss Dior and Diorissimo and that was it, retired Tamango permanently and only used those two during my 20’s. That’s one I’ll have to revisit as well. When I met my hubby he made me stop using Diorissimo because he said it smelled metallic (whatever!). So I guess he’s with you on the Satan’s flower thing. 😉
Flor — I can tell your husband is a man of exceptional taste. 🙂 Diorissimo, gak! Hey, I finally picked up First recently, after Claude mentioned it as one of his favorite perfumes. Wow! I was stunned. That is the white floral killah, but not in a way that’s gaggy for me. I Love me some white florals anyway, but it’s just so gorgeous.
It’s sad that I keep going through all of the discount perfumeries now, looking for things I missed along the way that are truly exceptional. The nice thing is you can get some really great things for such little money!
Laughing so hard at your “upside down flower of Satan” that I sprayed my keyboard with coffee:)
The perfumes of my youth were all stinky ones. They served one purpose only and that was to cover up the smell of cigarette smoke so that my mum wouldn’t find out. Later, I understand how stupid I was. She new (off course) and I stank of hideously strong perfume, smoke and guilt. I won’t stroll down that memory lane in a million years!
Julia, you know my favorite movie scene is the one from “Gone With the Wind” where Scarlett gargles cologne to kill the smell of whiskey. I seriously considered doing that more than ten times when I was a drunken pup. But my mother could hear tires on gravel (we shut the engine off and coasted for a quarter of a mile) at 3a, no way would I get that one by her.
I wonder, Julia, if you’d like Jasmin et Cigarettes by the wretched Pud Etat. It might bring back memories of youthful rebellion (what I think Pud Etat is all about anyway).
Hey Patty – Anybody remember Demi Jour by Houbigant? I had a mini of it as a tween and loved to just sniff it (never actually wore perfume at that time). So I got a sample of it recently in a swap at I think it is old or a bit off, it was way more “perfumy” than I remember.
I’m not crazy about LoTV in perfume, but the flowers are adorable, I love bluebells and wild hycinths too, they’re all over my yard back home in the spring.
Thanks for the tip on the 68! Your new look it great.
Sariah, never heard of that Houbigant.
While the LoTV flowers do look deceptively charming… they are POISONOUS!!! What other flower is poisonous except something straight from the jaws of Hades, I ask? :d
Sorry, got carried away there. Actually, I’m just mad at LoTV because I never could grow the little buggers, pets and kids and all. Still miffed about that.
They’re damn easy to grow. And lots of pretties are poisonous – Brugmansia, Nicotiana, Digitalis… (*does clever clogs Latin know-all dance*)
You Latin freaks. *does I wish I knew more Latin sulk in corner*
Every part of the oleander is poisonous, from flowers to stems. But maybe that just proves Patty’s point, because the oleander IS definitely from the bowels of hell.
I of course know this as Nerium oleander… :-b
Oh, yeah, Lee, Mr. Latin Smartypants? My husband accuses me of speaking Latin when I talk plants. Let’s take Erodium crinitum, a plant I have growing quite well in a pot. (Please mentally put the specific binomial in italics.) What does “crinitum” mean? What plant family does Erodium crinitum belong to? Can you name the other 3 genera in the family? Why do I say 3 rather than 4 genera, the answer someone reading a seven-year-old book might give? Well? :-w
When it comes to plants, I’m a complete nerd. I just don’t feel the need to show off. o:-)
Mornin’ Patty !
LOTV, huh? Me, too. Diorissimo.
As a girl,the fragrances I haven’t revisited [that I really liked] are Casaque, Ecusson,Le Dix,Chamade,Quadrille,Secret de Venus.
All the others, I still like, and have re-sniffed…
Glad you liked CM !
I was a little upset to discover that KM’s Fleur de Peau was an extremely similar, less subtle “smell- alike”.
I felt a bit ripped-off, you know ?
Chaya, Diorissimo, ’nuff said — Elixir of Hell.
Ah…Casaque and Ecusson…my very long lost youth. If only I could try them again…they are lost in the midst of time (and, oh no, Long Lost Perfume’s versions of them are a travesty).
Calandre was one of my favorites too, and I particularly loved the sleek, modern bottle. Every girl in my high school wore Aromatics Elixir, so I’m not sure how our teachers ever survived a class with the fumes coming off of all of us. Cinnabar, Aliage, Private Collection – I was a loyal EL customer. I had a long flirtation with Calyx until my now husband told me on our first date that he didn’t really like my perfume, and I was so surprised at his nerve/foolishness that I never wore it again. I then had a long love affair with Capucci Yendi which still reminds me of the early, carefree days with my husband. Darn it! Now I feel sentimental…
Kathy, I’ve never heard of that Capucci. Can you find it anymore? Ah, just Ebay’ed it, and it is there!
I need to pick up Cinnabar, I’m jonesing to smell it again. I was a big EL fan for the longest time, Private Collection (need to snag some of that too) and Cinnabar occupied probably five years of my life, from 20 to maybe 25, with a couple of other “affairs” along the way, like Calandre.
Yendi has the dread LOTV in it though, but it is very similar to Calandre.
YEAR INTRODUCED – 1974
FRAGRANCE NOTES – Aldehydes, Peach, Raspberry, Hyacinth, Rose, Orchid, Lily of the Valley, Musk, Sandalwood, Vanilla
Love it!
P, I was never young.
You didn’t know about Cuir Mauresque’s beauty? I see it as the more obviously attractive younger sister of Tabac Blond…
No, Lee, I didn’t know! I mean it sounds vaguely “skinnish,” and I’m thinking buffalo hides and not nice skinnish. It shocked me!
But you will not be dissing Tabac Blond by insinuating the younger sister is better looking. They are BOTH equally Beauty Pageant winners!
I said more obviously beautiful – Tabac Blond’s looks are a little more startling at first – takes a moment or two to realise how drop dead gorge she is.
Hey, I’m testing Nuit Noire today. Gobsmacked. Love it. Could a hunky cowboy like me get away with this stuff?
Oh, hell yeah! I don’t think it’s feminine at all. It’s not masculine either. That’s one reason why I’ve come to appreciate her perfumes, they really can go either way, sorta bi-fragrant, you know?
Y’know you bring out the bi in me doncha, P?
Strangely enough, I think I do! 🙂
I’ve been lucky: of the perfumes of my misspent youth, Pino Silvestre is still widely available (and yes, I still love it!), and I was able to get hold of both the elusive Stephanie (Bourjois) and Guépard by Guépard. The magic is still there, I’m happy to say. But I’d love to smell Castelbajac Première again – I haven’t the faintest recollection of what it smelled like. And Eau Folle (Laroche), which I remember as a fresh, citrussy affair….
Still: I didn’t become a perfume addict until about five or six years ago, so I don’t have that much to yearn for. In a village of 250 inhabitants, perfume just isn’t on your priority list, and it obviously took me a few decades to get over that. I’ve been catching up really fast, though!
Dinazad, you have the most exotic perfumes of your youth! 🙂 I’m jealous, and they have great names. We’ve got Charlie and Wind Song… puhleeze. 🙂