Mood Scent 4: Discontinued Fragrances

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies

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Portia

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Hey there APJ,

It’s Mood Scent 4 week. WOO HOO! With the first Monday of the dawning of a new decade we thought we might take a little look back at some of our favourite perfumes that haven’t made it this far. Our great loves that have been discontinued. Now I’m also counting reformulations that changed the scent out of recognisable parameters because that fragrance I loved has been killed off just as much. Same outcome, my perfume is dead.

So excited to be blogging with these three superstars again:  Esperanza L’Esperessence, Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime and Samantha I Scent You A Day. Check theirs out too.

Mood Scent 4: Discontinued Fragrances

Brasil Dream by Estee Lauder

Brasil Dream is a crazily creamy fragrance. It’s so tropical and warm it smells more like a high end suntan lotion than fine fragrance. Overloaded with all the lactonic night bloomers and a bunch of maybe coconut cream. Ridiculously good for the sweaty summer heat.

Byzance by Rochas

Byzance is a memory scent for me. My sister and Mum wore it for a few years as their Going-Out perfume. I think it might even have been my sisters Year 10 formal fragrance. So many happy memories. When I wear it I’m transported. It also smells freaking amazing. A spicy aldehydic floral over a heavy oriental base. I can’t wait to try the newest re-release in the amazing bottle.

Liberté by Cacharel

LONG TIME great love. Liberté is not something I ever would have imagined myself liking. A sizzling citrus fruitchouli. Yet here we are and I love it so much. There is quite a hoard of it here so I will NEVER run out.

Miss Dior by Christian Dior

As close to a signature as I have the old Miss Dior is a treat. A mysterious sweet opening chypre that ends dry and furry. When Christian Dior asked for it to be made he wanted a fragrance that smelt like young love. Well it smells like finest, old love to me. Sadly it has been changed beyond recognition, renamed and modernised out of this magical elixir into something new.

Oriental Brulant by Guerlain

WHY!!!! Why did they let this beauty go? Guerlain, you make me S A D! I did manage rot score myself a backup but still I rarely wear Oriental Brulant anymore because I’m terrified of not having it at all. Bakery sweet, resinous, spicy almonds but smooth with a classiness that is purely Guerlain.

Truth or Dare by Madonna

I knew when Truth or Dare was basically free in the discounters that it was about to get the heave ho. In my blind panic I may have gone a little overboard. There is now enough Truth or Dar here to last several lifetimes. Fracas done for the 21st century, done right and with excellent projection and longevity.

Versace Blonde

My first tuberose love. Clean, crisp and a very late entrant to the big white floral with animalic undertones. Arriving in 1995 it was definitely created five years outside its market of the 1980s. A glamorous throwback to vintage glamour done in a 1980s powerhouse mode. Nothing since has compared. Yes, I have stockpiled this baby too.

 

So there are my Mood Scent 4: Discontinued Fragrances

What are your choices? What are your most loved and missed Discontinued Fragrances? Did you stock up?
Portia xx

 

61 thoughts on “Mood Scent 4: Discontinued Fragrances”

  1. Ooh, is Byzance coming back? I wrote recently that I scored 30mls of the vintage, it’s really beautiful.
    I was spitting tacks when they discontinued Iris Ganache, is the new version the same? And who is going to bring me back some from Paris?!

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  2. Oh, what a sad topic! I’ll definitely forget some of my favourites, but here are the ones that got away: Cartier So Pretty, Guerlain Parure, Metalys, Shalimar Eau Legere, Habit Rouge EDP (there was one limited edition that is supposed to be incredibly beautiful), l’Instant de Guerlain Fleur de Mandarine (such a great citrusy floral! dammit, Guerlain!) et al., a lot of Carons (Accord 119 comes to mind), the whole Patou Collection Heritage line, – hope I’ll get to buy at least Chaldee & Vacances before they disappear into the Dior abyss. Gucci l’Arte is another example of a discontinued beauty 😦 Sadly, I own none of the mentioned above except for the minibottles of So Pretty, l’Arte and Shalimare Eau Legere. As for the backups, I have two bottles of Cuir de Lancome (easily one of my favourite leather perfumes), Miss Dior, of course, EL Youth Dew Amber Nude (one full bottle, sort of counts as a backup since I rarely wear it). I must have forgotten something else, just don’t know which one(s). It’ll come to me.

    Your Blonde bottles are simply gorgeous, Portia! White florals are your jam, aren’t they?

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    • WOW Diana,
      You have a big list. Sadly the last version of Accord 119 was so thin it hardly bore wearing. Still, it is a nice ring of memory. Next time you win remind me to send you some.
      I love the Blonde bottle almost as much as the scent. Yes, I love a BWF if it’s ridiculously bombastic for at least the first 30 minutes.
      Portia xx

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      • Thank you, Portia, I’d really love to try Accord 119. Fingers crossed 😉

        The list could be longer, but there’s no point in crying over dicontinued stuff. If I can get some, I will, if not, I’ll move on. I’ve got plenty other beauties and not enough time to wear them. A curse of every perfumehead, I guess.

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    • Diana, I loved Cartier So Pretty, wore a couple bottles in early 2000s. Just recently I was searching eBay if even available any longer, very scarce. Wasn’t it gorgeous?

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  4. Victoria by Victoria’s Secret…have about a drop left
    Womenswear by Alexander Julian ….just an empty mini
    Heaven by Gap….a partial travel spray and two bottles bought last year cause my APJ crew talked me into it…. thankfully as right after the prices went up
    Tibetan Mountain Temple… Pacifica Perfume….two small bottles which technically aren’t mine. Should have stocked up on this one and about ten other Pacificas that we loved because the entire original collection was discontinued…they were all inexpensive and so good.

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  6. Fantastic choices Portia! I’d take the whole off your hands if you ever need house room for like stuff that’s not perfume.(I can dream, right?) Nice to see lots of my beloved tuberose in there. I just missed the boat on Truth or Dare and I’m kicking myself now!

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    • Samantha,
      Jin just asked if I wanted to do a short tour of Scotland, Ireland & Wales by car in November. He’s never seen any of them. Hopefully we’ll meet you somewhere along the way.
      You know, you’re always welcome here. We have bunks in the spare room. Come to Oz and we can sniff the perfume room.
      Portia xx

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  7. Boucheron Jaipur. The BEST turkish delight scent. A JOY! An absolute joy. I have one bottle, when I wear it I am very happy.

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  8. Hi Portia

    Byzance was big and beautiful! Never tried the Guerlain but I wanted to and then goodbye! Great to read about your choices and I’m always learning about different perfumes from you and the MS4 crew as well so all good. Xxx Megan

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  9. Cartier Panthere was my first heartbreak discontinued perfume. I had no idea that happened! Early 2000s went to Nordstrom to re-purchase and not available! What?!
    I’ve found a few bottles on eBay so I’ve got a lifetime supply now.

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  10. Byzance and Oriental Brulant are two of my big favourites as well. Fortunately I have several backups, but just hoping they hold up.

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  11. My list of discontinued or significantly reformulated ones that I love and have multiple bottles of is too long but includes eau sauvage, eau sauvage extreme, givenchy gentleman, helmut lang cuiron, shiseido feminite du bois, dior homme, and donna karan chaos.

    My first perfume purchase of 2020 also happens to be a vintage Givenchy Gentleman 🙂

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  12. Hi Portia, great choices! I can’t remember trying Oriental Brulant, I know the feeling of fear of running out 😉 Truth or Dare is magnificent. Bought a bottle of Liberte after reading one of your reviews some time ago. Brazil Dream sounds sensational, never heard of this EL fragrance. Love your Miss Dior extrait spray bottle, it is such a wonderful fragrance. 😘😘

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  13. All about Eve by Joop and L’artisan Vanille Absolument are the first two that come to mind. Marc Jacobs Bang and Alyssa Ashley Amber Gris next – both found/trialled as little decants, loved them both and then found out no longer available, Should do better research 😉

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  14. Tendre Poison as there is nothing else like it and I still trawl eBay. Have to be quick to beat Portia! Original Ysatis, Gucci EDP which I bought from Portia, and II and III, which I never got to try, along with Midnight Poison. So many that I have read about here that are beautiful, shimmering unicorns. The Guerlains! Hard to even read about some of them! But a great topic, Portia, thank you.

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      • Hi Portia, yes, the Gucci gets quite a bit of wear in winter. I also managed to get a 10ml of Versace Blonde from another Facebook seller at a really good price and I am very grateful that I was able to find it and try it.
        I find it easier to buy ‘winter’ fragrances as that is my kind of weather, and I like big, gutsy ones.

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  15. I miss Eau de Patou, went through several bottles in the 90s. Is the Patou heritage line (or whatever, the uniform bottles) already discontinued?
    Also, Fidji is something totally different now than what it used to be, seems it is the case quite often that perfumes are altered to the point of becoming something totally new and different.
    One I never owned a bottle of, and not an oldie: Enlèvement au Sérail, possibly the best blend of jasmine perfume I have ever tried.
    Then there is Le Dix, but I bought a 30 ml bottle some months ago, so can enjoy that again!
    I used to think Samsara was too much, now I would have loved a bottle, same with some other mainstream oriental perfumes.

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    • Hey Ingeborg,
      Though the modern Samsara is thinner and a bit more screechy it does has a less intrusive diva-esque nature. Five minutes in it is a 21st century version of itself. You’d probably not hate the modern EdP.
      Yeah, Fidji has changed but you can get a sealed vintage extrait for very little on eBay.
      Portia xx

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  16. Like you Portia, I have a number of discontinued fragrances that I’m reluctant to wear in case I run out. Silly really; why have them if you’re not going to wear them? Mine include TF Amber Absolute, the original M7, Envy for Men, Creed Green Valley and a few others

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  17. Gee where to start…

    Top 10 discontinued:

    1. Gucci Envy
    2. D&G By Man
    3. YSL Rive Gauche PH
    4. Gucci Pour Homme I
    5. Gucci Rush for Men
    6. YSL M7 Fresh
    7. YSL La Nuit Frozen Cologne
    8. Armani Attitude
    9. Tom Ford Moss Breches
    10. YSL M7

    Top 3 worst reformulations

    1. YSL La Nuit
    2. D&G Pour Homme
    3. Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille

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  18. A new love that I just discovered, and of course it is discontinued, is Fendi Theorema. Fortunately some still available at auction sites. I also wish L’Occitane would bring back their Miel & Citron.

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  20. Discontinued fragrances – a sad topic for all perfumistas 😦
    I mourn of course some vintage perfumes: Clinique Wrappings, Giorgio Armani, Jil Sander III…and the next one that comes to my mind is the recently discontinued Tiempe Passate. I’ve only just discovered it a couple of years ago and decided it will forever stay in my perfume wardrobe…well, obviously not.

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