Coriandre by Jacqueline Couturier for Jean Couturier 1973

November 29, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 11 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

I bought my bottle of Coriandre a couple of summers ago during a visit to Hobart. There’s a perfumery there called St Cloud that I loved years ago when I lived in Hobart. I still I remember the thrill of buying a teeny bottle of Chanel No 19 parfum back in 19 … oh, never mind …

The business has moved premises but when I got chatting to the guy I was charmed to discover it is still run by the same people. Riding this wave of nostalgia, I could not resist a 100 ml bottle of Coriandre.

Coriandre by Jean Couturier 1973

Coriandre by Jacqueline Couturier

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, coriander, orange blossom, angelica, bergamot
Heart: Violet root, lily, jasmine, rose, geranium, iris, ylan ylang
Base: Sandalwood, patchouli, musk, civet, oakmoss, vetiver

If you are worried that Coriandre will smell like coriander (cilantro), do still give it a try it. It does not remind me of the leaves, but the warmth of the seeds is there (much less pungent than the actual spice). It will not remind you of food in the least.

Photo Stolen Wikimedia

Coriandre is essentially a green fragrance, a chypre, but not as stemmy as, say, Balmain’s Vent Vert or CHANEL’s Bel Respiro. There is no chewy galbanum, and no juicy citrus. It makes a great fragrance for summer if you like to avoid citrus colognes. The effect is herbal, a little spicy, woody and earthy, and quite dry. I struggle to think of anything like it, really, although the mossy element dates Coriandre to before the 1990s.

Coriandre crackles with intelligence and wit, easily a unisex fragrance. It’s like a country cousin to CHANEL No 19 or Rive Gauche, much less refined. It’s as if Coriandre dropped out of law school and set up a pottery studio in a farm shed on Mum and Dad’s property.

Photo Stolen Pixabay

The fragrance reformulated in 1993. I’m reviewing the modern EDT, which is mostly what you see at the online discounters now. I can well believe that Coriandre is not what it was: the scent on skin often strikes me as too woody and harsh. The sillage is lighter, greener and much more nuanced. Longevity on me is moderate.

On the day I bought my bottle of Coriandre I had no internet access and it was a true impulse buy. Only when I got home did I realise that I probably paid twice what I should have. I’ve no regrets though. I helped a long-standing small business to survive another day and I had a fun experience. There was no tester but the guy in the shop opened his only bottle so I could sniff it. He keeps Coriandre pretty much for one customer, he told me, a man who buys it once a year for his wife whose signature it is. Wondering who this fascinating, unknown Coriandre-wearing lady was, I hardly noticed as my credit card leapt out of my wallet and did a little dance across the counter towards the till. Sold!

Further reading: Now Smell This and Perfume Shrine
FragranceNet has EdT $23/100ml before coupon

Until next time – keep spritzing everyone!
Anne-Marie xx

Weekend in Normandy by Patricia di Nicolai for Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2009

November 8, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 12 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

A word about name changes and formula tweaks: according to Fragrantica, Nicolai released a fragrance called ‘Weekend in Deauville’ in 2009 as a limited release, but re-released it in 2011, apparently just named ‘Weekend’, with some additional fruity notes (apple?). Now it’s ‘Weekend in Normandy’.

Weekend in Normandy by Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2009

Weekend in Normandy by Patricia di Nicolai

This was going to be a very brief review. ‘I went to Paris. I bought Nicolai’s Weekend in Normandy. I loved it in the shop. At home, I hated it. How could that have happened? Gloom. The end.’ What’s in this stuff?

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Tarragon, mint, basil
Heart: Jasmine, ylang-ylang, galbanum, cardamom, lily-of-the-valley, apple, calone
Base: Musk, cedar, leather

Standing in the Nicolai boutique on the Rue des Archives, I clearly smelled the herbs in the top. I really did, all three of them. It was like being back home in my own garden in summer. Tarragon, mint and basil are my favourite herbs of all. Back home though, all I could smell was calone. Now I’m a calone-hater from way back when it first started stink out fragrance floors in the 1990s. I can smell it in teeny amounts, such as Nicolai’s Fig-Tea, which I reviewed in these pages a short while ago. I know it can work, especially in fruity fragrances such as Badgley Mischka, where it balances out the syrupy-sweet notes very nicely. In Fig-Tea I occasionally get a whiff of salt, which is an aspect of calone I do appreciate and which cuts through the denser, fruity accord in Fig-Tea. If anyone can use calone to its best advantage, surely Patricial di Nicolai can

Photo Stolen Flickr

But the calone is too much for me in Weekend in Normandy, matched as it is with so many other fresh, green notes. (If there’s any ylang-ylang in there – then my ol’ man’s a dustman.) So the question is– why was I not repulsed at first sniff? I don’t know, I just don’t know. Was I over excited to be there (it was fulfillment of a dream), over-eager to find a fragrance to love and treasure as a souvenir? Maybe. The only thing that gives hope is that when I reluctantly brought out my bottle tonight to take a dutiful spritz for this review, I again got those herbal notes – quite lovely.

It did not take long for the Calone Monster to come stomping in to trample all through the herb garden. But I’ve also noticed this time that worn at some distance from my nose – at the back of my neck for instance – the fragrance loses some of its aggressiveness, and becomes almost pleasant. It’s faint praise I know. Almost like saying ‘If someone at the end of my street wears it, I’m quite fine!’

Photo Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Perfume Posse
Parfum1 has $45/30ml
Surrender To Chance have samples starting at $4/ml

Has anyone else had weird about-turn experiences like this with a fragrance? Please share.

And now I can’t stand it any longer. Bye for now, I’m off to the shower.

La Panthère by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2014

October 11, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

I first tried La Panthère in an airport hotel in Sydney. My colleague and I had missed a connecting flight to our home city. It was late, and we were tired and cross. But in the end I thought there seemed nothing for it but to relax, have a shower, order room service, and crack open a Cartier mini set I’d bought in Paris at Charles de Gaulle airport. Fun

It happened that I did not have internet access that evening, so I was testing blind.

La Panthère by Cartier 2014

La Panthère by Mathilde Laurent

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rhubarb, strawberry, dried fruits, anise, bergamot
Heart: Gardenia, orange blossom, pear, rose, ylang ylang
Base: Musk, oakmoss, patchouli, leather

In the absence of this information I panicked a bit because the opening of La Panthère seemed strident, almost screechy. It reminded me of fragrances I dislike including Dior’s J’Adore and Miss Dior Cherie, and Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle. I thought I’d made a mistake. But during the night as I woke up momentarily here and there I was delighted in a drowsy way with what I could smell: a very intimate scent of warm contented skin, not animalic, but sexy as hell.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Gardenia is not something I know well, either as a flower or a perfume note so I can’t comment much on its use here except that I like it. And what saves La Panthère for me in particular is its chypre-like character. A lot of reviewers find it a chic, elegant, intelligent fragrance and I agree. Fruity chypre it may be, but La Panthère is too vivid and modern to really stand comparison with classical greats like Guerlain’s Mitsouko or Rochas’ Femme. It’s cleaner than YSL’s Yvresse and more supple than Badgely Mischka, which seems lugubrious next to La Panthère.

That brightness stays all the way through the life of the fragrance on my skin, and a few generous dabs from a mini lasts me ALL DAY. I could be extra-sensitive to notes like strawberry, rhubarb and pear – normally I hate them – and that’s maybe why La Panthère won’t quite leave me alone. I like it very much but by the end of the day I’m often rather tired of it.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Showering it off is like kicking off a pair of gorgeous but tight little shoes. Ahhh, that’s better. Looking back, I’m surprised I slept so well that first night I wore La Panthère . Like the shoes, La Panthère is wonderful to put on and wonderful to take off.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Perfume Posse
FragranceNet has $83/50ml before Coupon
My Perfume Samples has $3/ml to $9/5ml

Do you have a ‘chic little shoe’ fragrance?

Until next time, keep spritzing!
Anne-Marie xx

Cartier – La Panthère, the feminine fragrance

Fig-tea by Patricia de Nicolai for Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2007

September 27, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

Love at first sniff: Fig-tea by Patricia de Nicolai for Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2007

Do you trust love at first sight? Or sniff? On the whole, I don’t. Still, when I smelled Fig-tea in a Nicolai boutique in Paris recently, there was no question that it was coming home with me.

Fig-tea by Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2007

Fig-tea by Patricia de Nicolai

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Fig, osmanthus, artemisia
Heart: Mate, coriander, jasmine
Base: Guaiac wood, amber

When I was a kid we had an apricot tree in the backyard, and after a swim in the pool I would gorge myself on ripe apricots, water still dripping off me and apricot juice running all over my fingers. This was what I remembered when I first sniffed Fig-tea. I could see, smell and taste apricots so clearly I think I must have laughed with delight, right in front of the (very dishy) young male SA in the Nicolai boutique. He was amused, in typically cool Parisian style, but really I was paying him no attention. It was apricots, sunshine, and the kind of happiness you are still too young to treasure because life has so far delivered no stings.

Photo Stolen Flickr

Osmanthus is known for its apricot facet, so it must be is osmanthus that delivers me this powerful memory of apricots ripening in the sun. I’m probably the wrong person to review this fragrance because I smell no fig at all in Fig-Tea. Most people do, but not me. I know what fig smells like as fresh fruit and in perfume, but here I just don’t get it. So don’t ask me if the fig is nuanced with creamy coconut, leaves, earth, or just the fruit. I wouldn’t know.

A number of notes combine to prevent the apricot – so prominent for me – from becoming too syrupy-sweet: mate tea, coriander, and … ahem … calone. Do you hate calone? Yes, me too. Calone is not listed as a note in Fig-tea and you might not smell it at all. I can detect it in parts per billion and I do smell it in Fig-tea. But it’s subtle. It pulls the fragrance in a refreshing direction and after its opening few minutes, Fig-Tea is brisk and cool, slightly salty, and skews unisex.

For reference, Carthusia puts out a fig-tea fragrance named Io Capri. Here I do smell fig quite clearly, rather tart, and accompanied by notes of citrus, tea, mint and eucalyptus. ‘Seaweed’ in the base contributes a briny accent not unlike the calone in Fig-Tea. But Io Capri is rough, outdoorsy and a little strident compared to the walled-garden Parisian refinement of Nicolai’s Fig-tea.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Fig-tea was released by Nicolai as an Eau Fraiche but these days is listed as an EDT. Sillage is moderate, but longevity on me is about five hours, at least. Although a warm weather fragrance, at the height of summer I still expect to reach for the invigorating freshness of Io Capri.
Figs, apricots, tea, tangy breezes and sweet memories. It’s amazing what will come out of a perfume bottle.

Further reading: Best Things In Beauty and This Side Of Perfume
Luckyscent has $130/100ml and samples

What’s brightening up your life right now?

Until next time, keep spritzing!
Anne-Marie xx

Anne-Marie Sniffing in Paris 2015

September 13, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 8 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

Hi All

Last month I spent about a week in Paris on a work trip, all expenses paid. This is NOT the sort of thing that normally happens to me, and right up until I boarded the plane I was expecting the dream to evaporate. But no, I got there, and had a fabulous – albeit hurried – trip to the City of Light.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The Pompidou Centre. Sadly, I did not have time to venture inside.

Anne-Marie Sniffing in Paris 2015

I was with a colleague and we were traveling and in meetings nearly all the time. We had very little time for sightseeing and shopping, but, well, it’s amazing what can be achieved with a bit determination!

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

We were staying at Les Halles and working in the Marais. This made it easy for me to get to my most longed-for shopping destination – a Nicolai boutique. Nicolai Parfumeur Createur was one of the first niche brands I fell in love with but never for an instant did I believe that I would step over the threshold of one of its Parisian boutiques. Well, I did, and it was as delightful as I had always dreamed. Purchases? 30 mls each of Fig-Tea, Weekend in Normandy, and some Vetyver soap.

Photo Stolen GoogleMaps

I must admit a grand fail though. I walked right past the Serge Lutens boutique in the Palais Royal and I was too scared to walk in. Okay, time to confess that I’m not a fan of the brand and never have been. I can’t afford one of its darned bell jars even if I wanted one. The shop exterior creeped me out. And I had a meeting at the Australian embassy later in the afternoon and could I turn up there reeking of Moroccan souks and stewed fruit? No. Just no.

But I stopped at the Parfums de Rosine boutique and was nearly – but not quite – charmed into purchasing Une Zeste de Rose. After that I was quite content with a cup of mint tea and a slice of cake in a café opposite Uncle Serge’s little shop. Tea and cake in the Palais Royal and strolling through the gardens were the highlights of the trip.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

As for perfume sniffed on the street, I smelled a lot. Most of it I could not identify but I’m certain I got a whiff of Narciso Rodriguez for Her, and twice I smelled Terre d’Hermès quite distinctly. Once was as I was queuing for coffee at Gard du Nord, and once in the hotel lift at my hotel.

The Sephora store in the Marais was nothing grand, but I had fun exploring Yves Rocher (the brand is not sold in Australia), and picked up a bottle of Oriental Shower Oil – so decadent! Perfume shopping concluded with a Cartier mini set bought duty free on the way home.

How about you? Do you have Parisian sniffing adventures to share?

Until next time, have fragrant fun!
Anne-Marie xx

(Ed: Sadly Anne-Marie’s photos were in a form I was unable to translate to WordPress so I had to add some stock shots)

Kelly Calèche by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2007

August 23, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

On Kelly Calèche, and how to deal with change……..

Recently as I’ve considered what fragrances to review, my mind keeps turning to Hermès Kelly Calèche. I’ve rediscovered this fragrance after years of finding it merely pleasant at best, and for the moment it’s the closest thing I have to a signature scent. However, the dashing review Portia gave Kelly Calèche a while ago on APJ really can’t be beaten.

I’ve realised that my mini-obsession with Kelly Calèche is because it represents a shift in taste for me. So, today I thought I’d ponder awhile on how it feels when you own enough perfume to scent a small town, but reach for just the one same bottle over and over again.

Kelly Calèche by Hermès 2007

Kelly Calèche by Jean-Claude Ellena

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

First, here’s a quick reminder of the notes in Kelly Calèche EdT,

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: grapefruit, narcisuss, lily of the valley
Heart: mimosa, rose, tuberose
Base: leather, iris

The airy clarity of the fragrance is a hallmark of its creator, Jean-Claude Ellena. He has produced many works in this style, but Kelly Calèche happens to be one I especially like. What I can’t seem to deal with are dense, sweet fragrances which feel like they are gripping my skin like a tight glove. Kelly Calèche is not a gripping glove, it’s a veil.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

As a chypre lover from way back, I’ve never cared for really sweet fragrances and own very few gourmands. But nowadays I can’t wear even mildly sweet fragrances. My prized bottles of L’Ambre des Merveilles (which normally I adore) and Bottega Veneta are neglected. Calvin Klein’s Obsession – the only oriental I really love – is also languishing unattended. It’s not especially sweet, just too dense. Lancôme’s Cuir de Lancôme– a masterpiece! – annoyed me all yesterday by sticking to my skin and not letting me breathe.

It’s the feeling that I’m being stifled and can’t quite breathe – that’s what I can’t tolerate. I need fragrances with lots of space between the notes. The nice thing about Kelly Calèche is that it has good longevity as well as airiness. It’s still too cold where I live for me to get out the summer colognes, but goodness I’m looking forward to that moment!

Photo Stolen Hermès

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Bois de Jasmin
Kelly Calèche is available from all Hermès stores
FragranceNet has $112/100ml before Coupon
Surrender To Chance has EdP samples starting at $3/ml

So what about you? Do you know the feeling when you find yourself needing just one style of fragrance, and rejecting the rest? Do you try and resist, or do you just swing with it? How long does it last?

A side note: soon I’m off to Paris (!!!) for a week, and when this post is published I’ll likely be about to step on a plane. I’ll be replying to comments but do forgive me if I’m a bit tardy.
When I’m back I’ll have Parisian adventures to share. In the meantime, keep spritzing!
Anne-Marie xx

Soap: Let's Talk About Soap…….

August 9, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

I adore soaps and shower gels and rarely hesitate to indulge. My life is always busy, and good soap is an affordable (mostly!) luxury that helps prepare me for whatever the day might bring. So today I thought I’d share a few of my favourites. I have dry-ish skin so I’ll preface my mini reviews by saying that none of these were excessively drying or irritating for me.

Soap: Let’s Talk About Soap…….

Some soaps I love

Chanel No 5 soap is the epitome of luxury, the soap version of what the French perfume industry calls ‘le Monstre’. I’ve bought it for myself, and my son bought me some for Mother’s Day last year. For a 15 -year-old it was a brave thing to front up to the Chanel counter, but he said the Chanel lady was lovely. The soap is a prettily scented pale pink square that lathers moderately and lasts reasonably well. The scent is closer to the EDP than the EDT version of the perfume. With use, the soap splits a bit around the edges, which looks a bit unsightly.

L’Occitane Vetiver Soap intrigued my daughter because when new it looks exactly like an oval of polished wood. The vetiver scent is bolder than in the Crabtree & Evelyn, more masculine. If you love vetiver, this is the better one to go for. I must try the cedarwood version one day too. The bar is fairly hard, lasts well, and is very moisturising. I have to say I once bought a duo of L’O’s Bonne Mere bar soaps and the first one was so drying I dropped both in the bin after just two uses.

Jo Malone’s Lime Basil and Mandarin Soap The mark-up on Jo Malone products is very high in Australia and mostly I avoid the brand. I bought a small bottle of LB&M bath oil once and thought it very weak – not worth even half what I paid. The soap is a different story. It lathers creamily, and the scent lingers on my skin and lasts ages in the bathroom. I don’t live near a JM counter but the next time I travel for work I reckon I’ll be picking up another bar of this if I get the chance.

Crabtree & Evelyn Vetiver & Juniperberry Soap was originally a gift from my daughter (my kids know the way to my heart!) but I’ve bought it myself a few times since. It is SO good for summer. If C&E would bottle this scent I’d buy a lifetime supply. The scent of both vetiver and juniper berry are both clearly discernible, but harmonise beautifully. The big bar lasts ages but does split quite a lot as you use it. I once had a bar of C&E’s Crabapple and Mulberry and found it pleasant, but nothing like as good as the vetiver.

L’Occitane Extra Gentle Soaps Recently I received a threesome set of these from a friend – lavender, verbena and milk. So far I’ve only used the lavender, and it was lovely. Like L’O’s vetiver soap, it was very moisturising. The bar is a bit softer. I’m looking forward to trying the verbena. L’O’s verbena foaming bath is one of my favourite bathroom products – I’ve been buying it for years – so I hope the soap is as good.

Claud Porto Deco Collection Soap A friend brought back a couple of these from as trip to Europe. (I’m not sure if they are distributed in Australia.) I had Chypre and Lime Basil. It was a while ago, but I remember that I particularly liked Lime Basil.

Do you have favourite soaps? Tell us!

Until next time, keep lathering!

Anne-Marie xx

Hiris by Olivia Giacobetti for Hermès 1999

July 26, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 6 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

Often on a Sunday afternoon after a busy weekend I wind down with a bath and a book. The fragrance for afterwards has to be gentle and subtle to keep me content for the evening, before a new week cranks up again. At the moment, Hermès Hiris is the perfect accompaniment to this ritual.

Hiris by Olivia Giacobetti for Hermès 1999

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Coriander, amber, iris, carnation
Heart: Iris, neroli, rose
Base: Honey, vanilla, cedar, almond tree

What works for me in Hiris is the contrast of cool and warm notes. Cool iris is dominant all the way through but is warmed and made easeful by spices (I love the coriander in the opening moments), and the subtlest touch of vanilla later on. (If there is honey in there I don’t perceive it unless it’s that touch of skin-alike sweetness in the base.) I don’t get the ‘carroty’ note in Hiris that other people notice. Earth certainly, but I smell no carrots. Hiris is dreamy and remote, but it likes you. Hiris wants to settle on your skin and stay there.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

Other iris fragrances vying for our attention on the department store shelves, such as Prada’s Infusion d’Iris and Chanel’s No 19 Poudré, combine iris with gigantic quantities of pillowy white musk, but Hiris retains a dewy clarity that has nothing to do with musk. Neither the Prada or the Chanel appeal to me. Initially I loved No 19 Poudré but the musk was just too … well … dull. And I have trouble smelling Infusion d’Iris.
What bothers me sometimes in Hiris is a kind of musty soapiness. ‘Clothes washed in unscented fabric softener’ is how Luca Turin describes it, and while I would not go that far, I do see what he means, unfortunately.

Photo Stolen Hermès

I’m fine with Hiris not being a statement fragrance. To my mind Hiris is Hermès’ contribution to the 90s style of uncomplicated fragrances that seek only to make us feel clean and smell good. Thankfully it’s not as dated as many others in this genre. If the sillage is only moderate, Hiris veils beautifully. People will sense rather than really know that there is a lovely fragrance nearby.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Although the soapiness prevents me from loving Hiris, I persevere. I wear it out, wear it at home, wear it to bed. Where I live it’s winter, so who knows? Maybe Hiris will work better in warmer weather. I spray generously. It’s the best way to get to know a fragrance. Luckily I picked up my bottle at very little cost via local online classifieds, and it’s got about 60mls left, so I don’t have to be frugal. Mine’s the deep blue bottle. I’ve not seen the new one; do comment if you have compared them.

Further reading: Non Blonde and Olfactoria’s Travels
Hiris can be found at Hermès online and all Hermès stores
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Do you have a favourite quiet fragrance for those in-between times, when you just want to smell good to yourself?
‘Til next time, keep spritzing!
Anne-Marie xx

Youth-Dew by Joséphine Catapano for Estée Lauder 1953

July 12, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 5 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

Youth-Dew by Joséphine Catapano for Estée Lauder 1953

Sometimes, a smear of Youth-Dew bath oil is all I need. Classic fragrances like this offer not just grandeur and glamour, but a sense of completeness. Symphonically rich, they unfurl their loveliness hour after hour and complete your day with a contented smile as they fade away.

Youth-Dew by Estée Lauder 1953

Youth-Dew by Joséphine Catapano

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, orange, spices, peach, bergamot, narcissus, lavender
Heart: Cinnamon, cassia, orchid, jasmine, cloves, ylang-ylang, rose, lily-of-the-valley, spicy notes
Base: Tolu balsam, Peru balsam, amber, patchouli, musk, vanilla, oakmoss, vetiver, incense

At the jump you can read a lovely APJ review of Youth-Dew

What always intrigues me is the divided reputation that Youth-Dew has. ‘Putrid!’ some people cry. ‘Offensive!’ say others. ‘Nasty old lady!’.

I don’t mind if people dislike Youth-Dew. We can’t all be the same. But that ‘old lady’ tag that really annoys. It’s not just that some people are apparently unable to imagine a day when they, too, might be old. It also suggests that in western societies we harbour a deep-seated disdain – almost fear – of the elderly woman as a cultural figure. She’s a witch. She’s a harpy. She is a threat. She smells.

It’s ironic for a fragrance called ‘Youth-Dew’. Famously, it was released originally as a bath oil apparently in the hope that women who were tired of waiting for their menfolk to buy them perfume would happily buy a bathroom product for themselves. Within that innocent, bathroom-blue packaging lies a deep, dark scent of considerable allure if you can pull it off.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

An early ad for Youth-Dew features a naked sylph of a woman about to step into a marble-edged bath, and we are encouraged to ‘Know the secret of the bath’. A later ad featured the divine Pauline Porizkova dressed for evening, and it proclaims Youth-Dew as ‘Simply the sexiest fragrance ever’.

Ads Stolen Fragrantica

Youth-Dew is so good it is not surprising that women have taken it as a signature scent. ‘Women still like to feel beautiful, pampered and loved, and that is what Youth-Dew is all about’, said Estee Lauder. She respected her customers, and for their loyalty gave them fragrances that were great value for money. A few dabs or sprays would last all day.

So, perhaps it’s inevitable after all that we associate Youth-Dew with older women. Although my mother’s signature scent was Yardley’s April Violets, in her late 50s she took up Youth-Dew with a passion. Dear reader, never were there two fragrances more different than April Violets and Youth-Dew, but Mum must have loved Youth-Dew because she went through several bottles of the oil before finally reverting to her old favourite.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Me, I’ve given away my bottle of the spray perfume because it’s just too opulent for daily use, and the bath oil will do me. A few drops in a hot running bath is the best form of winter stress relief I know, bar none.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Yesterday’s Perfume
FragranceNet has $41/70ml before Coupon
My Perfume Samples starts at $2/ml

Over to you. Worn any ‘old lady’ fragrances lately??

And keep spraying ‘til next time!

Anne-Marie xx

Obsession by Jean Guichard for Calvin Klein 1985

June 21, 2015 / australianperfumejunkiescom / 14 Comments

Post by Anne-Marie

“When one makes love, there is a certain scent we that give off. I think it’s very sensual – that’s the scent of Obsession.”
– Calvin Klein

Obsession was released in 1985 and by any measure is a mighty fragrance. It is so much more than the sum of its notes….

Obsession by Jean Guichard for Calvin Klein 1985

“Oh, the smell of it!”

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green notes, mandarin, peach, basil, bergamot, lemon
Heart: Spices, coriander, sandalwood, orange blossom, jasmine, oakmoss, cedar, rose
Base: Amber, musk, civet, vanilla, vetiver, incense.

It’s the damp herbal first blast of Obsession that I adore. Yes, there are softer, easier things to come, but that dark, slightly bitter opening is for me, addictive. After that I get spices of course, although not the florals.

The base for me is mostly amber and vanilla, with incense keeping things cool and dry. The vanilla is far from being sweet and foodie – which is just how I like it. I wear the modern EDT, the stuff you can get for a song just about anywhere perfume is sold.

Obsession is usually classified as an oriental, but through its marketing, Obsession rejects conventional oriental fantasies and metaphors. We get no lacquered spice jars, no souks, no Buddhas or Indian princesses etc. Obsession does not weave sentimental fairy tales; it is about nothing but sex.

The early TV ads were directed by Richard Avedon and make you feel as if you have wandered on to the set of some weird modernist play. Everything is in monochrome, but clearly the scene is vibrant with sexual obsession. In one, an older man laments a young woman (played by South African model José Borain) who has left him (“Was it me? Did I somehow driver her away?”).

In another, that woman is the object of obsession for a beautiful teenage boy (“ … the whispers at my bedside … her arms … her mouth … her amber hair … and oh, the smell of it.”).

The early print ads were shot in Puerto Villata, Mexico, by Bruce Weber and feature, in blue sepia, two (or three) naked, entwined bodies.

Famously, Kate Moss also modelled for Obsession, but that came later, in 1993 when she was 17. Shot by Mario Sorrenti and still in monochrome, the location was a shack on the beach: “Just me and him and loads of film,” Moss later recalled. The ads speak to the photographer’s obsession with his model. Moss was his girlfriend at the time but the relationship did not survive.

All of these ads are edgy. “You walk a fine line, especially in advertising,” Calvin Klein admitted, “if you try and do something sensual.” Sometimes I find them more disturbing than, say, Tom Ford’s quite sexually explicit ads for his perfumes.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Non Blonde
FragranceNet has $10/15ml before Coupon
My Perfume Samples has $2/ml

A lot of people have memories of Obsession, good and bad. What are yours?

‘Til next time, have fun!

Anne-Marie xx

Australian Perfume Junkies

Olfactory Opinions from Oz

Anne-Marie

Coriandre by Jacqueline Couturier for Jean Couturier 1973

Coriandre by Jean Couturier 1973

Coriandre by Jacqueline Couturier

Weekend in Normandy by Patricia di Nicolai for Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2009

Weekend in Normandy by Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2009

Weekend in Normandy by Patricia di Nicolai

La Panthère by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2014

La Panthère by Cartier 2014

La Panthère by Mathilde Laurent

Cartier – La Panthère, the feminine fragrance

Fig-tea by Patricia de Nicolai for Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2007

Fig-tea by Nicolai Parfumeur Createur 2007

Fig-tea by Patricia de Nicolai

Anne-Marie Sniffing in Paris 2015

Anne-Marie Sniffing in Paris 2015

Kelly Calèche by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2007

Kelly Calèche by Hermès 2007

Kelly Calèche by Jean-Claude Ellena

Soap: Let's Talk About Soap…….

Soap: Let’s Talk About Soap…….

Hiris by Olivia Giacobetti for Hermès 1999

Hiris by Olivia Giacobetti for Hermès 1999

Youth-Dew by Joséphine Catapano for Estée Lauder 1953

Youth-Dew by Estée Lauder 1953

Youth-Dew by Joséphine Catapano

Obsession by Jean Guichard for Calvin Klein 1985

Obsession by Jean Guichard for Calvin Klein 1985

“Oh, the smell of it!”