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Post by Robert Herrmann
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Hey Frag Friends, Robert H. here, writing from my small island home in the Pacific Northwest…
Today it’s All about the 80’s!
Got these little honeys in a mixed auction lot awhile back and they’ve been sitting on my desk since then. So today when I decided to clean my desk (again) I decided to give them a try!
um……WOW! Just WOW! Shall we talk about absolutely classic late 80’s Chypres? Yes, let’s!
Xia Xiang by Charles Of The Ritz for Revlon (1987) (L)
JCC No2 by Maurice Roucel for Castelbajac (1987) (R)
JCC No2 by Maurice Roucel for Castelbajac 1987
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Aldehydes, lemon, bergamot, fruity notes, galbanum, gardenia
Heart: Carnation, rose, jasmine, lily of the valley, iris, ylang-ylang, sandalwood
Base: Amber, castoreum, labdanum, leather, moss, patchouli, olibanum
One spritz from this bottle and my head was REELING from castoreum, oakmoss and galbanum overload! I had to sit down, the skank was so overwhelming. And gorgeous.
That skank only stays for about 10 minutes then fades into the background and stays there, throwing out tendrils of raunchy beaver scent to mix with the heart and drydown. Phew.
Then leather, labdanum, patch and flowers appear, beautifully blended, and absolutely “old school”!
Rose, ylang, carnation, iris…. it’s all there in typical 80’s fashion, when the hair was BIG, the shoulder pads were BIGGER, and the perfume was potent!
Xia Xiang by Revlon 1987
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Amalfi lemon, tangerine
Heart: Jasmine, African orange flower, gardenia, ylang-ylang, rose, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Sandalwood, patchouli, oak moss, tonka bean, vanille, peach, plum, chamomile
Xia Xiang (pronounced “see-AH see-AHNG”) by Revlon was launched in 1987.
No less potent, but a bit “softer”. No blast of animalic, but LOTS of oakmoss, and again every flower you can think of with some fruit accords thrown in because why not, right? Powder, sandalwood, patch, tonka, vanilla, it’s all there.
Made by Charles Of The Ritz, my first thought was that this would be a big-hot-floral-mess, but no. It all comes together to produce a perfect harmony of flowers and notes that proves the point that less is NOT always more!
Bring back the 80’s!!!
Actually, no. Don’t. Just the pre-IFRA perfume!
Do you have a favorite 80’s scent that you’ve rediscovered?
Australian Perfume Junkies 