Before moving on from yesterday's discussion of Guerlain Shalimar to its newest offspring, Eau de Shalimar, it is worth taking a moment to consider how Shalimar fares in today's youth-oriented perfume market:
I thought it smelled very "old lady" and not in a good way.
I get the vision of a bleached blond in mommy jeans who doesnt feel she is worth a nice fragrance.
On my skin, this stuff smells like musty old women.
I don't smell vanilla, I smell a sour, old-fashioned scent that is a bit putrid.
I love fine french perfumes but this stuff is the essence of old age.
Speaking from my lofty position as a perfumista and a bleached blond in mommy jeans...no, seriously, I'm not quoting those remarks1 in order to elicit an onslaught of holier-than-thou perfumista scorn, but simply to acknowledge the truth: to women raised on Clinique Happy and Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue and whatnot, Shalimar might reasonably be compared to, as another reviewer so delicately put it, vomit.
Shalimar Eau Légère / Shalimar Light was, so far as I know, the first attempt by Guerlain to update Shalimar for the modern consumer. It was developed by perfumer Mathilde Laurent and launched in 2003 in very tight distribution. It became more widely available (and arrived in the US) in 2004, and after that, things get a little confusing. At some point, either in 2004 or in 2005, Guerlain apparently tinkered with the formula, and while I've smelled both versions, I've never smelled them together, and the two decants I've got on hand at the moment are probably4 both from the later, post-tinkered-with version. Many people felt the original, pre-tinkered-with Eau Légère was the better of the two, but I can't comment on that — for a comparison, see Victoria's review at Bois de Jasmin.
While hard-liners might scoff at the very notion of cleaning up Shalimar to appeal to modern tastes, even my possibly lesser-version is pretty charming stuff. The bergamot opening is more fluffy and candied (comparisons to lemon frosting are right on target) than Shalimar's, and the base is far less skanky. The smoke is pretty much gone, and the whole thing is brighter — Shalimar Eau Légère is lively, rather than sexy-mysterious — but the basic structure of Shalimar is still there (ok, somewhat there), and more to the point, it smells pretty darned good. Like it or not, it's a far sight easier to wear than Shalimar in extrait, and personally I find it more appealing than the Shalimar Eau de Parfum.
And so, on to Eau de Shalimar. The question about Eau de Shalimar is simply: why? Did Shalimar Eau Légère / Light not sell? Mind you, Eau de Shalimar isn't massively different from Shalimar Light (if you're not obsessed with such matters, you might not notice any difference at all2), but it's a bit more "clean and fresh" in the opening and a bit more pallid in the base. It's still a pleasant enough scent, but the change, however minor, inches the juice that much closer to the sort of thing you could reasonably use to scent those pre-moistened towelettes3 used to clean your fingers after eating ribs. This is not your mother's Shalimar, indeed. What I would love is a Shalimar Eau Légère Extrême (HA!): a bit more bergamot and a bit less lime-y 7Up fresh stuff in the opening, a teensy little dash more skank and smoke in the base.
Guerlain Eau de Shalimar is available in 50 ml Eau de Toilette spray; the notes include lime, bergamot, orange, rose, jasmine, iris and vanilla.
1. The remarks are from the Productville reviews at MakeupAlley, and I should point out that the positive reviews for Shalimar there far outweigh the negative. Shalimar's 3.8 Productville rating (out of 5) might not accurately reflect Shalimar's widely acknowledged position as one of the greatest perfumes of all time, but nor is it dismal. And I can only assume that Shalimar still sells, otherwise, it would no doubt have been discontinued.
2. And in case anyone wasn't reading carefully above, I'm not 100% sure which version of Shalimar Light I have. It is possible that Eau de Shalimar is the same as the more recent version of Shalimar Light. If anyone has smelled Eau de Shalimar and post-tinkered-with Shalimar Light and can comment on the distinction, please do!
3. And here I must link away to the Modern Moist Towelette Collecting website. Who knew?
4. Update: as of this moment, it appears that the decant I used to describe Shalimar Light above was probably the original, pre-tinkered-with version. That makes the whole post even more confusing than it already was, but you know, Shalimar Light is no longer in production so the whole issue is moot for most people.
Fluffy Shalimar… I am intrigued, will have to search for a sample of this.
Wow. Moist towel collecting – well, sure, ok, why not? Not that different from matchbook collecting, really. One more thing that people do that I would never have thought of; thanks, R, for so helpfully providing the link! Just another five minutes I'll never get back, lol.
I have the first and second bottles of Shalimar Light that differ in colour of the juice and label. They ARE very similar but a good nose can, of course, detect the difference. Since I am not a Shalimar wearer or devotee, I welcomed the Lights. I thought I could wear them, but cannot. Still too much of the original in there. Eau de Shalimar, however, is so fresh and limey that I think I could wear it!
I'm not sure I like the idea of a perfume that edges close to smelling like moistened towlettes. However, I do spend my days using infinite baby wipes (on my baby I might add) so am possibly suffering from an overdose of “clean” smell.
The MUA comments make me feel like a big anachronism. I'd much rather smell old lady-ish than like 'Happy' et al, and I think I'm still within the target market for those scents.
Well, I should note that it also gets compared to lemon pound cake, which isn't “fluffy”, is it? Ah well, I find it fluffy.
Five minutes, LOL! So true on the time wastage, and while we're on that subject, can I just say that I've lost a good TEN minutes today due to massive April Fool's rickrolling. Enough with the rickrolling, internets!!
Ok, please enlighten me as to the color of the juice, if possible — maybe that will help me figure out what I have. Or are they both just degrees of straw-colored? But looks like we're opposites: Eau de Shalimar is just too lime-y for me.
Agree, I proudly wear any number of old-lady scents, and am proud to call myself an old lady, for that matter.
Anybody heard about the new Shah Nahar? It is said to be inspired by the irrigation canal in Shalimar gardens (named Shah Nahar) in Lahore and it should be something earthy and aquatic… I just found a picture and no other info…
http://server6.theimagehosting.com/image.php?img=shahnahar.jpg
LOL!
My Eau Legere (I think?!) which I bought in 2005, but says 2003 on the box, has an ocean blue tint around the bottle (along the sides and bottom), with clear glass otherwise and the juice is very pale yellow. I had understood that the Shalimar Light *juice* was tinted light blue, but it might just be that the glass of the whole bottle is blue (but a lighter blue). Very confusing. The ad you have there is definitely the Light (later) bottle. It does not look like mine.
“Enough with the rickrolling, internets!” LOLOLOLOLOL. I thought this was Robin in grandpa mode, grumbling about the “shenanigans” of “kids today”… On topic, I have no comments on any version of Shalimar.
Also, the label on the bottle says “Eau Legere Parfumee (line break) Light Fragrance” on mine. Don't know if this helps?
LOL at grandpa mode, and how true! Rickrolling is funny once, twice, even four times, but after that, is like the two zillionth time my son whistles the Star Wars theme from the other room — please, make it stop!
Ah, I just noticed a helpful hint on a previous post of mine from Celestia for those of you who have bottles you want to date. If the copyright on the bottom says 2000, it is the Laurent Eau Legere version (2003 for the JP version, which has blue juice.) Sounds like you have Eau Legere, Robin. And yes, I will shut up now.
See, many people refer to the first version as “Eau Legere” and the second version as “Shalimar Light”, but not sure but that both said just what yours does: both names. Have confirmed that at least one of my decants had both names on the original bottle, and it is straw colored and came from the pale blue tinted bottle. In the online pictures I've seen, the bottle sometimes looks pale blue, sometimes darker blue, and don't know if that is another clue.
At some point, it is no longer worth worrying about as neither version is any longer in production, right?
In that case, the decant I relied on for the description above is the Mathilde Laurent version. BUT — do note that the bottle most certainly said “Shalimar Light” on it as well, so in that case, “Eau Legere” vs. “Light” is not the right way to distinguish between the 2 versions.
And adding: said the above because I know the box for that bottle said 2000 on it. 'Kay, enough.
Right, it's colour of the juice, I guess, if you have samples. Laurent = yellow, JP = blue.
Me too! I trust you understood how much those quotes you inserted in your article rankled. I sometimes feel older than my actual 45 when faced with that sort of juvenilia (“musty old women”, indeed!) (not you, btw – not slamming you at all). Makes me want to retort with something to the effect that growing old is one of only two choices available to each and every one of us, whether we like it or not. OK, enough grumbling. Happy April Fool's Day, btw, hopefully no one is making your life miserable, rickrolling notwithstanding.
If they think Shalimar smells like musty old women, I can't even imagine what they think of L'Heure Bleue, with which I believe I've recently started a difficult love affair.
Let them keep their raspberry frappé of My Insolence.
You know, I don't like the “old lady” thing, but it rankles me less & less as time goes on — it is an unfortunate term for “old fashioned”, but we must accept that Shalimar is old fashioned, even if we think old fashioned is “better” and still relevant (and I do think so). And really, I do think I have to accept that I say equally dismissive things about the strawberry pop tart fragrances (see! I can rankle right back!) popular today.
So far, 4/1 passing relatively safely, LOL — hope it is for you too!
Aha, lucky for you, L'Heure Bleue has not yet rated a flanker. Although I've seen some nice reports on Vol de Nuit Evasion, actually!
Thanks! Everyone at my job is just afraid enough of me not to play April Fool's jokes on me.
I cannot even imagine a flanker of LHB, which is *my* Guerlain. *shudders*
I have a bottle of Shalimar Light and love it as fresh but also a little fancy and extravagant summer fragrance. It's just not the typical Happy-Light-Blue-type of scent.
I like it a lot. The latest flanker doesn't sound appealing, though.
I think flankers of Shalimar somehow “work” because it's a rather sweet and seductive fragrance – plus that it's built around two still extremely popular notes: lemon and vanilla. LHB with its weird anise note is something quite different… Guerlain hopes, I guess, that the thinned down seductiveness of Shalimar becomes something favourable and pleasing.
I used to bristle at “old lady,” being a very young 50 with resolutely non-mommy jeans. Now, though, with the wisdom of age, I *get* the shorthand and it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, it gets right to the point. I know exactly what it means. It's quite historically/demographically accurate, in fact. And, hey, it's a good thing!. Old Lady is the new Niche Perfumista! And I think that pretty young things wearing “pop tart” and “raspberry frappe” scents smell lovely, and I'm sure those very same girls don't take offence at those descriptors of ours — even though we ARE being downright disparaging, if the hypocritical truth be known. What's sauce for the goose, after all, should be sauce for the gander — or, in this case, the lamb and the mutton!
My mom always wore Shalimar until it started smelling bad on her. I like the scent, but I'd never wear it, because it would feel like dressing up in mom's clothes and putting on a wig that looks like her hair.
The ad that's pictured, though… it looks like she's doing a breast self examination. Accompanied by perfume.
The old lady smell thing always confuses me. People are hardly ever talking about the actual scent of a person, which does change as we age, but about the scents associated with the elderly they knew growing up.
For me if anything smells remotely too musky or too much like the Avon scents of the late eighties gone a bit sour I reflexively think they're too mature for me because they smell like my grandma's washroom. If something smells too fresh or like a CKOne clone I don't want to smell like my mom in the nineties. I try to limit these notions, but they're pretty instinctual.
On the other hand, I love AA Angelique-Lilas, which somewhere at about two hours smells a bit like an old woman's or a young child's skin on me and it's very pleasant.
People limit the way they wear scent by age too much. I'm wearing Escada Moon Sparkle right now, which I am most certainly too old for. Some days I just want to smell like I work in a candy factory. At other times I wear scents that “only mature, sophisticated women can pull off.” The scent police have yet to break down my door.
I just turned 30 and until this year never owned a bottle of perfume. When I first started sniffing I hated strong florals because they smelled “old” to me, which in my mind equals fussy and feminine in a grandmotherly way. Then I fell in love with Annick Goutal Songes and Grand Amour, and I have to say, it feels good to be out of my twenties and wearing these scents. I don't want to smell like a mojito or baby powder or cotton candy. Just ordered some samples from Luckyscent so maybe I will find out I love something new soon . . . .
i absolutely HATE that is was called Shalimar Light. it sounds like diet shalimar soda. eau legere is probably the most accurate (and appealing) name for it. i haven't smelled any of the new ones, but i feel like everyone's grandma wore shalimar, and that's why i have a less than stellar opinion/memory of it. i would like to smell it again though. maybe one day at sephora, when im not distracted by pink bottles (im weirdly attracted to pink perfume, and usually end up thinking its boring, insipid, and childish smelling. its a catch-22 i guess)
Yeah, but here's the other way of looking at it: a fragrance that rates a flanker is still “in play”, and a fragrance that's still in play is less likely to get axed. Just sayin'.
LOL at the lamb & the mutton!
Agree it is not the typical Happy/Light Blue sort of thing, but wish they'd not lightened it up even more…it is approaching too thinned down for me.
LOL — it totally does!!
Well, I just got a chance to try this out. For somebody who had a bit of trouble with the original, I'd would rather place my bets on the original. This lighter version really didn't float my boat all that much.
I think smelling the lighter version along with the original, and I think that helped me appreciate the original Shalimar just a little bit more (if only it would work with my chemistry).
I have to admit that the “old lady” comments peeve me a little bit.
I'll agree that those raised on Clinique Happy (which I can't stand), CKOne, and D&G Light Blue would have a hard time appreciating the artistry of some of the classics. If some of these younger women actually took the time to really try out the classics (instead of just writing them off at the first try), then I think they would have an easier time appreciating these supposed “old lady” scents, and perhaps find a new perfume that they would enjoy wearing.
Joe085: I'm not really fond of My Insolence, either. It smelled like fruity scented paint thinner to me…
Eshellmoyer, and we promise not to send the scent police your way
Songes — how lovely! Hope you'll have fun at luckyscent. Me, I can live w/o the cotton candy, but smelling like a mojito now & then would suit me fine
HA — I think of most light scents as diet anyway, as in Diet Fracas = L'Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons.
But you're quite wrong that everyone's grandma wore Shalimar, there are many people who read here who are too old to have had grandmas who wore Shalimar.
All that you say is true, but then, there is not reason to insist that everyone MUST appreciate the classics, right? I mean, some people frankly don't care about perfume. If Light Blue makes someone happy, why should I care? And as there are so many things I refuse to care about (fashion, for instance) I feel like I ought not to complain
I just look the cupcake-accord-wearing cuties straight in the eye and tell them my perfume is “vintage.” Turns “old lady” right into cool.
i am also confused by the whole thing. at some point (early 2000's!) i smelled Shalimar Light on a magazine strip, loved it, and got a decant of it by purchasing an atomizer at Sephora (they don't do that any more!). i happily used it all up, then in 2005 i broke down and bought a bottle in a Hungarian duty free shop, and it seemed – different. too lemony and not as special. my box and bottle have no date but say Shalimar Light on one side and Shalimar Eau Legere on the other and the box is light blue with funky white radiating waves. Hmph. it seems to be blue liquid. @*#$&! no wonder!
Shalimar Eau Legere is availabe even in Prague – where I am based – since about a week. I remember trying Eau de Shalimar or whatever the blue one in the advertisment was called in an airport, but it was the end of summer and it was either that one or the now-impossible-to-find-in Prague Azuree Soleil, so no contest. But I liked the Blue Shalimar – shall I dare say Light Blue Shalimar hehe – so Eau Legere looked like a good chance to reconnect with a lovely – if fleeting – aquaintance…
Not so. The vanilla smelled quite chemical on me and after half an hour it smelled as if I poured a mug of good Earl Grey tea on my wrist to wash an overdose of Aquolina Pink Sugar.
Following your brilliant posts of yesterday, I actually seeked and tried Shalimar Eau de Parfum. It does smell musty and old-ladyish at first, then it develops into a very pretty vanilla-anisette-sandalwood fragrance.
That being said, I would not purchase – or indeed wear – Shalimar in any form they release it. After 10 years of Hypnotic Poison alternated with Nuit Noire I just find the fragrance far too tame for me.
As for Clinique Happy, I actually wear the masculine version for work. It is fresh, woody, citrusy and helps me focus. It is aromatherapy at work.
For what is worth, I believe many of the “smells like old lady” remarks usually do not refer to the specific fragrance and thus do it a disservice, simply through a process of association with somethinf vaguely reminiscent of that “style” of fragrance. I am almost certain that not all those ladies commenting so have smelled Shalimar (or whatever frag) so many times on older ladies to be able to make a definite connection They just have smelled something in that genre and lack of vocabulary and of desire to further investigate just what it was leaves them to assign those qualities to just about anything not resembling what they smell on their peers.
One would guess that for them to actually try it out the negative associations are not fimly in place between person/type/age & fragrance. Otherwise why try it out in the first place, if they're so averse to being perceived as old? (am I making sense here? I hope so)
I remember trying out “Shalimar Light” in one of my travels a few years back and finding it very agreeable indeed. I do like the original too in extrait, but the concentrations have been so much tamptered with over the years…
I find nothing wrong with a “Light” version of Shalimar. What perplexes me is “Habit Rouge Light:” now that one I don't begin to understand.!Why was this necessary??
I don't think it really is an age thing. I am on the younger side (31) and I adore quite a few perfumes that others describe as old lady. The funny thing is I also quite some of the lolly water too. I think a lot of the issue is that younger people who are not perfume addicts only know of the perfumes that are advertised in the mass market. Just today, one of the teenaged girls in my office commented that she liked my perfume and asked what I was wearing. When I explained that it was Jicky by Guerlain, she commented that she had never even heard of it! (blasphemy!)
It breaks my heart that Sephora doesn't do that anymore….it was such a great deal!
Sounds like you smelled the Mathilde Laurent version, then bought the tinkered with version. Ah well.
“Light Blue Shalimar” — LOL, that's the one coming next
I suppose Habit Rouge Light is necessary for the same reason: to renew interest in the range & to sell a few more bottles
Yay, glad to hear a teenaged girl liked the smell of Jicky
“Very Agreeable?” You must be in the age range that takes the words “old lady fragrance” as a personal insult. Oops!
I did not intend to insult anyone, but then taking insults personally is a choice isn't it?
Nile Goddess, I must have missed something — Helg's post was not a response to yours but a stand-alone comment, so not sure why you think she took anything you said as a personal insult?
You're my role model.
Good point.
Helg wrote something about “ladies who deem a fragrance to be old-ladyish doing so either out of an inferiority complex or due to a lack in vocabulary”. I did mention Shalimar EDP as smelling a bit musty and old-ladyish AT FIRST.
Really, I have been reading your blog and enjoying it for years. Oh the mileage I got out of it! The Sephora SA's I have exasperated! :-)))
Nevertheless as today is my first post and a decent one, I did not expect to have my behind chewed over the “old-lady” expression.
I used it because this is EXACTLY how Shalimar EDP smelled to me at first. It does improve a lot but I do need a bit of woody spice in my frags and am desperately trying and failing to have another fav than Hypnotic Poison. Mind you, I did write to Dior begging them to celebrate HP's 10th anniversary, due this December, in style, and would be grateful if more HP fans did the same.
The blue Shalimar in the picture was lovely, this much I remember, despite of the airport funk all around. But it lacks something sharp, like pepper – not pink pepper! HP uses bitter almonds for that curara effect and it's brilliant and no one else does it.
Am desperate for a nice woody aromatic SUMMER fragrance and all we have here in Prague are: Dior Addict Eau Fraiche, Calvin Klein Contradiction (if anyone cares to remember it), or perhaps Aromantic from Decleor. They only fit the bill 75% for me and I thought Shalimar Eau Legere would be the one and it isn't. It's cloyingly sweet without anything to counterbalance the sugary vanilla.
The likes of Ange ou Demon Eau Tendre or CK Euphoria or Eau de Star by Thierry Mugler do not qualify. They get, as the Czechs say, the “potato medal” LOL.
I'm glad!
Nile Goddess, I assumed she was reacting to the quotes in the article itself and to the rest of the discussion that followed, not to your comment in particular.
And without chewing anyone's behind out, there are many of us, myself included, who don't like the term “old-lady” used as a derogatory expression….although as I said, it doesn't bother me as much as it used to — maybe because I'm even more of an old lady now and can't be bothered to get riled up, LOL. But as I've said above, I'm sure I am equally age-ist about the “young” scents
Hypnotic Poison is great stuff. Didn't realize it was the 10th anniversary, will be cool if they do a collector bottle, although I guess they just did one last month.
And lastly, did not know that was your first comment, so a belated welcome!
Yes I know the term “old-lady” is shunned here. My guess is each and every one of us reads something else in these words. This is what it means to me.
I grew up with a lot of great-aunts and even great-great aunts around. Some were fantastic, young at heart and great fun. Others were … gloved up to the elbows, wearing a monocle, living in houses out of Rose Red, and pursing their lips at small and lively children like me. Their houses always smelled the same: a mixture of beeswax, Turkish coffee, mothballs, old furs, Mitsouko or Madame Rochas, and something else, maybe Persian cats. Now THAT's what I call an old-lady fragrance.
There are many old-fashioned fragrances, some gloriously so, like Nina Ricci's L'Air de Temps favored by one of my grandmothers, Poison, favored by the other grandmother, or Mom's beloved Caleche. I also love Boucheron that no one ever mentioned, and Opium, which I believe to be deeply modern despite being around for many years. But I would never call these fragrances old-ladyish. There is no Eau de Siamese Legere, Essence de Mothball or any of the above-mentioned ingredients.
Hopefully this explains my version of OLF, and most readers and bloggers can relate to that and see I mean no harm. And if there is a Miss Havisham and her OLF around, well, am not going to be apologetic about it!
PS What collector bottle do you mean? We have Dior Adict Shine here, which is some sort of Light Blue only worse, and Miss Dior Cherie Printemps or similar, never bothered with any of the Miss Diors. Poison Tendre and Dolce Vita are, alas, on their way out
and there is a new J'Adore but it could be called J'Ignore for all I care. No decent launch in years.
I probably won't even bother.
Here are the Poison collector bottles for 2008:
http://tinyurl.com/2nhcw9
Don't know if you can find them there…
I have the 2003 Shalimar light…. Divine. I love it more than the original Shalimar. I even think I remember Luca Turin saying that he liked it too…. Although I cannot remember where I read that.
I will smell eau de Shalimar to see if it evokes any of the same feelings.
Okay, this confusion has to be cleared up! I had a brainwave that I had carded samples in my collection of Guerlain vials. Eureka! Shalimar Light (Eau Legere Parfumee) says 2004 Jean-Paul Guerlain and the bottle is blue with a light yellow juice.
Thanks for commenting on this. I have always thought that this ad was deplorable and awkward.
Good for you! I think you have a terrific attitude towards wearing fragrance. We should do away with age and gender boundaries.
C'mon, curiosity will get the better of you
I think he said that on his blog, Perfume Notes. Good luck with Eau de Shalimar
LOL — it may never be though! Because my juice is light yellow too, and sounds like it may be the earlier version — which also had a blue bottle.
Interesting. I can't really smell Shalimar; I get a whiff of something, and *poof* it's gone. I can smell the Legere, though, and it smells really good to me, if not on me.
Guessing they're using some musk you're anosmic to, L.
Well……duh….yawn…..
Exactly correct! It was merely a comment on the body of the article. Thanks!
Using “… ” implies a quote and this is not an exact quote of my words. I never implied an inferiority complex. Please go back and read again. I hadn't even read your comment till now.
FYI, I do not belong to the age group you are referring to. That's all right, I get the “you're so mature” from people who have only read me and never seen me all the time! I'll take it as a compliment
The whole discussion about this age-fragrance issue does strike me as interesting though and debatable.
Nice that you're in Prague though: great city!
I've always felt that with anything, I feel that one must appreciate the history of something in order to appreciate more modern form of anything – doesn't mean that they have to like it. =0]
Especially when someone's getting into perfume and trying to cultivate a taste for it, it's best to take a look at the classics as a base and go from there…
Wouldn't argue w/ your theory, my point is just that many women don't care about fragrance enough to bother, and if you don't care, why should you undertake the work? In other words, many people don't care about “cultivating a taste” for fragrance at all, they just want an easy fragrance that smells good.
I agree, most people want something easy. I was just making a general statement. =0]
Me too, LOL…we'll agree to agree
Ditto, lol! =0]
Just found this sight, and what a delight. Sooooo helpful!
I loved Shalimar light when it came out. I was varrying it with me when I went to visit my mom, who has worn the original Shalimar since she was a young woman. She loved the new fragrance so much, I just handed the bottle to her, vowing to buy another when I got back to Chicago. Well, the second bottle certainly seemed different. I thought it was just my nose, but this article has enlightened me.
HAving smelled the original LIght and the tinkered-with, I can tell you that the opriginal was much more elegant.
It dried down to a seamless blend of soft lemon cream, powder, subtle spice and just a hint of musk. Very clean, yet with some real weight.
Then my second bottle was like lighter fluid and pledge by comparison. It was sharp and gauche. The beauty of the original Shalimar is how perfectly silky the blend of notes is. The first version of Shalimar light captured this lovely FLOW of scent-notes as well..it was like smelling a hint of the original Shalimar while sitting in a lemon grove and licking vanilla-spiked creme freche from your lips. The tinkered with version was sharp, and dissonant with a hint of powder. Very disappointing. I would die though, if they would bring back the original Shalimar light. It was fresh and sexy- the perfect day into night, I-can-only-pack-one-fragrance-for-this-weekend-trip scent.
Then I'm afraid you'll be even more disappointed with the newer “Eau de Shalimar”, which is probably more Pledge-like than the 2nd version of Shalimar Light. I join you in wishing they'd bring back the first iteration!
Hi Robin,
Late to the party as usual, but just wanted to get my 2 cents in. I won a set of the 50ml eau legere + tubes of shower gel and moisturizer on ebay last week and just spritzed a bit on my wrist (Jicky edt on the other). This edt is housed in the lighter, blue-tinged bottle so I'll assume it's the original formula (thought the package has a 2004 copyright date). Bottomline, the citrus faded fairly quickly and what's left is simply gorgeous! Perhaps they didn't mean Shalimar Light as in “less” but rather “bright” because I feel it is a brighter version of the original. I may want to layer some Jicky over it to extend the little “kick” but it truely is a beautiful scent.
– ann
Congrats on your win…I really need to find a FB before it disappears. Great idea to layer it w/ Jicky, I'll have to try that!
I'd love to know what you think if you get around to trying it out. There's just a little bit too much pure vanilla here and a touch of “skank” may be just what it needs!
Will do!
I know this is super, super late but just the same, I will chime in.
I bought a bottle of Shalimar Eau Legere here in riyadh for SAR 95 or USD 25! It was on a bargain. It smells gorgeous and I am so happy with my purchase.
Congrats!