Years after Now Smell This publishes a post, people still drop by to comment on it. Recently, Julia left a comment on a four-year-old post about Chanel No. 5 wondering what modern fragrances might achieve the classic status of No. 5. It’s a good question.
Victoria at Bois de Jasmin compiled a comprehensive list of modern classics. Most of the fragrances, such as Thierry Mugler Angel and Lancôme Trésor, broke new ground or influenced fragrances to come. It’s a formidable list of stand-out perfumes.
But what about fragrances that aren’t particularly influential, but are beloved anyway? They might well endure changing tastes like No. 5 did and earn their place. When it launched, Jean Patou Joy was expensive and lush but not particularly innovative, yet few would dispute that it’s a classic now. A modern perfume that is beloved but nothing original is Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds. I can imagine White Diamonds turning up on drugstore shelves for decades.
Then there’s the question of which perfumes deserve to stand the test of time although they may not have the distribution or name recognition to preserve them. For example, to me Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman is both novel and gorgeous in its mossy-woody-grassy beauty. Ormonde Jayne doesn’t have the marketing budget to plaster its brand over billboards and glossy magazine ads. In my mind it deserves to become a classic, but may not be able to buy its way into the pantheon. Many other niche brands face the same challenge.
Which of the fragrances sold today launched since, say, the disco era, do you still think will still be around twenty years from now? Which do you wish will still be on the market in twenty years?
Here are a few fragrances I think will soldier on: Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds; Yves Saint Laurent Opium and Paris; Estée Lauder Pleasures, White Linen, and Beautiful (still on the fence about Sensuous); Thierry Mugler Angel; and Bulgari Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert. I'm going to be bold and predict Christian Dior Miss Dior Chérie will tank.
Here are some fragrances I hope will still be around: Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman; Tauer Perfumes L’Air du Désert Marocain and Une Rose Chyprée; and L’Artisan Parfumeur Dzing! and Nuit de Tubéreuse; and the core Serge Lutens line for a few.
Please chime in with your hopes and predictions!
Note: image is sniffing njb through you [cropped] by Un ragazzo chiamato Bi at flickr; some rights reserved.
I have great hopes that in 20 years from now creations by Prada will still be available on the market.
I know Prada is NOT so mainstream as many others, but it does a great job in their perfume creations.
I love and fancy my small Prada collection, but someday those bottles will be empty and that would be the time to re-buy them, ‘cos I DO KNOW I won’t be fed up with them
I hope you’re right about the Pradas! So many people would be heartbroken to see Infusion d’Iris (to name just one) disappear.
I’d miss Prada Man so much, it’s my signature fragrance
I’ll cross my fingers, then, that it never goes out of production.
Hope they won’t, or I’ll have to bye myself a lifelong supply of it
I would also add YSL Opium Homme as one of the most important male fragrance compositions
I’m ashamed to say I haven’t tried the masculine Opium. I’ll have to remedy that right away!
If you happen to have a choice between EDT and EDP try both, but in my opinion they smell different though it’s the same fragrance composition (can just concentration make such a difference).
IMHO EDP is better
Thanks for the tip!
My pleasure 🙂
I agree with all your predictions about which ones will stick around, except I think Miss Dior Cherie will stick around too, along with Coco and Coco Mademoiselle. I hope Ormonde Woman and L’Artisan Passage d’Enfer stay because I can’t think of anything else quite like them. Selfishly, I’m hoping By Kilian Sweet Redemption and Parfums MDCI Enlevement au Serail are still available in 20 years so I don’t have to haunt eBay.
It sounds like our perfume taste is similar! I’m hoping Enlevement au Serail is around long enough that I can get my own bottle to start with.
Laughing at your “so I don’t have to haunt ebay!!”
Are L’Artisan Dzing & Nuit de Tubereuse really that beloved?
It seems like there’s such a small group that like those two.
I’m of the unfortunate (and cynical) opinion that most niche aren’t going to make it unless they’re bought out by a behemoth like Jo Malone was.
I would add Dior J’Adore to the “definitely sticking around” list. Not my thing but that stuff seems to be everywhere.
I don’t know if they’re super popular, but I sure like them, so I added them as my “I wish they’ll stick around” fragrances.
Sadly, I agree with you about niche houses. Even if many of the fragrances deserve to live forever, they may not be able to.
Talk like that might turn me into a perfume hoarder! I can’t imagine not having my Ormonde Woman, now that I’ve found it! If I could only have one scent, I think it would be it!
Believe me, I know what you mean! I love that one, too.
I just discovered OJ Woman too. I am dying to get a bottle – it will be my special after tax rebate splurge, so I am milking my tester. I just got into OJ this past summer with my hard fall for Ta’if. It’s all down hill now!
It’s such a wonderful line. Have you tried the discovery set?
I hate to say it, but I think that Paris is on its way out. It’s no longer sold in Sephora (Parisienne still is, sadly). I hope that the Frederic Malle line sticks around, and I hope that we continue to see great things from it. The last few releases have seemed a little less well-edited than the originals.
No Paris!? So much for my predictions!
Angela, I still see Paris at more upscale department stores (Bloomingdales/Nordstrom and on up), but it seems to be out of the heart of the mainstream (Macy’s) for the time being.
It never was one of my favorites, but I like the idea of it being around.
I like the way your post gets at the ever-present tug between art and commerce. To answer your questions properly I would really need (at least) two lists–one for perfumes that have a classic “feel,” perfumes that seem timeless to me, unbound by a particular style or vogue (like the Ormonde Jayne), and one for perfumes that may or may not have that feel but will survive because of their iconic status (like Angel, which is surely bound forever to it’s moment but has created a new category for itself nonetheless).
It’s definitely a multi-pronged list: fragrances that probably will last, thanks to market forces; fragrances I wish would last because I love them; and fragrances I think deserve to last, even if I never wear them.
I love OJ Woman, but I don’t actually think it’s novel. I smell a very similar structure in the sunnier woodsy chypre Private Collection, the cardamom-incense of YSL Nu and even the sweeter Theorema.
As for new classics, I hope Flower by Kenzo and Bulgari Black stick around.
I enjoyed your interview on Scents of Self today, BTW!
Flower by Kenzo and Bulgari Black are definitely classics, and I hope they stick around, too!
Bulgari Black has sunken to the bottom shelf in most perfumes stores, I don’t think Bulgari is keen on supporting it much longer. It seemed that Theorema was a much loved fragrance but it was axed anyway, and I fear the same will happen to Black, soon.
That’s too bad. There’s really nothing like it on the market. Dzing! has a little of Black’s rubbery musk, but they’re not the same.
I see we just said the same thing at the same time? There are other vanilla-y leathers out there, but none that I know of smell so accurately like RUBBER!
And that was supposed to be an exclamation point, not a question mark. Sigh, Mondayz.
I hear you on Mondays!
You may be right, which sucks because, although it’s simple, there’s not much out there like it.
It definitely stands apart, I agree.
Don’t want to strike fear, but the last time I was at a Bvlgari counter the SA told me that Black was discontinued.
Of course, I take what SA say with a grain of salt, especially when they are in fact trying to sell you something else. (… but I bought 2 bottles from a discounter just to be safe)
I keep hearing that it’s discontinued too, but they continue to sell it at Sephora, so I don’t know what’s going on there….
Oh no! You were smart to stock up, just in case.
Bulgari Black seems to be a victim of the segregation of male and female fragrances into two different locations in stores. Sometimes you can’t even find the men’s fragrances!
I wish they’d do away with that system.
I guess ‘since disco era’ is 1990s onwards? CkOne surely? Not my sort of thing, but man! It has easily survived its first ten years, and despite the flankers, the original still seems to be everywhere. I hope you are right about both the Tauers, and about MDC. But sadly, I think MDC is a stayer. Funny how people pine for the ‘vintage’ MDC, now that it has already been reformulated. Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely might be one of the few celebrity fragrances to make the transition to modern classic. And among niche, I’d say Philosykos.
I’m thinking of the Saturday Night Live disco era stretching back to the late 1970s–a little more leeway, I guess.
Yes, I bet CKOne lives on a good long time. Lovely does seem like a classic, but will it survive when no one knows who SJP is anymore?
Dating myself, but I was going to say that I remember being at a big disco party in 1979.
Did you wear a Danskin leotard and lots of lip gloss?
LOL! No, just basic jeans, etc. if I remember correctly. But I was a Jazzercise instructor for years, so I did get to wear my fair share of shiny tights and leotards!
This is almost TMI!
You are a multifaceted woman! I bet there are lots of scintillating facts hiding out in your background…
Heheheheee….. I’m not telling! 😉
Good question. I uswed to think not, but I think not, bit in more recent times I’ve begun to think it could outlast her. Big claim, I know.
Sorry for garble!
You may be right. Besides, those Sex and the City reruns will be on forever.
What I HOPE and will actually happen, I’m sure, are two different things. I’m of the view (which I hope is wrong), that only the large houses can support “classics” as you said in your discussion of OJ Woman.
That said, here’s what I wish (and might have a chance):
OJ Woman & Ta’if (and why not Champaca & Osmanthus as well)
Tauer (Rose Chypre & Carillon pour une Ange)
Malle Parfum de Therese & Carnal Flower
Del Rae Amoureuse
Lutens Chergui
I love all of these, but have a feeling many of my favorites won’t be around in 20 years….
I love all the fragrances you mentioned! They sure deserve to live, even if they don’t have LVMH financing them.
Hermes probably has the funds to support their core perfumes, and keep developing new ones. I think Terre d¨Hermes will stick around for a long time.
Serge Lutens, maybe. But I hear grumblings on Basenotes about terrible reformulations of the line. I doubt the fans will stay loyal if that is true.(And if he messes up Fille en Aiguille I will…write a strongly worded letter to…someone!)
Good point about Hermes, and I’m grateful for it.
Really–Lutens is messing up the reformulations? That’s heartbreaking! I’ll sign your letter any time.
I second Terre d’Hermes. And nominate Eau des Merveilles.
Both terrific perfumes!
Over Thanksgiving, (well over the weekend) my family and I were discussing Elizabeth Taylor and her jewels. I commented that she had made a large portion of her fortune in perfumes and that they were well respected. We mused on whether her line would continue as memory of her acting fades.
Elizabeth Taylor’s perfumes are actually part of the Elizabeth Arden empire, and so it is up to that corporation to continue or abandon the line, or to rebrand it for a more recent glamour queen.
Many of the niche brands are actually produced by small companies, and most probably can not outlast the companies (and in some cases, the actual individual) which make them. Presumably Killian could be absorbed into the Hennesy empire. Shesheido is likely to carry on the Serge Lutens brand. L’Artisan has just lost its founder, but he left the company with a corporate structure to carry on. It is easy to imagine Ormonde Jayne’s brand and scents finding a buyer among the luxury companies even if Ms. Jayne suddenly decided that she wants to chuck her business ventures and join the first decades long mission to inhabit Mars. (But surely she’d take some of that Hemlock Accord with her).
Good point about larger companies supporting many of these smaller lines. If I win the lottery, I’ll make sure OJ lives on and on no matter how many Mars missions launch!
Surely CK Obsession is one that will stick around for many more years to come.
Good point. It seems like generation after generation need their musky vanillas.
Oh dear God, please no.
(Selfish, completely totally selfish comment, since it has its fans… but I hate that stuff. And if we’re going with “sultry oriental,” surely Shalimar has a leg up anyway?)
Wait. MODERN fragrances only.
Never mind me, I’m grouchy and unnecessarily whiny today. Grrrr.
Some days are like that! You don’t seem too grouchy or whiny to me, though.
It’s Monday and with 2″ of cold rain here… I think everybody has the right to be cranky!
Shalimar has a leg up on practically everything!
I can’t bear it, either, but it seems to be a training wheels oriental.
It actually smells wonderful on my mother, not a bit loud either!
Then all the bottles in the world should be sent to her!
I’m not a lover or user of it, either. But my local, very small Sephora only seems to stock the latest releases and most popular perfumes, and Obsession is a permanent fixture on it’s shelves.
Ok, I’ll be completely honest; I do like the way it smells on my husband !
That’s funny–one of my friends says the same thing about her boyfriend and Obsession!
I think that Coty Musk, Givenchy Amarige and Guerlain Samsara will be classics that stick around.
I love Samsara (and have stock-piled a couple of vintage-ish bottles), but doesn’t it get a lot of negative press from perfumistas?
I’ve heard complaints, but I cherish my bottle, too. It’s a one-of-a-kind fragrance, I think.
I think Samsara is already a classic. But that raises a point; how many of the “classics” will stick around. Many of the classic scents themselves may disappear, particularily if they can not continue to be manufactured and are unsucessfully reformulated.
In addition, many classics will seem like “old lady” and “old man” scents as the generation which first loved them becomes people’s grandmothers. (Yes, this will even happen to you, you lovers of Beiber’s Someday). Many classics of the 20th Century are “heavier” I think of them as having been formulated for the days when people’s sense were dulled by tobacco, and it was considered “star power” for a person’s scent to dominate an entire room. No wonder some have already disappeared.
Some of the 1980s powerhouses have lost their markets thanks to that, I’m sure, but a few persist. I wonder, too, if laws against fragrance will lead to fewer people having educated enough noses to appreciate perfume.
Angela, your comment gets at my fear–that there will only be increase scent-phobia, leading to fewer genuinely memorable scents to become classic. We perfumistas will be gauche, creatively-scented individuals in a crowd of “clean, musky, skin-scents.” Ugh. That’d be a true dystopia for me!
That makes two of us! We’ll have to move to our own island and carefully screen residents for scent acceptance.
I love how you tossed a drugstore favorite into the mix!
I had to give a shout out to Coty Musk – my mother wore it and I wore the White Musk in high school. I think it is one of those staples that will always be around because its good, cheap and people remember it.
I admit to having some Jovan Musk. Same idea.
Coty owns Jovan now – we are talking about the same Musk – sorry, should have referred to it as Jovan Musk by Coty:)
Oh, so not only same idea but same perfume!
those are on my list along with: Anais Anais, Halston, Jean Gaulthier Classique and Boucheron.
I LOVE Halston (2 FB and a bottle of the alcohol free mist) and own a mini of Boucheron for “formal” occasions.
Nice!
Definitely classics. I feel like Halston was discontinued for a while, then recently resurrected, but I could be wrong.
You are right, Halston was defunct but is owned by Elizabeth Arden now and you can buy the fragrances on their website – as well as many discount retailers. There are some complaints that EA tweaked the formula and you can tell the old stock from the new by looking at the packaging – the new says distributed by EA in small print. Supposedly the color of the juice is not as dark either. Sorry if that is TMI!
For perfume geeks lik most of us, the more info the better!
Yes, Anais Anais. And another one by Cacharel- Noa. It is still popular.
Cacheral. i wonder if they’ll ever bring back that fashion line?
Honestly, I doubt it
I should wear my Boucheron more often. I totally agree – it’s a winner.
It’s a big fragrance, but carefully applied I think it’s really elegant.
I second Boucheron, and I second applying with a light hand. 🙂
I started to offer up Guerlain’s Chamade, but then realized that it was released in ’69 (I think).
I think Roja Dove’s Unspoken as well as SSS Champagne de Bois *deserve* to be, but I doubt such independent releases will survive.
I love Chamade. Just had to say it.
I think it’s fair to list fragrances you’d like to stick around, even if they don’t have huge marketing budgets behind them, and those are two terrific candidates!
🙂
Chamade is my consolation for basketball season ending in the Spring!
Guerlain as medication. I get it.
I almost forgot my other nominee – Guerlain’s Spiritueuse Double Vanille. Again, in the hoped-for category as it didn’t get mass distribution.
It seems to get a lot of love, though. Guerlain would be foolish to stop producing it.
they are changing the bottle to the same one as bois de armenie and rose barbare! so it will be part of that line!
That’s good–at least, it sounds more permanent.
Oh, I went to my fancy Nordies (the big one downtown) this weekend in hopes that they would be carrying Double Vanille for the holidays (and Tonka Imperiale). Sadly, not to be. Another to add to the sample sniff list!
I’ve never seen it here, either. Its a good one to sample, though.
Rapp – I think a few of the SSS should be immortal: Champagne de Bois, Tabac Aurea, and Voile de Violette (and Femme Jolie if it were still in production!).
Laurie is so talented! I haven’t tried Voile de Violette; I’ll remedy that in the Spring. And what about Incense Pure?? I actually keep a vial of that at my desk and sniff it on a regular basis for relaxation.
I’m hoping that the Hermessence fragrances will still be around (esp. Osmanthe Yunnan and Vanille Galante), if only because maybe I’ll actually be able to afford a bottle by then. 🙂
I’ll put in another vote for Prada, and I’d also like to add Parfum Sacre.
I think the Hermessences stand a chance–at least, I hope so, too!
I second your vote for Parfum Sacre.
In _Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs,_ in an essay called “Toby Over Moby,” Chuck Klostermann posits that only what’s very popular now will be “classic” in time. Anything niche becomes forgotten because there isn’t a critical mass of people to remember it. (That’s an oversimplification of his argument.)
I believe the same holds true for fragrance. Anything commercially successful enough will become a “classic” with the passage of time — for example, I have little doubt that D&G Light Blue is a Hall of Famer.
Yes, Light Blue. You’re right about that for sure.
But surely there are things that grew in appreciation over time? For instance, some writers–Emily Dickinson, say–increased their following after they died. Or Van Gogh.
You’re probably right: Light Blue and Pink Sugar are perpetual best-sellers at Sephora. So is MJ Daisy, but I can’t believe that’s distinctive enough to be remembered for decades to come…
Heck, I can’t remember MJ Daisy right now.
I was thinking that too – there has to be a large group of people exposed to a certain fragrance, with pleasant associations, as well as a distinctive smell.
And I like Daisy, but it ain’t all that distinctive…
“Honey, take it from your granny: back in the aughties, they really made some wonderful perfumes. They smelled like laundry. And froot. And fake ocean, and candy and rubbing alcohol, too. Marc Jacobs Daisy, now THAT was a perfume!”
“Froot”! You know, I think there really is a discernible difference between a fruity floral and a frooty floral.
I like to think so.
Yikes, if these are the good old days, we’re doomed.
Oh, Mals… I wish I had the Posse’s ROTFL guy!
*snorts* *laughs* *sobs*
Very appropriate response!
Yes, but there are contrary examples. As is often said, “The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band.”
Love that quote.
My husband’s high school band opened for the Velvet Underground a long time ago (late 60’s). After moving all their equipment in he told Lou Reed what a big fan he was and Lou graciously told him to F-Off. He went on to be told the same thing on two different occasions by Paul Cantor of the Jefferson Airplane. Charlie Watts was much nicer to him when he ran several pairs of cowboy boots through the company postage to ship them back to England.
He also told me, just now, that he played softball with Alan Dershowitz. He was in town visiting a prominent local criminal defense lawyer and anti-death penalty activist who was a friend of his. I wonder what else I don’t know…?
Charlie Watts. Drummers RULE!!
Charlie Watts is the best, I agree.
Did you ever hear Terry Gross’s aborted interview with Lou Reed? He basically told her the same thing, so your husband shouldn’t feel bad at all. I wonder why some famous people are so rude? I guess because they can get away with it.
Because they are stoned or hung over.
Yes, I heard that interview. What an undeserved ego. He is a jerk.
All famous people should remember the mantra:
You’re never as good as they say
You’re never as bad as they say
What about Nombre Noir?
Good point! Along with Iris Gris, it might be one of the most popular yet never smelled fragrances.
Like it or not, Aqua di Gio might hang on for a while.
Who knows, maybe all those Britney Spears will be classics.
Oh, I bet you’re right about Aqua di Gio. It’s so danged popular. I hope you’re wrong about the Britneys, though.
Britneys might not survive, but some of the JLo fragrances?
And I don’t know why no one’s mentioned Cool Water? It is a perennial favorite and I still see it everywhere, AND it’s quite different from a number of things that came before, if not after.
Oh yes, JLo Glow does seem somehow eternal. Cool Water will probably live on for decades in drugstores.
Oh, I hope Lipstick Rose and practically everything from Divine attains classic status. Also, Bond No. 9’s Chinatown, which was my first niche perfume love way back in wow.. 2005 maybe? Other perfumes that come to mind as modern classics are Cashmere Mist, Daisy, BS’s Fantasy and Curious though probably only in drugstores, J’Adore, Hanae Mori Butterfly, L’Artisan La Chasse, Guerlain’s L’Instant and Insolence (my beloved Idylle feels too fleeting even with all the newish flankers), Beautiful, White Linen and crossing my fingers for Sensuous. Not that all of the previous are fragrances I wear or find appealing, but are just everywhere and don’t seem like they’re leaving any time soon. If only popularity assured a fragrance’s success. Of course what appeals to me (Bvlgari Black, L’Artisan Dzongkha, Alessandro, Messe de Minuit, SL Miel de Bois among others) doesn’t always appeal to the general public, and I think that market segment holds more sway with the big perfume houses rather than us perfumistas/os who are more devoted and perhaps more adventurous where personal fragrances are concerned. I’m crossing my fingers for the original Prada and Obsession as well since I love and wear both regularly and they’d leave a vacuum in my wardrobe if they disappeared. Though a bottle of Obsession can last quite a long time. 😉
Now I really have to order that discovery set from Ormonde Jayne. I’m even more curious!
All great nominees! Lots of good ones there.
Yes, do get that discovery set. I’d be surprised if you didn’t turn up a few favorites.
Miss Dior Cherie was killed off last season, replaced by lookalike with zero personality.
You are absolutely right! I accidentally bought a bottle of the Cherie pod clone and though I had gotten a bad batch. Sigh, at least I have half a bottle left of the original.
So sad! I’m not a huge fan, anyway, but it seems like Dior is slaughtering its soldiers right and left.
Oh yes. And then there’s that (big sigh).
Wow, this is a tough one.
After the near-demise of 1000 Flowers and the superb Reglisse Noir, it’s hard to anticipate that some of these small niche lines will be producing in 20 years. A perfumer like Andy Tauer will have to really make some back-up plans if he wants his line to continue when he can no longer carry the load. I think l’Air is a masterpiece, but will it endure?
I think I will find Coco Mademoiselle on the shelves for some time, as well as some Pradas. I would like to see the EL Private Collection series stick around. Maybe Flowerbomb? It seems to do well and have a lot of fans (including me). Hmmm…
I had that thought about Flowerbomb, but wasn’t ready to commit. I’m glad you voted for it!
I hope you’re right about the Private Collection series, too.
I wish that Patou Pour Homme was still around, it was my favorite from the early 1980’s. On a shopping trip to St Louis, my grandmother let me pick out a fragrance, and this is what I selected. I ended up getting another bottle of it several years later, used it all and by then it was no longer in production.
Why can’t the manufacturer bring it back?
You’ve just stumbled on the refrain of my favorite song about discontinued fragrances: “Why can’t the manufacturer bring it back?”
Well, I couldn’t help myself . I had to put in my two cents. I love me some new samples, new perfume, I will try most any thing, except TM Angel, that makes my head want to explode! One of my oldest favorites is Poeme by Lancôme and I never see much about it or smell it on anyone else. It smells just lovely on me….
It’s been so long since I’ve smelled that one! You make me want to seek it out the next time I’m in a department store.
Indeed, generally that the niche brands survive independently and keep producing scents with personality and integrity. I think I would be most lost without Timbuktu though, for its ability to exhilarate and centre.
Second suggestions of Light Blue, CKOne, Cool Water, Angel as scents that will withstand the test of time. There are also a few that seem to have existed in the discounter hinterland for ever and show no signs of going away any time soon – Giorgio, Exclamation!, Eden, I’m looking at you. I think Lempicka’s in with a chance, and the Body Shop White Musk too.
Good point about the “discounter hinterland.” At least we know where to go get those Balmains that are otherwise so hard to track down.
I’m glad you added Timbuktu!
I’m directing all of my perfume karma towards Parfums de Nicolai. High quality, well-priced and delightful! If Le Temps d’une Fete gets canned, I will be utterly bereft.
I hope that Lauder keeps Donna Karan’s Black line around, too (Black Cashmere, Chaos, Iris, etc). There’s so few mainstream and womanly options out there at the moment. Her scents fit the bill.
Oh, good point about the Nicolais. Le Temps d’une Fete and Odalisque are heartbreakingly beautiful.
Yes yes yes, and Sacrebleu, too, for me.
I’m with you on both the PdNs and the Karans. I adore Le Temps d’une Fete, too.
Oh, me too. Me too – Le Temps d’une Fete makes my LIFE.
It really is beautiful.
Ju-
Bil-
A-
Tion-
2-
5
(please!)
One of my true loves, too. Please!
Yes, I think Amouages are the only scents I haven’t seen listed here that aught to be–for me, especially Memoir. It’s too expensive to be mainstream, but I sure hope it stays available long enough for me to afford a bottle and maybe a replacement bottle some day!
I hear you! I have a bottle of Lyric and a travel bottle of Jub 25, but I dream of having a full bottle.
Thank GOD someone finally mentioned the Amouage line! Phew. They’re just so exquisite. I own, uh, 3 of them: Memoir, Homage, Ubar and Lyric. Guess that’s 4. I save UP for them. (I also know falconers who travel overseas and they can find them for much cheaper.) I only pray they keep on making them and don’t mess with formulations.
They’re good ones! I’d love Dia and Jub XXV, too. Oh, and Gold Man.
Yes! My votes are for Memoir Woman and Gold for men.
Here’s hoping that “eau d’Axe” doesn’t become a classic! Some other banal marine/ozone has got to take its place, right?
Let’s cross our fingers!
This is a great thread. I was going to say that I hope First VCA will still be around, but like many of my first ‘fume loves, it’s a reformulated shadow of its former self. Just got my hands on a small vintage bottle, and it’s even lovelier than I remembered. Happy to see there may be enough of us OJ Woman fans to keep that gorgeous scent in production.
Oh, VCA has suffered, too? Too bad!
Annick Goutal has been in Nordstrom since I’ve known about Nordstrom (which was the late 1980s/early 1990s around here, I believe). I tend to think of AG as the most widely available niche or cult brand. I believe one or more of her perfumes will be classics. I’m not sure which are the most popular. Personally, I’m especially fond of Heure Exquise and Vetiver, and I see several other AGs mentioned often in the polls and Monday mail.
Caleche has been around for a long time, and I’d guess other Hermes are likely to classics.
Personally, I hope the Calice Becker Kilians, especially Beyond Love and Liaisons Dangereuses, will survive as classics.
One wild card is IFRA. Fragrances otherwise destined to be classics are being guillotined by IFRA and will disappear. At least as we know them – I guess zombies bearing their names may stagger on to eat the olfactory bulbs of the living (see Dior).
I adore many Goutals, too, and would love to see the company stay vital and independent for a long time. (And don’t even get me started on the IFRA. Grrr)
Seconding that Heure Exquise, but it’s not one of the popular ones, it seems. My local department store carries a god range of AGs, but not Heure Exquise.
It’s one of my favorites, too, along with Grand Amour, Songes, Eau de Charlotte, and Duel.
The entire Goutal line should be immortalized and left as is forever. I wish they’d bring back Eau de Monsieur. I love Heure Exquise, Songes, Grand Amour, Gardenia Passion, Mandragore, M Pourpre… I could go on. I completely admire that AG goes it’s own way and has not been market tested to death.
I think you can still get Eau de Monsieur in Paris. (If you need an excuse to go to Paris, there’s one.)
Wow, I’m getting on this so late (I should be in bed now as I go to work early in the morning and am there until close to 6:00 in the evening)! This is the reason I do not post as often as i would like and if I do post during the working hours it is so brief and done so quickly (as I’m not supposed to be doing that) and therefore I make many typos and cannot express myself fully. Plus, I am so busy on the weekends as well. because I have to do so much in so short a time, that I rarely have the chance to post on weekends. So I am out of the loop most of the time, although perfume is never out of the loop in my life from when I was a teenager. I am in so much agreement with most of the posts–Ormonde Woman, L’Artisan Dzing and Nuit de Tubereuse, Frederic Malle Carnal Flower, Therese, Dans Tes Bras (among others), too many Serge Lutens to even list, as well as Andy Tauers–that I adore–especially Un Rose Chypre and Miriam (which I think is soooo beautiful) , Vero Perfumo Rubj, Chanel 31 Rue Cambon and La Pausa. Aqua di Parma Parfumo (I still have 2 bottles of the original version which I bought in Italy) CdeG Phylosyklos, some EL’s, Amouresuse, Prada Infusion d’Iris, and the Amber, Amouauge Lyric, Juliet Has a Gun Citizen Queen, so many to mention, and I did go overboard. But the one I fear for the most and also because it almost seems like it is being fazed out is Hermes Hiris. When it first came out in the 90’s, I thought it was the most divine scent and almost perfect in every way. But now so many other have followed, that I am worried that it will no longer be available. I bought a large supply many years ago and am now down to just a few bottles (but I’m a lot older now with many more bottles of everything, so I may not even have the chance to use them up should it become discontinued). However, after buying and wearing so many scents since the 90’s (and long before the 90’s in my case), Hiris is still the bottle that I grab the most when I don’t know what to wear and also that I crave the most when I haven’t worn it in a while. I think this post has made up for my long absences on other posts! To those who actually read it, thanks for bearing with me.
Thanks for squeezing time out of your busy schedule to post a comment!
I love your list of fragrances. Besides those you mentioned that have already been mentioned, thanks for including Dans tes Bras and Rubj–two gorgeous perfumes.
I hope your Hiris never runs dry!
I think your fave has brought up a point. Hiris is probably being phased out because Hermes has newer Iris scents. In some cases, a well made fragrance may phased out because the house does not want to compete with itself.
Hiris is so different than the Hermessence iris, though! (And less expensive.) It doesn’t smell good on me, but I’d hate to see it disappear.
Thanks Angela. Nice to know another stay-up-late-nighter!
I’m not too much of a night owl, but I’m on the west coast, which usually buys me a few hours over east coasters.
It may not be everyones cup of tea but I hope Cliniques Aromatic Elixir will stay around for a while longer -even though my very small bottle will possibly last me forever.
Oh good pick. And I’m the same: I have not made much of an impression even on a mini of AE, tho’ I keep telling myself I like it.
BTW Debbie, have you seen the new ‘Perfumer’s Reserve’ iteration of AE in Australia? It has had favourable reviews, but I have not seen it at a counter.
I really want to try that one, too.
I’m thiiiiis close to buy myself a bottle unsniffed for Christmas! Talk me out of it if you can!
I am, too! I’m going on the prowl tomorrow at lunch to see if I can find a real bottle to sniff.
No, and please forgive my ignorance, what exactly is it? Fragrance?
Living at the end of the earth, nearly, puts me behind with most of the Fragrances mentioned on this site, our city Perfumery does try and keep up but they dont carry any niche perfumes.
I guess a limited “special” edition of Elixir is on the market right now. I’m eager to try it.
Ok -just read your question, properly this time, and no I havent seen that version but Im going into the city Friday, Christmas shopping, and they may have it in Myer-doubtful but maybe.
Good luck!
It may not be in Australia yet. My local Myer’s does not have it. There is a review here:
http://graindemusc.blogspot.com/2011/11/clinique-aromatics-elixir-perfumers.html
Hope you enjoy your shopping!
I checked at my local Nordstrom today, too, and didn’t see it. I’ll keep looking, though.
It’s such a classic! I hope you’re right.
I completely agree with nominating Ormonde Woman by Ormonde Jayne as a classic – for me it already is – and Luca Turin recognised this in his new book. I couldn’t see what the fuss was all about when I first tried it 10 years ago but it was also my first forray into niche perfumes so I guess I was just accustomed to bog standard mass market scents and my nose couldn’t fathom the complexity of its notes like Black Hemlock and Violet Absolute. Now…after a steady 8 years of love for it, ORmonde Woman definitely deserves to be still around untouched and somewhat unattainable for decades to come. I’m sure Linda Pilkington knows how to do this.
I’m crossing my fingers! It’s such a good one.
Interesting that Ormonde Woman is consistently in the top of the Modern Classics prediction. I shall add my supportive opinion of this too!
I agree that Une Rose Chypree is a modern classic.
I reckon that Carnal Flower will be a modern classic.
Coromandel is, IMHO, in the running too.
Out of the ones that I love to wear, I really hope Dzongkha and Passage D’Enfer stay in constant, consistent production! but I don’t think they are of wide enough appeal to be modern classics.
I admit that much of my list is more “I hope it sticks around” than “I’d put money on it sticking around,” so feel free to throw in your favorites.
Oh my goodness, this is quite a question… and it has already generated far too many responses for me to read.
As far as mainstream houses are concerned, I really hope that Dior’s Leather Oud is still around in 20 years, although, by then, who knows what the anti-allergen situation will be like. Leather Oud contains several woody materials, and I suspect they may soon be within IFRA’s sights.
As for niche, I would certainly shed tears if anything ever happend to Amouage’s Gold Woman and Gold Woman, as well as Epic Man. And if there’s ever the slightest suggestion that Andy Tauer is going to stop making Lonestar Memories, then I will re-mortgage my house and buy every single bottle in existence.
I still haven’t tried the Leather Oud, but now I’ve got to–thanks for the recommendation. I love your others, too!
Am late again…most have already been mentioned
amber sultan
attrape coeur SHOULD 🙁
jubilation25
carnal flower
borneo
daim blonde…oh heck, most of the serges
It’s so crazy that Attrape Coeur was discontinued! It’s so romantic, and I can’t believe it wasn’t popular.
My take is that it was more of the authorship issue between M. Laurent and J. P. Guerlain rather than popularity. Grain de Musc probably knows more.
The art needs to come first! Egos last.
From the stars of the “fragrances with a personality” era I still smell around many times the well appreciated Kenzo Jungle, Cacharel Eden and Dior Farenheit.
I think many peolple love Lipstick Rose, it should not dissapear, neither Caron Aimez Moi or Gaultier 2.
Those are some good ones no one has mentioned yet! I’m surprised but gratified Kenzo Jungle is still around.
Mainstream Perfumes I Believe, or Hope will Become Modern Classics:
Guerlain Samsara
Theirry Mugler Angel
Lancome Tresor
Bvlgari Pour Femme
Bvlgari Jasmin Noir
Dior J’Adore
Dior Hypnotic Poison
Chanel Coco Mademoiselle
Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia
Estee Lauder Sensuous
Estee Lauder Pleasures
Lolita Lempicka Le Premier Parfum
Narciso Rodriguez For Her
Jean Paul Gaultier Classique
Stella McCartney Stella
PS: This list is from 1990-present. That is why Chanel Coco, and YSL Opium and Paris are not on the list.
Continuation of List:
Kenzo Flower
Michael Kors Michael
Vera Wang Signature- only because all the brides
Donna Karan Cashmere Mist
Oh yes, more good ones!
Great list! I can’t wait to check back in ten years and see what’s still around.
Thank you, Angela.
I totally agree with you, about seeing which perfumes will still be available in 10 years.
I hope you are right about Miss Dior Cherie tanking. It drives me crazy that Miss Dior Cherie, and all the other “friutchoulies”, are what girls today consider to be perfume, and I am only 23! Maybe the reformulation will finally be the death of it.
You have sophisticated taste already! I suppose a fruity perfume will always have a place, but so much of it? With all those nasty musks?
Thank you so much, Angela. I am honored to receive such a complement from someone of your caliber.
You are remarkably nice to suggest I have any caliber. Thank you!
For me I really hope that Andy Tauer’s une rose Chypree will be there for century’s as well as Lonestar Memories.
But Ormonde Woman and Bois Blond (Parfumerie Generale) may stay as well.
Yesterday I poored my last drop of a sample by Maria Candida Gentile’s Sideris: delicious.
Those are such great ones. I’m with you 100%. I haven’t tried Gentile’s Sideris. I’ll keep my eyes open for it.
Yes to Bois Blond!
Angela: I totally agree on Nuit de Tuberose – it is gorgeous and sexy. And I just fell for OJ Woman so I’m in the choir on that one too.
There are so many good fragrances coming out of the dreck. I’d add
Penhaglion’s Amaranthine
Amouage Memoir Woman
Teo Cabanel Alahine
L’Artisan Timbuktu and Traversee du Bosphore
Anything from Frederic Malle, lol!, esp. Noir Epices
SSS Tabac Aurea and Champagne des Bois
Mauboussin, which is the best fruity oriental ever
Diptyque L’eau de Tarroco
Tom Ford Black Orchid Voile de Fleur
And I’m going to throw a mass market-ish rose in there, that I think paved the way for the resurgence of roses these past 5 years: Stella McCartney
…yeah, that’s “Tarocco”….
Great list! Is Voile de Fleur still in production? I was looking for it not too long ago and didn’t see it at Nordstrom.
Amaranthine! Good one.
I agree!
I just recently got a sample of Orange Star, and I’m smitten, so I want to add it to the Tauers already nominated. And why not Incense Rose too? Also, there are some CdG oddballs I would be sad to lose: Avignon, anyone?
You’re so right! The original CdG deserves a place, too.
My (janie-come-lately) vote: Guerlain Vetiver pour Elle…
Another good one!
Yes! That one doesn’t get the attention it deserves, I think.
Most of mine have been mentioned. I will add En Passant. I hope that breathtaking fragrance will be around forever!
I’ll cross my fingers!
Thats a great list, Angela!!!
I would want to add:
FM Carnal Flower and Iris Poudre
Narciso Rodriguez for Her
Coco Mademoiselle
Balenciaga Paris
Cartier Baiser Vole
Bond No. 9 Chinatown
By Killian Beyond Love
I can see all of those fragrances having a strong fan base for years to come!
hooray for Angela’s mention of Hiris
thanks
Someone else mentioned it, but I agree! Hiris needs to stay.
Here’s my wishlist:
Feminite du Bois (this one has a small cult, I think); Iris Poudre and Le Parfum de Therese; OJ Woman, but also Tolu and Frangipani; Le Temps d’une Fete; Lyric Woman. I think each of them has a decent shot – at least I hope!
My gosh, I could live happily simply with the perfumes you listed. Let’s hope they all live a long and largely unreformulated life!
My personal favorite is Vera Wang, but it seems that this is on it’s way out. Very difficult to find in the stores. I would also like to see Cool Water last. They both have a fresh scent.
Too bad one of your favorites is getting more difficult to track down. I bet it will be available online for a long time, though. Vera Wang seems pretty popular.