It's finally Friday! Our community project for today: wear one of the perfumes included in Michael Edwards' Perfume Legends (I've added a complete list at the end of the book review), or wear any fragrance from 1992 or before. What did you pick?
As always, do chime in with your scent of the day even if you aren’t participating in the community project.
I'm wearing vintage Jean Patou Joy extrait from the 1960s. From Perfume Legends, quoting Elsa Maxwell's autobiography:
We spent the better part of three days sniffing samples prepared by the top perfume blender [Ed. note: that would be perfumer Henri Alméras] in Grasse, and rejecting all of them. None suggested the elusive, special something we wanted. The blender, rapidly running out of patience, muttered angrily to himself and thrust a vial at us. 'If you don't like this...', he snapped. Patou smelled it. 'Wonderful!' he exclaimed. 'This is it'.1
Reminder: next Friday, 10/24, we're doing Gender Wars: wear something marketed to your gender opposite, with partial credit for wearing something marketed as unisex.
And for those of you who like to plan ahead, see Scent of the day ~ Friday community projects 2014, where I'll try to always have the next six or seven weeks mapped out in advance.
1. p. 70. I should point out that according to Edwards, Maxwell embellished the story a wee bit. No matter, it sounds good.
I had grand plans for wearing LouLou today, but was rather unwell this morning and even the thought was too much.
So this afternoon when I felt better I put on Ma Griffe- vintage on one wrist and the big square previous to new issue on the other. It’s the first time I tried the vintage sample. The vintage is a little smoother and sweeter but they are both still obviously the same perfume.
Glad you’re feeling better!
I am wearing LouLou today, since we were having a Bosses Day Luncheon at work. We ordered in Indian food for the lunch, and no one made any mention of my scent. LOL. My husband asked me to get this Lou Lou a few months ago, as he remembered liking it on someone back in the ’90’s. But he doesn’t like it on me as much as I do. He likes Infusion d’Iris on me. I like Infusion d’Iris just fine, but I want to branch out a bit. I am thinking I need to put together an Iris sampler set of every Iris perfume I’ve seen mentioned here on NST.
Probably starting with the ones on the Perfume’s Legends list.
That would be a BIG sampler set!
I still want to try the rerelease – all the vintage I’ve been able to sample so far has been at least somewhat deteriorated and I didn’t enjoy it. But can’t find the new stuff to sample!
Vintage 1940s Tuvache Jungle Gardenia extrait for me. Not one of the listed legends but it sure is wonderful
It sounds wonderful!
I never tried Jungle Gardenia but I wore Tuvache as a teen. You must smell great!
Meant to say, I wore Tuvache Tuvara as a teen. I found a teensy bottle on ebay several months ago, but the seller turned out to be one of those who sells all kinds of stuff. After about a month of looking for it, the seller said he couldn’t find it and refunded my money. Wish he’d found the bottle, Tuvara was a great oriental frag.
I am wearing Samsara, though I don’t have an old old bottle, I have one that has the gold top and shaped like a coffin. So its not from t he new collection, but not from the year it was made. Somewhere in between.
Hope this counts!
Sandalwood Sandalwood Sandalwood= samsara
Of course it counts!
I went with Paloma Picasso. I bought a bottle of this unsniffed years ago and it was *not* love at first sniff. Now I really love it; I’m so glad I didn’t get rid of it.
How nice that you held on to it! Pretty bottle, too.
It took me a couple of tries to ‘get’ Paloma, too. I finished my sample for the last ‘purgatory’ day and had a Eureka moment. I bought some on ebay just this week. Can’t wait to get it.
I do not love Paloma but I like it very much – from the first time I sniffed it “in the wild” on some woman at museum and asked her what she was wearing. My mini bottle doesn’t get enough wear – I should rectify it soon.
Good morning, Robin! Hope you are having the sunny fall weather we are having here in CT!
I am wearing some vintage Miss Dior. It’s from either the ’50s or the ’60s. My mother-in-law passed it along to me from a very elderly friend of hers who was clearing out her house.
I only dabbed it on, but it is powerful. I *never* would have worn this more than 15 years ago. I’m sure I would have called it an “old lady” perfume!
I’m enjoying the drydown. I haven’t looked up the notes yet; I want to enjoy it without concentrating on this note or that.
Note: my spell check corrected this to be “Miss Doug.”
We are, yes!!
Love vintage Miss Dior, and ditto…I wouldn’t have worn it then either.
I, too, love vintage Miss Dior but . . . I wore it ‘then’, too!
Miss Doug – hee.
Must.
de Cartier?
Yep:). Sorry
Wearing Number 5 EDP from the early nineties. I was planning Mitsouko, but had to change because that Chanel surfboard is pretty awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8asRWe5XNw8
Have a great weekend!
Hope you saw these:
http://www.surfertoday.com/surfing/3406-chanel-fashion-house-releases-luxury-surfboards
Thank’s, I had not seen it! They were first available here in Brazil, how cool. Wish I could surf, to covet one of these…
Also in no. 5 edp (undated though).
A definite favorite. I didn’t get it until I tried eau premiere, and then it all snapped right into place. Love it.
Wishing everyone a great Friday!
Great video – this goes a long way toward making up for the Brad Pitt debacle!
The ocean part, specially, conveys a sense of independence and strength that I really like, but after Brad Wet Dog and poor recycled Marilyn, I think Chanel is still in debt, lol.
I am wearing some L’Heure Bleu eau de toilette from the late 50s/early 60s (based on the seller and the bottle which is the tall flattish oval bottle with a ground glass stop and a dolphin label at the base of the oval). It is fantastic.
Nice! Lots of vintage today.
Yes, L’Heure Bleue here too! I’ve got the extrait, it’s old-ish but I don’t exactly know, probably 60s. I’m glad I dug it out, it’s just the right thing for this autumn weather.
I love those oval bottles with the dolphin labels – both the bottle and that vintage and concentration – it was finally my gateway to Shalimar!
It’s the day for Jicky, in its perfume version!
From the book — “With his creation of Jicky, Aimé Guerlain transformed the perfumer from a tradesman into an artist”
Amen, sistah!
SOTD is Anne Pliska- Not on the list but pre- 1992 (I think!).
I love this warm amber-y vanilla-ery cloud of puffy beauty even though the packaging leaves a bit to be desired, according to Robin, who wrote, “the packaging for the Eau de Parfum is too hideously ugly to contemplate” in her review. Go Robin! lol
Here’s a link to her review in case anyone is interested
: https://nstperfume.com/2007/11/15/anne-pliska-perfume-review/
I don’t mind the packaging so much since I love what’s inside the hot pink canister! It’s just right for a coolish (70’s!) day such as today =)
Happy Friday!
Anné Pliska is FANTASTIC. It defies your expectations every step of the way. I can’t think of anything else that it’s quite like. (That packaging is really not good, though.)
What’s really funny is that she’s changed the packaging several times, but never made it look any better. Not even sure if it was a hot pink canister when I wrote that…
She is almost a non-entity! When I google her, I get next to nothing. She must really like hot pink though
BTW it is pre-1992: it was launched in 1987, in the midst of the bigger-stronger-more oriental typhoon that Obsession fuelled in 1985. Amazing that it’s still being made, since there are no flankers and no other scents from the house.
Thanks for launch date update
When I first heard about this one, I had a heck of time tracking it down. I only find it at the “L” place and originally wanted the extrait but it was on backorder forever so I finally caved and got the edp, which I totally enjoy!
I am trying to remember what I was doing way back in 1987 but my memory fails me. So sad.
And apropos to nothing I have stopped coloring my hair and am letting the gray take over- Anyone else going though this “process”?? I would be curious to hear other peoples experience….
I’ll do that one day. But I’m only 37 and have heaps of gray, so I’ll be coloring my hair for at least another decade
There comes a point when natural gray looks far more comfortable and flattering than obviously colored hair, and there’s sexiness about a woman comfortable in her own skin- so embrace it!
I’ve been extraordinarily lucky with hair. I will be 60 in a little over a year and my grey is (mostly) hiding out very nicely in the stick-straight strawberry blond I’ve had all my life. The grey looks sort of like highlights … except for the little white corkscrews that pop up all over the place. I’m determined to let it go grey however it wants to … but ask me about coloring it again in another year – I may cave!
Lucky you! I have dark brown hair naturally, so when those treys started popping out, it was like a blazing beacon in the night
In the end we all have to do what we feel is best for us and that’s a very individual choice
I’m 33 and going grey. A few years ago I colored for about a year, but realized it wasn’t me (too much $ and maintenance – guess I’m cheap and…easy? Oh dear). I realize that being younger gives me a certain privilege in this arena, my decision is “edgy” rather than being perceived as lazy. But I agree w/ Perthgirl, I prefer a natural look. My mother went grey young and embraced it, and I always thought she was very brave to buck that endless dye cycle.
Yes, too much time in a chair! I always got a single process Demi-permanent color but for the last 6 months I am just letting it au natural- it’s the “process” that’s difficult I think- being half brown and half grey is kinda silly looking but it is what it is. I’ll get there eventually
I’m wearing my all-time favorite: Shalimar. Because I’m thrilled that it’s the weekend, I brought out the vintage parfum today (not sure what year, though).
You smell divine!
I wore the edt yesterday, and it was lovely.
I’m also wearing Shalimar.
And, I’m thrilled its the weekend also!!!
I wearing Caleche EDT (vintage).
I’m wearing Coco, the parfum version. I should wear this more often.
You’ve reminded me to add this to my samples wishlist – I love the EdP so I imagine this smells divine
ha, scent twins! The tiniest dab of vintage Joy edt–about to go to power yoga, and don’t want to gas anyone out, myself included. But any perfumista who hasn’t tried the vintage iteration should, if only to experience the raw materials, esp jasmin de Grasse and the rose.
I’ve got some vintage Eau de Joy. Gorgeous stuff.
The materials in the vintage versions of Joy are just incredible…it just smells like money.
Joy made me realize I have a limit on civet, it passed the limit. The jasmine is great though.
I have seven things on the list, and it was tough but eventually I chose to wear Cabochard, not quite vintage but old enough to still be a proper chypre with oakmoss. It’s amazing stuff, leather from top to bottom, strict and uncompromising, almost cruel, like a drill sergeant with a riding crop. It gives you backbone. Honestly hard to believe it was ever marketed as a women’s scent.
Really great description, thank you for that!
Wonderful description! I almost chose Cabochard, haven’t worn it in ages. My bottle is not vintage though. But since we were going out with good friends I opted for a non take-no-prisoner alternative and chose Samsara instead. It is growing on me. Happy weekend everybody!
I was right on the cusp of wearing Samsara, which is spectacular, but I wasn’t in the mood for its radiance: it was a dark gloomy morning and Cabochard was definitely called for.
Almost chose that. One of my all-time favorites. You smell wonderful!
Because Perthgirl couldn’t, I am wearing LouLou today. I was looking at the bottles I bought before I became a perfume nut and was surprised to see how many have become “legends.” Lots of them have prominent vanilla, which I did not know until I started reading note lists. So interesting to look back!
Oh, and I’ll be posting Must de Cartier on the swap list tomorrow–I just never warmed to it and I am sure someone else will give it a better home.
Thanks foxbins!
you smell great! (loud, but great!) 
I like loud!
No one but me to care, so why not?
Oh I like loud too- loud is fun!
And if you’re going to be loud, LouLou is a really great way to do it.
Wearing an older formulation of Diorella. It was between this and Diorissimo since they are the only two from the list that I actually own, and I couldn’t be bothered to rummage through the samples to see what else I might have.
I’ve a day off work so I’m studying and Diorella is perfect, but then it’s perfect for most occasions, anyway.
The older versions of Diorella have this wonderful overripe fruit allusion in the heart. It’s a beautiful fragrance and was on my list for today as well.
Me too! I didn’t warm to it immediately but it’s a very arresting chypre.
Every time I wear Diorella (and I own at least 3 different versions of it) I think how beautiful it is… and then forget to wear it again for a long-long time.
Abyss, Coumarin and Undina, I also chose Diorella. Reminds me of the 70s. So beautiful, but not an easy fragrance to wear at work. Of course I did in the 70s, but so much has changed, and so many people lack tolerance for anything not sweet/flowery/clean.
I had quite a hard time picking a fragrance today, in the end I hesitated between Paris YSL and Nina by Nina Ricci (1987). I ended up choosing the latter as my scent of the day. It’s a gorgeous scent but so totally unlike the ’80s big hitters around. A gentle aldehydic floral. I only started seriously wearing it in the mid ’90’s shortly before it was discontinued. It converted me to aldehydic florals which is still one of my favourite genres.
To compensate for my polite perfume behaviour today, I plan to wear loads of Paris tomorrow
I wore Nina in the late 90’s, and loved it. Wish I’d bought enough to survive the discontinuation though- it’s so hard to find.
When I realised it had been discontinued I was lucky enough to find a couple of bottles of EDT on ebay.
Wearing Dune today (my only FB of the Legends). Was going to wear some Mitsouko for a decant but I’m going to a wedding tonight and it felt wrong for some reason.
I haven’t worn Dune in probably a couple of months and I think I may like it more in the summer. It’s a cool rainy day and it just doesn’t smell as beautiful as I recall.
Dune is great:).
I love Dune as well-but I can see how it can be a summer scent
I love, Dune, too, but for me Dune warms up a cool, rainy day anytime; in summer (at least, summer where I live) it’s just ‘too’ much.
SOTD = Dior Dune
I got the bottle from a swap but if the original juice came out in 1992 (?) and has not been reformulated (?) it doesn’t count as vintage. But were not doing vintage ‘fumes today so a legend it remains. Dior – do not, I repeat, DO NOT reformulate Dune!
scent twins today!
One of my favorites!
You smell wonderful!
Fun game! Was also debating wearing Dune (because I rarely ever do) but settled on Ma Griffe – a Chypre I don’t wear often. I prefer (the very similar) vintage Miss Dior, but this is very similar and I feel it deserves a closer sniff
Haven’t put anything on yet by I was thinking about putting on some vintage Diorella. It’s supposed to be rather hot again today.
Great choice! We’re out of Diorella weather up in the Pacific Northwest. So I’ll live vicariously through your dab of the day
Still on my extended take-care-of-mum trip, and am thus away from my vintage finds. I have some decanted Bulgari Black with me, which is as classic as my sample bag allows…that’s only ’98.
A 90s vision of the future, or a current vision of Shalimar. Whatever.
My sample of Bulgari Black just showed up, and I’m looking forward to exploring this one more (since it didn’t make a ton of sense to me last time I tried it)!
I didn’t love it until I oversprayed one day and got some of the various scents that lurk after the initial hit of rubber. Now I can smell them all the time.
I’m about to dig out a sample of Lancome Tresor. I need something pretty and easy today!
Trésor is so lovely!
I could not pass up an opportunity to wear #19. EDP formulation today.
Me too! I usually prefer the EDT, but this morning decided to drain what was left of a sample of the EDP. I’m finding the EDP a tiny bit more floral and “friendly” than the EDT, and may just *have* to add a FB of the EDP to my collection.
Spot on. I get more floral notes in the EDP. But I love the EDT just as much, esp. in the summer.
I love both the vintage EdT and the (current) EdP, and own a bottle of each. (Can’t manage the parfum, though, isn’t that weird? It’s too dry and irisy for me, or something.) Joined you in the EdT today.
I realized I only own two perfumes on the list, Mitsouko and no 19. Today I wear Mitsouko, this was my signature scent for about a decade and I still wear it often. Usually it’s the extrait but today I’m going with the EDP for a change.
Since Michael Edwards’ list isn’t too rich in scents that would come naturally to a man and since I therefore don’t own anything he actually covers in his book, I originally thought of going to the nearest department store to find out if Brad Pitt is right and Chanel No. 5 CAN actually be used by people of either sex.
In the end, however, I dug out a decant of Robert Piguet’s Bandit, which I bought a couple of weeks ago but up to now didn’t get round to wearing properly. Even if there was a stage in its development, in which I could understand, why the scent is marketed as feminine, I’m still amazed not only about how similar its general character is to something so quintessentially male as Grey Flannel, but also how brilliantly that rather warm, spicy note of carnation works in the context of a primarily bitter, green, galbanum-heavy scent.
It’s true, the subtitle of the book is “French feminine fragrances” and he’s never done one for men. BUT, a long time ago he did an interview with Basenotes and listed what he thought were the most important masculines….scroll down here:
http://www.basenotes.net/content/15-Interview-with-Michael-Edwards-creator-of-Fragrances-of-%20the-World
I should have thought to include that list!
This will be a useful reference for next week, anyway.
Alright, I’m being brave and wearing Mitsouko on a very warm day. Just a small amount of the vintage perfume should make mowing the lawn much more glamorous.
I think my favorite mowing-the-lawn-in-autumn fragrance is vintage Arpege.
(Wow. Nowhere other than the perfumista community would that be anywhere close to a normal sentence.)
I checked the list, and had some MAJOR flash backs: my first ever scent: Fidji, my second: Anais anais, former staples (Ysatis and Trésor)… but I don’t have a single bottle or sample of them anymore. The closest I come to a potential classic nowadays is 31 r. Cambon, so that’s my SOTD
Wearing Anais Anais on one arm and testing Penhaligon Lily & Spice on the other. Considering buying a decant of the latter.
About 90% of my collection is on that list (old classics wear old classics), but I was in the mood for Guerlain Terracotta Voile d’Ete. Despite the word “summer” in the name, I’ve finally figured out that I like it better in the Fall.
Another old classic wearing the odd old classic. I actually own more niche classics than old classics. Am I in denial?
De Nile is only a river!
Speaking of which, did you ever watch Joanna Lumley’s documentary about the source of the Nile? It was both beautiful and very funny!
I love that, I”m an old classic who wears old classics, too.
Love Terracotta Voile d’Ete! I agree it’s more of a fall scent … and you smell great.
Thank you, Sheri!
Hahaha best line ever!
The Sisterhood of Old Classics
Gorgeously Wafting
Old Classics
floating down denial!
Busted out the Coco for the first time in months and now I am just madly in love with myself today, frankly
Man, the power of scent!
Haha!
I hear you–it might get my perfumista card revoked (and I feel like I only just earned it!!) but I can totally understand that once you find something you feel truly great in, why wouldn’t you wear it every day??
(But then, I am also a person who has exactly one shade of lipstick, one favorite pair of jeans, one favorite pair of boots, and the same wool sweater in four colors. So I’ll cop to the idea of a daily “uniform” appealing to my personality!)
My card is pretty new too but I think knowing what you love enables us to keep the cards
I don’t see myself stopping sampling any time soon, but today was a nice reminder that legends are legends for a reason!
Maybe I’ll just stop at calling orientals my signature scent *group*?
I also have the impression (and now I am REALLY going to get in trouble, giving away all the trade secrets!) that if you simply call your favorite your “holy grail” instead of your “signature scent”, you get to keep your perfumista card
I need to wear my Coco more! I love it but constantly find something else I want to wear. This isn’t fair to my favorites!
Sometimes I hesitate to wear it because it can be strong, but once it’s on, I *never* regret it
I adore Coco. It’s often my SOTE this time of year, and fortunately my husband likes it too, so I don’t worry too much about over spraying.
Everyone wins with Coco!
Wearing Shalimar for the first time. I have had the bottle for years and only kept it as it was a gift from my father. I am completely surprised by how lovely it is. My mother had it when I was a child (in that great round stopped bottle) and didn’t wear it often, so no scent associations. I really expected to get “old lady” from this but not at all. It is wonderful to “shop from my closet” and find something new that I like!
First time wearing Shalimar sounds like the makings of a glorious day
Yesterday I wore Chanel Número Cinq layered with it’s accompanying body lotion. I am halfway through a 50 ml bottle of the EDP that my beloved gave me in 2012. I think I may prefer it in cooler weather. Today I am flouting convention and continuing on my Lutensian Trek by sampling both forms of Feminite du Bois. Happy Friday my sisters and brothers in scent!
Wearing arpege, not vintage though. Was a bit tough to put on at 5 am, with that big blast of aldehydes! But I only had two choices, that or cabochard.
Tough start to a tough day: heading off on a four hour drive to take my son to a bigger hospital for possible neurosurgery. Not the first time, so not totally new and scary, but still some stressful days ahead. Hoping I’ll be able to steal a couple hours to go scent sniffing in the big city – maybe I can find a beautiful new iris to calm my nerves
I hope for the best possible outcome for your son. What a good idea to find a calming scent for yourself. Hang in there!
Oh dear, keeping you both in my thoughts!
Sending healing, positive vibes your way. <3
Sending positive thoughts and prayers your way . . .
Best wishes for successful outcome and recovery for your son, and extra reserves of strength for you when you need them.
Good luck–hoping the trip isn’t too stressful and that the treatment is effective!
Best wishes to you and your son.
Thanks all
While I’m not precisely following today’s theme, it is a flanker of one of the perfumes listed in the article.
One year ago today, I gave birth to my perfect, beautiful and impossibly adorable Adrienne Freja. After being in premature labor for two days, I knew we had to get to the hospital soon because things were really picking up. I reached for my most comfortable outfit in the wee dawn hours, then grabbed one of my go to comfort scents, Angel Innocent.
We left for the hospital while a friend helped get the older kids off to school, and a couple hours later, I was cuddling my little 34 weeker close due to needing an emergency Caesarean section.
Today, I’m so happy to see how far she’s made it, so proud of all her accomplishments and so excited to see more of the person she’s becoming every day. I smell my wrist and think of snuggling with her in my hospital bed, singing Oldies to her and being so glad she was strong and healthy enough to not only avoid the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit aside for observation, but that she was the only one of my children to be able to leave the hospital with me since I have a history of premature labor.
So later today after we go out for dinner, I will get to add the wonderful smells of wet earth and tiny lilac buds as I plant a lilac for her and I blessed with what bonded us together in my tummy to remember the special day a year ago, and I will always treasure Angel Innocent for the special scent memories it brings.
Happy Friday, everyone, and Happy Birthday, my lucky little dragonfly.
Congratulations, AbScent, ant thanks for this beautiful post!
Lovely! Happy birthday to Adrienne Freja.
Aww… great story! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing your lovely story, and Happy BIrthday to your innocent angel!
What a beautiful story! A lot of health and happiness to you and your small miracle. Many fragrant returns!
What a lovely scent memory!
Congratulations on the wonderful daughter – what a treasure.
Aww, you are a good mom, be blessed(((hugs))).
Thanks, everyone. She is such a silly little lady and we had a spectacular birthday.
I am wearing Worth Je Reviens perfume, vintage extract. What used to be signature perfume for several decades now only gets trotted out on special occasions as I try and save the past little bit. (I can’t stand the new reformulation) My very French Grandmother choose it for me when I turned 16 and I wore it all through my late 30’s. Only in the last 10 years have I branched out into other scents. But today I dabbed on Je Reviens and had a cup of Earl Gray tea in honor of Grandma. Truth be told she would have added a shot to her tea, but I have work to do today!
This was my very first perfume too and a signature scent for years – a small bottle of extrait sent to me by my Uncle when I was only 12. It’s been about ten years now since I’ve worn it, as you say, reformulations. But it is a great one.
I also have – and love – vintage Worth Je Reviens extract, in the tiny, flat blue bottle that slips inside a velvetty leather soft case. The letters on mine are worn off from years of slipping the bottle out of the case but I treasure it each time I wear it (it still smells wonderful) as a remembrance of a gift from a very special lady who has passed on.
I tried once vintage Worth Je Reviens and felt extremely sad that this one was gone.
Your grandmother clearly had exquisite taste.
Wearing some of my jealously hoarded Diorissimo from the houndstooth check bottle era. I know the scent well, but I never fail to be gobsmacked by it when I bring it out. I feel smarter, prettier, certainly more chic, and definitely lucky to be wearing it today.
I think that any of the Dior scents from the houndstooh check bottle area will make you ‘feel smarter, prettier, certainly more chic, and definitely lucky to be wearing it.’ Enjoy!
My favorite. Def does make everyone smarter, prettier, more chic and so lucky
Only morning clients, so I came home and put on some vintage Femme perfume. What a beauty. I always pass it by, but not today Thanks to the Friday project. Thanks Robin and NSTers!
I just got a decant of L’air du desert this afternoon, so that is my SOTE and I think will be my go to for Fall. It really works with my chemistry. The sister wife bottles will be very jealous… I wanted a bottle of it since forever but something was holding me back. If I make it thru the 8mls I promised myself to buy a full bottle.
While I am not in synch with you guys, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading through your scents of the day…it smells *great* in here! If I had to choose one, I would have probably gone with Bandit as I just got a decant and haven’t worn it yet (but am so excited to try it for the first time). Instead, I’m in Van Cleef & Arpels Bois d’Iris today.
I forgot all about this Friday’s theme… but by pure chance I reached for my vintage Madame Rochas EdT this morning, so I’m good to go!
I’m reasonably sure I was the best-smelling person putting flattened cardboard in the dumpster at the local garbage center this morning.
Ha, almost certainly! Although finding another marvelous smell at the trash collection center would be a sure sign you’d found another hardcore perfumista
hello legends, wearing something sentimental Hermes Caleche. My mom brought it back for me on her first trip to Paris. missing her
Oh, what a beautiful memory. I hope it helps to have her with you in that way.
Enjoyed reading all the lovely scents everyone is wearing today.
I happen to do a dab of PHI Une Rose de Kandahar last night and just had to have some more this morning.
It’s been some time since I’ve worn this one, and at first the smell was incredibly intense (and not in a good way) but within 15-20 minutes it turned to that jammy apricot rose that I love so much.
Tauer’s scents go on forever! Definitely need to be mindful of this upon application.
You smell deLISH! This is my number one fragrance and even if I don’t wear it on a particular day, I have been known to just huff the bottle cap
The sun appeared this morning after four days of rain, so it was easy to choose from the nine fragrances I own from the list: SOTD is Coty’s L’Origan. Warm and spicy and orangey, one of my fall favorites for a long, long time – I wore it ‘then’ and I wear it ‘now’. I think even when I was young my soul was that of an ‘old classic who wears old classics’.
Vintage L’Origan is really lovely. My bottle – and I’m not sure whether it’s this particular one (parfum de toilette, from the mid-70s or possibly a little earlier) – smells like hot peach pie when sniffed from four inches above the wrist. Up closer I get the aldehydes and rose and spices, not much heliotrope but just a tad. Gorgeous, and I should wear it more often.
I was also wearing Mitsouko yesterday in order to compare several formulations. First, a 1960s EdC that captures what LT described as the scent of peaches and floor wax in a corner of an old-fashioned French grocery. Next, a circa 2008 EdP that is the sweetest and peachiest of my vintages and also has an interesting leather aspect. It makes me think of how FM Le Parfum de Therese plays on a similar contrast between ripe, edible fruit and inedible.
Today, it’s a 1970s extrait, the most unified and subtle, and the most beautiful, to my nose. Someday, I’d like to sample of the lastest extrait reformulation, which caused Denyse to declare on Grain de Musc that we need no longer hoard vintage – but I’ll not be taking any chances with mine!
Michael Edwards has many interesting things to say about Mitsouko. For example, while 1919 Mitsouko is rightly seen as building on 1917 Chypre de Coty, Guerlain likely began to conceive the famous and influential peach-oakmoss accord of Mitsouko prior to 1908, when Jukova and Schestakow patented aldehyde C-14 aldehyde (undecalactone), and Firmenich used it to create the base Persicol.
Perfume Legends also discusses the design of perfume bottles, as well as the historical context and fragrance itself, and 1919 Mitsouko shares the bottle Raymond Guerlain designed in 1912 for L’Heure Bleue. “Like two apostrophes, the bottles appear to open and close the First World War.” (Edwards quoting Sylvanie Delacourte.)
It’s paradoxical to think of these beautiful perfumes arising from such a catastrophic era, and no surprise the world was ready for something entirely different in 1921: Chanel No. 5.
Wow thank you so much for this account–and now I too am hoping you’ll get to try the extrait, and let us know how it compares!
…actually, I’m really hoping you’ll start an historical perfumes blog so I can read these fascinating descriptions on a regular basis!
C.H., I appreciate your encouraging words! I feel like there are already such beautiful blogs that provide historical and in-depth perspectives, for starters, Perfume Shrine, Grain de Musc and Bois de Jasmin. I haven’t even explored basenotes or the natural perfume blogs. (If only Octavian had not taken down 1000 Fragrances!) I do enjoy synthesizing occasionally some of what I’ve read into a long comment here – thanks very much for the positive feedback!
Great summary, Nozknoz! Well done. But you’ve made me realize that I haven’t smelled a ’60’s version of Mitsouko edc since… well, since the ’60’s! It took me years to figure this out, but I actually prefer the older edt versions rather than the extrait in this scent. That usually isn’t the case with Guerlains, but with Mitsouko I get more top and middle notes (of course) without so much tonka, and it seems “fresher”.
Thanks, Rapple!
For me, Shalimar was the most difficult of the classic Guerlains. I think what you’re describing about Mitsouko EdT is also the reason that a sixties EdC of Shalimar finally served as my gateway to that fragrance.
Exactly the same with me! And only very recently when a lovely NSTer sent me a sample of vintage edc (maybe in the last swap?), after years and years of not really liking Shalimar, I fell in love with it!
It wasn’t an easy task to chose what to wear today: not counting samples, I own and love/like 10 perfumes from the legends list. It felt like betraying one perfume I love by choosing another one.
I ended up wearing vintage Miss Dior parfum. Not only I love it and have it in my life for many decades, I protest it being robbed of its name to please a younger imposter (Robin, if it’s not OK, please remove the link – I’m not trying to self-advertise, just feel passionate about the issue and try to bring it up every time I can).
I do not mind relevant links! But in general prefer the “naked” link so people can see where they might be going without having to hover on it, which can esp. be a pain on some smaller devices. Also no need to nofollow links.
And BTW, agree. Imagine the uproar if Guerlain renamed Shalimar Souffle de Parfum -> Shalimar. Ha!
I do not plan on posting too many links
but whenever I do I’ll keep them plain (“nofollow” is something that inserted by the blog engine, I had nothing to do with that).
I’ve worn big scents all week, so this morning i opted for a nice gentle floral, Anais Anais.
I am enjoying some Jicky today.
I own about seven on the Legends list, but on this cold, grey, rainy morning I chose the elegant comfort of Shalimar. Only started wearing this scent a few years ago and today’s formula is the new-to-me PDT. Happy, happy.
Dior two days in a row. Today it’s Dune.
Today to end Legends week I chose Angel. I put on a mere half-spray this morning (new job, anosmic office mate, but not sure how the people in meetings would take it…) and it is still wafting up to me.
I was tempted to wear this one because I thought it wouldn’t be chosen by too many participants here. I went with another one but I want to say that I still love Angel – despite it being so ubiquitous and hated by many perfumistas.
I almost wore Angel also, and I understand that people do hate it but every time I spritz on a (tiny tiny) bit I remember all over again that it is a genuinely great scent and absolutely ground-breaking, essentially inventing the category of the pure gourmand scent with not a flower in sight. And even more impressive, it spawned a huge array of flankers, most of which are good to great, and a line of men’s scents that are actually related to the women’s versions (incredibly rare). I just love it to pieces.
Yes! Yes! And yes!
Today is a day for vintage Mitsouko in edt form..
Mistouko! Like it more now than when I previously tried it. I think because oak moss is something that you smell from a few inches away, not sticking your nose directly to your wrist …
I own or have tried nearly everything on the list and had such a hard time deciding which to wear I gave up. I went for Robert Piguet’s Calypso. Mine is the 2010 re-release and apparently it is not especially like the original from the 1950s, so I count me as a fail, really, in today’s project!
Calypso is the only Robert Piguet’s perfume (out of those that I’ve tried) that I like and wear. I haven’t tried the old version so I don’t know how far from it the one that I own strays.
As an impoverished beginner I have almost nothing on this list. My grandmother’s 1939 L’Heure Bleue is in another country where I’m permitted a dab every Christmas. I would love to smell vintage Joy – modern Joy starts out bright on me and then turns to a hideous and unidentifiable stench, how I imagine tanneries might smell. Maybe the civet? I’m a Joy scrubber! I have a big bottle of 1990s Issy but I don’t want to be that person again even for half a day. I had Diorella but it’s all gone. My mum wore Fidgi and I was hoping someone might wear and report as I’m curious on the modern one. I’ve been stimulated by all this to buy a sample of Angel for my edification even though I suspect I”m gonna hate it.
I feel the same way about Angel – I have a sample that I haven’t been able to make myself open yet, let alone try (it came as part of a sampler set). But Robin has Angel as one of the upcoming Friday community projects, so maybe then. MAYBE.
In what country do you live now?
Australia. The L’Heure Bleue is in New Zealand with my mum. It survived a Japanese internment camp during WW2 so it’s pretty special.
Wow! This reminds me of LT’s story of finding a pristine bottle of Houbigant Le Parfum Ideal in a shop in Russia that had survived the siege of Leningrad. (He donated it to the Osmotheque.) Your grandmother’s L’Heure Bleue is very special, and it must be wonderful to smell such an early vintage.
Went to a small family funeral today – not a terribly sad occasion as the deceased, my mother’s first cousin, was elderly and had lived a long and good life. Good to see some cousins I hadn’t seen for years.
I went fortified by vintage No. 19 EdT. I smell beautiful.
Yes you do!
No 19 EdT was second on my list (I ranked all the perfumes I had from the book by how much I liked them at the moment) but with Fall finally knocking at our doors I felt like wearing something warmer. But it’s such a beautiful perfume!
I own only 3 on the Legend list. And I didnt know about this Friday scent project… but I had a lot of joy yesterday since I ve got package with new scents – Jardins de Bagatelle (Guerlain) and 1000 (Patou). So I ve tried them both. And I love them both…
Forgot to wear a classic pre1992. My choice would have been Byzance, which I love and brings back so many memories of my early 20’s. Instead I wore Montale Chypre Vanille, and oversprayed – don’t know what possessed me. But I was radiating to the sky for 14+ hours!