Faberge Straw Hat ~ vintage fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 7 July 2016 8 Comments

Fabergé Straw Hat, vintage advert 1

I seem to be in the mood for vintage fragrances this summer, whether they date to the 1980s or much earlier. This week, I spent some time with Fabergé Straw Hat, a scent that was originally released in 1938 and discontinued in 1976, after being offered every spring and summer as a limited edition. I only became acquainted with Fabergé’s other fragrances a few years ago. Aphrodisia is still my favorite, but Straw Hat feels is more seasonally appropriate this week!

Fabergé (the cosmetics brand, that is — not the jewelers to the Russian imperial family!) was founded in 1937 by the Russian-born businessman and philanthropist Samuel Rubin, who sold the company to a competitor in 1963. Fabergé continued to release new perfumes and toiletries, was subject to further mergers over the years, and had most of its products discontinued under Unilever’s ownership in the 1990s. I remember the magazine ads for Babe (1977) from my youth, and the Brut men’s collection is still available…

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Faberge Aphrodisia ~ vintage fragrance review

Posted by Jessica on 13 July 2012 22 Comments

Sometimes I try to ignore the existence of vintage fragrances on auction websites, and the raves they may receive on the perfume blogs, because what’s the point of falling for something that’s already discontinued or reformulated beyond recognition? And I’m usually pretty successful in this effort. Recently, however, I was intrigued by author M.J. Rose’s description of an unnamed men’s fragrance in her novel The Book of Lost Fragrances, and when I learned that Fabergé’s Aphrodisia (the men’s version) had been her inspiration for that scent, I wanted to know more. Thanks to a kind Now Smell This reader, I now own a bit of Aphrodisia (the women’s version), and I’m hooked.

According to my trusty copy of The H&R Book: Fragrances Guide, Feminine Notes, Fabergé Aphrodisia is a “fresh-mossy-aldehydic” chypre that includes top notes of bergamot, lemon, neroli and fruit; middle notes of rose, honey, ylang-ylang, carnation and jasmine; and base notes of oakmoss, vetiver, civet, ambrein and musk. Aphrodisia was released in 1938 and was available in various concentrations throughout its lifetime. I’ve been wearing a cologne version that seems to date from the 1960s…

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Faberge Tigress ~ vintage fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 11 June 2012 31 Comments

Faberge Tigress advert, Lola Falana

I admit it. At least half the reason I love Fabergé Tigress is its packaging. Although Tigress’s boxes and bottles evolved with time, most of them featured tiger stripe somewhere. My favorite packaging has tiger stripe inside the box, and the stripes are edged in gold against an orange-brown background so rich it’s almost red. The Norma Desmond in me aches for a dressing room papered in it. Faux tiger fur wraps Tigress’s wooden cap — the perfect complement to its topaz-tinted juice. And the fonts! Over the years, Fabergé ran the gamut of glamorous lettering for Tigress. I like the curly font that looks like it should be advertising poodle trims.

Fabergé released it in 1938, but in my mind Tigress isn’t late 1930s or even Norma Desmond’s long lost 1920s. It’s forever 1970s, when Fabergé ruled the drugstore shelves with Brut, Babe, and a line of earth-toned nail polishes my mother loved. Tigress’s palette blended well with harvest gold appliances, too. When I imagine a woman with a long, sandy shag and bell bottomed pants emerging from a Gran Torino, she’s wearing Tigress…

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Helen of Troy (Faberge) Brut and Dana English Leather ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 25 August 2011 63 Comments

Let’s just get the bad news out of the way now: Brut no longer comes with a darling little necklace glued around its collar. The good news is that English Leather still has its wooden cap. As for how the fragrances have held up over the years, I can’t say, since I haven’t smelled the old versions. But, in my opinion, both fragrances still have their charms.

A quick visit to Brut World informs us that Helen of Troy Brut is the “Essence of Man.” Brut World doesn’t give a lot of information about the fragrance, except to describe its ten products, six of which are forms of deodorant. But it does provide a long list of features defining the Brut Man, including: “He has conviction, but is never convicted.” (Always reassuring.) “He has been the hundredth caller.” (Not sure if this means he’s won at a game show or what.) And my favorite, “He prefers things shaken, not stirred. But he will stir for others if that’s what they like.”

Fabergé launched Brut, created by the aptly named Karl Mann, in 1964…

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We’ll be together Babe

Posted by Robin on 15 December 2010 14 Comments

The late Margaux Hemingway for Fabergé Babe. In 1975 when she signed to be the face of the fragrance, her million dollar contract was the largest ever awarded to a model.