Favorite Vintage Perfumes

[cecil]

I like no. 19 alot more than no. 5, but I don't like either of them enough to wear! Admittedly though I do lean towards creamy, subtle florals despite my obnoxious brashness. lol

 

[Dixie_Amazon]

I wear Chanel 'Gardenia', It was first made in the mid-20s, I believe. I try other perfumes but I always come back to it.

I wear it too. They only sell it around Mothers Day in the USA.

 

[cecil]

I wear it too. They only sell it around Mothers Day in the USA.

Yay! Isn't it the best?

You can't buy it in department stores in Australia at all anymore, you have to go to a Chanel boutique and buy a huuuuge bottle of it for AUD$330. Oh well, they've got me hooked on the stuff and there's nothing I can do about it. lol

 

[jayem]

I think the best vintage perfume would be Marie Antoinette's remake of her original scent

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/18/AR2007011802066.html

Too bad it's $10,500....

 

[Tourbillion]

^I've smelled Sillage de Reine. It's okay, a nice expensive floral, better than the 1800's Creeds, but not worth what they are charging for me.

I'll stick to my Creed "Jasmine Imperatrice Eugenie," "Fleurs de Bulgarie" (Queen Victoria) or "Fleurissmo" (Princess Grace) if I need to smell like a Queen.

 

[Laura Chase]

I'm quite fascinated with the thought of (perhaps) being able to smell Marie Antoinette.

Recently I was in Croatia and there were so many plants there that had a heavenly scent. One tree in particular had the most wonderful blossoms. Can any of you tell me what type of blossom this is I don't know the least bit about botanics, but the combination of the scent of this little thing with the lovely pine trees everywhere would make an an amazing perfume!

 

[Medvssa]

Looks like a kind of Pittosporum I think they smell nice too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittosporum

 

[Tourbillion]

I've seen those trees in Southern California too, but I'm not sure of the name. The only photo I could find that looked like it was the Tembusu tree, but that is native to SE Asia, so I don't know if it would be in Croatia or not.

Maybe someone else here would know for sure.

 

[Laura Chase]

Medvssa, I believe you are spot on! After seeing your post, I searched for different types of pittosporum trees and I believe this is a pittosporum tobira.

Now, off to find perfumes that have this. I looked it up on Perfume Shrine, and the only one I found was Knowing by Lauder.

I wonder if it's kinda like orange blossom? I'm not familiar with the pure orange blossom smell, but the flowers look very alike.

 

[Medvssa]

I also only know another perfume that has it: Two Monsters by BPAL (scroll down somewhat, reviews) :

Oakmoss, vetiver, black musk, champaca flower, leather, patchouli, ginger, Japanese pittosporum, ambergris and white pepper.

It is a quite dark perfume, though, maybe a bit masculine (I like to wear masculine perfumes though). I could smell the pittosporum, but there a lot of other dark and strong notes in it, so I really wouldn't say it dominates [huh]

I don't know how that pittosporum you saw smells, but if it is anything like the ones I am used to (commonly used for hedges in Spain), I find it different, the pittosporum seems more buttery to me, if that makes any sense, while the orange blossom is more tangy. The two trees are not related.

Although, well, I hear that they also call it Mock Orange. This may also have to do with how orange blossom (neroli) reacts on different people's skin, on some it is more flowery and rosy, on others more citussy [huh]

 

[DaisieWilde]

I must share. I was in Scottsdale at Saks on Saturday and came across the most delightful fragrance. I was utterly surprised that I like it so much!

Chanel No. 5 Eau Premiere.

Absolutely amazing! I'm not a huge No. 5 fan, but this I had to have!
The jasmine comes through much more clearly for me in this fragrance, but much less powdery than the original. No aldehydes at all (No. 5 top note, No. 22 top note), although I do not mind aldehydes. This reinterpretation is phenomenal, much more wearable for my personality. I do love classics, I adore Jean Patou Joy, but I could never quite get on the No. 5 band wagon. Eau Premiere did that for me.

I purchased both the EDP (2.5 oz I believe) and a No. 5 body lotion. I'm all about layering my scents.

If you are in any way a Joy or No. 5 fan, you simply must try No. 5 Eau Premiere!

 

[cecil]

Oh wow! How dense am I, I thought it was just a repackaging of no. 5. Will definitely go and try it now, I've never been a no.5. fan because i find it too strong. Thanks!

 

[DaisieWilde]

Oh wow! How dense am I, I thought it was just a repackaging of no. 5. Will definitely go and try it now, I've never been a no.5. fan because i find it too strong. Thanks!

I actually thought so too when I saw it for the first time last year. It wasn't until I spritz it while I was tooling around the Chanel handbags that I stopped and said "WOW! That's not the usual No. 5!!"

 

[cherry lips]

I just want to thank all the perfume experienced ladies for sharing their sensual knowledge. A whole new world has unfolded itself to me!

Oh, you might enjoy this original photo from l'Officiel 1953

The perfumes were:
Ever After (Paquin), Pretexte (Lanvin), Indiscret (Lucien Lelong), Detchema (Revillon), Cuir de Russie (Chanel), Magie (Lancôme), Fugue (Roger&Gallet), Parfum des Parfums (Molinard), Je reviens (Worth), Femme (Rochas), Le Dix (Balenciaga), Succès fou (Schiaparelli), Diorama (Dior), Fath de Fath, 5 de Molyneux, Shalimar (Guerlain), Le dandy (d'Orsay), Crêpe de Chine (Millot), Feu Rouge (Sauzé), EDT Joy (Jean Patou), Le muguet du bonheur (Caron), Tweed (Lenthéric), Visa (Piguet), Robe d'un soir (Carven), Griffonnage (Jacques Griffe), Météor (Coty), Sortilège (Le Galion), Chantilly (Houbigant), Coeur Joie (Nina Ricci), Jolie Madame (Balmain), Amour Sorcier (Germaine Lecomte), Replique (Raphael), J'aime (Heim), Etourdissant (Jean Desprez), Antilope (Weil), Futur (Renoir), Inclination (LT Piver), Voodoo (Dana).

 

[Jenniferose7]

What a wonderful thread! I am a perfume junkie and own much more than I could ever need.

Thanks to all you knowledgable ladies I was finally able to find out that L'origan is the scent of Coty's Airspun powder! I have loved that scent of that powder since I was a child and I 've never been able to find a bottled equivalent. I just rushed to order a very economical bottle online. So excited!

 

[goldwyn girl]

Hubby bought me some "My Sin" and I love it !

 

[C-dot]

"My Sin" is so amazing - Your hubby has good taste!

My favourite is Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle. It's not vintage, but its a sweeter version of N°5, although still very floral. The difference is the orange top notes.

As for vintage, Mitsouko is my favourite. It was Jean Harlow's perfume of choice, and Paul Bern allegedly doused himself with it before he died.

 

[Lusti Weather]

I'm glad to see this thread revived! I just bought a small vintage bottle of Shalimar extrait at an antique show last weekend, and it is absolutely heavenly. The vanilla in the drydown was exquisite...I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to go back to my modern Shalimar EDT now!

 

[Christy]

I have a fun little book called The Bombshell Manual of Style that I absolutely love and it has a little section on perfumes. It also lists what real life bombshell used the perfume. For example it has Jayne Mansfield using My Sin. I've always wondered what these perfumes smelled like so it's neat to read this thread. My favorite perfume is Chanel Allure, but the book says a bombshell would never wear that Chanel fragrance because it's too girlish [huh] It's still my favorite!

 

[Jenniferose7]

I see a lot of talk about My Sin. In 6th grade of Catholic elementary school my homeroom teacher, Sister Pat, used to douse herself in My Sin and kept a bottle in her desk. She was super mean to me and thanks to her I will always have a bad association with that scent. *shivers*