Coty Masumi

Someone asks me if I want to test out a classic Coty, I don’t know how I could say no. Masumi was a Coty chypre from the 1960s.

In Bottle: Spicy with a very grown-up fruity vibe with a layer of deep green woods.

Applied: Bergamot up front with a fruitiness that rolls in rather quickly. The fruits in Masumi can’t be described in any terms that one would use for a modern perfume. Certainly not, “girly” or “fun and sweet”. Masumi’s fruits are reminiscent of Mitsouko’s peach note, in that it’s slightly sweet but very, very sophisticated. The fruits are joined by a spicy floral in the midstage with a big showing from the woods and a smooth earthiness that I’m thinking might be the oak moss at work. The fragrance stays a floral woodsy scent with a hint of spice. The fruitiness I got in the opening was rather short lived and the scent isn’t missing anything because of it. Quite lovely, very classic, helps me remind me that Coty did some great things.

Extra: Masumi was released in the 1960s and was later repackaged in the 1970s. It has since been discontinued.

Design: The design for Masumi was very reminiscent of the era in which it was released. The shape is a bit familiar in Guerlain’s Idyll but with a great deal more authenticity. It looks simple, with a teardrop style shape and a tall metal cap. I don’t have a physical body to judge by, but the design works for what it is.

Fragrance Family:  Classic Chypre

Notes: Bergamot, pineapple, melon, rosewood, rose, violet, cardamom, musk, sandalwood, oak moss, cedar, amber, vanilla.

The more classic Cotys I experience, the sadder I am that most of their great fragrances are no longer available.

Reviewed in This Post: Masumi, ~1970, Eau de Toilette.


Miss Dior

Miss Dior, unlike her younger sister (Miss Dior Cherie), is a smart, sophisticated woman who enjoys the finer things in life but doesn’t let it get to her head. She’s humble and complex with a classical charm that Miss Dior Cherie can never beat.

Miss Dior

Miss Dior

In Bottle: Green with a prominent aldehyde quality to it and a dusting of florals.

Applied: Sharp green aldehydes that are a bit of a sting on the old nostrils. Miss Dior goes on strong and powerful, hits you with a wave of classical perfume and reminds you of what a real chypre ought to smell like. Nothing like the lilting chypres of today that have been toned down and have lost their oak moss. Miss Dior is the full force of chypres upon application. As the fragrance ages, she smooths out a bit taking on a powdery quality to me with a warm sensuality that works in the complexity of the fragrance. It’s hard to describe complex fragrances for me because breaking them down into components and saying, “I smell this and now I smell this” would ruin the experience. Instead let me just say that Miss Dior smells like a vintage with an aldehyde and floral mid-stage prominent in neroli and jasmine and is every bit the chypre that she’s supposed to be. The fragrance dries down into a lovely rich flowers, forest and buttery leather scent that makes me want to stick my nose to my wrists and deeply inhale.

Extra: Miss Dior was released in the late 1940s and was composed by Jean Carles and Paul Vacher. Like most (if not all) classics that have survived till today, Miss Dior has been reformulated. The version I’m reviewing in this post is reportedly from sometime in the 1970s. I have not tried the more readily available, “Miss Dior Originale” yet, but I do have a sample of that so I will be trying it eventually.

Design: Miss Dior seems to do everything better than Miss Dior Cherie. The bottle has a classic look, but one that will never go out of style. While it’s a familiar shape to Miss Dior Cherie, Miss Dior’s more grown-up style and beautiful textured glass sets it a class above its younger counterpart. Miss Dior doesn’t need a bow on its neck to exude femininity, basically.

Fragrance Family: Chypre

Notes: Aldehydes, gardenia, galbanum, clary sage, bergamot, carnation, iris, jasmine, neroli, lily of the valley, rose, narcissus, labdanum, leather, sandalwood, amber, patchouli, oak moss, vetiver.

It probably sounds like I’m ragging on Miss Dior Cherie a lot in this post, and I am. It’s not that Miss Dior Cherie doesn’t accomplish good things as a modern gourmand that appeals to younger women, it’s just that Miss Dior–who sometimes gets confused with her younger counterpart–gets a lot of bad press from people who accidentally picked her up thinking she’ll smell anything like the candy-like Miss Dior Cherie. Then come the proclamations that Miss Dior “smells like old lady”, and that’s just unfortunate.

Reviewed in This Post: Miss Dior, ~1970, Eau de Toilette.


Creed Aventus

Creed’s gone tropical with Aventus but doesn’t dive in immediately into the fruity tropical pool. There are elements of sophistication still associated with Aventus.

Aventus

Aventus

In Bottle: Fruity opening with a smoky leather background that has a certain earthiness to it too.

Applied: Fruity, almost tropical and probably helped along in that direction thanks to the pineapple note. The opening smells rather familiar to a women’s fragrance actually with a deeper masculinity that comes up smelling mostly like fresh fruits and a bit of tar. Tar being that smoky–sometimes plastic–smell that I don’t particularly find enticing if not mixed well enough. Aventus does a good enough job of keeping it in check so that it enhances the fragrance for me instead of takes away from it. As the midstage wears on, there’s a little bit of floral but what I mostly get is this sharp earthy  scent that dwells on in the fragrance way into the end where it fades with a bit of sweet vanilla.

Extra: If you were afraid of other Creeds and those smelling a little too classic for you then Aventus is probably a good Creed starter. It’s got excellent projection and power but is an easy to wear fragrance. It is, however, a bit of a departure from how Creeds used to be. It is, nevertheless, still a competent fragrance.

Design: Bottle design is similar to other Creed bottles. The niche houses tend to keep their designs fairly uniform and Creed’s not much different in practice. The bottle has a nice weight and is easy to hold and use. It also looks quite sharp with its clear glass elements combined with the black and metal treatments.

Fragrance Family: Fruity Modern Chypre

Notes: Bergamot, blackcurrant, apple, pineapple, jasmine, rose, birch, patchouli, musk, oak moss, amber, vanilla.

I’m not that big of a fan of Aventus on my own skin but it is a funny fragrance that starts off a bit feminine then nosedives right into a masculine scent. It’s playful then sophisticated at the same time.

Reviewed in This Post: Aventus, 2011, Eau de Parfum.


Balenciaga Cialenga

I hate it when I reach for a sampler, smell something, decide that I love it then find out that it was discontinued or is now incredibly rare. In Cialenga’s case, it was discontinued and now only exists on eBay. Thankfully, the prices aren’t sky high. Unfortunately, supplies will run out sooner or later. It’s such a shame for a fragrance so classically beautiful.

Cialenga

Cialenga

In Bottle: Smells rather familiar, like an aldehydes based fragrance but softer. I get the crisp green citrus and the floral notes, most notably ylang-ylang, rose, and lily.

Applied: Crispy green opening with some aldehydes rolling in. The aldehyde element isn’t too strong in Cialenga. It adds rather than dominates as it tends to do. The fragrance ages very gracefully into a midstage marked with a prominent rose, ylang-ylang, and lily bouquet that has elements of the powdery, soapy aldehyde composition. The clove mixes in this general area too giving it a bit of spiciness to work with. The fragrance then starts to age into its dry down with a bit of woodsy earthiness coming through and a marked green richness with a hint of powder and spice.

Extra: Cialenga, if you get a whiff of this stuff is a really well-balanced and very well composed fragrance that harkened from a time when classical perfumery was still somewhat celebrated. It was released in 1973 by perfumer, Jacques Jantzen.

Design: Cialenga’s design reminds me of the 70s but also seems to borrow some design elements from the 1920s or 30s. Something about it is is very Art Deco. Maybe it’s the straight lines. Whatever it is, the design itself is a bit aged but then again, the fragrance is discontinued. It’s not something I’d like aesthetically but it is lovely in a very vintage way.

Fragrance Family: Chypre

Notes: Citrus, black currant, green notes, iris, jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose, lily, clove, vetiver, sandalwood, oak moss, patchouli, cedar.

I can only presume this stuff was taken off the market for its oak moss content. A real shame because Cialenga is a very approachable aldehyde. I can see it as the aldehyde primer for someone uncertain or afraid of the note.

Reviewed in This Post: Cialenga, ~1980, Eau de Toilette.


Chanel Cristalle

Chanel Cristalle is the green, grassy, floral prettiness that came out in 1993. Juicy Couture’s recent release, Peace, Love and Juicy Couture was reminiscent of this beautiful chypre.

Cristalle

Cristalle

In Bottle: Cristalle opens remarkably like Peace, Love and Juicy (or should PL&J be said to open like Cristalle?) It’s green with a little bit of earthiness and a whole lot of nice.

Applied: Green and clean, the bergamot might help on that front a little but there’s definitely a bit of grassiness in there too. PL&J is remarkably similar to Cristalle in the opening but as Cristalle starts to age, I get a bit more personality and more depth, though the two fragrances are a bit alike. The floral notes in the midstage are beautifully blended together with a dense and sensual woodsy note. As the fragrance keeps aging toward the dry down there’s a bit of a dry hay-like fragrance that mingles with this warm green quality. There’s a bit of the florals still present in the dry down but the vetiver and warm woods from the midstage is definitely what I smell the most.

Extra: Cristalle, the Eau de Toilette (reviewed in this post) was composed by Henri Robert in 1974. Robert was also responsible for Chanel Pour Monsieur and Chanel No. 19. The Cristalle Eau de Parfum was composed by Jacques Polge at a later date. Jacques Polge being the nose behind Chanel Beige, Chanel Egoiste, and many more.

Design: Cristalle Eau de Toilette has changed its look over the years and Chanel doesn’t help matters by having different versions bottled in different ways. The Cristalle I saw was similar in appearance to No. 19 with the same relative shape but with a black cap. Regardless, it was all very classy and timeless as per usual for Chanel.

Fragrance Family: Chypre

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, hyacinth, rosewood, oak moss, vetiver.

Cristalle is one of those Chanel fragrances that make me think of the fragrance house’s illustrious past. When I think “Chanel Perfume”, Cristalle’s a part of that collection.

Reviewed in This Post: Cristalle, 1998, Eau de Toilette.


Chanel No. 19

One look at Chanel No. 19’s notes list and you just know this stuff is worth a sniff. Aside from its very impressive ingredients, No. 19 is a classic with more than a few interesting factoids.

No. 19

No. 19

In Bottle: Very green and slightly bitter. I get a lot of the jasmine and orris.

Applied: Lots of green in the opening with a slight bitterness to it. I get a bit of bergamot in the opening but as No. 19 ages, the green gradually gives way to a powdery green floral where ylang-ylang, jasmine and orris are the stars of the show. Lily of the valley comes and goes in this as well and if you keep giving No. 19 time, the fragrance digs itself into a really pleasant sandalwood and dry cedar scent with the fading powdery florals. I am smelling a bit of leather in the dry down but it’s no where near as strong as I thought it would be as the scent fades with a perfumed sandalwood and cedar note. Overall, No. 19 has that expensive smell to it. If you want something sophisticated to wear, this is a good choice.

Extra: It’s said that No. 19 is named for Coco Chanel’s birthday which fell on August 19. No. 19 was composed by Henri Robert who also created Cristalle and Pour Monsieur.

Design: No. 19’s shape is reminiscent of Chanel No. 5 Eau Premier though it’s a distinctly different design. Still, like with most Chanel bottles, No. 19 has an understated elegance that works really well for the fragrance. There are no frills or cheap thrills with the design of this bottle. It just has a nice and timeless form that’s easy to use..

Fragrance Family: Floral

Notes: Bergamot, galbanum, hyacinth, neroli, orris, jasmine, ylang-ylang, lily of the valley, rose, narcissus, leather, sandalwood, oak moss, musk, vetiver, cedar.

A lot of people interested in buying their first Chanel perfume are probably tempted to one of three fragrances from the house. Coco Mademoiselle, Chance, or No. 5. All good choices but they’re all distinctly different fragrances and for those who think Coco Mademoiselle is too young, Chance to generic, and No. 5 too classical then try No. 19 and see if you can get a long with it.

Reviewed in This Post: No. 19, 2005, Eau de Parfum.


Houbigant Fougere Royale 2010

Usually when a fragrance company says they’ve taken one of their classics and ‘modernized’ it, big red alarms go off in my head. I’ve never had the pleasure of sampling the original Fougere Royale from 1882 and the oldest vintage I’ve even seen was on an eBay auction of questionable quality. So I went into this 2010 reformulation with as little knowledge of the original perfume as possible–being ignorant of the original fragrance, I’m going to have to say Fougere Royale 2010 is pretty darn good.

Fougere Royale 2010

Fougere Royale 2010

In Bottle: The lavender note is rather strong in this, dominating for the moment over the green herbal quality of the fragrance. There’s a spiciness in the background that blends in beautifully with the rest of the fragrance making Fougere Royale smell  sophisticated.

Applied: Opens with a clear greenness to it layered over a lavender note that’s helping a spicy floral note along that might be the carnation. As the fragrance heads into its midstage the lavender sticks around but also blends in with a strong herbal note that I presume is the clary sage. There’s a lot of complexity in this fragrance but I can pick out a few key notes here and there. Most notable is the lavender, then the sage and a spicy note in the midstage where I get the cinnamon notes. The final dry down is marked with a creamier personality as the tonka and amber notes come up to blend with the herbal and spicy notes. The lavender is still faintly recognizable in the dry down as well.

Extra: Fougere Royale has had a tumultuous past, much like the fragrance house that originally released it. After its release in 1882 it has gone under numerous reformulations. Like with all modern fragrances, any oak moss note is likely to be synthetic or a substitute. The original Fougere Royale was composed by Paul Parquet and was considered one of the first modern fragrances thanks to its use of synthetic coumarin. The 2010 version of Fougere Royale was composed by Rodrigo Floures-Roux (Clinique Happy, John Varvatos Artisan and Artisan Black).

Design: Fougere Royale 2010 is designed to appeal to a more masculine audience with a square-ish bottle featuring cut patterns in the glass. The bottle reminds me a bit of classical fragrances but also remains a little bit of modern appeal. It’s a pretty good design that does the fragrance and its history justice, in my opinion.

Fragrance Family: Aromatic

Notes: Bergamot, chamomile, lavender, herbs, carnation, geranium, cinnamon, rose, patchouli, oak moss, amber, tonka bean, clary sage.

I do believe Fougere Royale 2010 did the best that it could with a notes list from the 1800s that would have been expensive and near impossible to replicate now. I don’t doubt that 2010’s version and the fragrance from 1882 would smell drastically different but the 2010 version is a great fragrance nonetheless.

Reviewed in This Post: Fougere Royale, 2010, Eau de Parfum.


Atelier Cologne Vanille Insensee

Always on the look out for that next great vanilla to replace Spiritueuse Double Vanille. I don’t know why I keep wanting to upgrade. You would think once I find a fragrance that I love, I’d just stick with it? Maybe it’s the fear of SDV one day being discontinued. Or maybe it’s just the thrill of trying to find something just a little bit better.

Vanille Insensee

In Bottle: Spicy vanilla with a woody personality. Quite nice and quite interesting!

Applied: Citrus opener with the lime and a slightly sweet cedrat note. Maybe I’m inventing the sweetness but it smells a bit like lime and lemon with a hint of sugar. The vanilla evolves with this glorious green spiciness and woodsiness in the mid-stage. The woodsiness actually adds to the fragrance in the very subtle way that it’s used. Kind of like adding personality to the vanilla rather than just mixing with it. The florals are very light with the jasmine making the most pronounced appearance giving the fragrance a feminine touch and taking away from the level of gourmand this would reach if the woods and florals hadn’t been around to soothe it a little. This smells like warm vanilla pods and being in the woods with a cup of lemonade. It’s very easy to like and easy to wear and it’s a hint more special than your standard fare sweet and synthetic vanilla scent. The vanilla is, indeed, a little bit more interesting than your usual and it’s quite nice with this smooth and spicy personality that mixes really well with the woods. Very nice, indeed.

Extra: I almost forgot how nice a niche line could make a vanilla fragrance. I got a little caught up in the humdrum mainstream market for a while, smelling mostly synthetic vanillas and interpretations made for clearly younger audiences than me. It’s nice to come back to niche now and then and smell something this good.

Design: The bottle’s shape itself is rather simple, a little reminiscent of more common things like shampoo. But the design on the glass is what really makes it. Lovely colors, nice typography, great use of space. I really like how it takes a simple shaped bottle and turns it into something more luxurious and artsy. Nicely done!

Fragrance Family: Woodsy Gourmand

Notes: Lime, cedrat, coriander, jasmine, vetiver, oak moss, Madagascar vanilla, oak wood, amber.

I’m not entirely sure what a cologne absolu is or what its equivalent on the concentrations scale is. If I had to venture a bold guess, I’d presume Eau de Toilette, as the fragrance is a bit light but then you can’t really tell with these things anyway. Bah, regardless Vanille Insensee is a pleasant, unique vanilla scent and for $170, you can get a lot of this stuff (200ml).

Reviewed in This Post: Vanille Insensee, 2011, Cologne Absolu.


Caron Or et Noir

Word on the street at the time of my opening the decant vial of Or et Noir was that it had amazing strength and projection. Why I didn’t listen to good advice is anybody’s guess. It knocked me off my feet. In a good way though.

Or et Noir

In Bottle: Sharp rose up front. Very strong and overwhelmed my nose as I, foolishly, whiffed instead of wafted.

Applied: After waiting out the initial knockout punch delivered by my whiffing, I tried her on. You need very little of Or et Noir because 1) The stuff I had was in parfum concentration, and 2) It’s strong no matter how you dress it up. The rose is immediately noticeable, heady and dense and rich. I felt like I was projecting so much of this that someone could be standing on the other side of the room and still smell me. It’s quite a bit intense on first application but it grows more complex and settles down during the mid-stage where the other florals spring up like–well, flowers in a garden. Lilac and geranium help temper the rose a bit and there’s a bit of spiciness lent by the carnation to draw the complexity out of the scent. The rose is still the star of the show and remains the star throughout as you head into the dry down with a slightly earthy, soft scent covering the background as the rose rolls through.

Extra: Or et Noir was released in 1949, making it a Caron classic. I don’t know how anyone can get a hold of this fragrance now aside from asking around at Caron boutiques.

Design: I’ve only ever seen the extremely fancy crystal flacon of this stuff. Now, seeing it and touching it and using it is another matter as I have yet to do any of those things. It sure looks expensive, delicate and extremely luxurious though.

Fragrance Family: Classic Floral

Notes: Rose, lilac, carnation, geranium, oak moss.

I’m not sure I really like this interpretation of rose more than my current top pick (Mahora by Guerlain) but it’s lovely. I just wish she was wearable from the get go instead of having to wait for her to settle down a bit.

Reviewed in This Post: Or et Noir, ~1970, Parfum.


Givenchy Ange ou Demon

From the other reviews I’ve read, it seems Ange ou Demon used to be something much better than the iteration I smelled. There’s a lot of bitterness for the silent reformulation of this fragrance and I regret not having smelled its original incarnation.

Ange ou Demon

Ange ou Demon

In Bottle: Looking at the notes list, I wouldn’t have pegged any of those to be in this fragrance. My impression is a very sweet rather girlish fragrance. Certainly not one that I could see the likes of rosewood and oak moss being present. This smells like fruity candy basically.

Applied: Very sweet fruity opening that reminds me a bit of Coco Mademoiselle’s very sweet opening without the amber or the powderiness. Ange ou Demon is like a slap in the face with a bag of hard candies. It quickly becomes cloying before it even starts introducing other notes into the mix. As I keep wearing it, there’s a few flowers that come in, none of them very deep but they do add themselves to the fruity candy mixture in the opening so what I end up getting is this sweet flowery mess that doesn’t smell like a high-end fragrance should smell like. Basically, it smells sloppily put together. Like someone mixed two incompatible perfumes together. The dry down doesn’t make things much better as that annoying cloying sweetness sidles up to the vanilla in the base to take Ange ou Demon out to end what was ultimately a pretty banal and semi-annoying performance.

Extra: Seems to me like sometime in the last few years Ange ou Demon went from a more sophisticated spicy floral scent to what it is now as a candy-laden mess. A shame, really, as the previous version sounded brilliant.

Design: I rather like the bottle design even though it can be a bit over the top. It reminds me of a jewel or a geode or something rocky and sparkling like that. The bottle itself is easy to hold and use though so I’m happy with it.

Fragrance Family: Sweet Floral

Notes: Mandarin,  cumin, saffron, lily, orchid, ylang-ylang, rosewood , oak moss, vanilla, tonka.

If there was more to this fragrance, I really missed it. The notes list makes Ange ou Demon sound so awesome. Cumon, saffron, rosewood and oak moss. All hugely sophisticated and beautiful notes but I got none of that. Instead, I got a flower covered lollipop.

Reviewed in This Post: Ange ou Demon, 2011, Eau de Parfum.