A couple of times a year, there is something called the Big DC Flea Market that comes to town. Vendors from around the region come to show their wares; some good, some bad. It can be fun to see if you can find yourself a good bargain or treasure of some type. Typically, I have found that if I do find some perfume, its overpriced and/or the bottles are in bad shape. Yesterday, I saw various bottles, of Opium, Lanvin’s My Sin, Worth’s Je Reviens to name a few; all of which were not a good enough deal for me to go after. I then ran across another vendor who a 1/2 filled bottle of vintage Van Cleef and Arpel’s First Parfum (which I found I loved this summer, well, at least the EdT) and a full heart-shaped stopper bottle of some unknown Guerlain (it’s massive, it has to be at least 2.5 ounces). Now, the Guerlain didn’t have a label, was huge and had the Baccarat stamp on the bottom. I knew it either had to be L’Heure Bleue or Mitsouko. The sales lady said that it was sealed and had never been opened as far as she knew. From the amount of liquid in the bottle I figured that was true. So, she said she wanted $75 for both…I offered her $60 and walked away with these two to add to my collection.
I can appreciate a pretty perfume bottle with juice in it, but I really want the juice. So what to do about getting that stopper out of the bottle? Luckily I remembered that I had read an article on Perfume Shrine stating how to open a stuck stopper through the use of rubbing alcohol. I ran to the drugstore and got myself some alcohol and 15 minutes later the bottle was open. The juice revealed a deep rich civet heavy fragrance of yesteryear (it is definitely not MItsouko, so I figure it’s L’Heure Bleue). I have no idea how this has been degraded, but to me it smells wonderful. And the bottle is big enough so that I can get my index finger down into the bottle. What a treat.
So where is this taking me?…I decided that I keep running into these fantastic articles and blog entries that are informative and helpful, so I decided to launch my Resources page. As I find an interesting or helpful article I’ll link them to this page. I hope that you find the articles and links to be useful and feel free to send your recommendations to be included on the page. And yes, how to get a stuck stopper open can be found on the page. I’m ready to find my next great deal!
March 4, 2014 at 8:17 am
You have fallen down the vintage perfume rabbit hole! It’s a lovely treasure hunt and is quite addictive. Welcome aboard!
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March 4, 2014 at 11:06 am
I love vintage so much. Finding a great deal is such a wonderful treat! Thanks for stopping by Cyn.
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March 4, 2014 at 9:03 am
Congratulations on your finds! I love the idea of a resources page. Thanks so much for thinking of this and taking the time to share it with the community. I’m sure it will be a real hit and much appreciated.
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March 4, 2014 at 11:07 am
Thanks Holly… I just kept passing these good reads by and later regretting that I couldn’t remember where to find them. Hopefully my organization may help others in the future!
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March 4, 2014 at 12:15 pm
That is a lovely score! And great new addition to the blog!
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March 4, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Thanks my love!!! Happy Tuesday to you!
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March 4, 2014 at 12:31 pm
Happy Tuesday to you too, my dear!
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March 4, 2014 at 2:44 pm
Congratulation on your finds! I hope you’ll enjoy them for a long time (though I wouldn’t recommend sticking your finger into it 😉 ).
Good idea about the helpful links (and I wrote it before seeing that you included my blog – thank you!). I think I have somewhere a couple of those that will be useful. If I find them I’ll forward them to you.
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March 4, 2014 at 8:47 pm
Sounds great. And thanks for being such a great resource!
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March 4, 2014 at 8:32 pm
You are doing envy payback. A bottle of parfum that big? And L’Heure Bleue? Blimey. How extremely gorgeous.
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March 4, 2014 at 8:47 pm
Now, if it only had come with the label and tassel…but I can’t expect everything right?
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March 4, 2014 at 9:22 pm
It’s true I was slightly mourning its absence, but I reckon that if you can be sure of its identity, you could make one. Print from the internet, cut out…..it would be better than nothing.
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March 5, 2014 at 8:34 pm
LOL.. then I could sell it on eBay 🙂
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March 5, 2014 at 9:19 pm
!
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March 5, 2014 at 2:10 am
Great idea! Thanks for doing it.
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March 5, 2014 at 8:34 pm
🙂
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March 10, 2014 at 4:11 pm
I am happy for your finds – that is always such a buzz! And a wide-ranging resources page is an excellent idea. I must say I didn’t know that rubbing alcohol trick, though I did once take a geode to a 2.5ml glass vial that wasn’t behaving itself…;)
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March 10, 2014 at 9:25 pm
I think plenty of us have our little secrets on how to handle, shop, sniff, etc. relating to our wonderful habit 🙂
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March 17, 2014 at 11:18 am
What a gorgeous find! I like L’Heure Bleue. I have a current version and would certainly like to get vintage.
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