vintage perfume | The Scented Hound

May 23, 2013
by The Scented Hound 19 Comments

Vintage Samsara by Guerlain

WHAT I SMELL: Samsara contains a lovely thickened and slightly sweet creaminess which to me becomes cravable. Yummy! Fragrantica lists the top notes as bergamot, lemon, ylang-ylang and peach. They exist, but only for a few seconds. Samsara quickly moves into the lovely stage where the subtle florals are seamlessly entwined in a way that makes it hard to distinguish between the notes. It’s warm and intoxicating. If I didn’t know this was a classic fragrance, I would say that it is. After a bit, a woodiness arrives with almost what I would call a hint of a hair spray smell, but it doesn’t detract nor is it noticeable unless you’re really trying to sniff it out. Samsara finally warms to a wonderful sandalwood where it becomes incredibly calming with just a lightly spiced floral. It doesn’t take long for Samsara to reach it’s destination, but all roads lead to loveliness!

Samsara Notes (from Fragrantica):

The top notes are juicy and fresh: bergamot, lemon, ylang-ylang, peach and green notes. The heart is blooming in opulent flowers: elegant jasmine, cold woodsy iris, luscious narcissus, violet and delicate rose. The base is composed of sandal wood, vanilla, Tonka bean, amber, and musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A luxurious and exotic scarf.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE SAMSARA: smooth, elegant, timeless

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT SAMSARA: Bois de Jasmin, Perfume Shrine, Yesterday’s Perfumes

BOTTOM LINE: I picked this beauty up on eBay and managed to get a great deal on an unopened bottle at a great price. I have no regrets and I have the feeling when this small bottle is emptied, a larger one will be on my list of “to buys”.

Bone Rating: 5 out of 5 possible bones
Scent: Oriental Woody
Classification: Leans feminine
Expense: Varies. Review based on vintage EdP.

April 27, 2013
by The Scented Hound 25 Comments

Vintage Givenchy Ysatis and Givenchy III

Thanks to the wonderful Kafkaesque, I have been led down another obsessional and dangerous path….that of vintage perfumes. A few months back, Kafkaesque sent me a wonderful selection of perfumes to include some great vintage scents. Of course that led me to want to try more…and then more…and then soon enough I’m trolling eBay for the next great buy. The great thing about finding some of these vintage fragrances is that you can typically find some of the more common, unopened and in the box. And you typically can find a smaller size so while you are blind buying… or taking a chance on whether the juice is still good, you don’t have to break the bank. As these fragrances are vintage, I hope I can tell if the fragrance is still good… but so far I have not been disappointed. Also, since the fragrance are vintage, I’m not going to modify my review format a bit and won’t be giving them a bone rating. Why? If I did that, then everyone would be hunting down these jewels and the next time I go on eBay I wont’ be able to find them. 🙂

YSATIS – Vintage Parfum

This is the one that started it all…

WHAT I SMELL: Ysatis isn’t shy. When the juice hits your skin it’s like opening a big waxy honeyed floral bouquet. It’s thick and over the top and for me, mixed so beautifully that I can’t really pick apart the notes besides the heady ylang-ylang. The flower power never wains, but it increasingly becomes warmer and creamier as it radiates off your skin. About 15 minutes there is a slight civit note added to a bit of spice which gives the fragrance a bit of sex. Yes, I think this is a very sexy fragrance. I don’t just love smelling it, I want to consume it. I bought 2 5ml bottles a few weeks ago and one is almost drained. I will be buying more without question.

Ysatis Notes from Fragrantica:

The top notes are citrus, ylang-ylang, galbanum, coconut, rose wood, and aldehydes. The heart notes are jasmine, rose, iris, tuberose and narcissus. The base notes are musk, amber, vanilla, vetiver, patchouli, sandalwood and civet.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A giant flower bomb!

GIVENCHY III – Vintage Parfum

WHAT I SMELL: A blast of aldehydes and oak moss give this a bright, green and mossy opening. It’s citrus, bergamot and head spinningly sparkly without being sweet. The oakmoss almost has an incense quality in the background, but it’s more dusty than pure incense. There are so many floral notes that are mixed together in harmony, but it’s not overtly floral, but instead when sniffed it breathes a green and floral stem like life to a beautiful and warm flower arrangement. As it develops it takes on more patchouli and amber and it remains intoxicatingly beautiful. Fragrantica classifies Givenchy III as a Chypre Floral. I get the chypre and the floral, but if I would have read that without trying this I would have thought this to be sweeter. Instead it never blasts off from its initial sparkle, but then winds down to a warm and cozy hug. My one regret is that Givenchy III doesn’t last as long as I would like it to and eventually after a couple hours it all but disappears but for a little soapy ending. No problem though, I’ll just apply more.

Givenchy III notes from Fragrantica:

The perfume opens with aldehydes with bergamot, mandarin, galbanum, peach and gardenia. The heart includes lily of the valley, hyacinth, rose, jasmine and iris root, while the base carries patchouli, oakmoss, amber and sandalwood

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: 1978

December 9, 2012
by The Scented Hound 23 Comments

A long lost love: Chypre de Coty

Last week I received a package of samples from Kay from the That Smell blog. What I was not expecting is that she would include some vintage perfume. In fact, what she sent was one fragrance, Chypre de Coty, but in two different formulations.

Chypre de Coty – EdP, early 20th century

When you look at this fragrance in the bottle it’s deep auburn in color; it almost looks like port wine. Upon application, Chypre de Coty is incredibly mentholated and musky. It’s strong and powerful and not feminine at all. It’s also very warm. As it develops it becomes more patchouli like and and very earthy with the oakmoss very evident. As it develops some more it becomes softer and more creamy. This fragrance feels natural, almost like it has a soul. After some time it does become more floral and feminine but I could easily see myself wearing this. I am hooked, not just because this is a rare find, but because it is nothing like any fragrance I have smelled before. It’s old, substantial and truly a work of art. Chypre de Coty’s longevity is amazing. One dab on the back of my hand will fill the room and after wearing it for 12 hours, I woke up in the morning with it ever present.

Chypre de Coty – EdT, post 1960s

In the bottle you can see the difference, where the older EdP is dark and heavy, this version is light and green. When applied its immediately sweet and powdery. There’s a warmth and comfort about it that strikes me of my youth as it smells of 1960s pencil dresses and white gloves. It doesn’t develop like the older version, but remains in this green and somewhat tarty sharpness. I want to like this like the older version (in a different way), but in its warmth there is a cold and distant edge that makes me pull away because as it develops it almost has a tinge of what seems like body odor… could this be the civet?

So this is what I found for notes, although I am sure there is some difference in the reformulation:

Top notes: Sage, Thyme, Bergamot
Heart notes: Jasmine, Rose, Spices
Base notes: Oakmoss, Labdanum, Patchouli, Civet

I’m not going to give either of the versions a bone rating as they are no longer available. What I am going to do is to thank Kay for her wonderful gift because neither of these would have probably entered my universe without her generosity!

Please check out what Kay has to say about Chypre de Coty on her site: That Smell