What Vintage or Discontinued Perfume Do You Want to Know More About?

I have a reader named Julie who is obsessed with Weil's Mollie Parnis. Mollie who? you may ask, as I did. Apparently, Mollie Parnis came out in 1978, and it seems to me to have orange blossom, maybe Persicol or some peach note, and perhaps vanilla, oakmoss and/or musk. (Emphasis on the "seems.")

I recently got my hands on a pristine mini of D'Orsay's Voulez-Vous perfume, a gorgeous green chypre with tobacco notes and a massive dose of civet. The Perfumed Court describes it as a green floral with some citrus, and  Gaia at The Non-Blonde says that it's a "haughty floral with plenty of green, hyacinth, rose and a light aldehydic opening" that dries down to "a powdery green with a touch of vetiver." Are we all kind of in the same ballpark? Ummm, I dunno! That's the beauty and frustrating thing about perfume: it's a wily thing...

I'm encountering more and more perfumes of the "obscure" or forgotten variety that I love and want to feature in my upcoming book on 20th century perfume, Scent and Subversion. But I want to be able to say something substantial about them, and I often find that when I have some notes to hold onto, I don't feel like I'm sinking into the "impalpable effluvia" of perfume (as Italo Calvino described it). I love perfume (obviously), my nose isn't half bad at detecting notes, but I'm not a perfumer or a chemist, so my educated guesses are just that — guesses.

Which brings me to the point of this post. I've enlisted the amazing Octavian Coifan of 1000Fragrances blog fame to sample a list of fragrances I'd like to get a better grip on. (For those who don't already know, Octavian is a perfumer, perfume historian, and writer who is not only able to detect specific notes/accords — both natural and synthetic — he's able to situate the perfumes in the context and history of other perfumes. He is amazing.) I've got my own list of perfumes, but I'm curious, are there any beloved perfumes you're holding onto that you know nothing about, even after scouring the Internet and books?

Tell me what they are, send me a 1 ml sample (if you have one) that I will forward to Octavian (is that not the best name ever?), and we'll both work on figuring out what the heck is in your beloved. Thank you!

Comments

[vinery]

Is Ciro Danger on your list? I absolutely love this, but know very little about it.

[breathesgelatin]

I don't have any perfumes to contribute, but how amazing that Octavian is putting his skills to use in this way!

[Perfumaniac]

breathesgelatin: From the first few months when I started blogging about perfume in 2008, Octavian has been wonderful about answering questions and sniffing things out I was curious about. (All from Paris — swoon!) He loves perfume and educating people about it. In short, Octavian rules. ;-) Come back if you can think of anything!

[Perfumaniac]

Hi vinery! Danger and Reflexions by Ciro are on my list! I have a tiny bottle of Danger that may be a little too dark and not in tip-top shape, but you can tell what the basic structure was. Love their bottles and ads, too! Please come back if you think of anything else. On Facebook, some of the others were: Bakir, Skinny Dip, and Avons That Man, Lenthéric's Dark Brilliance.

[Blacknall Allen]

How about Jacques Fath's Expression? I think...I think maybe it's like Vol de Nuit, but I would like to know for sure. Do you have that on the list??

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Blacknall Allen - Ive never even heard of Faths Expression. Do you have a little sample you could send? Id be happy to send you a vial/postage. Email me if you do and Ill give you my address: yesterdaysperfume@gmail.com

[Cyn]

Mimzy by De Raymond, which was originally released in 1925. I scored a bottle with some perfume left and it has totally taken me over. I and in love but cannot find anything about it anywhere!

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Cyn, drop me a line and let me know if you have some to spare!

Sent from my iPhone

[Cyn]

I do! I would love to share some with you.

[Perfumaniac]

Email me at yesterdaysperfume@gmail.com, Cyn, and Ill give you my address. Fun!

Sent from my iPhone

[torus skirting]

I don't know about some vintage perfumes but I want to know more about something about them. I want to know if what generation is the most perfect perfume for some men like me.

[Kitty]

Eek, the list of obscure but beautiful vintage perfumes I love is very, very long! Far too long to post here. But I second the interest in Ciro Danger (my favorite Ciro thus far) and Jacques Fath Expression (a very "brown" smell if there ever was one; think Prince Matchabelli Cachet but darker and with a touch of either cocoa or coffee to give it a friendly gourmand edge).

I'm also loving the super-obscure Russian Leatherette by Louis D'Or, Houbigant Wistaria (which Octavian has already blogged about), and a host of others. It makes me sad to think that some of these perfume houses worked so hard to create such great scents, only to find that their legacy has been barely remembered.

I look forward to the book.

[Pascale]

Hello, I'd like to know more about Gauloise by Molyneux, it came out in the late 70's or early 80's, discontinued now. It was my mum's perfume and I loved it. I wish I had a sample.
Thank you.

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Kitty,

I like the sound of Russian Leatherette. I agree with you that its sad that some of these works of art will just disappear. Ive been fortunate to have encountered some of them, and it sounds like you have too! If there are any you can spare, let me know, and I can send you some empty vials.

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Pascale. Ill look for Gauloise. Both Molyneux perfumes Ive tried have been fantastic: Fete and Le Numéro Cinq.

[brie]

All discontinued ones-Victoria by Victoria's Secret, Womanswear by Alexander Julian(you have samples of both already) and Trend by Les Copain (unfortunately I went through five bottles but did not save any of the juice so I have nothing to send you :( !!)

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Brie, I have notes for the Alexander Julian and Ill find out Victoria. That shouldnt be too tough. The other one Ill have to search!

Sent from my iPhone

[vinery]

Do you have on your list the Cordays from Perfume Set to Music? I know you have Toujours Moi, but how about the others?

[ElizabethW]

Yes, I would like to know more about Possession by Corday. Thanks.

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Vinery, I also have Fame, but I don't have the other Cordays: Tzigane, Possession, LArdent Nuit, or Jet. I think Jet is readily available, the others have been hard to find.

[Francine Kilzer aka Mother Courreges]

The original Courreges from the mid-seventies. It was my favorite, but except for one friend of mine(who also adored it), nobody seems to recall it. I think it was discontinued in the late eighties, early nineties. Nothing smells remotely similar, and I have never seen it mentioned in any blog, anywhere. I believe there are woodsy powdery components. I actually hired a perfume detective to find it, however, since Courreges named all his fragrances pretty much the same, she found a men's fragrance rather than my passion. Mine was a "concentrated" cologne sold in four and eight ounce trademark tall cylander bottles with the round gold cap. The perfume, which I found once was swoon inducing. Any information would be appreciated!

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Francine,

I love Empreinte by Courrèges, so you have me very curious about this one. I just bought a mini off eBay (yes, I am this crazy about perfume), so I will definitely be researching this one. In the meantime, just so you don't think I'm some kind of ogre who is snatching away perfumes that you love, there's another one available. This looks like a good deal on vintage Courrèges: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Courreges-Perfume-Purse-Spray-/390360305017?pt=fragrancehash=item5ae3498d79

I have no affiliation with this person, and I can't vouch for it, but if I loved a perfume as it seems you love this one, $19.99 seems like it'd be worth the (small) risk of disappointment. Happy 4th, and hope this helps! I look forward to trying this one. Thanks for the tip.

[Francine Kilzer aka Mother Courreges]

Hello again!

Thank you for the info! Actually, where the perfume detective failed, I succeeded! Shortly after the mishap, I literally stumbled upon three full bottles on the top shelf of a local discount perfume shop. More recently, I found someone on ebay with a fairly large stock of still sealed bottles in both sizes which he found in the back of his parent's old shop. So, I'm pretty much set for life. Being that they are well over thirty years old, the top notes are shot, but, it still smells lovely if you can wait it out. I would be delighted to send you a sample. I'm not enough of an expert to identify notes, classification and so on, but I'd love to have you write about it, since it seems so long and totally forgotten. I also love Empriente, but not as much, obviously.

[Francine Kilzer aka Mother Courreges]

So sorry! I see you said you bought a mini, so you won't need my sample after all. As I said, I'm set for life with several full bottles in addition to my other vintage perfume loves. I can't wait to read your opinion of it!

One other holy grail is Geoffrey Beene's Red. I just remember smelling it in the seventies and loving it. Have heard almost nothing about this one either.

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Francine, I assumed you didn't have any, so I got some myself! But that is a wonderful score of three bottles. I'll let you know what I think when I get this. Take care!