My Chinese sign is earth Rooster, so even though I'm not a sporty, outdoorsy tree-hugger (OK, well, I have hugged trees before, but chemicals were involved, and I digress), I express that earthy nature by being keen on green when it comes to perfume.
What is a green scent, exactly? According to my beloved Haarmann & Reimer Book of Perfume, green notes are "the youngest branch of the family tree" and:
"All in all, 'green' describes the fragrance conception of leaves, meadows, grass. The family is subdivided into fresh and balsamic, in light and cool notes of lemon and herbs of the green direction; and also in the soft, warm notes of natural odorants used mainly in perfumes of the chypre type."
Notes you'll find in green perfumes, which smell fresh, bracing, and outdoorsy: Galbanum, pine, leafy green accords, petitgrain, coriander, lily-of-the-valley, spearmint, bergamot, angelica, artemisia, citrus oils, juniper berries...
Below is a random list of my favorite vintage green perfumes. If you think I've left anything out — let me know! Happy St. Patrick's Day! It's time to get your green on...
Aliage Estee Lauder's sport scent that's so tart and refreshing I want to drink it.
Vent Vert This rosy-green floral smells so fresh you can almost see the bent, peppery-smelling flower stems that were crushed for your pleasure.
Silences What's that sound? The ghostly Sound of Silences. Proceed with caution. This one doesn't smile much.
Chanel No. 19 "Woody, oily, and vegetal, with muted florals and a hint of fresh cut leaves and watery cucumber, Chanel No. 19's song sounds like piano notes played with the damper pedal down."
Calyx Guava, grapefruit and a cheery freshness that's anything but bland. This one makes me happy.
Coriandre This rosey, herby, funky thing is pure 70s. Chic and weird.
Givenchy III "A green/floral chypre, Givenchy III is pretty much perfection. It starts off with a mouth-watering combo of green/citrus notes (galbanum and mandarin) and fruit/flowers (peach and gardenia), which add luscious candied juiciness to the dry, refined, and elegant greenness of this chypre. You almost forget its coquettish brightness as it dries down to a woody, powdery, spicy (sandalwood) and warm ambery base."
Weil de Weil "It starts off with a wonderfully bitter green accord — galbanum, leafy green notes, and facets from neroli and narcissus. Just as these tart, minor key notes sing out, Weil subtly evolves into something softer and dreamier, thanks to a plump gardenia note and a powdery — and almost rotten-sweet — hyacinth note."
Inoui by Shiseido Like a bracing walk in the woods, the green in Inoui veers toward the coniferous (pine needles, etc.)
Jean-Louis Scherrer This sexy green chypre is the epitome of chic. Not for the young girlies.
Ma Griffe Galbanum, gardenia...and cinnamon? It shouldn't work, but it does.
Diorella What can I say about this one that hasn't been said? My desert-island scent, it's fresh, dirty, and funky. A sparkling good time.
Bandit Mmmmm. Elegant, green, bitter, and smooth all at once. This green chypre is not for amateurs.
Cristalle "Bursting with a green citrus at the beginning and settling down into something light but warm and spicy on your skin, Cristalle reminds me a lot of Diorella, but without the funky, garbagey fruit undertones. Its dryness, in part from vetiver, gives it some olfactory texture, like scratched glass. In addition to oakmoss, the vetiver in Cristalle makes its drydown complex: woody, incensey, grassy."
Muguet des Bois Dior perfumer Edmond Roudnitska's favorite lily-of-the-valley scent: "No better lily note was ever made. It pushed the green note of the flower. As a lily note, it was magnificent. It was much better than the one I had made myself. I wondered how they had managed to create such a masterpiece in the Thirties, with so little means." (Perfume Legends, Michael Edwards)
There are many on here I haven't yet tried.
I must simply remedy this.
Your post like always is perfection my dear.
xoxo~T
Posted by: Tamara*J | March 17, 2011 at 05:49 PM
Oh boy, am I in trouble! Out of this list there are nine that I have never tried and now I want them all! :)
Posted by: breathe 31 | March 17, 2011 at 06:13 PM
I am a fan of every single one, with the exception of Cristalle, Weil de Weil, and Calyx...the first two only because I haven't tried them. And I don't *dislike* Calyx...I just don't know what I think yet.
Given that I am an eager learner, but not a voracious sampler, I'm thinking that this says more about my preferences than anything. ;)
Was Muguet de Bois Roudnitska's favorite? Interesting. I know that I usually prefer it to Diorissimo, because of the shot of green in there.
Posted by: ScentScelf | March 17, 2011 at 10:58 PM
No 19 for me and yes Coty's Muget de Bois is gorgeous.
Posted by: angie Cox | March 18, 2011 at 01:40 AM
I take back what I said in another post about no.19. Due to this post I retrieved my empty bottle of EDP no. 19 and sniffed away. There is definitely something intriguing about this scent which is probably why I kept coming back to it over the years. I will have to give it another try.
Posted by: breathe31 | March 18, 2011 at 08:14 AM
Does anyone know if the Muguet de Bois is the same one that was sold in drugstores in the early 70s? I know that years ago Coty was considered "high end" but by the 70s many of the Coty fragrances were relegated to drugstore status. I wore Muguet de Bois as a child (the one from the drugstore) so I am wondering if it was the same one that Barbara is recommending.
Posted by: breathe31 | March 18, 2011 at 08:17 AM
I also wore Muguet des Bois back in the day, and loved it. LOV remains my holy-grail note. However, I'm not sure the current version is all it used to be (but then again, I wasn't a perfumista back then, and far less discerning). I have a bottle just a couple of years old, and it starts out with that lovely LOV I remember. Unfortunately, after awhile it turns sour on my skin. It may be a factor of the use of cheaper materials now.
The "green" category is one I approach with caution, as my skin does weird things with it. Citrus goes sour. Bandit, which I love, may be green on top but settles into a tuberose on my skin! Ivoire is a green fragrance that many adore and describe as "creamy", but it became unpleasantly sharp on me, like bug spray. I like chypres, however, and tend to do well with them.
I'm curious about Vent Vert. This is an iconic fragrance that, according to its devotees, was ruined in reformulation. Have you had the opportunity to sample both the vintage and new versions? What is your opinion?
Posted by: Patty | March 18, 2011 at 11:44 AM
Hi Patty,
Re: Muguet des Bois by Coty, the vintages are easy to find on eBay and quite reasonable.
Re: Vent Vert, I have tried the reformulation and it's just not the same fragrance. Even someone with no training would pick out vintage over the reformulation. It's the difference between watching Disney's original Sleeping Beauty and one of the digital animations now — No Comparison.
The original had depth, complexity, and uncannily referenced nature while smelling nothing at all like anything you'd ever sniffed! Glorious. Luca Turin says that when Calice Becker, who did the reformulation, looked at Germaine Cellier's original composition, she realized it had something like 1100 components that she reduced down to 31. You can smell that diminution, too.
Cellier often used bases for her perfumes that would become increasingly hard to source, so I guess that's one reason for the reformulation.
In short, if you can try the original, do it. Don't even bother with the reformulation. I don't say that about all perfumes, but this one, definitely.
Posted by: Perfumaniac | March 18, 2011 at 01:23 PM
Angie, glad there are No. 19 fans out there! It's an odd bird.
Posted by: Perfumaniac | March 18, 2011 at 01:25 PM
ScentScelf,
I wonder if there's been a badly-done Calyx reformulation. I think so. I still love the striking guava/grapefruit combo, though. It's interesting!
Re: Muguet des Bois. In Michael Edwards' Perfume Legends, he quotes Roudnitska as having said, "No
better lily note was ever made. It pushed the green note of the flower. As a lily note, it was magnificent. It was much better than the one I had made myself. I wondered how they had managed to create such a masterpiece in the Thirties, with so little means. I think I'm going to put that in the review now...
Posted by: Perfumaniac | March 18, 2011 at 01:31 PM
I love lists like this, and love greens too. I agree with you about the reformulated Vent Vert. Must do some research on Diorella - sounds terrific - but dollar signs are lighting up in my brain, as they always do when I think of vintage Diors. Silences is my green of the moment. I'm sure my sample is going to disappear fast, but replacing it with a FB, should I chose to, does not involve too many dollar signs, as it is nice and cheap! I reach for it when I need a quiet, undemanding companion.
Posted by: Anne | March 18, 2011 at 06:36 PM
Thanks for this list and the great vintage ads. No. 19 is my palette cleansing perfume: it resets my nose. Silences doesn't smile but its chilly personality is just the ticket in the hottest part of the summer . Cristalle edp is my favorite green any time of year.
Posted by: Suzy Q | March 19, 2011 at 07:50 PM
Cool, Suzy Q! You should also try the Cristalle EDT if you havent. It's different from the EDP from what I've heard. And yes, Silences is gorgeous, and I love the idea of No. 19 as a palette cleanser. Thanks for stopping by!
Posted by: Perfumaniac | March 19, 2011 at 07:55 PM
Thanks for this. I've added a few to my to-try list.
Posted by: karen | March 17, 2012 at 01:38 PM
Cool, Karen! What green scents do you currently like?
Posted by: Perfumaniac | March 18, 2012 at 11:53 AM
Don't forget Estee Lauder Private Collection!
Posted by: julie | March 18, 2012 at 11:58 PM