Due to a series of technical & non-technical difficulties this morning, the review I had hoped to post on Caron Alpona is not ready, and since it is looking like it will just be that sort of day, I am giving up while I am ahead. Come back tomorrow for more on Caron Alpona, which may turn out to be my favorite fragrance discovery (yes, it has been around since 1939 and I am just discovering it) this fall.
Have you discovered an old classic recently? Please comment, I’d love to know what else I’m missing.
Note: the lovely ad is from the site Parfum de Pub.
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R, this is a beautiful, classic fragrance comprised of hesperides (if my memory serves me correctly).
I re-discovered Apres L'Ondee in parfum form. It's beautiful, with a touch of melancholy to it.
No problem about today. I'll just tune in tomorrow!
Hugs!
Hello dear R! I was wondering where you were – I am so addicted to reading your reviews.
I like Alpona but recently I have fallen for Farnesiana – perfect perfume for fall days. Also have re-discovered my mother's favourite En Avion. En Avion is superb layered with Fumerie Turque.
Hope you are well.
I have rediscovered so many things in the past year that it is impossible to begin to enumerate. However, the most recent discovery was Cabochard. It is a stunning leather chypre, especially if you can get your hands on a vintage version.
Ack! I can't wait to hear your thoughts about Alpona! It's my favorite Caron urn fragrance, as you know.
Haven't discovered any classics recently other than Chanel Bois des Iles (which is stunningly beautiful), but I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to finally check out the SL exclusives, thanks to a couple of extremely generous ladies. Tubereuse Criminelle, Cuir Mauresque, Rose de Nuit, and Iris Silver Mist are now amongst my favorite fragrance.
N, am planning to do a major Caron re-test in the coming weeks. Maybe even Farnesiana will have grown on me, LOL! Hope you are well too
R, I so love the EdT that I am almost afraid to try the parfum, since I can't buy it in any case. I can't even remember now if the parfum is Paris-only or just completely discontinued?
V, I like Cabochard too, even in its current aldulterated form
L, this is one lemming I can blame entirely on you — I was not impressed with the smell on the test strip at all. So glad I have finally tried it on skin. Agree on the Bois des Iles, which is my favorite Chanel, and of course, all the SL line!
((((R)))) I hope your day gets better!
As for discovery…well, where was Bois des Iles all my life…apparently it was here all the time since 1920 and I only just discovered it thanks to an incredible RAOK a couple of months ago. My absolute HG. The same goes for Farnesiana.
Oh crud – word verification for you too? I'm so sorry you're getting hit with spammers, Robin. That's such a pain. I hope the verification thing helps.
Okay, my only scent that can possibly count as a rediscovery lately is Quelques Fleurs. I eschewed it all summer long, but I realized I missed it. Squeaky clean flowers and amber seem like such a lift on the grey days we are transisitioning into in our Oregon autumn.
Will you be reviewing Chanel Bois de Iles? I was very daring and purchased the parfum unsniffed yesterday (justification was that I had a gift certificate I HAD to use up). I am on pins and needles waiting for this – hoping that it's everything it's cracked up to be. I love woody fragrances, so I felt safe taking this chance.
As for re-discoveries, none for me since I am a relative newbie to fragrance.
I adore Alpona. Normally I can't wear hesperidic scents but Alpona with it's chypre base is just so special.
One of my recent re-discoveries is Caron's Pois de Senteurs. It is a definate must sniff.
Barry
Thanks M, the day has turned out fine…I just have a limited attention span w/ computer problems, LOL! As I said above, Bois des Iles is far & away my favorite Chanel. Farnesiana I am still working on
K, Have never had any comment spam, but many of the blogs on blogharbor that allow anonymous comments do…so this is a new “feature”. I am told in the future that I will be able to turn it off for people who are logged in, and as soon as I can, I will — I hate it!
Good to know, B, I have a sample of Pois de Senteurs too & will try to get to it soon. Too many samples, too little time!
Hooray! I'm responsible for a lemming! *grin*
A friend scored a bottle for me while she was vacationing in one of those Carribean islands, forget which one. It was $200.
I mean $200. for one oz.
Let's see….newly “discovered” classics for me are (and yes, I'm embarrased to admit to these): Guerlain's L'Huere Bleue, Mitsouko & Jicky, Hermes Hiris, Serge Lutens La Myrrhe, Tubereuse Criminelle & Santal de Mysore.
Sadly, I have never tried one (no, not one) Caron. I'll be looking though.
Ouch!!
I still haven't tried La Myrrhe myself! The Carons, or many of them at least, have a kind of dark undertone that to my mind makes them somewhat harder to take than the old Guerlains. Alpona is very wearable though.
That's a bargain! An ounce of new Mitsouko parfum, IIRC, is about $250!
I just discovered the whole house of Caron and feel like I'm scrambling to catch up. Also, I'm embarrassed that I hadn't tried Annick Goutal's Eau d'Hadrien until this summer. I felt really silly about it. And vintage Cabochard. It's been a summer of golden oldies, really.
Alpona is beautiful–but for me, more of a special occasion, nighttime fragrance. I have recantly been wearing En Avion a lot–also (my very favorite Caron) Poivre–which is not as old as the others, but still beautiful and compelling.
Judith
I haven't been able to find a Caron sales outlet in Japan… so can't even sniff, although I'm dying to know! Farnesiana, Alpona, En Avion… did they discontinue Violette Precieuse by the way? looking forward to your review!
Not a bad way to spend the summer, and I am still playing catch-up myself.
J, I have smelled En Avion & Poivre from paper strips but not on skin, so still have a long way to go on the Carons.
My understanding is that VP was discontinued, but is still available online (at least it was last time I checked).
I don't quite know why, maybe reading all the fragrance boards, but I noticed I did not have one of my all time favorite perfumes in my stable anymore. Why? I really don't know. Perhaps I was occupied by all the others around…and just plumb “forgot” about it for a while. What did I re-discover recently? The Princess of all orientals (Shalimar being the Queen), Opium. So, off I went to search…to ebay…where I scored a 1.6 bottle of Secret de Parfum for a mere 30.00 or so! Gasp! Now, how did I get so lucky?? This breathtaking elixir first made it's way to my dresser in 1983 in the beautiful snuff box bottle with the hole…you could peek in there to make sure your perfume was still gushing around in there and geez, didn't it look so beautiful with that bottle and tassle sitting there? That is, until the day I knocked it over and out spilled almost half of the contents of that beautiful bottle…a truly heartbreaking moment…but, I digress. I have worn Opium ever since, off and on for over 22 years now, but now it has made it's way once again into my hands and onto my skin and I have fallen madly in love with it all over again. I promise never again to be without this for any amount of time. Shame on me for neglecting what is one of the most fabulous concoctions of all time.
Thanks for asking this question and letting me reminisce like the old-timer I am getting to be! LOL
P, what a great story! The Opium bottle was truly stunning, and I love reading about its creation in Michael Edwards' Perfume Legends. I'm wondering if you have tried the newer Opium Fleur de Shanghai & what you thought of it?
Can you describe the notes in bois des Iles? I have never run across it (or Gardenia) at any of the Chanel counters in my neck of the woods.
I really can't wear Chanel (except for Cristalle & No. 19), but I am curious about this one.
The notes are bergamot, aldehydes, iris, rose, coriander, amber, sandalwood, vetiver, tonka bean. Ernest Beaux, the nose, described it as “ … a whisper of sandalwood, tonka bean and vetiver somewhere between bitter almonds and gingerbread.” It is a warm, spicy, woodsy, smoky, slightly powdery fragrance that does smell vaguely, but only vaguely to me, of gingerbread. It is the only Chanel, other than Cristalle, that I wear regularly. Almost impossible to find at your average department store so you just about have to go to a Chanel boutique or else order it online.