Posted by Angela
on
22 August 2011
Welcome to drugstore week! While Robin is on vacation, I’m going to treat you to reviews of fragrances you can buy with your lunch money. First up: Dana Classic Fragrances Chantilly.
My first memory of Chantilly involves a gift set an uncle gave me for Christmas and an elderly woman who did handwriting analysis and numerology. I couldn’t have been much more than twelve years old, and in those days, Houbigant made Chantilly. Before embarking on the visit to the handwriting analysis lady with my mother and little sister, I gave myself the full Chantilly treatment — bubble bath, lotion, and a slick of Eau de Toilette. A six-foot Chantilly zone surrounded me.
In the end, I over Chantilly-ed and couldn’t wear it again. Eventually the Eau de Toilette turned brown and I threw it out. But a whiff from the bottle I picked up for this review, and it all came back…
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Posted by Kevin
on
2 December 2010
Whenever I hear or read the word “fougère” I don’t think of ferns, I think of Houbigant Fougère Royale (1882) — which shows how perfume obsessed I am. Years ago, I got my hands on several old bottles of Fougère Royale (1950s version) and enjoyed every drop of that crisp, sprightly fragrance; I’ve never found a replacement for it, so I was thrilled when I heard Houbigant was reissuing Fougère Royale this year.
Fougère Royale was the first fougère perfume, and was composed using natural bergamot, lavender, clary sage, geranium, heliotrope, rose, orchid, carnation, oakmoss, musk, vanilla, and synthetic coumarin (synthesized in the laboratory from salicylic acid). Fougère Royale’s use of a synthetic note gave it the distinction of being the first “modern” fragrance. Fougère Royale translated the “idea” of ferns into scent; it did not try to duplicate an existing smell — it created a new smell. Fougère Royale’s creator, perfumer Paul Parquet, said: If God gave ferns a scent, they would smell like Fougère Royale.1
Before I go further, let me state the obvious: there’s no one alive today who smelled original, 1882 Fougère Royale…
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Posted by Robin
on
19 November 2010
Houbigant will re-introduce their iconic 1882 fragrance for men, Fougère Royale, this month:
First introduced in 1882, Fougère Royale completely revolutionized the world of perfumes and established modern perfumery as it exists today…
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Posted by Robin
on
18 December 2009
More limited edition collector fragrance bottles, with the usual disclaimers: in most of these cases, the juice is unchanged, just the bottle is “special” (or not, as the case may be), and some of these may not be available in the US.
From David Yurman, David Yurman Eau de Parfum in the Luxury Jewel Case edition…
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Posted by Robin
on
24 November 2009
From Tauer Perfumes, limited edition handmade Thuja wood treasure chests from Morocco, containing 50 ml bottles of Le Maroc Pour Elle or L’air du Désert Marocain. 135 or 130 Swiss Francs respectively, available directly from Tauer Perfumes…
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