CLEOPATRA'S BOUDOIR

Fille d’Eve by Nina Ricci. 9Daughter of Eve) Created in 1952 by Germain Cellier. Extremely rare fragrance for women, has been discontinued for many years.

So what does it smell like?  The perfume is classified as a fruity, green floral chypre with notes of bergamot, lemon, jasmine, honeysuckle, costus, rose, peach, plum, incense, balsam, amber, musk, oakmoss, sandalwood and leather.

The bottles:

The frosted crystal apple shaped flacon was created by Marc Lalique and manufactured by Lalique et Cie. The stopper is in the shape of a stem and has a single leaf. It came in two sizes, the original retail prices were $25.00 and $14.50. Later, Lalique introduced their "Pomme" (apple) perfume flacon based on the original one for Nina Ricci, these newer versions have two leaves on the stopper instead of just one. 

Also available was the small apple purse flacon originally sold for $4.50.  A  miniature apple leaf shaped flacon, in frosted crystal sold for $2.00.

Fille d'eve was also availabe in eau de toilette concentration in two different bottles, a disk shaped splash flacon that was de rigeur for other Ricci perfumes, and a tall, cylindrical spray bottle with brass trimming.

Around 1973, an import company, Iskcon, Inc out of New York sold Sun-Shine perfume oils, these are notable as they featured labels by psychedelic artist Peter Max. Extremely rare to find today, they are collectible in their own right.

The bottles are 2.5" tall, are clear glass, and have black plastic caps. Their labels feature a bearded man with sun shining through the clouds. the label should be marked Copyright 1973 Peter Max/Iskcon, Inc. 

The perfumes are:

• Sunset
• Raspberry

 

Today I found a super rare perfume bottle from the 1920s. It has a small frosted glass airplane for the stopper, the bottle itself is a large world globe on a pedestal, with clear glass representing the oceans and frosted glass representing the continents. It was made to commemorate the epic of aeronautics.

BOTTLE WORLD MAP (Mappemonde) - Airplane stopper. 12.5 cm, 5 inches.

Used by different perfumers for the South American market. This would have had a black and gold box, cover retained by a pink ribbon, bright interior.

Label in pendant with the inscription "Florence" on one side and design of an airplane on the other (circa 1920).

Reference: Presentation Perfume, p.197. € 850/900

To bid on this auction, please click on this link http://cgi.ebay.fr/ANCIEN-FLACON-DE-PARFUM-MAPPEMONDE-GLOBE-TERRAQUEE-BOUCHON-AVIONETTE-/170802255223?pt=FR_JG_Collections_Parfums&hash=item27c49b9577#ht_1582wt_1067

Today I came across a rare perfume listed on ebay France. It is Rue de Cambon by Antoine de Paris, launched in 1937. The seller erroneously thinks that this is a Chanel perfume which is understandable because Chanel did come out with a similar sounding perfume, 31 Rue Cambon. But, the perfume label clearly says Antoine, not Chanel.

However, I feel that this is much rarer than the Chanel perfume because Antoine de Paris was a famous hairdresser who introduced the popular ‘La Garçonne’ (urchin cut) of Flapper fame. Established by Antoine Cierplikowski (born 1884) at 5 rue Cambon, Paris in the early 1920’s, the company also produced a range of cosmetics, toiletries and fragrances.

http://cgi.ebay.fr/PARFUM-TRES-RARE-DE-COLLECTION-ANCIENNE-CHANEL--/260994726388?pt=FR_JG_Collections_Parfums&hash=item3cc47f79f4#ht_539wt_1067

I came across a 1925 ad for the Choisi line of toiletries by a scarce company named D'ruvyl. I had never heard of this company before and was only able to obtain info about it from the advertisement. It seems they had offices in New York and Cleveland.  Their French sounding name lent an air of sophisticaion to their humble American roots.

The Choisi line included parfums, face powders and face creams. the line probably didnt last very long as I cannot find any other reference to it. 

Cocktail Dry was launched in 1930. It was part of a special cocktail "bar" that Jean Patou had installed in his boutique, to entertain the male customers while their women shopped. A pleasant diversion from both boredom and their money. 

Cocktail Dry was one of three cocktail themed perfumes (Cocktail Sweet, Cocktail Bitter Sweet) that was available to the general public about a year later. 

So what does it smell like? It has a pronounced green note with lavender, geranium, oakmoss, jasmine, mimosa, chamomile, patchouli, aldehydes, musk, honey, verbena, anise and incense.

This perfume has been discontinued since the 1950s and is hard to find. 

Ambush by Dana was launched in 1955. It was available in parfum and eau de cologne. It was discontinued sometime in the 1970s. In 1997, the perfume was re-orchestrated with modern ingredients, re-packaged and re-launched. Discontinued 

So what does it smell like? It is a crisp fruity woody oriental parfum with notes of bergamot, basil, mandarin, chamomile, lime oil, lavender, jasmine, angelica, iris, geranium, reseda, canaga, orchid, heliotrope, clover, vetiver, oak moss, sandalwood, patchouli and musk.

Volcan d'Amour is the second fragrance from the designer Diane von Furstenberg, Launched in 1981, it was immensely popular but by 1984, when the designer sold the business to Beecham Pharaceuticals, it was gone, discontinued and today, very hard to find.

In 1980, Diane met a Brazilian in Bali, with whom she had a torrid relationship. The romance is shrouded in an overheated, tropical mystique and reporters only use her paramour’s first name, Paulo his last name was later revealed to be Fernandes). Their passion inspired her to create her 1981 fragrance Volcan d’Amour,based on a poem Paulo dedicated to her under the name Volcan d'Amour (Volcano of Love).

So what does it smell like? The perfume is an intensive chypre floral with notes of African violet, orange blossom, lily of the valley, jasmine, rose, basil, tuberose, vetiver,  myrrh, oakmoss, musk, patchouli, sandalwood and frankincense. If anyone has a sample of this, could you possibly send it to me please! I am dying to smell this powerhouse fragrance!

The fragrance was available as a 1.5 oz eau de toilette, 2 oz eau de toilette and parfum in three sizes 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz and 1 oz.

Djedi by Guerlain, an oriental chypre perfume first created in 1926 and introduced in France, it was finally released in the United States in 1928. The advertisement of the day noted that the perfume was a special presentation created to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Guerlain. It was housed inside of a Baccarat flacon.

The inspiration for the perfume was ancient Egypt, as was common for perfumes in the 1920s with the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922. Beautiful, strange and austere ancient Egypt, with its mysterious legendary Egyptian magician Djedi, the magician who Khufu consulted when planning the layout of his pyramid, who also supposedly could bring the dead back to life as told in the ancient Westcar Papyrus.

The Westcar Papyrus

The Westcar Papyrus, housed in the Berlin museum, is a fragmentary ancient Egyptian text containing a cycle of five stories about marvels performed by priests and magicians. Named for Henry Westcar,  who acquired the document in 1824/1825 under unknown circumstances, each of these tales is being told at the court of the Pharaoh Khufu (r. 2589-2566 B.C) by his sons. The tales are believed to have originated some time in the 12th dynasty of the Middle Kingdom (ca. 20th century BC).

"... the text does seem corrupted, if you ask me. There are lots of weirdnesses in this text which might indicate that a child was learning in school and attempting to copy it. The handwriting for one thing is puerile. There also seem to be places where the person writing it has left something out."-- Geoff Graham

The setting is in the Fourth Dynasty and Pharaoh Khufu's sons are amusing their father by telling tales of magic. Prince Khafra told the first tale, then Djadjaemankh told the second, and finally, Prince Hordedef stood and spoke. Instead of a tale of the past, this prince spoke about what he knew of his own time.

"...But there is a man, your Majesty, of your own time but unknown to you, who is a great magician."

His Majesty said, "What is this Hordedef my son?"

Prince Hordedef replied, "There is a commoner, Djed-djedi is his name, who lives at Djed-djed-Sneferu. He is a man of one hundred and ten years; every day he eats five hundred loaves of bread, a haunch of ox is his meat, and he drinks one hundred jugs of beer as well. He knows how to reattach a severed head . He is also said to be able to make wild lions so obedient that the animal would follow him with a cord dragging on the ground. Furthermore, this Djedi has knowledge of the number of Iput in the wenet-sanctuary of Thoth.”

The pharaoh spent a good deal of time to seek for these chambers, for he planned to build something similar to his horizon. Wishing to model his own tomb on that of the secret rooms in the Temple of Thoth, Khufu ordered his son to bring the magician to him.

After a long journey, Hordedef managed to reach the magician. Plying him with offers of delicacies and all good things, Djed-djedi agreed to go to the court of Khufu with his family and collection magical spell papyri.

"Djed-djedi, why is it that I have not seen you before?"

Djed-djedi answered, "When one is summoned, one comes, Oh Sovereign, may you live, prosper, and be healthy. I have been called and I have come."

His Majesty asked, "Is it really true, this talk of your knowing how to reattach a severed head?"

Djed-djedi said, "Yes, it is I who know, Oh Sovereign, my lord, may you live, prosper, and be healthy."

Khufu then ordered a prisoner brought, thinking to lop off his head and see Djed-djedi's magic. Protesting, the magician said that he could not sacrifice humans for his magic. Instead, they found a goose Djed-djedi could work his magic upon.

The goose was placed on the west side of the courtyard with the head on the east. Then Djed-djedi recited his magic spells and the goose began waddling and the head moved also. When they had approached each other they joined and the goose stood up honking. The another bird was brought to him and he did to it likewise. His Majesty had an ox brought to him and its head was made to fall upon the earth. Again, Djed-djedi said his words of magic and the ox arose. Then he made a lion follow along behind him with its leash trailing on the earth.

After this display, Khufu realised that maybe the rumour about the magician were true.

 Now the king says: “It is said that you know the number of Iput inside the wenet-sanctuary of Thoth. Now?”

Djedi replies: “May you be praised, oh sovereign, my lord! I don't know their number. But I know where they can be found.”

Khufu asks: “Where is it?”

Djedi answers: “There is a box of scrolls, made of flint, which is stored in a room called ‘archive’ at Heliopolis.”

The king orders: “Take that box!”

 Pressing the magician further, Djed-djedi told the pharaoh that it could only be brought to him by the eldest of the triplets, who were still in the belly of Raddjedet, wife of a wab priest of Ra. These children, the magician prophesied, would inherit the kingship of the land of Egypt.

 Trying to placate the pharaoh as his heart had grown heavy at the words, Djed-djedi told him that his son, and his son's son would rule before a child of Raddjedet. Asking when the woman was to give birth, Djed-djedi told the pharaoh that she would bear her children on the 15th day of the first month of winter.

His Majesty said, "It is then that the sand banks of the canal will be dry! I would have crossed over myself to see the temple of Ra, Lord of Sahbu."

"Then I will make four cubits of water over the sand banks so you can cross," said Djed-djedi.

Djed-djedi consented to stay with Prince Hordedef, until the appointed time.

Djedi appears only in the fourth story of the Westcar Papyrus - there is no archeological or historical evidence that he existed. Nevertheless he is object of great interest for historians and Egyptologists, since his magic tricks are connected to later cultural perceptions of the personality of king Khufu. Djedi is described as a commoner of extraordinary age (110), endowed with magical powers and talented in making prophecies.

Although this trick is probably a fable, it would be the first recorded instance of what we now know as the sawing the victim in half trick.  For his reward Djedi is said to have been invited to move into the palace where he was offered his standard daily extraordinary diet, enhanched to palace standards: a portion an ox, a thousand loaves of bread, a hundred jugs of beer, and a hundred bunches of onions. He was also offered a special tomb among his relatives.

The Perfume

Back to 1920s, Djedi the perfume was discontinued sometime in the 1930s, lucky for us it was reissued in 1996 to celebrate its 70th anniversary , this presentation was limited to just 1000 bottles only.

So what does it smell like? Green and earthy with notes of rose, cinnamon, spices, civet, iris, patchouli, oak moss, vetiver, calamus, orris root, musk, cedar wood, sandalwood and leather.

One reviewer compared it to Judith Muller’s Bat Sheba from the 1960s. Author Luca Turin called Djedi a “tremendous animalic vetiver”, whilst perfumer Roja Dove described it as “the driest perfume of all time” 

Mavis was a toiletry line produced by the company Vivaudou in the 1920s. By 1928 the line included Talcum Powder, Toilet Water, Face Powder, Egyptian Henna, Vanity Perfume, Powder Vanity, Body Powder, Liquid Brilliantine, Astringent Cream, Lemon and Almond Cream, Rouge, and Lipstick.

Tiffany by Tiffany and Company was presented in 1987, created by Francois Demachy.

Top notes are black currant syrup and Italian mandarin, middle notes are violet leaf, lily of the valley, orange blossom, ylang ylang, iris, jasmine and Damascus rose. The base adds woody accords of sandalwood, vetiver, amber and vanilla.

The bottle was created by Pierre Dinand, the fragrance has won the FiFi award in 1988. 

Tiffany was available in parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, body lotion and body cream.

Tiffany for men was created in 1989 as a companion fragrance.

truly Lace was a feminine perfume launched by Coty in 1992. This scent possesses a blend of well-balanced orange flowers and sweet spices. Top notes are orange blossom, gardenia, green notes, fruity notes and bergamot; middle notes are tuberose, orchid, jasmine, ylang-ylang, lily-of-the-valley and rose; base notes are sandalwood, amber, musk, oakmoss, vanilla and cedar.

 It was produced in a cologne spray, eau de parfum spray, perfumed bath crystals, talcum powder  and body lotion.

Truly Lace is a discontinued perfume and can be found on ebay. The floral designs for the collection was created by author Cynthia Hart, who used fresh flowers and authentic antique Victorian scrap diecuts and fabrics to create gorgeous designs that appealed to many women.

In 1907, Coty released a a floral perfume named L’Effleurt, housed inside of a Baccarat flacon with a Rene Lalique designed label. Marketed with the slogan ‘Somewhere inside romance blossoms’. It may not have been popular at the time, so in 1912, it was repackaged and housed inside of a Rene Lalique flacon that featured as molded glass label showing a woman rising out of a swirl of vapor, which hearkens back to the origin of the word perfume, comes from the Roman, per fumum, which means "through smoke".

Lalique flacon, photo by Rago Arts

Baccarat bottle #18, used for La Rose Jaqueminot, L'Effleurt and other perfumes for Coty during 1907-1920. Photo by ebay seller diazmommy.

I am not exactly sure when it was discontinued. In 1990, Coty released L’Effleur, its composition was based on its original perfume notes from 1907 but was reformulated with modern ingredients; a crisp floral-green fragrance (notes of fresh cut flowers and greens). It was produced in a cologne spray, foaming bath powder, body lotion, sachets,  fragranced candles, talcum powder, perfumed soaps and dusting powder. L'Effleur is a discontinued perfume and can be found on ebay. The floral designs for the collection was created by author Cynthia Hart, who used fresh flowers and authentic antique Victorian scrap diecuts and fabrics to create gorgeous designs that appealed to many women.

Jonteel was a toiletry line produced by Rexall starting in 1917, this line proved to be so successful that it continued into the 1920s. The line included parfum, toilet water, face powder, rouge, lipstick, eyeliner/eyebrow pencil, face cream, talcum powder,  dusting powder and several compacts.

Premier designer and personal couturier to Nancy Reagan, James G. Galanos’s signature perfume, aptly named Galanos was launched in 1979. It is classified as a Floral-Oriental fragrance for women. Galanos won a FiFi award in 1980 and I can see why.

The original vintage perfume is composed with top notes of lemon, orange, mandarin and chamomile, coriander, clove, bay leaf and cypress, heart notes of orange flower, jasmine, gardenia, ylang-ylang, muguet, rose, geranium and carnation on base notes of musk, amber, vanilla, Tonka bean, vetiver, cedar wood, oak moss, sandalwood and patchouli.

Just received a vintage sample from Bab, who sent me some lovely perfume samples to review this week. I am so grateful that this one was in the lot. Galanos is pure seduction. Its oriental character speaks soft, subtle tones of spices, namely clove, chamomile, bay leaf and coriander. To me it smells the way a bazaar in Morocco would smell, with baskets of mandarin oranges, lemons and navel oranges gleaming in the sun.

Gorgeous scent, with low tones of florals such as orange blossom (my favorite) gardenia, carnation, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, ylang ylang and geranium, finally rounds out with basenotes of amber, Tonka bean, cypress, cedar, vanilla, patchouli, vetiver, oak moss, sandalwood and erogenous musk. I also detect a honeyed accord not found in the newer reissue. With all the scents melding together it would be a great scent for a harem’s incense burner, or hammam soap.

This is definitely a jewel in the rough. I thought that it would smell divine and I was not disappointed. If you find this vintage treasure for sale on eBay, snatch it up, you’d swear it was from a niche house.

The original Galanos was launched in a very dark navy blue box with white trim and lettering, it was still being sold til around 1985, then it was discontinued for quite some time. At the launch, you were able to purchase all of the Galanos ancillaries: parfum, eau de parfum, eau de toilette, moisture lotion, dusting powder, shower and bath gelee, and an extra rich moisture cream. A true American original, Galanos was being sold at better department stores like Neiman Marcus alongside French perfumes of the same calibre.

It was re-issued in 1995, probably without the oak moss for IFRA reasons. The newer Galanos perfume comes in a turquoise colored box. I prefer the older, vintage scent over the newly reformulated one.

Similar scents: Opium by Yves Saint Laurent, Youth Dew by Estee Lauder, Tabu by Dana and Cinnabar by Estee Lauder.

I was very happy to receive a small sample of this rare cult favorite perfume. At first sniff, it was sharp, almost medicinal and with an aromatic citrus scent, maybe bergamot, also detected what I think is either vetiver or clary sage, white musks, ambergris.  Then a hauntingly sweet, warm, and compelling familiar  scent. Smells a lot like Johnson’s Baby Shampoo to me in the dry down. Houbigant Musk Oil (under the division of Alyssa Ashley) is a wonderful floral musk that is the ultimate skin scent. Just a little dab will do.

I have since read 4 different perfume reviews that Houbigant Ambergris became Monsieur Musk, which was originally by Houbigant, but last produced by Dana. Though it is not being produced any longer, it is still very easy to find.

Alyssa Ashley was bought out by Houbigant once upon a time, in case you were not aware of it. Alyssa Ashley and/or Houbigant Musk, Ambergris, and Civet were the same products as I understand it. 

Both the Civet and Ambergris spray mists say "Houbigant" on the front of the bottles, but if you turn the bottles around they say "Alyssa Ashley Inc. Div. Houbigant Inc. New York, N.Y. 10019 written length wise on the back. These were the black aerosol bottles with silver caps with the eye logo for the Civet and the wave logo for the Ambergris (which also looks like it could be the fins of a whale breaking the ocean's surface).

The perfume ws launched in 1975 and was discontinued sometime in the early 1980s.

“If She's Female As Well As Feminine...Giver Her Noa-Noa

It's Helena Rubinstein's new Gauguin-inspired perfume.

Ever dream of holding a pretty temptress in your arms - languid, seductive, warm as a Gauguin painting? The give the Siren in your life Noa Noa... “

Helena Rubenstein's perfume, Noa-Noa (Tahitian superlative for fragrant) was launched in 1953, along with a Gaugin inspired cosmetics line.

NOA.-NOA.

a new adventure in perfume by Helena Rubinstein.

NOA-NOA, lush blossoming new fragrance the very heartbeat

o{ the tropics Fiery daring provocative is female as well as feminine! Helena Rubinstein found her inspiration in Gauguin’s intense paintings of Tahitian women with their flower framed faces, love shaped lips, dreaming eyes

Noa-Noa, pronounced “no uh no uh” is Tahitian for very fragrant -a fragrance

that says NO while it means YES

Noa Noa is truly a perfume for every woman’s personal paradise Wear Noa Noa! Be Noa Noa!

Wear it with the uninhibited lipstick Gauguin Pink, ;

Refills .Noa-Noa Skin Perfume, Noa-Noa "Concentrate.

Noa Noa continued to be sold into the 1970s then it was discontinued. Later in 1990, Otto Kern came out with his version of Noa Noa, which is not the same as the previous fragrance. In 1999, a Noa perfume by Cacharel was released, again not like the original scent.

"A not so ordinary weed threatens to engulf America with its unusual scent.But before you reach over and dial the Environmental Protection Agency, may be you ought to know the ancient legend of the Malagua tree, and the manner of its modern-times use to create a new trend to unisexual fragrances.

The blossom of Malagua treee, which is in fact a giant weed from the sunny Caribbean, is used in a new scent for men and women, predicted by noted experts as the fragrance of the future.

According to legend, in the early 17th century at a time when all things mystical and mysterious permeated the culture of the Caribbean, the early Conquistadors were invading the islands In their search for Caribe gold.

The islanders had developed the art of deriving a highly prized oil from the malagua blossoms. The oil was said to possess strange and the mysterious qualities which could act on the senses like an aphrodisiac.

The friendly islanders willingly surrendered their secret to the Conquistadors who shared in the ritual of stroking the oil onto their bodies to immerse themselves in the mysterious hold of the weed. They soon came to value the oil nearly as much as they valued gold.

So goes the legend, which remained lost in antiquity until its rediscovery by Bert Van Kooten, who is young , Dutch and very inquisitive and who stumbled across the ancient story. So fascinated was he, that he ventured to the Caribbean in pursuit of his hobby of tracking down those things that exude usual scents to help him in his art as a skilled professional perfumer. His curiosity about the blossom that had spurred the legend is being amply rewarded.

Van Kooten is the creator of “Havana Weed Oil” which was sweeping the country as Musk Oil did in the previous decade. His sensitive professional “nose” soon told him that alone and unassisted the fragrance of the weed was too simple and disappeared too quickly. He would have to combine it, and this would eventually take him two and a half to find exactly the formulation he sought to enhance the Havana Weed Oil fragrance.

Using the sensuous scent of the Malagua blossom as his violin, he carefully orchestrated a symphony of fragrant ingredients which would linger on as a background to its clear haunting melody and all would never vanish at the same time.

He fragrance was introduced in 1975 in Europe before its introduction in the USA.

Havana Weed Oil is quickly taking its place in the forefront as an answer to the new trend seen the developing in unisexual fragrance.

Although no user has been seen anointing his or her body a la 17th century, rumor has it that some may be testing to see if the Conquistadores were right. Test it for yourself at America’s foremost cosmetic departments as well as in fifteen foreign countries and who knows, it may immerse your in the spell."

Today I have a perfume nip of Mai Tai which was brought out by Browny in 1950.

This is a light floral fragrance for women,I can detect notes of aldehydes, oakmoss, vetiver, civet, amber, benzoin, vanilla, sandalwood and muguet. I dont detect any sort of "tropical" flowers like frangipani or ylang ylang but there is a floral note in there, smells a little like jasmine. layered over vanilla.

This was a pleasant surprise. Perhaps you can find this fragrance on ebay.

Sortilege was created in 1937 by Paul Vacher of Le Galion. It was composed of over 80 ingredients.

Sortilège is a floral aldehydic in the direction of vintage Chanel No.5, powdery and very rosy with a delicate woody and jasmine note.

Top: aldehydic - bergamot, aldehydes, hyacinth, neroli, fruity notes (peach/strawberry).

Middle: floral - rose-jasmine with ylang ylang, lily of the valley, orris, lilac, sweet violets 

Base: woody balsamic sweet - vetiver and sandalwood with cedar, vanilla, coumarine (tonka), civet, musk, a delicate chypre note and ambery-opoponax.