Hey there A Bottled Rose, It’s a Mood Scent 4 week. WOO HOO! We are looking at our Golden Oldies. This month I have tried to steer clear of my favourites and talk about things that I adore but rarely write about. Quite a lot of my fragrances are from days gone by, so you may have read me waffling on about them before. I want to keep this series as fresh and interesting as possible for you, as well as me. Golden Oldies is open to a fair bit of interpretation too. It could be things I remember from my youth or things that go back well before that. It could be a reformulated frag that historically is much more my style or a brand new reformulation of something from decades ago. I’ll try and do a bit of a cross section for you.
Obviously, these choices are subject to change, daily.
Can’t wait to read about your favourite Golden Oldies in the comments too.
As always, totally excited to be blogging with these three superstars again: Esperanza L’Esperessence, Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime and Samantha I Scent You A Day. Check theirs out too.
Mood Scent 4: Golden Oldies
Champs Élysées by Guerlain 1996
When we talk about Guerlain it always seems to be the blockbuster sirens that get the shout out. I get it. Shalimar, Mitsouko, Vol de Nuit and Samsara are by far the most reached for and thought about in my head and heart too. Thing is though there are a wealth of other fabulous beauties in the range that suit a variety of styles, moods and events. As we head into the warmer months in Australia I have been grabbing Champs Élysées and spritzing with abandon. I have the EdT, EdP, extrait and bath balls! Yeah, I kinda like it. Next year this baby will be 25! So hard to believe. Its lightly nutty mimosa and lilac is softly radiant, ending in musk & sweet creamy woodsiness. It is not a diva or a showstopper but a very pretty springtime waft of good humoured gorgeousness.
Dior Dior by DIOR 1976
I found this baby BNIC on eBay years ago and it cost a bomb. It’s so precious to me that I rarely wear it, even though I have enough to be pretty lavish with wears. It sits in the box with all the other Christian Dior vintages and even though it rarely gets the spritz, just having it there to touch and sniff the nozzle is all the joy I need from it. It’s a very elegant floral chypre, much less assertive than CHANEL No 19 and more sensual than Niki de Saint Phalle. The narcissus is still so rich, creamy and slightly animalic, the lilac sweet and breathy and the aldehydes sparkle. Then it languidly glides into a warm mossy woods dry down, sophisticated and furry. More people should know and love this long forgotten bygone beauty.
Hermès Rouge 1984/2000
My Rouge is in the modern Hermès bottle and it is quite different to older versions. It’s originally a 1984 fragrance reimagined and recreated in the early 2000s. This has a cleaner, more radiant 21st century feel and misses out on quite a bit of the breathy white floral skank. Really noticeable when you wear them side by side or if you are a previous fan of the older versions. Though I have both I’m choosing to talk about the new one because it’s the one I reach for most, by far. In fact, when I smelled the new one in store I liked it so much I paid full retail for it on the spot. A lovely spicy vanilla ylang with cooling, woody iris and though not mentioned I really feel like there is a hefty dose of jasmine as well. On me the rose is not nearly so prominent as the notes imply. Rouge sounds like a big tropical white floral but somehow manages to keep itself restrained and sophisticated. Much less aggressively in your face than the original.
Paco by Paco Rabanne 1995
One of my besties Scotty has been sing the praises of Paco to me for years. He brought his vintage bottle over a few years back and it immediately opened a Paco sized hole in my soul. It smells so deliciously good on him and I was constantly reminded but didn’t go hunting for it. You know how sometimes you have other things that are taking precedence? Then, about a month ago, I was innocently shopping at a local chemist that specialises in discount fragrances and I saw the familiar packaging. Didn’t even think twice, grabbed the bottle, purchased it and left the store before my brain had even gone into first gear. Looks like Puig has reformulated and rereleased Paco! Oh happy day. PLUS it was super affordable. It now comes in a black and silver tin so you can tell the diff between Vtg & New. The modern is good too, not exactly the same but a very fair imitation. Brisk citrus, lavender, sharp green woods and a slightly sweetened dry down that feels mossy but the note is unmentioned.
Sables by Annick Goutal 1985
Here’s one of the best weird assed fragrances of all time. Annick Goutal seems to careen between this dreamy, languid, almost winsome aesthetic and hard core, super challenging, perfumista smells. We are definitely in the realm of hard core right now. This incredibly unexpected masterpiece from the house will take your breath away on first sniff. Cinnamon, pepper and lashings of immortelle! It sounds like the note list for one of the more outlandish of Mark Buxton’s releases for CdG. Honestly it smells like one of those too except even more perfectly blended, balanced and refined. My bottle is the modern iteration, much less OTT than the original. No problem here, that first run was freaking harrowing, and it lasted indefinitely. If you spritzed a scarf back in 1985 it would STILL smell like Sables. The modern, 21st century, AmorePacific iteration is infinitely more wearable and has space between thie notes so you and your associates can breathe.
Trussardi Donna 1982
WHY did they stop making this? One of the best perfumes of all time. Leather done so right it thrills me every time I spritz. A leather chypre! Come On People! Not to mention that killer bottle and the greyhound motif. Basically, the Trussardi crew were thinking “What can we make that Portia will go batshit crazy for in 30 years time, then adore it for 10 more?” Well, they sure did know. 1982 this magical elixir was released. So kind of late for the chypre genre. It was already well into its discounter age by the time I noticed it just over 10 years ago and then a couple of years ago there were testers for sale for pittance so I grabbed one but should have bought 20, I’d be rolling in money now. I don’t know if Trussardi Donna is my favourite leather but it is right up there. Eye rollingly gorgeous good stuff.
Don’t forget to go across and read the other three members of the Mood Scent 4 crew:
Esperanza L’Esperessence
Megan Megan In Sainte Maxime
Samantha I Scent You A Day.
So what are your favourite Golden Oldies, and why?
Portia xx
A Bottled Rose 
Champs-Elysées, Rouge and Sables – I wore all of those! Still have my old bottle of vintage Sables, a homeopathic dose is all that’s required so as not to gas yourself and everyone else out. It is a lifetime supply.
My other vintage favourites are Rochas Byzance, 24 Faubourg and Shiseido Feminité du Bois. I used to wear Poison, Cabotine, Eau de Givenchy and Ysatis too but they are just a fond memory at this point.
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Hey TaraC,
Byzance was on the list for this post! What a fragrance. I’ve got the vintage EdT, EdP and Extrait. It’s so damn hard to find nowadays though so I thought Dior Dior should be the only impossible.
Eau de Givenchy and Ysatis are also here in the closet.
O M G! You have the original Sables! That stuff. You are a strong woman.
Portia xx
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Hey Portia
I appreciate you going for some different choices. Really enjoyed reading about them. Dior Dior sounds amazing and agree that Sables is so unexpected and weird.
The Golden Oldie I’m currently taken with is vintage Magie Noire. Sigh.
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Hey Tara,
MAGIE NOIRE! That is one of Scotty’s all time faves too. I have one old bottle left after selling or giving him the rest. BUMMER! I could have saved one for you, if I’d known. Do you have some?
Portia xx
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That’s so kind of you Portia. Luckily Vanessa has given me the reamibs of her bottle so I have 10ml or so. Love it.
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PHEW!
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Hi Portia! What a great line up Sables, Dior Dior and Rouge! I never smelled Dior Dior as it is impossible to find. Love Champs Elysees too for spring, the Extrait is glorious. XxxEsperanza
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Hey there Esperanza!
I can see you wearing Champs Elysées beautifully.
Yeah, Dior Dior is SO hard to find. When it comes up people pay HUGE sums for it. Me included. One day when you come to Oz we can wear it together and luxuriate in its timeless beauty.
Portia xx
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That’s such a beautiful photo at the end. I could happily take the flipping lot and not even look back. Gorgeous, passionate descriptions and a collection to be insanely jealous of. The Dior houndstooth gives me goosebumps of avarice!
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Thanks Samantha,
HA! Yeah, a couple of them are REALLY hard to find now. That DIOR houndstooth gives me the exact same goosebumps. One day when you come to Sydney we’ll waft our way through the day in it.
Portia xx
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My favourite golden oldie has got to be the old Avon Tai Winds in the pistol shaped splash bottle that I found the other week.
I doubt I’ll ever see anything that unique again.
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Heya Sam,
That bottle is a BIG DEAL! I love that you found it and love it so much. Does it smell good?
Portia xx
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Yep! It smells like the original Brut.
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Beautiful selection Portia! The beauty you have in your drawers!
Each has a memory and story..added sensations 💯🌹
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Hey Anna Maria!
Yeah, they almost all have some memory or story attached. You are in a shitload of them.
Portia xx
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HI Portia. You are truly the vintage queen and I knew you would not disappoint with this lineup. The Trussardi sounds very appealing and Sables is fantastic and quite out there, and I remember when I first smelt the Goutal line it was the one that really made my eyes pop. ⚡️🌸🌼
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Thanks Megan,
I can imagine anyone first smelling the AG line of mainly floral extravaganzas being knocked for a 6 by Sables. Songes, Passion, Eau de Sud and then SABLES!! Ha!
Portia xx
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Beautiful Oldies Portia! I have a soft spot for AG and cherish a vintage bottle of Sables. Love at first sniff and I was a baby perfumista back then…still it always brings me back to the smell of a early morning winter safari in SA. Besides the easier AG’s (Songes, Rose absolue, Quel Amour, Ce soir ou Jamais, Heure Exquise etc.) I have a bottle of the patchouli laden Mon Parfum Par Camille, lovely weird too, and Eau de Camille, so full of ivy that I think it may come across as unusual to some people too.
Maybe the best know oldie of all times, no 5, is a favourite esp. in any vintage form, no 19 ofcourse. Lastly (vintage) Diorissimo, my mother used to wear it, I loved it then, and still do but hardly wear it.
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Hey there Hamamelis!
Woo Hoo! Another Sables lover. Nice to know. Yeah, it’s so interesting how crazy the AG line went now and then.
CHANEL! You’re right! One of the earliest sideways perfume steps. Still gorgeous, still current. What a ride it’s had.
Diorissimo is a queer fish. In my mind I adore it but on my skin not so much. My LotV is the Hermès Muguet Porcelain. A fresh melon version.
Portia xx
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I like Champs Elysees but rarely wear it for the strange reason: it’s one of a few bottles that I have without a box, so it’s stored away from the light… somewhere… I just need to remember where 😉
I remember about Dior Dior from my childhood: it was one of the three extraits my mother owned. I don’t remember how it smelled, just that I liked it the least out of 3 (the other two being Diorella and Miss Dior). And when I started looking into getting it in my perfumista period, as you mentioned, prices were too high to try to check whether my tastes had changed.
My contribution to the topic – Turbulences by Revillon. I like it in parfum form (and never tried the EdT). It is still available and more than affordable. Portia, if you haven’t tried it, I predict you’ll like it. Just look for a small roundish extrait dab bottle, not sprays.
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OOOOH! Undina. Thank you. I will look out for it. LOVE hearing about new old things to love.
Portia xx
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I recently stumbled across my mini of Champs Elysées, and was reminded of its cheeriness. Thanks for the re-reminder. 😉 I am gearing myself up to retry Ysatis which I wore in the 80s along with No 5 and the aforesaid Magie Noire. And Loulou (!), but have no plans to try that, hehe.
I once likened Byzance to a “retro soapfest” in a post. I have a bottle of it somewhere, which I must dig out now it has come up. 😉 It is nostalgic for me because I bought it for my mother, but not in the right way(!).
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Vanessa, I love you so much. Paragraphs never end in an expected way with you. there’s ALWAYs an interesting twist.
Thanks for dropping by.
WEAR THE LOULOU!
Portia xx
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Love your post. I have a few of the ones you mentioned. Great work finding that Dior-Dior full bottle! I only ever managed to acquire a “pebble bottle” of Dior-Dior – and you know how teeny they are? I don’t think I’ve even dared open it for fear it would evaporate as soon as the lid is off!
I’m so glad you also love Champs Elysees. After reading Turin’s assessment of it, I had been regarding it as a “guilty Guerlain pleasure”. But now that I find so many respectable perfumistas openly applauding it… it can be legitimately awesome! Sparkling mimosa… dreamy stuff.
As for Hermes Rouge. I have the older bottle, which was love at first sniff. I can’t shake the resemblance to Chamade (in my top 5 of all time), although the notes couldn’t be more different. Do you smell any similarly to Chamade? I tested the new Rouge at Hermes and it seemed to me as fantastic as the original (although a side-by-side would probably bring out differences). Hands-down, Rouge is my favourite Hermes.
I have a bottle of the original Sables – and while I appreciate its ground-breaking accord, I cannot wear it. BUT, of course, I keep it in my collection (along with countless other scents I don’t like to wear) because it’s great for sniffy show-and-tells, and for siphoning off samples for interested friends.
Trussardi Donna: I have a 50ml bottle and also wish I’d stocked up. Love the scent. Hate the bottle. But it’s not as fugly as Trussardi Action!
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Hey ChristineW,
Dior dior is such a find. I rarely even talk about it because it’s so special. One day when you come to Sydney we will sniff it together from a big spritz.
It’s so weird that Champs Elysees doesn’t get all the love. I think it was such a change from their Shalimar and Mitsouko, people hate change.
NOW that you’ve said it I need to go back to Chamade and test them together.
HA! Sables, totally polarising.
NOPE! Sorry, you can’t say that about my Trussardi Donna. That bottle is a 20th century masterpiece. No other views will be tolerated. He he he.
Hugs,
Portia xx
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