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The time has come to share those particular nuggets of Orient-via-European-Aesthetics that make me tick. Please feel free to share yours in the comments below!
Please note I'm excluding straight-forward musks (of which I love many), predominantly woody fragrances, and florientals, which I consider a bit like baklava-light; there's a time and place for that too, but not today.
In alphabetical order
Ambre 114 (Histoires de Parfums)
Resinous goodness in the classic style of great French perfumes. It's substantial enough to really get the amber through, but light enough not to smother you like your angora-sweater-wearing obese great-aunt. Sounds funny, but really is high praise.
Angelique Encens (Creed)
It helped that a legend apparently wore it, Marlen Dietrich. But it was the name that lured me personally. Incense and angelica, a source of vegetal musk. The effect is mystical.
Antaeus (Chanel)
Among my favorite men's perfumes. A girl friend smelling it actually purred...Men, you now know this.
Arabie (Serge Lutens)
I seem to be alone in the blogosphere in actually enjoying this dried fruit orgy that recalls the souk like few things can. More for me, I guess!
Black (Bulgari) the original unisex edition
Is there any perfumephile worth their salt who doesn't like Black? Anick Menardo's brain child has a genius IQ. Half rubber, half vanilla. Half BDSM, half, well, vanilla. What a riot!
Cinema (Yves Saint Laurent)
Seems simple and middle of the road, but it stays on hair and clothes (and pillows...) for days on end, making you wonder "just what is it that smells so good?". It's a great script.
Douce Amere (Serge Lutens)
Bittersweet symphony of melancholy and comfort. Like love, like an old wound, like life.
Feminite du Bois (Shiseido)
There's something about this spicy mix with dried fruits and cedarwood in the drydown that makes the head spin. If Cleopatra wore a dress made of carved wood dripping of honey this would be it.
Myrrh Ardente (Annick Goutal)
I have a great affinity for the bittersweet facet of myrrh resin and I like almost all scents where it's prominently featured, something that I'm not sure labels me as entirely sane in my greater entourage. But no bother. This oriental Goutal fragrance is for endoscopists anyway.
(I also LOVE La Myrrhe by Lutens, but do not consider it a true oriental. Rather an aldehydic one.)
L de Lolita Lempicka
Every perfume lover craves a pomander scent from time to time and this combo of vanilla, clove and cinnamon is especially good. Nothing marine about it despite the advertising images of mermaids and fishnets.
Nu (Yves Saint Laurent)
Another one of the Tom Ford sanctioned scents that wrote history, it was ahead of its time. Sadly discontinued it marries spice with incense and feels like angels and demons are dancing on your skin.
Opium (Yves Saint Laurent) vintage of course!
This used to be my companion, my self, my id for many many years. They have eclipsed it and spat on its grave. I'm livid.
Rykiel woman (Sonia Rykiel)
Very under the radar. Powdery suede-like and rich on dates, of all things. It manages to be very softly beckoning but not submissive in the least.
Tolu (Ormonde Jayne)
This is how proper night-time perfume for a rendez-vous should smell like. Comforting and luxurious like a mink coat, balsamic in scent. Minus the cruelty. Priceless.
Tonka Imperial (Guerlain)
Tonka beans are rich in coumarin and coumarin is among my most favorite smells. Enough said. Satisfying and sinful like a full meal on a diet day.
Vol de Nuit (Guerlain)
This great classic has a smoldering quality about it with its green touch on top and its jonquil floralcy later on. Still the base is unmistakably Guerlain; calorific, dressy, soft to the touch, very French-smelling.
Please let me know which oriental perfumes adorn your previous selves the most!
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What do you think of the YSL La Collection Nu? Is it the same as the original?
ReplyDeleteHaven't tried it yet. Nowhere to be seen on my shores. (I'd need to blind buy)
DeleteAs far as my nose can tell, it's a very nice fragrance, smells very floral but it's more like an intense version of the edt of yore, it's quite different from the original edp. I have both and they feel like a flanker to each other more than anything. None the less the new Nu is a very solid fragrance and has good sillage and longevity.
DeleteAs i was xtrainer of YSL yes it is the classic Nu eau de perfume with new package
DeleteNone, really - it is my hole in the head area (well, one of them). For me, Oriental is pushing the decadent/heavy side, which while I KNOW this to be silly, it doesnt make much difference in reality, for some reason. For me, a hint of the austere is needed & I cant find it here. Unless you feel like shipping me samples of the above to change my mind, of course... (grin)
ReplyDeletePlease send me an address so I can send some in the mail!! ;)
DeleteI believe since orientals (especially spicy orientals) are so ingrained to a specific era (big shouldered 80s) they push a lot of "heavy" bells for lots of people. I consider it a code word, "heavy" that is, for spicy orientals, when talking when consulting. It's always used in a "I don't like heavy scents" sort of way and they you find out they marinate in La Vie Est Belle which is something out of the little shop of horrors in terms of engulfing potential and lasting power.....!
Really?
Deletewe're two at really loving Arabie
ReplyDeleteThank heavens for that! I'm always worried that any unsung perfume might be chopped off at any moment. (So many do)
DeleteI immediately went looking for something from Ormonde Jayne. Happy to find Tolu - but my fave is T'aif.
ReplyDeleteTai'f is also spectacular! Great choice, enjoy!!
DeleteFendi's long discontinued Asja, a fruity oriental, comes to mind.
ReplyDeleteShiseido's Murasaki, the old version in purble bottle is discontinued but sometimes it appears on fleabay, the newer one in the transparent pebble-shaped bottle seems to be around. Another fruity oriental, with something salty in the mix.
Hi Liisa!! So nice to see you commenting here. Hope everything is going relatively well.
DeleteI do remember Asja as very impressive. So impressive in fact that I felt short. (Like with Coco). And of course Murasaki. :) One of your favorites, I know.
Thank you for including Tonka Imperial. I could just sit and smell the bottle or my arm as much as time allowed. It is more than divine. I swoon !!! (almost literally)
ReplyDeleteThat's my definition of a comfort scent. Now calorific, but rich and satisfying.
DeleteI am taking notes !
ReplyDeleteI have a new love - L'Ombre Fauve by Guillaume via the blog The Non-Blonde.
That's another good one and Gaia has great taste!
DeleteMany you mention.
ReplyDeletePlus Ambre Fetiche, which is my smoldering amber; deep, sticky, sweet. Utterly divine.
Absolue pour le Soir; a real fur wrapped around me, by the fireplace, reading a good book with the barnyard just outside the door, and Coco, which to me is like boozy plums and stone fruits. Ripe. A bit honeyed and slightly dirty.
Ah...Absolue pour le Soir! I admire it a lot but don't wear it much (though I wear many dirty things such as MKK or Air de Rien)
DeleteCoco...I don't know. Something always felt off place on myself. :-( It's sad...
Love Boucheron and Loulou but consider them florientals!
ReplyDeleteGood pick, that Moschino, had forgotten about it. Used to have a mini once upon a time.
NOOOOOOOO on Tommi Sooni. Now THIS is why we need to buy things when things are available. Pity such a great outfit went the way of the dodo. :-((
My favorites orientals are: Shalimar-Guerlain, Opium-YSL, Cinema-YSL, Must de Cartier, Jil Sander-No.4, Fendi-Theorema ( yes it's spicy oriental, but the most beautiful and delicious for me ), Alien Essence Absolue-Th.Mugler, Hypnotic Poison-Dior. As you notice, I don't have a big experience with the niche perfumes, only because we don't have a specific store in town.
ReplyDeleteThat's no problem as you have cornered all the best ones.
DeleteThat Alien Essence Absolue is a terrific fragrance. If only it weren't that expensive I'd use it by the liter.
I think orientals need cold weather to be worn now days my customers look after orientals and tobacco ,leathery perfumes
ReplyDeleteMost of the time yes, but there are some compositions, especially those with tropical flowers in the heart, or with uplifting top notes (bright citrus, very cool spices, such as cardamom), which are fine in warmer weather as well. The overwhelming need for a warm comforting scent however does direct people to orientals, tobacco, even leather in the wintertime, that's true.
DeleteElena do you honestly believe those creed claims about classic hollywood and royalty wearing their scents ? in my years of research, i have not uncovered a single creed fragrance from even 1960s, let alone before that....creed started out as drugstore aftershave brand whose products used to sell for few dollars before they reinvented themselves with one of the most deceptive marketing stories out there
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I think they do inflate things, though it's entirely possible that the brand was used by famous people in the past (famous people do shop for the occasional drugstore item, don't they? If it works) but not as such as they advertise. I recall that the aggressive "posh" marketing happened during the early 1990s; that's when I first became aware of their list of famous patrons. It was an essential selling tool in those days, they had the forms printed out for the sales assistants to consult and inform the customers. I was very impressed (and surprised) about the "facts", then as I am now.
DeleteBut you have to give it to them. They rightly saw that there is a bourgeois snob inside each of us. People are aspirational and perfume is VERY aspirational. Ergo, Creed marketing. The scent of kings for the cost of less than a beheading. ;)
For the past several months, I've been on a carnation/clove/cinnamon tear. The perfect embodiment of this spicy combo is Yardley's Khadine, which can still be found on ebay. I absolutely swoon when I put this on. It's a deep, deep spicy oriental. I also wear Teatro Alla Scala, at night, before bed. It's verrrry sexy. But my Holy Grail is Angelique Encens, and it's near impossible to find, and when I do, it's so expensive that I simply can't justify springing for it. Even decants are insanely expensive. My biggest hope is that someday Creed will release this from their vault and make it somewhat available again. It's only heavenly.
ReplyDeleteThanks Zoe!
DeleteEverything sounds great in your comment. I need to search for the Khadine because it sounds gorgeous (thanks!) For the rest, you know my view. And of course how could I disagree with what you're saying about Angelique Encens? Thankfully I stocked up a bit at a decent price, so using it sparingly. It's a good reference and maybe they will re-release it at some point. Though I doubt it will be cheaper.... :(