LIDG & LIDGE: Year 2014 Review.

Year 2014 was a turmoil for many perfumes. One of the most disputed was the higly appraised LIDGE by Guerlain, and its "brother" LIDG. Therefore, in this test we sampled different batches to verify if any reformulation(s) occurred.

Picture of the day (Dec.15th, 2014)

A nice afternoon at Gianni's House. Vintage "Jicky" and "Eau du Coq" (both minis).

Jicky was created in 1889. It is a classical fragrance and, despite the age, it is timeless and still very modern. According to the legend, the perfume was named after a girl Aime Guerlain was in love with when he was a student in England. It is more likely, though, that this perfume is named after his uncle Jacques Guerlain’s nick – Jicky. This was one of the first perfumes created with addition of synthetic materials (the first was Fougere Royale Houbigant, 1882). The top notes contain lavender and citrus (bergamot, lemon and mandarin), which perfectly match the cold, metallic orris and rose shaded by vetiver. The cold top and middle notes are an elegant counterbalance to the warm base created of patchouli, vanilla, amber and musk.

Eau du Coq, is a citrus aromatic fragrance for men.
"Eau de Cologne du Coq" was launched in 1894. The nose behind this fragrance is Aime Guerlain. Top notes are orange, citruses, neroli, bergamot and lemon; middle notes are patchouli, lavender and jasmine; base notes are sandalwood and oakmoss (from Fragrantica)

Picture of the Day: "Baglietto" (1987)

"BAGLIETTO: The last delivery".

During 1987, now-disappeared company R.P Denis launched "BAGLIETTO", a new Eau de Toilette for Men, inspired by famous nautical shipyards with the same name. Unusually, it was not an "aquatic" scent as you could think, but a very "fresh and green" one. Almost completely forgotten in our days, it was a well crafted scent, elegant, refined, characterized by a high sillage. You can say it,  a "gentle powerhouse".
Starting with pleasant herbal, citrusy notes, "Baglietto" had an amazing evolution, shifting almost completely direction, ending with dry, woody echoes.
In a nutshell, "Baglietto" was strong and delicate at the same time, moving from herbs to woods, as a sort of "landscape traveller".
It was on production for a few years only, before R.P. Denis ceased operations in 1989. Difficult to find nowadays, but it could be worthy if you love strong fresh, herbal scents.

Picture of the Day

A nice gift from a friend: the rare "Lantern" by Jean Paul Gaultier (limited edition, year 2001).
Contains both JPG Classique and JPG LeMale.

(Jean Paul Gaultier is a French fashion designer whose first collection was presented in 1976. Having no formal training in fashion design, he began his career at a young age by sending his sketches to famous couture designers of the day. Pierre Cardin and Jean Patou are among the designers who recognized his talent and helped him get started in the business. Known as the enfant terrible of fashion, Gaultier's designs run the gamut from street wear to haute couture. He introduced skirts for men in the 1980s and designed the distinctive cone bra worn by Madonna in the early 1990s.
The first perfume of the Gaultier house was launched in 1993—the famous Jean Paul Gaultier EDP for women, whose name was subsequently changed to Classique. Classique was followed by Le Male in 1995, and Fragile in 1999. All of them were known for their peculiar packaging and unusual compositions. Limited edition flankers have been released for many of the fragrances, featuring new "fashions" for the bottles.)

TERRE D'HERMES: 9-batches review (2009-2014)

"My Terre d'Hermes is no longer the same as before! 
...the scent seems different!"

TERRE d' HERMES, EdT: reformulated or not?
Many loyal followers asked for a comparating-review of "TERRE d'HERMES" EdT, since apparently there are many differences between years. If you read something about it  (on websites such as Fragrantica, Basenotes, Parfumo, etc.), you will find plenty of arguments in favor and against a reformulation, and differences apparently due to amounts of "Iso E Super" contained in the mixture.
So, what about "reformulations"?

FAHRENHEIT: a 10-batches REVIEW

FAHRENHEIT by Christian Dior, is one of those scents that needs no introduction, being immensely popular worldwide, and still in production (since 1988). 
Fahrenheit was probably the first "conceptual" scent: this means the whole structure is turning around the feeling of something "burning". 
It happened due to a violet-leather accord, resulting in a sort of "gasoline" or "petroleum" top notes (the beginning of fire), concluding with a sort of "burnt woods smell" drydown (the ending of fire). Even the bottle reminds of a fire in the night. with a bottom colored in red-yellow, slowly changing in black in the upper part.
This "conceptual" view was, in fact, one of the most appreciate, discussed and controversial aspects at the time of launch.

"Woods Burning"
(thanks to Cornellpines.blogspot.com)

Obviously reformulations occurred in a such complex scent, during a 25-years span.
So, in this review, we collected our Fahrenheit bottles and did a comparative work. 
How did Fahrenheit change during the years? 
Follow us and discover it!
(For the "Fahrenheit visual guide", bottle-by-bottle, year-by-year, see HERE)

Dior Homme Intense UPDATE 2014.

(please note: this is a review of  "year 2014" batches only.
If you want know what happened during years 2007-2013, read HERE ) 

Since so many friends asked me to investigate about Dior Homme Intense "Year 2014" batches, I had quick calls with a professionally-involved friend. He collected DHI "year-2014- labelled" bottles (actually, a few testers). Then we met inside his perfume shop, and I performed the blind test in the back room, away from the main hall (the classic perfume shop is one of the worst places where to perform tests, indeed).

How to recognize LANCOME perfumes.

Climat, Magie Noire, "O de Lancome", Trèsor....
LANCOME is one of the greatest French perfume houses, created in 1935 by Armand Petitjean, and got fame and prestige worldwide thanks to many celebrated perfumes.
How can we recognize and "put a date" on LANCOME perfumes?
It appears difficult, but -actually- it isn't.

AMAZONE (Hermes, 1974): 40-years Tribute.

"Amazone", by Hermès

year 1974 (reportedly reformulated in 1989)

Noses: Maurice Maurin (1974 version); Jean Claude Ellena (1989)

Official olfactive pyramid:

Top Notes: Bergamot, Geranium, Hyacinth, BlackCurrant.

Middle: Muguet, Orris. Rose, Jasmin

Base : Cedarwood, Oakmoss, Vetiver, Amber.

(please note: you will find several other "olfactive pyramids" with different compositions)

Longevity: high (both versions)

Sillage: very high (both versions)

Vote: 10/10 (both versions '1974' and '1989')

"SOS Perfumes" initiative.

Consumers' Initiative for the Protection of Perfumes as a Cultural Asset advocates an alternate modification of Regulation EC No. 1223/2009 on Cosmetics Products, and hereby objects to the changes currently proposed, which would render colourless the range of European perfumery.

http://www.parfumo.net/petition/

How to recognize GUY LAROCHE perfumes

Guy Laroche's notable perfumes are: Fidji (year 1966), L'Eau Folle (1970), Drakkar (1972), J'ai Osè (1977), Drakkar Noir (1982), Clandestine (1986), Horizon (1993). 
Most of  scents had the "copyright" indication, including the year ("Copyright Parfums Guy Laroche, year xxxx")

CORIOLAN (Guerlain, 1998)

Top: Bergamot, lemon, neroli, clary sage,

Heart: Ginger, Juniper, nutmeg, ylang-ylang, 

Base: Patchouli, oakmoss, vetiver, benzoin,

Nose : Jean Paul Guerlain
year: 1998
Longevity high (7 hours)
Sillage: high
Rating: 10/10

An unique bottle, an extraordinary scent, a long and incredible drydown, an unusual history, a resounding commercial failure. "Coriolan", a masculine scent from Guerlain, launched in 1998, was all these things, and even more.

Thought of the Day.

A woman who does not wear perfumes, has no future.

(Coco Chanel)

"VU par Ted Lapidus" (1975)

Year 1975: the Parfum, according to Ted Lapidus.

Ted Lapidus, who is he? Today is not a very well known name, but during the Seventies was one of the most popular French designers, and it is very easy to find his advertising in popular and fashion magazines. "Vu par Ted Lapidus" (in French: the perfume "according to/from the point of view of Ted Lapidus") was his first creation, dating back to 1975.

CACHAREL pour HOMME (1981)

ENTER the NUTMEG.

Probably the best nutmeg-based scent ever created.

Vintage Perfumes Market (March 2014)

A few pictures from a Vintage Perfumes Market, a few weeks ago.
.

The Guerlain Fan (2001)

A very rare Guerlain gem (year 2001)

All batch codes in a single page.

All you need to know about batch codes in a single page:

(bookmark this!)

How to recognize CACHAREL perfumes

Among the most important perfumes produced by CACHAREL, we should consider: ANAIS ANAIS (1978), POUR HOMME (1981), LOULOU (1987), EDEN (1994), NOA (1998), NEMO (2000), GLORIA (2002).  Here is a short guide about recognizing CACHAREL perfumes.

Thought of the Day.

“Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. 

 There is no remedy for it.” 

                                                     (Patrick Suskind)

DONNA KARAN ("The Black & Gold Swan", 1992)

Year: 1992
Producer : International Flavors and Fragrance (IFF)
Bottle design: Stephan Weiss.
Top: Apricot, bergamot, neroli, osmanthus, peach and pineapple.
Middle: Carnation, cassis, heliotrope, jasmine, lily, orchid, rose and ylang-ylang.
Base: Amber, benzoin, cedar, citruses, tonka bean, vanilla, vetiver, sandalwood, musk, leather, patchouli and incense.
Longevity: high
Sillage : high

Rating: 8/10 or 10/10 
(if you consider it a female scent, or a male one, or a piece of Art and Design...)


The Black&Gold Swan: it's hard to say where to start, talking about this perfume. 
We could start from its glamorous image, typical of the late Eighties in NY. Or to consider that it was presented as a scent "for women", playing around leathery and incense notes (actually being perfectly wearable by male audience...). Or could we discuss about the bottle, a true piece of Modern Art? 

Thought of the Day.

"Shalini is one of the most expensive perfumes ever produced?

Well, it took me 15 minutes to create."

                                                                    (M.Roucel)

How to recognize GIVENCHY perfumes.

Hubert de Givenchy, one of the most classy and elegant men in the world, founded his own fashion company in 1952, and "Parfums Givenchy" in 1957. During early years Givenchy perfumes were produced at Balenciaga factories, then, since 1968, produced in its own facilities.
In 1981 Givenchy company entered in "Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin" industrial group, then, in 1986, LVMH acquired the entire VC-P group (and Givenchy, too).

Thought of the Day.

"Prices..... sometimes are not reflected in the jus."

(Maurice Roucel)

K de Krizia (1980)

Year: 1980
Producer:  "FPdP" ("Florbath Profumi di Parma", 1980-1999) ; Morris (since 2000)
Nose: Maurice Roucel
Bottle: Pierre Dinand

Top: Aldehydes, Coriander, Peach, Hyacinth, Neroli. 

Heart: Tuberose, Jasmine, Narcissus, Orange blossom, Rose, Carnation, Orchid, Lily-of-the-valley, Beeswax, Ylang-ylang.

Base: Vetiver, Sandalwood, Leather, Patchouli, Amber, Oakmoss, Styrax, Vanilla and Musk.

Longevity: high

Sillage: very high

Rating: 9/10 (vintage version only)

First perfume created by Maurice Roucel, a brilliant 29-years old chemist grew up at Chanel under Henri Robert. 

"My sense of smell is fading"

Meeting an old friend, ENT doctor, talking about this and that, and at some point the discussion comes on "the sense of smell". I point out that, at a certain age, the sense of smell seems to have diminished, with desperation for many people involved in perfumes, and the old friend begins an interesting discussion. 
"You know, he tells me, I'm noticing more and more people who can't smell efficiently. 
It seems a phenomenon similar to what's happening to the hearing. Nowadays people are more deaf than 50 years ago, because there is an enormous noise pollution. Well, I am experiencing the same effect with the sense of smell. A lot of people tell me they have the impression of suffering cold perpetually, since they can't smell in a proper way.  
And I think that this is due to the fact that we live in more polluted environments, where the smell is always under pressure and stresses. You are forced to smell an immense quantity of - and often not so pleasant- odors. More, there is a lot of pollution in the air. You smell a lot of odors plus a lot of chemical substances entering in your nose. It could have negative consequences in the long run. I'm afraid that, if the trend continues in this way, we're going towards a generation of hyposmic people".
Right you are (if you think so).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Incontro un anziano amico, medico Otorinolaringoiatra, e parliamo del più e del meno, e ad un certo punto la discussione arriva sull'olfatto. Gli parlo del fatto che arrivati a una certa età l'olfatto sembra attenuarsi, con grande dispiacere di coloro per i quali i profumi occupano grande importanza, o anche solo passione, e lui comincia una discussione interessante.
"Ma lo sai, mi dice, che sto notando sempre più gente che riesce ad annusare di meno? Sembra stia accadendo un fenomeno simile a quello dell'udito. Oggi la gente è più sorda rispetto a 50 anni fa, perchè c'è un inquinamento acustico enorme. L'udito è sempre più stressato e perde efficienza. Le generazioni passate ci sentivano certamente meglio di quelle attuali. Ecco, lo stesso effetto lo sto verificando con l'odorato. Molte persone mi dicono che hanno l'impressione di essere perennemente raffreddate, nel senso che non riescono più a sentire gli odori, anche se non sono realmente raffreddate, 
E io penso che tutto questo sia dovuto al fatto che viviamo in ambienti sempre più inquinati, dove l'olfatto è sempre sotto pressione e sotto stress. Non solo odoriamo continuamente, ma odoriamo anche sostanza chimiche, che chissà quali effetti possono avere sul senso dell'olfatto. E a lungo andare la cosa potrebbe avere conseguenze negative. 
Ho paura che, se continua così, andiamo incontro a uno stato di iposmia generale". 
Così è, se vi pare. 

Thought of the Day.

"Perfumes are the most intense form of memory"

                                                   (J.P. Guerlain)

The EMB code.

During October 1978, the French government issued a law about packages (namely:  "Arrêté du 20 octobre 1978 relatif au contrôle de certains métrologique préemballages" ), which appears retrospectively to have great importance on dating perfumes.

Thought of the Day

"A woman's perfume tells more about her 

than her handwriting."

(Christian Dior)

Thought of the Day

"If I had used so much vanilla, I would have made only a cake: 

someone else, instead, created Shalimar."

(Ernest Beaux, Master Perfumer)

Moods (Krizia, 1989)

MOODS by Krizia, for Women (year 1989)
Not so famous as the male counterpart, the highly praised "Moods Uomo", Krizia Moods "for Women" was a great Woody Floral scent, incredibly warm, and with a strong honey note (sometimes not listed)
A scent suspended between old and modern times.

Thought of the Day.

"It's amazing the flood of mediocre perfumes circulating nowadays!"

(Edmond Roudnitska, year 1959)

Genny (1987)

I was very intrigued when Roberto Garavaglia said, almost absently:
"...well, one of the best perfumes we made, many, many years ago... Jenny. It was Jenny. The first one, the original edition. It was in 1987. The only thing I can say about it....it's a perfume that leave you speechless."

Thought of the Day

Do those, which never tested the magic of a field of jasmine or pinks in the incipient paddle, know really what is a perfume ?

Jean-Paul Guerlain

How to recognize VERSACE perfumes.

GIANNI VERSACE was a legendary designer. Together with Giorgio Armani, he started the "Italian fashion" of the 1980s. Many of the VERSACE perfumes have a great reputation. Batch codes are a bit complicate, and you should check a few tips other than numbers, namely production and distribution.
There are three different Eras in VERSACE perfumes
1) First Era: "Made in France" by Yves Saint Laurent (1981-1988)
2) Second Era: "Giver", Made in Italy (1988-2004)
3) Third Era: "Euroitalia", Made in Italy (2005-present)

The Golden Years of Perfumery: an Interview.

"Triage des Fleurs"

When we are chatting about perfumes, it's enough to say: "Italian Wave" to evoke a sort of Golden Age. 
In fact, it was an Era lasting about twenty years, during the '80s and '90s.  A time span long enough to remember extraordinary years, live by many perfume enthusiasts, though quite a few of them live those times in a truly conscious way.

VINTAGE (books, part 2)

A few more italian books -with lots of pictures- for vintage perfume lovers. Sadly discontinued. (Part one here)

La Profumeria Italiana negli anni d'oro.

"Triage des Fleurs"

(this is the Italian article. The english one is HERE ))

Quando si parla di profumi, è sufficiente dire “Italian Wave”

oppure “i favolosi anni Ottanta”, per evocare un periodo straordinario della storia, che molti hanno avuto la fortuna di vivere, anche se pochi in maniera davvero consapevole. Anzi. Per alcuni, gli anni Ottanta e il decennio successivo sono stati un’epoca in cui il mondo si è trovato invaso da quelli che alcuni definirono “i profumi all’italiana”.

How to recognize HERMES perfumes.

Hermes is one of the greatest French fashion houses. Perfumes are well-known for luxury and quality. Here is the complete list of batch numbers since 1978.

Smelling more, smelling better.

Luigi Russolo, "Profumo", year 1910

We are used to smelling paper strips for convenience, reliability, and practical purposes.
Unfortunately, paper is NOT the best material to smell. There is something better. It's the heavy, complex, "winter-season" fabric. Your heavy coat, for example. Or a "furry" synthetic coat.
Why? for a simple reason: complexity in structure. It's not "flat", but almost three-dimensional.
Fabric is not flat as paper is, but it's thick and with complicate structure. When you spray perfumes all over fabric, a bigger amount of perfume will be trapped. Perfume molecules will adhere on every point of the fabric 3D surface.

How to smell a perfume?

This discussion can make you smile: "How to smell a perfume?"
In facts, the discussion is not so weird. Just walk into a perfume shop and look at the "horror show". 

Pinterest button finally available.

NEW: Pinterest Hover Button added

After so many requests... now you can add any picture on your Pinterest board simply "hovering" and clicking with your mouse on the desired picture. Enjoy!

Vintage (books)

A couple of vintage italian books about perfumes. A must-have for all die-hard fragrance lovers..
Long-time discontinued, but still available online at decent prices.

How to determine the amount of a perfume (part 2)

(The first part about 'How to determine the amount of a perfume' , was published here  ) 

If you can not see through a bottle to estimate the amount, well, it's a big problem.
But in some cases it is possible to estimate the amount of a perfume with other methods.

One of these methods is by weighing.

Guerlain LIDGE: the First and the Last (2005-2013)

Since there are so many rumors about possible discontinuation / reformulation / watering down, I got three different L'Instant De Guerlain Extreme pour Homme (LIDGE) bottles, from three different ages. The beginning (batch 5H01 = year 2005), the last one before "discontinuation" rumors came out (2T01 = year 2012) and the last on shelves (batch 3X01, late 2013): I made a blind test, confronting these three samples (see pictures).

How to recognize CHANEL perfumes.

** UPDATE March 2022 ** 

all Chanel batchcodes decrypted 

(including the "american", and rare letters-and-numbers codes)

READ HERE

below: how to decode the main ("French") 4-number batchcode

Chanel is one of the most difficult perfume houses to understand when dating a perfume.

This is due to the fact that the batch code is based on 4 numbers which apparently have no reference point.

Actually, Chanel adopts a method that is based on the passing of the months, without any reference to the year.

You start with 00, get to 99, and then start all over again, so in these 99 months, just over 8 years have passed.