Raffinée (1982)
by Dana (orig. by Houbigant)

This review is for the abominable reformulation of Raffinee by Parfums Aladdin of NY, the current distributor. It is the rectangular bottle with the square red plastic cap. To assure freshness for this review, I opened a new box of EdT from a recent shipment . I should note that I have not yet had the opportunity to try the original by Houbigant/Dana.

The top notes open with a very small amount of fresh citrus, and within 5 seconds marches in the most synthetic and awful Orange Blossom ever. At first, it reminds me of JPG's Fleur du le Male, which I sampled alongside it. Raffinee, however, has no aroma other than that of an old ashtray in a nasty diner. After an hour of this, and no development into a heart or base, I scrubbed it off. Not even sure if this can be considered a perfume.

I own an original bottle of extrait, and it is an oriental, powdery, spicy, heaven. It opens with a wonderful burst of spicy sweetness, it then settles down into its oriental heart, powdery, soft, exotic and sandalwoody, this lasts quite a while. The base is still warm and a touch spicy, but the vanille starts to really come through. This is a wonderful example of a great 80's oriental scent.

On me this smells like fresh applied baby powder. I get some fresh citrusy notes too. Nice fragrance for daytime, won't knock anyone down.