Cinnabar (1978)
by Estée Lauder

The haughty Lauder ladies club countenance is swiftly discarded to display a distinctly wanton side. Cinnabar may well be the couture wearing executive from the top floor, but she is not averse to being pressed against a filing cabinet and manhandled by some clammy-handed salesman.

Cinnabar takes a little time to slip the tether of the opening,but its classical seventies construction is certainly no chore to endure. With its clipped aldehydes and antique grade bergamot notes, it’s a high horse formality it quickly climbs down from. The conventional and indeed expected opening is supplanted by a world weariness, subtle cynicism and desire to be much more approachable. Latterly,Cinnabar is allowed to cascade into an accessible, perhaps simplistic, soft, buttery cinnamon experience.

JHL, the male counterpart from Aramis is more anally retentive, and when I want the same sartorial formality, but with the odd casual flourish, Cinnabar is a viable alternative.

22nd September, 2011.

I ordered an 11 scent Estee Lauder collection of miniatures, and Cinnabar was one of them. What a little treasure! Like a Youth Dew from another era, Cinnabar is one of those transformative fragrances that will put you directly in touch with the past. You can read through the notes listed, but when you smell this wonderfully abstract elixir, so many emotions rush in.

3rd July, 2011.

I love the classicism of Cinnabar and its touch of " antiquity". In my opinion Cinnabar is a delicious spicy-oriental based on the combination of spices, fruits and smoothness with the support of the airy aldehydes that soars higher and higher the sophistication of ylang-ylang and jasmine. The starting is confusing with a blast of cloves, cinnamon and citrus linked with the fruity notes of peach and orange. In this phase the fragrance is still powerful and earthy with the dominant appeal of the cinnamon-neroli combination. As well as the blast of spices starts losing its strength leaving the scene to the fruity-floral notes the honeyed and vanillic incense starts to embrace the elements leading the smell towards a light and delicious sweet, slightly dusty, spicy cream. The outcome is surprisingly light, airy and smooth with a dominant undertone of orange-cinnamon-peach, the misured roothness of patchouli and vetiver and the controlled mildness of light woods. I see the association with Opium ( vanilla, resins, floral notes, amber, patchouli, spices) that is more mysterious, rough and less sweet. In my opinion while Cinnabar is a classically chic fragrance of this world Opium is an otherworldly spiritual potion. I smell a further association with another lovable fragrance,the more boise', liquorous and aromatic Le Baiser du Dragon because of the combination of neroli, spices, flowers, amber, benzoin, patchouli and vetiver. Cinnabar will always be a favourite of mine in this wonderful olfactory universe.

26th June, 2011. (Last Edited: 13rd December, 2011.)

It's nice but overpowering. The only time I might use it is in a smoke-filled casino...and I rarely go to those.

6th June, 2011.

Love the potent and decadent opulence of the amber, vanilla and patchouli notes; does remind me of holidays in the sun by the sea...

Very well done...

Big thumbs up...!

18th March, 2011.

Having been a fan of Coco since it was first released I thought it may be interesting to try Cinnabar as it is very much in the same genre – spicy orientals – and l thought it might be a useful addition to my wardrobe. Most all the Lauder fragrances get good reviews and I have tried (and liked) Beyond Paradise so it was worth a gamble.

The similarity to Coco is actually remarkable – Cinnabar is deeper (darker) and the drydown is heavier with notes of patchouli (never one of my no.1 favourites) and quite a lot of vanilla, whereas Coco manages to be spicy with relatively little actual spice and more in the way of floral notes and is, to me, more attractive.

I was very grateful for the smelling-strip (because I had to share my train home with a man who had probably not had a shower since the Flood) but will remain faithful to Coco after all, however for anyone who finds Coco too light or not oriental-spicy enough Cinnabar is an attractive fragrance and may be worth a try.

15th November, 2010.