Crescendo (1960)
by Lanvin

Don't expect to find another gem of Lanvin's great classics here! It is clearly detectable that it does not share the splendid (animalic) Lanvin base of the 1920/30s classics. It is carnation all through, which eventually is surprisingly short-lived. In a nutshell, it is nothing special... carnation has been done better (e.g. Caron). Do not make a huge effort hunting it down!

20th October, 2011.

Androgynous. Mysterious. Completely in the Lanvin's tradition.Crescendo is an amazing scent, classified as a soliflore tuberose, but rather a spicy ambery floral with leather undertones. The only problem of Crescendo: it's not a 60's frag at all, but rather a 30's and that's why it was not successful. For example it smells like Weil Noir. A beautiful vintage.

15th January, 2011.

Last year I had to have carnations. It was a madness really, a carnation bender. I picked up a partial bottle of Crescendo Extrait on Ebay and I huffed. Actually, sniffing this bottle is probably better than wearing it. Garden fresh spicy dianthus hovering just at the bottle opening, it really scratches an itch. Applied it is glorious for about two minutes. First I get piquant carnations with clove and a nutty roasted almond amber base. Next, the iris shoves to the front briefly with a little bit of soap. For a moment, there is a slight skunk like marigolds or maybe something urinous like a wet diaper but it fades quickly. The creamy amber dry down is lightly powdery with gentle incense (styrax?) clinging to the skin. The transformation is lovely but over so fast! Who knows how my bottle has fared over the years, maybe all the oomph has gone. If it lasted it would be a thumbs up!
The Perfumed Court lists the notes as: iris, carnation, hyacinth, amber, incense, & spice.

4th March, 2010.

loved this way back in the mid-60's. wish I could find it again.
abby

22nd April, 2008.