Norell (1968)
by Norell

If you've never smelled vintage Norell before, then just ignore people who try to rain on your parade by telling you that the current version of it is "a shadow of its former self". What's the loss? Just smell it and enjoy it. That's what perfume is all about, isn't it?

I've only smelled the Five Star Fragrances version of Norell (i.e., current, reformulated, "unwearable", "shadow of its former self", etc. version), and I think it's wonderful. It's a very classic French styled floral chypre - dry and bitter like Chanel No. 5, and with the depth and underlying green notes of a great chypre like Mitsouko or Givenchy III. One of the other reviewers described it as "gold and green", and I think that describes Norell perfectly. Think of Catherine Deneuve wearing Mitsouko, and you've got an idea of the kind of aura Norell projects.

Not a perfume for teeny boppers, this is class in a bottle, for a mature, sophisticated woman who doesn't take her perfume or her image lightly.

MY RATING: 8.5/10

26th June, 2011.

Green and gold. Norell is one of the only fragrances I loved at first sniff. It's also the first bottle of women's perfume I bought just to have around. A shining example of the chypre category and a solid reminder of how attractive these chaotically dense creations are, especially compared to a modern woman's designer offerings of sweet, floral, or sweet floral. Norell seems to carry a little bit of everything and carries it all so well it makes others look bad.

15th December, 2010.

if you want to make yourself known
this is the right perfume this fragrance demands your attention.
the begining the cypre greens with undertones of bergamot lavender & hiacynth the lemon just floats into the
backround. a couple of minutes later
going though a sweet narcissus gardenia
stage but the spicy residue of cypre still lingers but in a earthier scent
with rose cinnamon and cardamon.

the drydown is an intoxicating myrrh.
a bit dated now but i think it was ahead
of it's time released in 1968 but the perfume design and the box with it's
big bold black lettering NORELL
makes you think of a 80's bussiness
advertisments or a barbara kruger famous
piece of work your body is a battlegroun

this is one of those sex in a bottle
perfumes because it is sexy
a perfume for a young women with an
old soul.

15th December, 2010.

Dark, thick, pungent, green, floral... and definitely not one to overapply. Oh yes, this is a serious perfume for serious women, and Norell demands a serious attitude, and maybe diamonds and a fine dress or well tailored suit.

Normal Norell was an important New York Fashion designer, and his only fragrance was developed towards the end of his (long) career. In many ways, Norell was already 'retro' when it was introduced in 1968. Seek out the older versions, as they really are better; an edp version was also produced.

24th October, 2010.

The only word that hasn't been used in these Norell reviews is musky! Is the reformulated version really woodsy, amber, white floral, heart floral, citrus, green, aldehydic, animalic, leathery, chypre, chalky and soapy? Must be one heck of a fragrance.

11th April, 2010.

Dark, pungent greens through the soft focus of aldehydes -- like a photograph of pine forest through a Vaseline-smeared lens. Lovely warm woody/ambery notes, too. The drydown becomes a bit soapy and rough -- my least favorite part. Depending on my mood, this can smell hopeless outdated and generic or charmingly retro and agreeable. Today -- arguably the first warm day of spring -- it is perfect.

9th March, 2010.