Safari (1990)
by Ralph Lauren

Graceful, unapologetic luxury. It is clean, sweet and strong. There are hints of sensuality, slight soapiness, some fruit, lots of florals. Elegant without recourse, this I would recommend for a day time classy event. maybe something a mother would wear to college graduation, or perhaps an outside wedding in the middle of summer. Something for the confident, accomplished woman, with no pretenses. Every mother should have this.

Guys... can I just mention... come to South Africa on holiday and buy ALL the Safari you like at (for you people with REAL currency) rock-bottom prices! We must have all the stock that's left in the world sitting on our shelves. Does not seem discontinued here!
Am I the only one to see this as a much easier to wear No 19? Veeeery similar, just a lot softer. I quite love it, although I'd especially love for it to still be around when I'm a bit older and in my linen-shirt-phase. And the gorgeous bottle!!

I can't make my mind up on this one. I used to love it, I think the bottle is exquisite, but honestly it smells kind of like church to me. Which can be nice, but...It has lost it's appeal over the years.

Safari opens green with galbanum, citrus with mandarin, floral with hyacinth and jasmine, and aldehydic. The green stays while the more complex florals of the heart rise up to take their place. The vetiver has been in the background since the opening, and rises to its own in the base where it shares the spotlight with moss and styrax and a bit of tonka. Just as with the men’s version, this one is a great fragrance. It’s different from most because of its dryness. There are just too many sweet fragrances everywhere… A beautifully constructed dry fragrance like this is so special...

I love this dry, crisp chypre. It seems to live for the hot, dry summers here in California. At other times of the year I feel more so-so about this scent, but when I wear it in July and August, it really shines and I realize all over again how truly stunning it is. It does seem to conjure the scent and feeling of dry grasses and open, arid plains. It's not a casual fragrance-- what chypre is? But I think it is one of the more easily wearable fragrances in that ofttimes challenging fragrance family. Hoarding is a good idea for this reasonably priced classic.

I've got half a bottle of the3.4 ou EDP and another stashed. I'm sad this fragrance is discontinued. It's a victim of it's own elegance in an inelegant age.

I often fall for the resinous note of galbanum, which is the note I think other reviewers mention as mysterious and possibly also in VW's Boudoir. It is also in Rochas' Mystere de Rochas, a dry woodsy/violety chypre which has a couple of notes in common with Safari.

Safari seems to have significant rose at her heart. Who couldn't imagine the Baroness von Blixen wearing it? I'd always wished the gracious, beautiful EDP bottle had a cap which could be unscrewed so I could reuse the bottle.

Safari lasts and lasts. It's rich but never vulgar.