Antilope (1945)
by Weil

I love the opening – I find it unusual and quite elegant with its “lilting blonde softness” chamomile (beautiful description, Calchic) and excellently presented aldehydes. It’s not long before Antilope Eau de Parfum moves to an indole-laden, rather ‘50s powdery-floral accord with jasmine, lily of the valley, orris, and rose all definitely exhibiting their charms in the heart notes. I don't find it very original but I, personally, can’t complain because its heart has turned Antilope into a compulsively sniffable affair. So far, this EdP reformulation delivers quite well. The drydown, though, is a disappointment. True, I’m happy the leather doesn’t rise up and bite me, but none of the other notes do have much of an effect either. For me the base dies… no iris, patchouli vetiver… only some anemic amber, a half-hearted cedar, a spongy leather, and a characterless musk. The base comes across very weak to me. I don’t know where the problem is, but I do have a problem finding enough substance in it.

I would love to have sampled the vintage offering

11th December, 2010. (Last Edited: 22nd November, 2011.)

This one came out during the craze for aldehydes where the rage and this hapends to have aldehydes this one has more of an exotic tinge to it chanel no 5 has more of a sparkling bergamot and lemon weil's antilope more is a musky
leather of a perfume.

4th November, 2010.

OK, It's months later and I have come to love my Antilope EDC. It IS a floral aldehydic chypre for sure. There is something "round" about it, no astringency, yet not overly heavy. Chanel °5 has never worked for me, so I thought all aldehydics would be off limits, but Antilope's subtlety has won me over.

Update, Jan 2012: Scored Vintage EDT & PDT. Reminds me of vintage My Sin + chamomile, with less civet. Same "lotiony" floral heart. Very easy to wear. Long lasting, too.

27th May, 2010. (Last Edited: 2nd January, 2012.)

My review for 'Antilope' is based on extrait from a recently opened flacon dating to the late 1940's, early 50's.
Bottle was boxed, cellophane sealed & perfectly stored.
A boozy opening of partially dead & damaged aldehydes followed immediately with the most powerful hesperidic top notes I have ever experienced from a vintage 'fragrance'.
Sicilian Bergamot plus Tangerine or Mandarin possibly combined with lashings of the highest quality Grasse Neroli, absolutely breathtaking !
No cloying sweetness at all to be found in this perfectly blended beauty, the inclusion of sage in the heartnotes and Vetyver in the base stops this from happening.
At this stage the floral elements become apparent, I detect a melange of Rose, Hyacinth, Narcissus and Jasmine, all underpinned with a generous dose of Florentine Iris (Orris butter)
The addition of Acacia Farnesiana within this floral composition lends a slightly dry, honyed beeswax accent in keeping with the Savannah reference to this perfume.
I believe the newer formulations include chamomile, this would account for the extra dry hay-like effect absent in the original version.
Superb sillage drying down to a woody base with hints of Vetyver, Oakmoss, Amber resin, Sandalwood and soft Nitro musks.
I failed to detect any of the listed animalic notes in this vintage orchestration, no civet, castoreum or Ambergris & would classify this as a Floral chypre (Dry Hesperide)
Have yet to sample Secret de Venus 'Antilope' ? (Huile de Bain) another number on my to-do-list !
The newer Parfum de Toilette version is less floral with a slightly synthetic woody base lacking the depth of character showcased by the original formula.
Vintage Extrait of this calibre & concentration is appreciated fully when atomized.and applied sparingly.
A rare vintage jewel from the House of 'WEIL' . . . . .

14th May, 2010.

It was all over the place. Every time it changed it was as if I had opened a new bottle. I did like the dry chamomile, and also the hearts where it smelled like skin but better, like something you could sleep in. But when the vetiver hopped up it turned into a cheap mens aftershave on me. So sad. The dry down thats after that though is lovely & goes back to that skin but better scent.

I expected more, I expected to fall in love.

Oh & it's the parfume I have.

14th September, 2008.

i tested the EdC version, bought off ebay for a few bucks literally - it's dry as the dried out grass in a savanah, the dry land soaken with harsh sun, conjures meryl streep in out of africa somehow. it's aldehydic (as calchic mentiones above, chamomile! rarely seen in perfumes, gives it again a ceratin dryness and warmth), and never sweet. to sum it up, elegant, dry and sunny, never overpowering (given the tested concentration, stays close to skin)

27th August, 2008.