Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › Which scents were popular in the 70's?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Which scents were popular in the 70's?

post #1 of 30
11/29/06 at 8:04am
Thread Starter 
There's an upcoming Seventies Party in the near future so I started to wonder: which scents were most popular then? And I don't mean scents launched in the 70's (I can use directory for that) but what people were actually wearing then?

I remember some relatives and family friends wearing Lancôme Sikkim, Guy Laroche Fidji, Guerlain Chamade, Chanel no 19 but those are all out of question, so... what other names do you remember?
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
post #2 of 30
11/29/06 at 8:12am
Babe by Fabergé was hugely popular in the late 70's
Celadon (EL)
A rose is a rose is a rose (houbigant)
eau de patou (patou)
miss woth (worth)

these are the ones i remember being popular in the 70s but also released in the 70s.
there are many more that were older but were huge in the 70s like some classics and the "usual suspects".
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 30
11/29/06 at 8:18am
I remember Ciara being popular. Also Cerissa, which was nice too.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 30
11/29/06 at 8:46am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies, keep them coming, please!

Were there any Oldies/Classics that were popular then?
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 30
11/29/06 at 9:06am
Shalimar, Opium, florals, but most of what I saw in the 70's in California were what we would call now-a-days essential oils. A lot of incense was burned, like all the time. I was very young and so mostly paid attention to what the younger crowd wore and it was mostly the pure oils like you would find in a health food store. Patchouli, Sandalwood, musk, Jasmine, Rose, etc. Sometimes they were mixed, but mostly they were worn separately. The purer and stronger the better, Refinement was not important to most. It probably got started to hide the pot smoking and then just caught on. p.s. I know oils are mixed with a base oil.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 30
11/29/06 at 9:17am
Charlie, Cristalle, Anais Anais, Private Collection, Jovan Musk, Rive Gauche are some I remember were popular among my friends and me. I also used Magie Noire, plus two scents I can´t for my life remember the "house" of. One was Hypnotique (Max Factor???), and the other one was something called Blazer. Both were very affordable (sold in drug stores).
I think the winner must have been Charlie for me, though Still miss it!
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 30
11/29/06 at 9:51am
In the late 70s, when I was a tweener, we wore Love's Baby Soft and anything by Jovan. Love's Lemon or something like that was also worn a lot. Don't know what the grownups were wearing but I do remember Charlie, I think Halston was 80s, and patchouli oil was really big.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 30
11/29/06 at 9:59am
Thread Starter 
Thanks again!

Of the scents that were launched in the 70's I've got Bakir (LLP version), Magie Noire, Mûre et Musc, Mystère and Yatagan, but I might end up with something else entirely...

There's still time to decide, so keep the coming.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 30
11/29/06 at 10:32am
I remember Chloe and Lauren....
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 30
11/29/06 at 10:34am
The big seventies scents for young women/girls were:

Love's Fresh Lemon
COTY SWEET EARTH, grass set especially (there were also oils)
Charlie
Babe
Generic musk oils or worse, strawberry-scented ones (there were also patchouli and civet; the civet was grim)
Intimate
Emeraude
(these last two were "borrowings" from adults and not necessarily a seventies fixture, but they were popular)
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 30
11/29/06 at 10:36am
Emeraude.
White Linen
And the Prince Matchabellis: Aviance, Cachet and Wind Song.

Oh my, what memories!
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 30
11/29/06 at 10:37am
Chanel N:r 5 and Ma Griffe was popular during the 70´s. They where counted as classics even then, I believe.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 30
11/29/06 at 10:43am
For anyone interested, I've compiled an inconclusive list of the Sweet Earth solid sets.
RARE FLOWERS: jasmine, tuberose, mimosa
HERB: sage, chamomile, caraway
WOODS: amberwood, sandalwood, patchouli

Some of the above may have been in the second wave of sets. The first releases included the popular GRASS: clover, hay, gingergrass and a floral set with ylang-ylang, hyacinth, and perhaps honeysuckle.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 30
11/29/06 at 1:25pm
Going to add Frances Denney's Interlude and Madame Rochas. I wish I would have kept the little Interlude flacon I had that contained this scent. I think this was the heaviest perfume in my collection at the time. It was a nice contrast to Charlie, Jontue, Rive Gauche, Coty Sweet Earth, Love's Fresh Lemon and Jovan scents.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 30
11/29/06 at 2:16pm
I know that my mom used to wear Charlie and Diorella in the 70s and so did a few of her friends; I'm not sure if they were any popular though.
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 30
11/29/06 at 2:45pm
Some that I remember wearing:
Jontue, Love's Baby Soft, Je Reviens, L'air du Temps, Jean Nate, Anais,anais and a musk oil, can't remember the name...but it was a staple.
I vaguely remember a scent called "Bluegrass?" can't recall...

I remember the commercial ...wind song stays on my mind...
but can't remember if I actually ever wore it.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 30
11/29/06 at 3:00pm
rtamara41!
Bluegrass is a classic (well at least I think so...) launced by E. Arden back in -34. I also wore it a lot, and got many compliments!
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 30
11/29/06 at 3:54pm
For the part of the seventies I can relate to, there can be only one: YSL Opium! This one is possibly even more symbolic of the early eighties though.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 30
11/29/06 at 5:25pm
Great Thread!!

RTamara - I remember Jean Natte. It was in yellow packaging as I remember and it stunk! I used to spray my sister with it when I was really upset with her. It took forever to get rid of that smell.

I also wore Anais Anais.

I remember some sort of musk scent too.

Does everyone remember White Shoulders? That was very big too.

I think my dad wore Aramis and Paul Sebastian.

Isn't it amazing how scents are so connected to moments in our lives!

I'll keep thinking and post more.
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 30
11/29/06 at 5:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by musse

rtamara41!
Bluegrass is a classic (well at least I think so...) launced by E. Arden back in -34. I also wore it a lot, and got many compliments!

Thank GOD someone remembers this...I have this dreamy memory of looking adoringly at the bottle during my teen years and that this was a really special fragrance... but you know, that was so many years ago, and three children ago, and you know how those babies deplete one's brain cells...
fun to remember and good to have help remembering!
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 30
11/29/06 at 5:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cherub

Great Thread!!

RTamara - I remember Jean Natte. It was in yellow packaging as I remember and it stunk! I used to spray my sister with it when I was really upset with her. It took forever to get rid of that smell.

I also wore Anais Anais.

I remember some sort of musk scent too.

Does everyone remember White Shoulders? That was very big too.

I think my dad wore Aramis and Paul Sebastian.

Isn't it amazing how scents are so connected to moments in our lives!

I'll keep thinking and post more.

you are a bad girl with the Jean Natte! I used the bath spash or whatever it was, it complemented my 10-0-6 skin astringent and my bonne belle lip glossers quite nicely thank you!
Yardley English lavender soap, Neutrogena sesame body oil...
yeah, those scent memories are something...I loved my generic musk, it made me feel sexy at 17!
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 30
11/29/06 at 6:06pm
I wore Rive Gauche, L'Air du Temps, Love's Baby Soft and Charles of the Ritz.
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 30
11/29/06 at 6:18pm
Well, i just remembered some others that were very popular: (from the 70s and before)

Chanel No19 -wich i think was big at first because chanel hadn't made another frag in decades and chanel No5 was not at the top at that time, and to put it bluntly, the last famous chanel was No5-

Oscar by Oscar de la Renta

Bill Blass (but the very late 70s of course)

Halston, was also a huge seller

Laroche's Fidji (came out in the 60s but was gaining more and more fans)

Magie Noire, Climat and Ô by Lancôme

Y by Yves Saint Laurent and also of course Rive Gauche for women, even YSL (for men) was bought by a lot of women!

another sleeper hit in the 70s? believe it or not: Arpège (before the reformulation!) -in the 70s it was sold in a rather square bottle -wich i loved too.

here's an ad i got from a 70's magazine of mine: this is the extrait flaçon.




cheers!
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 30
11/29/06 at 9:33pm
Thread Starter 
Many thanks, everyone! You've been most helpful.

I remember now that Miss Universe 1975 (Anne Pohtamo, a Finnish beauty...) wore Y as her signature, and that Ma Griffe was indeed very popular, which was not bad at all for a Forties frag!

Thanks again for this trip down memory lane.
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 30
11/29/06 at 9:46pm
in the philippines sweet honesty by avon was hot in the 70's.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 30
11/30/06 at 6:19am
Coty Wild Musk, Opium, patchouli and strawberry essential oils. (We were a smelly bunch.) On our hair, herbal or lemon shampoo, balsam conditioner.
Reply
Reply
post #27 of 30
12/1/06 at 11:19pm
Thread Starter 
I ended up dressed as a punk rocker and wearing Bandit

It wasn't necessarily popular in the Seventies but it matched my getup. My costume won the first price, too!
Reply
Reply
post #28 of 30
12/2/06 at 6:03am
Punk rock and Bandit, that was, indeed a winning combination.
Reply
Reply
post #29 of 30
12/2/06 at 7:05am
I remember wearing Rive Gauche, 'O' de Lancome,Casaque, Diorissimo,
Je Reviens,Charlie and Anais Anais.
The men in my life wore Eau Sauvage(wow!), Tabac, OLd Spice (Dad)
and Brut (yuck!!)
Reply
Reply
post #30 of 30
12/2/06 at 8:55am
Reading this thread made me realize that I must have worn Chanel no.19 or stolen it from my sis or mom...it is so familiar...even though I recently bought it because of the reviews here on Basenotes, thinking it was new for me...
oh dear. memory can be a tricky thing.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Female Fragrance Discussion

Features on Basenotes

Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › Which scents were popular in the 70's?