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Hermes, what have you done to Equipage??

post #1 of 16
12/9/07 at 8:07am
Thread Starter 
I ran out of my favorite fragrance Equipage a few months back. It was a bottle given to me by a long gone girlfriend in 1983. Recently, I went to Neiman Marcus and bought another bottle without testing it. BIG MISTAKE! The stuff I bought is relatively weak compared to the 1983 formulation. It is an eau de cologne strength at best. Hermes, What have you done to this most excellent and classical scent??

Oh, I am soooo disapointed.
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post #2 of 16
12/9/07 at 8:24am
Do you think it's been reformulated, or is it just that if you have a 1983 bottle some of the ingredients aged for the better?

Some oils get stronger and better with time, like vetiver for example, which is one of the notes in Equipage.
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post #3 of 16
12/9/07 at 8:33am
Thread Starter 
I don't think it has been re-formulated, but has been weakened quite a bit. I thought along the lines of the oils ageing and gaining strength, but in my opinion, the Equipage is roughly 50% of it's original strength.
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post #4 of 16
12/9/07 at 12:29pm
My father has a bottle from the 80's and I have one from about a year ago and they seem pretty much the same to me.

I'm going to take my bottle to his house to compare directly.
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post #5 of 16
12/9/07 at 12:35pm
Yeah, let us know, I'm curious! I love Equipage.
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post #6 of 16
12/9/07 at 3:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Moon View Post

My father has a bottle from the 80's and I have one from about a year ago and they seem pretty much the same to me.

I'm going to take my bottle to his house to compare directly.

I'm the opposite. I have a bottle from the 80's, and my dad has one from the last year or so. I recently compared them and didn't get much difference. The old one seemed a bit richer, but that could be age related.
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post #7 of 16
12/10/07 at 8:03am
I use to buy EQUIPAGE ( it is one of my must have ) in Lisbon and the scent is unchanged...i can sniff the same perfume of the seventies....
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post #8 of 16
12/10/07 at 8:11am
I have tested all of the Hermes scents, I think, and Equipage and Rocobar seem to be fairly weak in comparison to Bel Ami and Terre D'Hermes, both of which I own and love.
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post #9 of 16
12/10/07 at 9:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by greendragon View Post

....Hermes, What have you done to this most excellent and classical scent??

Oh, I am soooo disapointed.

I feel your pain. I love both Equipage and Amazone and they were re-launched. After I tried them, the thought came to mind that they certainly were very like toilet water... I recently found the original Amazone though (and will dropkick anyone who touches it).

Perfume.com seems to have Equipage in the 'vintage' bottle.
http://www.perfume.com/hermes/equipage-1007755.html

(Teh evilness.. they only ship within the USA...)
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post #10 of 16
12/10/07 at 9:28am
I do think they've been changed but the change has been minimal, at least to me, and smelling it directly from the bottle, but look what a minimal change in the formula can do to different skins, and sometimes this miniscule tweak speaks loud when it reacts against something else.
Gladly, on me it smells quite similar.
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post #11 of 16
12/10/07 at 11:06am
Does anyone know what the motivation is to change scents like that?

If it's to attract new buyers, you'd think they'd make some kind of promotional announcement, because if not, nothing's going to entice people who already tried it to try again.

Maybe it's to cheapen the ingredients?
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post #12 of 16
12/10/07 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Moon View Post

My father has a bottle from the 80's and I have one from about a year ago and they seem pretty much the same to me.

I'm going to take my bottle to his house to compare directly.

I compared them last night.

There seems to be a very minor difference, but after about 10-15 minutes after application, the difference was unnoticeable. The longevity was also identical.

I feel the difference should be chalked up to age, maybe evaporation over the years.
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post #13 of 16
12/10/07 at 1:14pm
Equipage gave me a headache in the early 80's and when I tried it last years, it still gave me a headache.
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post #14 of 16
12/10/07 at 4:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR View Post

Does anyone know what the motivation is to change scents like that?
If it's to attract new buyers, you'd think they'd make some kind of promotional announcement, because if not, nothing's going to entice people who already tried it to try again.
Maybe it's to cheapen the ingredients?

The trend has been to 'lightnen up' classic scents, possibly to make more $$ with less ingredients, or perhaps some bonehead marketer thinks the reformulation will stir interest in the younger generations.
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post #15 of 16
12/11/07 at 7:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GAIVS IVLIVS CAESAR View Post

Does anyone know what the motivation is to change scents like that?

If it's to attract new buyers, you'd think they'd make some kind of promotional announcement, because if not, nothing's going to entice people who already tried it to try again.

Maybe it's to cheapen the ingredients?

I think it's mostly because of european law, but they have also said to adjust it to the times and what not.
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post #16 of 16
12/11/07 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by castorpollux View Post

I think it's mostly because of european law, but they have also said to adjust it to the times and what not.

Law? What law is that? Fragrances can't be too good?

So they actually admitted that they changed the formula? Where did you hear that?
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