What's your most "old lady" scent? (Or, what are you afraid of?) - Page 2

Here's something I found addressing reformulations of No 5. The Chanel nose, Jacques Polge, is quoted beginning in the second paragraph.

"Unlike many other great scents, the original Chanel No 5 has never been reinterpreted for a supposedly more contemporary audience. For all those who love it it is estimated that a bottle is sold every 55 seconds somewhere in the world great pains are taken to ensure that it smells just as it did when launched, which is no mean feat. However, new interpretations of the scent are introduced the last of these, also courtesy of Polge, was Eau de Parfum back in the 1980s.

"For us, you know, Chanel No 5 never needed to be revamped," Polge explains, refusing, with some diplomacy, to be drawn on the 2003 reworking of Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, to name just one, which left its core audience bewildered, even bereft. (Paco Rabanne's Eau de Calandre, still available, is now considered to be a closer approximation of the original Rive Gauche.) Before Polge arrived at Chanel, he was, coincidentally, co-creator of Rive Gauche. This, of course, was the most emblematic scent of the 1970s, in much the same way as the rather less successful Obsession by Calvin Klein dominated the Eighties.

Chanel No 5, though, has stood the test of time far better than either of these. "No 5 has always been a very alive perfume in the company," Polge continues. "It is our job to protect the creation, and we make all types of effort in order that it remains the same. Every time there is a change in fashion or in women's habits of using perfume, instead of altering what already exists, we launch a new product. First came Eau de Toilette, then there was Eau de Parfum, and very soon there will be Eau Première."

The latest addition to the Chanel No 5 family of fragrances is fresher and perhaps more gentle than its majestic forebear, making it more in line with current, lighter trends in perfumery. "The history is very simple," says Polge. "Eau Première is for all those women who came to me and said, 'No 5 is fantastic but it's not for me'. Eau Premiere is lighter, more transparent, but, in essence, it is still No 5. "

Original article here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/pe...ry-961226.html

Lots of thoughtful replies, here, and they made me think of my first encounter with Opium after discovering basenotes... I distinctly remember that it scared me...a lot had to do with my associations with my mom and women of her generation. I was suddenly faced with the idea that I WAS " of my mother's generation" ... I had reached that stage of maturity and it was like a revelation. From my review:

But then I crossed paths with Opium and omigod, this scent speaks to me. But I asked myself...am I the kind of woman who can wear this scent in public? It is so sensual, seems to be a boudoir fragrance, and also , in the back of my mind, it reminds me of my Mother...SHE is the kind of woman who would wear Opium. Have I gotten to this point in my life, that I can wear a scent reminiscent of Mom? And also be turned on by it? HOLY COW! WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN????
THIS is a scent that makes me think I should be in the boudoir draped in velvet , wearing high heels, and nothing else. Am I brave enough to declare the intensity of my sensuality as I go about my daily business, amongst my neighbors, my co workers , the crossing guards, the grocery checkout boys? After an afternoon spent in the arms of Opium, I decided, sure I can, what the hell.
I notice a number of folks mention that this is a fragrance for "older" women. Yes, it is true that as a twenty something, I would have turned away from its heady wafting notes. But it is also true that many women hit their sexual peak as they round the bend of forty, certainly true for me, THANK GOD! Opium gets FIVE O's from this "mature" woman.
03 November 2006

I like old lady scents.Now more than ever. Classics. Enough with these "clean" linear smells. Give me something with body, luciousness, complexity and interest. I had a similar scary feeling when I discovered how much I FINALLY adore Chanel no. 5.
Maybe it's just a kind of coming of age?

I just read my post to my husband, and he said, "and I thought I knew you! I never realized you had all of these deep "basenotes" within you,"
aren't we silly
maybe I'll say goodnight now.

So, is he implying that the different concentrations of No. 5 are different interpretations, not the exact same formula in lesser strength than the parfum?
I do believe that Chanel alters the formulas between concentrations. I know for a fact that this happened with No. 19. The EDT dropped the leather note, but the EDP continued to include it (for awhile). I don't know if this is a plan to remove the leather note entirely from all concentrations.
And I think Coco EDT is much softer than the parfum, not just in terms of strength, but contains less sharpness in the ingredients, is more fruity-floral.
So, does anyone out there think that No. 5 has different formulations in EDT, EDP, and parfum? And which do you prefer or think is least "old lady?"
I have tried numerous times to make this beautiful fragrance my own, trying the testers of EDT at the store, but they are never strong enough to impress me. And the stores never put out parfum testers!

I feel very strongly about the No. 5 formulations. I like the parfum a lot and was able to test it at Nordstroms. The EDP is an aldehyde overload but becomes nice, and I find the EDT unwearable and hard.
Oddly the EDP has the "oldest" feel to me.

I have had similar experiences with No. 22, it's as if half the ingredients were left out in some of the formulations, though admittedly I haven't smelled the good stuff in many years.

I really agree with this - I think the Eau Première is great. Both that one and Polo Modern Reserve are among the best and most faithful updates I think I've smelled in a long time. Lighter, but not too light, and with a lot of the original structure. Just great fragrances, IMO, and even to a lot of us who liked the originals (PMR was a big discussion on the men's side). And what's key here is that many people who smell them seem to think that (for those who believe that they are there to begin with...) the "old lady" and "old man" aspects have been removed.

I love the idea of Acqua di Gio pour Homme becoming an "old man" scent. Maybe by that time, the influence of perfumistas toward more potent and distinctive fragrances will mean that an "update" to AdG would mean making it stronger! And all those wimpy sport fragrances will be "old man"! Ah, we can dream...

purplebird, the parfum version of Chanel no. 5 is what made me fall in love with it. The edp, for me is unwearable, there is something overpowering about it for me, the edt, I love to layer with the parfum. no. 5 parfum has an animalic deeper quality to it than the other formulations.
pm me and I'll send you a drop of my parfum to sample!

Oh Quarry, what a tread! how funny is this?
Finally after many "old man smell" treads on the men's board this is definitely the most amazing one I've seen so far! Thanks to all the posters to put on this one!
Said that let me say that I had recently the chance to test Grès Cabochard (it was on sale for a nice price) and it's definitely one of the most "old lady stink" effect I've ever smelled. It's under the green bitter-chypre family which I like usually (Miss Dior, Bandit, Mitsouko, etc...) but this one smelled so cheap synthetic (probably due to refurmulations etc...) to recall images of old ladies wearing cheap old spray deodorants with a kind of rotten bitter-floral aura.

I really think galbanum, if done poorly, can put people off to the extreme. Yet, if it is done nicely, one can fall in love with it. I wish L'Artisan Jacinthe des Bois didn't get discontinued. There one will find galbanum that is NOT IN THE LEAST OLD LADY. It's very fresh, cool, and coupled with spring florals. No powder. No leather. No sour tobacco. No amber. Just springtime.

These trends in perfume, they're all relative, aren't they?
This generation of children will grow up to associate the light, chemical, copycat scents and fruity florals with "Old Man" and "Old Lady." (I'm happy about that. It's time to move on.)

Adlehydes scream, "I am perfume!" Back in the old days, women expected their perfume to smell like perfume. Now everyone wants it to smell natural, which is ironic because the most natural-smelling florals are made with aromachemicals...

I am going to get ahold of some No. 5 parfum and give it a try. Thanks for your offer rtamara41. I'll be meeting with Kumquat this holiday season for another of our perfume-sniffing wing-dings, and I think she has some.
I really want to be a No. 5 girl, but I'm afraid I'm going to always be Ms. Chypre.

To me, Joy will always be an 'Old Lady' scent, but in the best sense. My great aunt lived in a very backwards part of Southeastern Pennsylvania, yet she had more style in the tip of her pinky than most people have in their entire being. She owned a very chic (and out of place) boutique for women. Twice a year she would trek to New York and buy stylish and fabulous clothing that would be in her shop next season. She was sorely under-appreciated in her neck of the woods and was quite ahead of her time in terms of taste. She was always impeccably made up, and her grooming ritual always including a final few dabs of Joy perfume . What wonderful memories that scent evokes for me.

Some how Diorissimo - Christian Dior is 'old ladyish' - smells great

A realtor in my office wears it, and it smells SO sexy on her. I love it when she wears it to the office! I don't like the scent on myself (nor do I like it's brother scent, Aramis 900), but when she wears it I'm loving it. It don't smell like an old lady to me!

I think I must re-try this. I was shocked when I first tried it because it seemed so bitter and dark to me...couldn't believe how many raves it got on Basenotes and from Turin. Time to re-sniff now that my nose is a TINY bit more educated...!!!

The formulae ARE different for Chanels EDP, EDT and Parfum concentrations. If you look on the testers for 'Chance' you will see different lists of ingredients and circles 'shaded' and 'empty'. The shaded circles on the EDP for example indicate that there is more Iris in the EDP than in the EDT - you can certainly smell more Iris in the EDP.
Also, I think the Allure testers have little triangle slices (think trivial pursuit) and on the EDT concentration, one of the slices is larger for "fresh".

Even Armani Code has different formulae for its EDT and EDP. More Orange Blossom absolute in the EDP, and more woody notes in the EDT iirc.


No5 was originally a Parfum in 1921, the EDT came in 1924, and the EDP launched in the '80s as a reaction to powerscents like Opium, Poison et al. To me, the EDP is most 'old lady'. The aldehydes in the EDP have a more 'fatty' smell than in the EDT. My preference has been the EDT since I noticed a difference, it's slightly more peachy to my nose and I enjoy the 'lighter' aura of the fragrance. I've never had the joy of sampling the Parfum, as much as I'd love to. I am also very fond of Eau Premiere.

Hope that helps.

To be on topic, I'm terrified of L'Air du Temps. Scariest tuberose I've ever smelled.

The only perfume I've ever had a strong 'old lady' association with is Mitsouko. And I swapped that one away. I wear Le Dix almost all the time, and I don't consider that to be an old lady frag. Likewise, Aromatics Elixir. I have to feel a wee bit brave to wear that one, but it's more to do with the strength of the perfume and where I'm going at the time than anything else. It's a big momma, that one. But I adore strong, long-lasting fragrances, so maybe I'm inadvertently marking myself as an 'old lady' in my perfume style. Which is odd, because many of the perfumes I'm now confident enough to wear are the ones I'd never wear when I was younger, because I didn't feel 'sophisticated' enough. I could probably get away with wearing Opium now, but I'm not inclined. I think it's had its day.

What I am finding is that I have little interest in the flowery, fluffy, new and/or celebrity fragrances flooding the market today. I have discovered that the words 'too young for me' do enter my head sometimes. Which goes to show that no matter how many times I declare myself '17 in my mind' I'm really not. I think I am finally beginning to reconcile the fact that I am ageing and there's no going back, and I'd better just bunny up to that and get on with it (I'm a reluctant ageing person - I deeply resent the lack of elasticity in my skin and the thickening of the waistline).

Perfume, I always used to think, would be a constant. Not so. My taste has changed dramatically over the years. There are many perfumes that I would still enjoy sniffing but would never wear again now that I'm older. Anais Anais used to be my every-day frag. I wouldn't dream of wearing it now. I find it too powdery. I recently bought a bottle of Fidji to replace one that I'd used up. That used to be a real favourite of mine, but when I put it on again recently, I found it just smelled of chemicals and I hated it. It was harsh and unattractive. I wore Beautiful and Amarige and Ysatis. I can still wear the latter two, but again, I find Beautiful smells of chemicals and I'm not as blown away by it as I used to be. It would appear I'm going for more 'natural' perfumes, and higher concentrations in their formulation. In a word: expensive.

I have a feeling discovering Serge Lutens is the root cause of this, and I'm not complaining. Wearing good quality smells matters to me. I don't want to walk about smelling like an explosion in a laboratory.

I love this post. You've given me a yen to try Opium again after all - and I said I thought it had had its day...maybe not?

If I can find a bargain basement where I can pick some up cheap, I'm going to see how it fares on my skin.

I'm certainly with you on the body the lusciousness the complexity and interest. This is why I can't bear the new frags coming out that last for two seconds and have nothing of interest in them at all. And I've been veering back towards Chanel more and more lately (with Coco Mademoiselle and my recent samplling of Bois des Iles - which was gorgeous, but too expensive).

This 'coming of age' is something to be celebrated, I think.

Classics, vintage, old-style orientals and chypres are my greatest loves! I'm sure it reads as old-lady to some, but I think of it as a kind of screening test for their taste ... if they like my perfume, they get a point

Oh - forgot to mention which ones! Dioressence, Shalimar, Coriandre, Mitsouko, Parfum Sacre and Bellodgia lately.

All this talk about whether one is mature enough to carry a scent, makes me think how comical it would be for a young girl to wear 'Opium'. Talk about incongruity!

I hate to use the term "old lady" scents, so I'll just say that there a few that smell "too mature" for my taste (no offense intended), including: Joy, Arpege, Ombre Rose, Chanel #5, Parure, Bal a Versailles, L'Heure Bleue, Youth Dew.

Well, I'm wearing Chanel No. 5 in parfum, and I immediately decided that this is my favorite concentration. (The EDT never had enough power for me, and I have not tried the EDP.)
This is a gentle scent, even though it is strong. Even the pure parfum strikes me as "soft" although I am wearing what most people would consider to be a generous application.
It does not say "old lady" to me. Nor does it smell overwhelmingly of the "powder" usually associated with that age group. The aldehydes are not sharp and pungent, but strong and smooth. Perhaps when aldehydes were prevalent in perfumery, it would have smelled more cliche, but in today's market, it is quite unique.

Nor does it smell particularly like any of the notes listed on the pyramid.
What I'm smelling is a white floral bouquet with a some sparkle in the opening and probably some lily and neroli notes. Chanel No. 5 is in no way realistic; rather, the notes are blended and abstract. In fact, I think it smells as much like spices as it does florals.

The most distinctive characteristic, to me, is a warm, waxy, pliable aroma that pervades the entire fragrance.
What is this scent? It is waxy, but unlike candles. It reminds me of some kind of delightful, obsolescent material--the kind they used in vending machines to make toys. As children, we would put in our coins, choose a figurine, and wait until the machine clamped its forms together and poured in the heated wax or plastic. It was a fragrant material, artificial, and strangely beautiful. At last, out came a toy, hollow on the inside and still warm, which invariably crumbled after several hours of play.

I'm not saying that No. 5 smells exactly like that substance, and I no longer have any of that wax to compare it to; but the impression is the same--it is vaguely unreal, surprisingly addictive, and supremely difficult to describe. Whereas the wax was both beautiful and stinky at the same time, smelling both sweet and burned, this perfume is all pleasantness, warm and melty.

I'm so glad I had a chance to try No. 5 parfum. While I still cannot say that it supplants my usual genres of Chypre and Woody Oriental, I would say that I have been convinced of its merit. Something so soft and surreal that it elicits the response, "What is that nice aroma?" instead of, "Someone is wearing perfume," surely has earned its place in fragrance history.

thank you for your comment, Clemmie now we all want to hear your fresh impressions of Opium...
purplebird, that sure is a unique review! I like its nostalgic references.
I see what you mean by the "waxy" quality. I'm wearing the parfum tonight, it is so very different than the edt I have been wearing lately. a true masterpiece indeed.

I'm a guy, but I believe I have an inner 'old lady' lurking somewhere in me. The last couple of days I've been wearing Vol de Nuit parfum. I also have Youth Dew, Norell, Bal a Versailles, L'Heure Bleue, Shalimar, Apres l'Ondee and Rochas Femme and yes, I wear them out and about.

LOL!
That is so funny.
I love all the fragrances you listed.
Perhaps some of us really are reincarnated. I was born 100 years old.

I was sampling Cabochard, which I've heard described as "old lady" and old fashioned, too. Oddly, my impression of Cabochard is that I"m too old to wear it. Sometimes a mature frag, on a mature woman is just too...mature.

Then I thought of how edgy Cabochard would be on a very young,very urban, woman. I imagined a 20-something waitress in one of my favorite bar/restaurants: tall, skinny,black hair, looks great in tight jeans, jeans wears black and layers very well...She would be dazzling in Cabochard!

So, on the theory that what makes an old lady scent an old lady scent is largely subjective and circumstantial, I'm going to picture all of the "old Lady" scents mentioned here on very edgy, urban, hip young women...a fun exercise of the imagination!

Either Mitsouko or Shailmar.

I am only 27 but I am an old soul I love floral scents in perfumes my abosolute favorite fragrance is White Diamonds I am so in love with this perfume my sister and everybody else I know hate it they think it's old lady perfume I am so sick of people callin White Diamonds old lady I'f somebody doesn't like a perfume why can't they just say I don't care for it or I don't like it that much it's not for me instead of sayin old lady I work at Goodwill and recently there was a bottle of Beautiful by Estee Lauder in the donation a full bottle I loved it but everybody else at work hated it but I don't care what they think I ain't wearin it for them anyway I am wearin it for me I wan't to smell like a woman not a teenager.

JenMarie27, welcome to Basenotes!

My philosophy on perfumes starts with the above scenario - to which I am severely allergic at the age of soon 39, just as much as I was allergic to it when I was 19 (and then, the "situation" wasn't even so bad yet, as reality shows were yet to emerge :-))) ).

So I might be the "reverse discrimination" gal here. Old soul for sure.

I am actually TRYING to smell like "old lady" and I often wonder if I can make it. I probably can't because "old lady" has nothing to do with fragrance and everything to do with perception of the overall image/presence.

Contrary to popular perception, I have positive associations with the concept of "old lady", not negative. I am not merely nostalgic for the "good ol' days", I am fundamentally convinced that life in the past had a richer, denser texture and overall higher quality even if it was more physically inconvenient and sometimes less "fair".
Despite my relatively young age, I got glimpses of that truth growing up in a traditional culture, living with my incredible grandparents, getting to know people in their circle, of their age. People from a different time - wonderful people.
Well...to me, that crop, those times...were inherently better than the spirit of our days.
I often feel as if we are living today in the Hell at the end of the road paved with good intentions.

"Old lady" to me means the elegant, gracious, warm, intelligent, refined young woman of the early to mid 20'th century; the woman who looked and behaved like a woman spared of the pressure to be like a man inside; women spared of the grotesque effects of corporatism, crass consumerism, self-absorption and marketing of the self. Women not yet exposed to the excruciating superficiality of our times.

Britney Spears is not going to smell like an "old lady" to save her life - regardless of what she wears. She will probably never smell like an "old lady". And this is a sad thing to me, not a happy one. She will forever smell like simpleton-ish, juvenile, nauseating pink that talks fast and inserts a "like" every two words.
She is the epitome of the unsophisticated, brainless woman of our days....and I am supposed to want to smell like the opposite of "old lady". ???? :-((( .

For me, "old lady" means elegance, sophistication, wisdom, intuition, depth - hence eternal youth. Not just the ephemeral kind.

The three scents I adore are Samsara, Shalimar and Sublime (Patou). I guess all of them could qualify as "old lady", Thank Goodness. I used to love No 5 but due to Parosmia, my smell receptors don't receive this scent correctly anymore, so what I get now is horrible; but I know it used to smell divine before my condition set in.

On a different note - there IS actually an "old lady" perfume that makes me incredibly sick. Nahema.
How could Guerlain come up with that nightmare is beyond me.
With that metallic note thrown into a bunch of sour and rotten flowers, that scent smells both old in a bad way as well as cheap ...and downright sickening to me.

Old lady is anything my mom wore when I was young although she wasn't as old then as I am now. Windsong, Shalimar. Also anything powdery like White Shoulders or anything with gardenia. My mom also used to wear Chanel No. 5 and for some reason I don't think of that as an old lady perfume. I would wear it if my skin didn't soak it up in 5 minutes never to be smelled again.

I used to wear strong perfume that I would wear now such as Cinnabar, Fendi, Paloma Picasso, Coco Chanel, Chloe, Maige (sp?) Noir. NOw I wonder how I wore such strong things when I was in my early 20's.

For me, ''old lady'' means powdery first, floral second, aldehydic third. This isn't accurate to older scents in general, but is accurate to what a lot of Canadian women of my grandparent's generation liked to wear. I associate it with mixed florals typically centering on rose, carnation, violet, balsams, opoponax, and sometimes white flowers.

This type of accord can be great or awful depending on the treatment. There's powdery-rose smell from a lot of commercial potpourri that falls under this class that I detest ( along with a good deal of home fragrance relatives ), but many Amouages and Carons fall into this category and are stellar.

My "old lady" scents are those created generations ago:

Really old lady: Jicky, Shalimar, Vol de Nuit, Narcisse Noir, Chanel Cuir de Russie, Chanel No. 5

Old lady: Jolie Madame, Cabochard, Miss Dior

Mature lady: Chanel No. 19

The weird thing is that vintage chypres are utterly devoid of age associations for me. I can't think of a single woman I knew growing up who wore something chypric, whatever her age.

To me powdery = old lady and powdery rose even more. I'm only afraid of roses because they smell bad on me, but kind of powder averse most of the time too, though it doesn't go bad on me or anything, and not really because of the old association, it just doesn't smell very good to me, where with rose I think it would smell bad to anyone around me once I put it on.

To my kids though, old lady = patchouli & some musk because the old people they see are old hippies so Jailia? I love and daughter loves but says there is something too old in it, though to me it doesn't smell old at all. A lot of stuff I interpret as "spicy" she would interpret as "old".

Bal a Versailles and I can finally wear it.

indeed Robin-Fl, Angel will smell old to the up and coming generation soon!

Apparently off-topic rant from a male Basenoter: oddly, or not, the most powerhouse male fragrances in my wardrobe were repeatedly bashed as "old lady" scents, even leathery behemoths like Knize Ten or Chanel Antaeus got reactions ranging from "this smells like grandma" to a more benevolent "this reminds me of the old fragrances my mom was using", though admittedly according to male/female opinions from non-fragrance users and/or users of more "contemporary" scents

I burst out laughing at the words Paloma Picasso, OMG!
I just bought some Bal a Versailles myself, so we will see how that goes. And I may be lining up for a nice bottle of Cabochard as well. I LOVE the story about Jen finding a full bottle of beautiful at Goodwill. Those bottles that come to you in an unusual way can be so special.
Old lady scents are MOST of my collection. I'm wearing First right now...

Edit: one more thing...is Galbanum really the secret Old Lady ingredient? I just googled it in an attempt to figure what it smells like, "When diluted the scent of galbanum has variously been described as reminiscent of pine (due to the pinene and limonene content), evergreen, green bamboo, parsley, green apples, musk, or simply intense green."...hmmmm...

I have no ''old lady'' associations with any scent. My mom wore Chanel #5, #19, and L' Air du Temps, and these fragrances, especially #5 and L' Air du Temps remind me of her, but she was a very kind courageous, elegant lady, always young, no matter how many years she had lived, so they don't spell ''old lady'' to me either.

I have noticed that I just love, and have always loved, those scents which seem to be classified as Old Lady, so I suppose I am just an Old Lady myself, and have been so from 15 years onwards

How I hate the term "old lady", but like Syracusa, I do aspire to the elegance of a bygone age, which for me spans from about 1900 to 1930.
Favourite classics, some formulated recently but with the beauty and complexity of the vintage scents - N'Aimez Que Moi, L'Heure Bleue (the original), Parfum Sacre, Caron Rose, Caron Or et Noir, Baghari, La Rose de Rosine.
I like some more modern scents, too, but these beauties are the ones I wear most. They make me feel beautiful, too. Even on a bad hair day.

When I first saw the phrase "old lady" bandied about on makeup alley, etc., I thought I totally knew what it means, but it became increasingly clear that people mean such disparate things. It's interesting to read how people analyze out their snap reactions.

To me "old lady" absolutely has to mean "nasty old lady," not "generic old lady" or "all the old ladies of my acquaintance" or "old ladies through history." So I'm already starting with a mood or attitude, rather than, say a generation of fragrances or a particular set of notes.

Getting to the point now: to me, an old lady perfume is one with a pushy yet unappealing femininity.

I'm thinking the olfactory equivalent of some distant auntie who shows up at a family dinner with not just matching shoes and handbag, but maybe like matching shoes, handbag, belt, jewelry (incl numerous pokey brooches), haircolor, eyeglasses (including glasses neck chain) and proceeds to chase you around the table, "you'd be so pretty if you wore more lipstick! Oh my god why aren't you wearing a bbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaa!!!!!"

I'm 40ish, so the crazy aunties must have been wearing stuff from the 50's-60's, and even things from the 70's should read pretty matronly, but I haven't found that actual years correspond to oldladyness. Youth Dew is totally hot!!1!!
And the green stuff that seems to read "old lady" to a lot of people tends to seem very young and vibrant to me, maybe because it tends to have a bit of androgynous zest. I'm still just beginning to train my nose, but I think I know what galbanum is, and I think I love it. Aldehydes are reserved for old ladies if happiness is reserved for old ladies.

I feel almost crazy writing this, but Sophia Grojsman stuff tends to read very old lady for me. I have no problem whatsoever with conservative, complex florals, and I guess she supposed to be the queen of them, but wow we do not have a meeting of minds on the feminine ideal. Until recently, I didn't know anything about the noses behind different perfumes, and I was shocked when I started reading about fragrance and saw a list of her stuff and realized that my whole life I've had the same reaction to her creations: I almost like them, "pretty," then I just feel sad and oppressed. They are too much and too little at the same time. So much orchestration to say "I"m a nice girl." So much complexity just to read "pretty" instead of, I dunno, "amazon queen," or "whore of babylon" or "seven of nine." And so my final answer: "no, I'm not going to wear pantyhose, and that's that."


At the moment, the berry sugar gourmands that that sephora keeps sending me vials of smell young, too young for me, but given my old lady=pushy, unappealing femininity, I think they're going to age badly for me.

Oh my goodness...there are so many. I interpret "old lady" scents to be those that are very strong and heavy (as in heavy, deep, basenotes). For instance, my Mom recently gave me her bottle of Tabu perfume from way back when, and while I have high regard for this fragrance, it is too strong and heavy smelling for me to actually wear. So I sniff it now and then, admire the dark color of the juice, and sigh. Other such fragrances that I really respect but can not wear (and find suffocating when I smell it on others): Coco Chanel, Aromatics Elixir, Youth Dew. I do not mean to insult anyone who wears these...unlike other fragrances which can morph into variations on the theme based on an individual's skin, I experience these strong scents to smell exactly the same on everyone. Now, I admit, I have a very sensitive sense of smell, meaning that I pick up the slightest of notes in the air, and I can easily be put off, as well as be easily enraptured (with scents and with food). I think this is why I might register heavy fragrances as "tooo muchhh!".

That being said, I am currently "trying on" Opium (yet again), because I want to like it. Unfortunately, while I like a few notes in it, I keep picking up the dreaded "old lady", powdery, stinky, old closet, stale notes that make me wrinkle up my nose and want to run to the faucet to wash it off. And, I just did. I tried!!!! I envy all of you who love it and can wear it.

So, this brings me to a question that maybe someone can answer. If I can't bear or wear such "heavies" as Opium, Aromatics Elixir, Coco, Tabu, and Youth Dew, why is it that I ADORE Chanel Cuir de Russie, which has some heavy basenotes in it? Could it be the ambers in the forementioned fragrances that is turning me off???

Although I really loath this term 'old lady', I concur that some perfumes, especially when over-applied do have a cloying effect. My award for the all-time worst of these is; Giorgio. Thankfully it is seldom worn these days, although most of Carolina Herrera's line is in strong contention. A while ago, I was unfortunately seated next to an actual old lady who must have used about 15 squirts of Giorgio in a failed attempt to conceal the pack of Marlboros she had just polished off. I did not enjoy the movie.

I dont use the term but when i wear: Chanel No.5 and Mitsouko people tend to say that i smell like their grans lol

sorry - double post

Aww, this is so harsh - I love Nahema !! - & this description actually reminded me of YSL Paris :-)
I don't think there is anything specific which makes something "old lady" tho'

The ones that scare me are Arpege, Opium, Madame Rochas, Paris, Shalimar (in parfum concentration) & Miss Dior, although I don't really dislike all of them.

Chanel 5 & 19, Youth Dew, plus lots of the older Guerlains are timeless, I think. I guess it's all in the nose of the beholder though.

I secretly categorise all the young fruity floral sweet stuff as "generic bimbo" - which makes me as guilty as all the "old lady" pigeon holers I suppose.

What an interesting & thought provoking thread..

l wouldn't classify anything as "old lady" myself, though l have been accused of smelling like one when wearing classics like Shalimar & Magie Noire. l prefer the term "retro".

What scares me are fragrances like Youth Dew, Cinnabar & Opium; too overwhelming &/or spicy for me. Also very green chypres like No.19 & Cristalle. But these can all smell great on the right person, at any age. Just not me.

Old Lady as a term usually raises hackles yet it conveys meaningful information that has universal consensus, as the posts above illustrate.
I agree with all the perfume categories mentioned, aldehydes, big florals, lavenders, gardenia/tuberose, heavy incensy orientals.

If I had to select the top one perfume it would be Youth Dew, (Ironic name, isn't it)
No 2 = Aromatics Elixir No 3= Obsession
And now I'll have to admit that I love them all!
except.......Obsession, it's SO chav and vulgar, worse than Tabu was.

I'm so glad when there are threads about Old Ladies so that I can pick up on any I may have missed!
But I skip them if they are merely rants about ageism.

I fear NOTHING!!..... I just don't wear some of the "challenging classics" out of the house, still a form of cowardice.

Some of these posts are hilarious! Way to revive an old thread!

I've only been collecting frags for a couple of years but my tastes have changed dramatically over the course of sniffing and sampling.

Hate to admit this, but many of the older classics (especially the chypres) initially evoked the 'old lady' association. I thought I'd never like them... but now I do!

Plus, I actually love to discover perfumes with notes that remind me of dusty attics, well-preserved vintage clothes, old leather, ancient wooden furniture, aged books etc.

As well as perfumes, I've also started to collect (and sometimes even use) vintage bath powders.

Yes, I've embraced my inner old lady... and it makes me very happy indeed.

the oldest ladies I know wear "White Shoulders"... a default gift to grandmothers. I do not want to wear it ever.

I own all the usual "old lady" classic suspects: N5, Mitsouko, Vol De Nuit, Paloma Picasso, Ysatis, white linen, Arpege, all Carons, and anything else the unenlightened masses would like to label as "old lady" scents. I wear them all: to work, client meetings, friends' parties and outings. Depending on the setting, I may choose to wear the "lighter" one of the bunch, but I wear them all in public! Some of these scents can be applied very lightly and enjoyed privately, while still out and about, and meeting other people.

I never had a comment related to any of these scents labeling them as an "old lady" scent. Once I had a very odd comment about Hermessence Osmanthe Yunnan. A friend of mine said it reminded him of an "old fashioned" scent his mother used to wear in the 70s.

I am 65 years old so hopefully I have a pass to say what I want about "old ladies." Stale Guerlain and Caron orientals smell awful "old lady" to me. If I put on Caron 'Nuit de Noel' or Guerlain 'Shalimar', and smell them a few hours later I end up at the sink scrubbing like Lady Macbeth trying to scrub off blood. I remember going to thrift stores with my mother in the 1950s and smelling furs and purses with that awful smell. There are some great "old lady" (or, at least, old) fragrances such as Balenciaga 'Quadrille' and Patou 'Que Sais Je?'; and, of course, all of the old leather/tobacco/smoke fragrances such as vintage Chanel 'Cuir de Russe' and Caron 'Tabac Blond'.

Bring on the old lady scents, and the old man scents, too! I don't care!

I love Shalimar,Tabac Blond, Poivre, Habanita, Chanel No. 5, Chanel Cuir de Russie, and Derby!

Let's add Hermes Caleche and Amazone, too.

I wore White Shoulders at my wedding, for the record, a gift from my husband.

When I was a "young lady" I had certain classics of great quality, and if I can still find them, non-reformulated, then I wear them now. To hell all this silly talk.

One perfume that is modern, but has that retro-feel, is

TAUER PERFUMES - TABLEAU DE PARFUMS - MIRIAM A jewel to behold.

Why should a young crowd dictate what is good taste ?? Ridiculous.

I am fearless when it comes to fragrance. The only "old lady" scent I can think of is Tweed by Lentheric and vintage Max Factor Creme Puff powder base.

I wear what ever I like and love my vintage Dior collection dearly as well as almost all chypres.

Maybe just possibly Apple Blossom and Je Reviens smell of my mum, who adores Arabie because it smells like Femme used to.

Here's how I think it breaks out:

"Old lady" = what one's mother's generation wore
"Classic" = what one's grandmother's generation wore
"Chic and cool" = what one's great-grandmother's generation wore

In other words, the farther removed we are generationally from a scent, the less "dated" it smells to us.

So for me, I'd have to agree with a bunch of the chypres, particularly the ones from the '50s-'70s, as being on my "most dated" list (Youth Dew, Aromatics Elixir, Paloma Picasso, Knowing, Emeraude, etc.). I enjoy some of them but have difficulty getting past certain connotations. Giorgio, Opium, Cinnabar -- these are also on the "most dated" list for me.

But Shalimar, No. 5, Vol de Nuit, Mitsouko -- these are classic to my nose, not dated. I have no past experience with them and no associations. I can take them at face value and just enjoy them. Maybe some day I'll be able to do that with the others, too. But not now.

Twitchly, l think you may be onto something there. l myself adore L'Heure Bleue, Shalimar & vintage Narcisse Noir for example, but l cannot wear certain 80s powerhouses like Opium & Poison. Not because l associate them with my mother, but with older work colleagues from that period in my life, who doused themselves in the stuff.
l do love Samsara, but l don't remember ever smelling it on anyone back then!

The consenus seems to be that "old lady" could be in the mind of the beholder. I'm a teen from the 60's
and wore Arpege then. Graduated to Shalimar and Tigress as a working/married gal. No way do I consider
these to be old lady, then or now. Matter of fact, I'd kill for bottle of these from the 60's. So many have been
de fanged the last few years...Pressed, I would say that Chanel #5 to me was and is "old Lady" because it smelled
like bad alcohol on me. Tried it several times over the years, and it just is not my cuppa tea.

This sounds like James Laver's "Laver's Law" on fashion. What is only 10 years ago in time is "hideous." I guess that makes Jicky "romantic."