Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › Greatest Achievements in Perfume History
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Greatest Achievements in Perfume History

post #1 of 13
2/8/10 at 8:36pm
Thread Starter 
In your opinion, what are the five greatest masterpieces in the perfume world?



Based on my experience, I nominate:


Coty Chypre

YSL Y

Amouage Dia

Givenchy Gentleman

YSL Rive Gauche
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
post #2 of 13
2/8/10 at 9:37pm
I've only sniffed about 180 perfumes at this point, so my opinion may change as time goes on. But currently:
-L'heure Bleue, EDP or extrait
-Mitsouko, EDP or vintage extrait
-Jicky (Personally I don't like this, but recognize the genius; anythig but EDT)
-Chanel n 5 (again, not a fan, but genius marketing in making an OK fragrance a household name)
-Caron's urn pure parfums as a whole, makes me weep with joy
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 13
2/8/10 at 10:26pm
Jicky
Mitsouko
Joy
Chanel No 5
Shalimar
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 13
2/9/10 at 12:00am
Well, I'm somewhat mainstream,
but here I go anyway;

- Poison
- Dior Homme Intense
- Chanel Égoïste
- Sun Moon Stars
- Jaïpur Homme
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 13
2/9/10 at 1:05am
Bandit by Robert Piguet
Poison by Dior
Angel by Thierry Mugler
Yatagan by Caron
Mandragore by Annick Goutal
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 13
2/9/10 at 10:24am
What a great question. I'm enjoying the responses.

My choices would be

Chanel No 5, b/c of the overdose of aldehydes
Guerlain's Mitsouko b/c it is the oldest chypre still in production
Patou's Joy b/c of the huge slug of rose and jasmine
Piguet Fracas b/c of the overload of tuberose
Dior's Eau Sauvage b/c it was the first to use hedione/dihydrojasmonate

It's difficult to keep the list to five as there are others which are worthy to make the list. These are the ones which came to my mind.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 13
2/9/10 at 12:38pm
Thread Starter 
5 of the biggest achievements are/were:

Coty- Chypre (role model!)
Piguet- Bandit (dark, deep leather - for the very first time - and a female parfumeur)
Apres L'Ondée from 1906 - un parfum de la belle époque, exceptional because of its poetic qualities
Royal Bain de Champagne from 1941 (nowadays reformulated...) for its gorgeoustop-notes recreating thechampagne-feeling
Vent Vert - also created by the legendary Germaine Cellier in 1945 - for using 8% of galbanum in the original formula and the attempt at crea the first totally "green" perfume
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 13
2/9/10 at 12:54pm
I considered several others that have already been mentioned, but my final five (based largely on being unique and/or groundbreaking, in addition to being gorgeous) are -

Coty Chypre
Chanel No.19
Chanel Coco
Christian Dior Dune
Thierry Mugler Angel
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 13
2/9/10 at 12:57pm
Chanel No. 5
Chanel Cuir de Russie
Shalimar
First by Van Cleef & Arpels
24, Faubourg by Hermes
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 13
2/9/10 at 1:52pm
My nominations are:

Chanel No. 5: not my favourite Chanel by a long stretch, but this thing is a *monument*
Bandit: Cellier makes me swoon at every turn, but this was so audacious and original for its time
Patou's Joy: again, for the obvious reasons. May it live on.
Diorissimo in its original incarnation. The prettiest floral there ever was.
Shalimar/Mitsouko for being genre-defining.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 13
2/9/10 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangeline View Post

Christian Dior Dune

Male or female?
I absolutely adore the male version,
the ladies one - not so much!
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 13
2/9/10 at 2:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Le Grand Duc View Post

Male or female?
I absolutely adore the male version,
the ladies one - not so much!

In each case I was referring to the feminine version, and I should further specify the vintage formulation of Dune - I think it's magnificent. I'm not familiar with the masculine, but I suppose I should seek it out at some point.
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 13
2/9/10 at 2:40pm
Nice question...
In order of my own taste:-

Coco Chanel
24 Faubourg Hermes
Yendi Carlucci
Ivoire Balmain
No 5 Chanel (voting more for it's longevity, not my favourite)

First by Van Cleef and Arpels would knock out No 5 for my preference
Ambergris by Houbigant would make it for my favourite but is not masterpiece work, just lovely
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Female Fragrance Discussion

Features on Basenotes

Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › Greatest Achievements in Perfume History