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Jovan Ambergris Oil

post #1 of 21
2/19/10 at 12:39am
Thread Starter 
I've heard about the Ambergris spray and oil by Alyssa Ashley Div. of Houbigant but Jovan Ambergris Oil is a new one to me. It has been mentioned on perfume blogs but I never knew until I found links on Google to these old newspaper ads:
LL
LL
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post #2 of 21
3/1/10 at 10:20am
I wore Jovan Ambergris Oil as well as Jovan Civet Oil back in the 70's. I loved loved loved Ambergris Oil! I keep trying to find something similar since I haven't been able to find the original. Can't believe they stopped making it.
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post #3 of 21
3/9/10 at 5:45am
I have never seen this oil by Jovan. I wore the Houbigant ones. Houbigant did the Ambergris, the Civet, the Patchouli and the Musk as a set with black labels. I had no idea Jovan were doing similar ones. I will keep my eyes peeled for you.
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post #4 of 21
3/13/10 at 5:58am
Yes, Jovan also made a set of Ambergris Oil, Civet Oil and Musk Oil. I loved the ambergris the most, but liked all of them. It's discontinued and I've been trying other ambergris oils. They are all awful. But just this week I received an order of Dr. Denese's "Beyond Ageless" perfume. When you first spray it there is a citrus-y scent, then a few minutes later, the scent underneath smells very close to the Jovan Ambergris Oil. I'm very happy with this scent. If it didn't have the citrus-y smell it would be perfect.
I've been wearing Jovan White Musk for years because it's a nice scent and not really too far from ambergris. But I'll always keeping looking....
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post #5 of 21
3/13/10 at 1:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DebM View Post

Yes, Jovan also made a set of Ambergris Oil, Civet Oil and Musk Oil. I loved the ambergris the most, but liked all of them. It's discontinued and I've been trying other ambergris oils. They are all awful. But just this week I received an order of Dr. Denese's "Beyond Ageless" perfume. When you first spray it there is a citrus-y scent, then a few minutes later, the scent underneath smells very close to the Jovan Ambergris Oil. I'm very happy with this scent. If it didn't have the citrus-y smell it would be perfect.
I've been wearing Jovan White Musk for years because it's a nice scent and not really too far from ambergris. But I'll always keeping looking....

DebM,
Do you have a link to "Beyond Ageless"?
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post #6 of 21
3/13/10 at 6:12pm
Hollywood,

Yes, here it is: http://www.qvc.com/qsearch/search.aspx

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post #7 of 21
3/13/10 at 9:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by DebM View Post

Hollywood,

Yes, here it is: http://www.qvc.com/qsearch/search.aspx


DebM,
Thank you for the link, although it brought me to a page offering Oreck vacuum cleaners :-). I did a board search there for Beyond Ageless and found the two pack and single bottle fragrance. At this time, $40+ is a little too much to spend on something unsniffed. Thank you so much for the information, I may consider it in the future.
Did you ever wear the Alyssa Ashley Ambergris?
hollywoodgirl
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post #8 of 21
3/14/10 at 1:59am
The Houbigant Ambergris is something I wore years ago and loved. The last bottle for sale on e-bay went for such a silly fortune that I now only consider alternatives. I have tried most of the options one by one as I find out about them. Monsieur Musk by Houbigant is one of the nearest easily available and affordable ones, still not the same though, but not bad. I only have the original version, not the Alyssa Ashley one. TPC have some of the spray version of the Houbigant Ambergris, and to have obtained a 5ml sample is a delight. The attar ones bear no resemblance at all. There is a roll on by a lady on e-bay whose has a very nice ambergris, but is missing the floral notes to be just like the Houbigant one. I am working on it myself now I have found out about DIY perfuming. I have the ingredients and will let you know the recipe if and when I get it smelling rightish...
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post #9 of 21
3/14/10 at 2:29pm
Thread Starter 
mumsy,

Wonderful post
I'll try the Monsieur Musk, since it's made by the same parent company, maybe the ingredients are similar. Wouldn't that be terrific?
Isn't it amazing how high the prices are on eBay for the vintage oil/spray? The prices in the vintage ads are $3 - $5 USD.
Best of luck with your recipe, let us know about the final results.

hollywoodgirl
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post #10 of 21
3/14/10 at 3:16pm
I am now even more curious than ever before if that is possible. I now want to know how similar the Jovan one was to the Houbigant one. Did any of you ever try both? I am near to the right smell for the Ambergris one but cannot get the same drydown notes....not yet anyway. I will send you some to try when it is ready. It would be quite fun to have a tester panel of people in the know. We could swap a precious drop of each of the original to check alongside maybe. That would have to be sent by armed courier and signed for in blood I expect......
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post #11 of 21
3/14/10 at 8:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by mumsy View Post

I am now even more curious than ever before if that is possible. I now want to know how similar the Jovan one was to the Houbigant one. Did any of you ever try both? I am near to the right smell for the Ambergris one but cannot get the same drydown notes....not yet anyway. I will send you some to try when it is ready. It would be quite fun to have a tester panel of people in the know. We could swap a precious drop of each of the original to check alongside maybe. That would have to be sent by armed courier and signed for in blood I expect......

No, I never tried the Jovan Ambergris, sad to say, only the Alyssa Ashley/Houbigant Ambergris.

When your creation is ready, maybe I should fly across the pond and meet you at the airport lounge, armed courier and signed for in blood doesn't sound secure enough to me!
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post #12 of 21
3/15/10 at 5:28am
Maybe winged angel may be safer..... I shall certainly let you know when I get somewhere near. It will be nice to have a judge and jury on it. It will fuel me to get on with it. What fun.
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post #13 of 21
6/1/10 at 4:26pm
Did you see a 3/4 full but used 7.5ml spray of the Houbigant civet sold on e-bay in America recently for $274 (£189.51)....Mad. I'm not sure I liked the civet so much. I've got the Houbigant Patchouli too, and I think it must be highly matured because it smells heavenly and much more floral than normal patchouli. Maybe none of these we talk of were ever pure solo scent oils but a perfume mix. Either that, or the very variable nature of the raw substances used in these, meant that they were unable to be reproduced in a constantly identical form. Maybe that's why they were phased out.

Another e-bay seller in America has listed all these ingredients in the musk oil.....
quote...."Top Notes of Orange Blossom & Bergamot, a rich middle of Iris, Jasmine, Rose, Ylang Clove and Aldehydes and a heart of Musk, Oakmoss Blue Amber and Tonka Bean.." .... I don't think so.....

I wonder if anyone who was working at either of these perfume houses at that time, who knows anything about the production of these Jovan or Houbigant oils will see fit to enlighten us about whether they were a perfume mix or pure oils..... There are enough people who would love to know.
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post #14 of 21
6/2/10 at 1:03am
Thread Starter 
mumsy,
Yes, I did see the Alyssa Ashley/Houbigant civet oil sell for $274 USD. I was watching it during the last 30 minutes of the auction and saw the "snipe" in the last few seconds.

That bottle is exactly like my former bottle of Houbigant/Alyssa Ashley ambergris oil. There's a dauber in the cap to apply the oil to your skin.

We'll never know the ingredients of any of these beloved scents, I fear.
As I mentioned on another board, they were sold in drugstores so how could they contain costly ingredients?
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post #15 of 21
6/2/10 at 1:21am
Same sort as mine too. Whats really rather irking is that my dad used to sell out of production cosmetics in the 70's and we had loads of these. All of the four Houbigant ones and some of the Jovans. I used to just go and get one from the garage if I ran out. How I took that for granted, and how I wish I had kept a stash. Hindsight is a wonderful thing..... Still, if we had lots, we wouldn't want it so much. That's human nature...

I still have my Patchouli and it's still full. All 5 tiny mls of it. I wear it drop by drop on wrists and special days only. I have plenty of the vintage musk too. I may be prepared to swap a drop with someone for the ambergris oil or the civet oil however... but only maybe?
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post #16 of 21
6/2/10 at 3:05am
Thread Starter 
Oh my dear,
To have had all those scents in your house. How were you to know they would become collector's items?
Here's the larger bottle of the ambergris scent, I saw it won for $130 USD.
LL
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post #17 of 21
6/9/10 at 4:50am
I jolly well missed the end of the auction for the musk in this collection on Sunday. I was hopping mad. I have plenty of the musk but not in that bottle with the black label, and I soooooo wanted it to match my others. Silly me. My Ambergris isn't the oil, it is the spray which was lighter. I got it from TPC. If any of you bought it, then I would love to swap it for something nice if that is allowed.
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post #18 of 21
12/14/11 at 3:57am
Added to directory http://www.basenotes.net/ID26132636.html
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post #19 of 21
12/14/11 at 5:03pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grant View Post

Added to directory http://www.basenotes.net/ID26132636.html

Thank you ♥
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post #20 of 21
1/18/12 at 3:33pm
I have a bottle of this oil. It has 1/4 left in it, and I can tell you the scent is intoxicating. I've been looking since the 70's for another bottle.
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post #21 of 21
1/19/12 at 12:31pm
Have you tried the old Monsieur Musk? It's not a bad resemblance to the HG one.
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