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Help me pick two old skanks!

Poll Results: Help me choose two animalic vintage fragrances! ( Two only, thanks. :) )

This is a multiple choice poll
  • 15% (10)
    Kingdom
  • 1% (1)
    L'Insolent
  • 15% (10)
    Vintage Miss Dior
  • 0% (0)
    Jil Sander No. 4
  • 3% (2)
    Clandestine
  • 9% (6)
    La Nuit
  • 29% (19)
    Vintage Rochas Femme
  • 21% (14)
    My Sin
  • 0% (0)
    Geminesse
  • 3% (2)
    L'Arte di Gucci ( back-up bottle - already own one )
64 Total Votes  
post #1 of 31
3/4/10 at 12:40pm
Thread Starter 
I'm thinking of blind-buying two retro fragrances with an animalic "kick" to them. I love rich and heavy fragrances, and pre-'90s womens perfume seem to be a treasure trove, if you know where to look. Over the past few days the women ( and some men ) of Basenotes have given me many, many great suggestions and I'm very eager to try them all, but as sampling opportunities are limited, and there are reasonably priced blind-buys out there, I'm going to narrow it down to two of the aforementioned suggestions.

Here are my current temptations:

( Vintage ) Rochas Femme
Paco Rabanne La Nuit
Max Factor Geminesse
Lanvin My Sin
Jil Sander No. 4
Guy Laroche Clandestine
( Vintage ) Dior Miss Dior
Charles Jourdan L'Insolent
Alexander McQueen Kingdom

For reference, some vintage animalic fragrances I know and love:

L'Arte di Gucci - castoreum to the max!
( vintage ) Poison - musky, animal richness.

And some adorable moderns for reference:

Dzing! - cotton candy as eaten by filthy biker ( like this, don't wear it though ).
Gandhara - jasmine pushed to its evil side by castoreum ( already planning on buying this later this year ).

Some animalics I'm just so-so on:

Jicky - animalic indeed, but too light; too sparkly ( and I'm speaking of the parfum, too ).
Muscs Kublai Khan - dirty, but far too powdery for my preference.

Not looking for:

Bandit - soap.
Chanel Cuir de Russie - more soap.
Cuir Mauresque - yeah, yet more soap.
Nuit Noire - hey, soap, how funny to find you in yet another bottle.
Cuir d'Oranger - need to take a restraining order out on Mr. Soap.

Still traumatized by:

Ajmal Musk Gazelle - like some sort of crossover between Where The Wild Things Are and Night Of The Living Dead.

In general, I have a strong leaning towards the heady, complex, dark, unusual, and rich, and try to avoid things that smell too mainstream for my tastes.

Thanks in advance for your votes and your opinions!

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post #2 of 31
3/4/10 at 12:46pm
Oh you must get Kingdom, it's just so weirdly animalic. The other pick? Well...if I was you, I'd choose the vintage Miss Dior.
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post #3 of 31
3/4/10 at 1:12pm
Voted for Lanvin.
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post #4 of 31
3/4/10 at 1:46pm
Haven't tried all those, so don't feel qualified to pick out two among them. But PM me if you'd like a sample of Paco Rabanne's La Nuit
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post #5 of 31
3/4/10 at 1:50pm
Galamb, I love your AB FAB girls...

BTW, I hear Vivienne Westwood's Boudoir is pretty skanky...and I adore its tobacco/skank notes.

Kingdom is hard to beat with its "eau des aisselles du Comte avec fleurs" notes, LOL!

Be warned, due to the sad loss of Alexander McQueen, Kingdom is hard to find and very pricey...
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post #6 of 31
3/4/10 at 1:50pm
Voted for My Sin and Vintage Rochas Femme - the later has fantastic smooth civet. Filthy and gorgeous.
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post #7 of 31
3/4/10 at 2:00pm
I've only tried two on your list! My vote is for La Nuit. I've tried Geminesse and I didn't smell any skank but it has a lot of fatty aldehydes! I see My Sin is getting a lot of votes. I've always wanted to get that but was afraid it had a lot of fatty aldehydes too. Good Luck! Looking forward to your picks and follow-up impressions.
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post #8 of 31
3/4/10 at 2:10pm
Have you tried Bal A Versailles?

BTW you now have me lusting after Ajmal Musk Gazelle
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post #9 of 31
3/4/10 at 2:23pm
Bal a Versaille is a splendid choice. I went for La Nuit and My Sin, last Geminesse I smelled was very off.
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post #10 of 31
3/4/10 at 2:37pm
I chose Miss Dior & Femme. I have never tried Geminesse, L'Insolent, Clandestine. I have both MD & Rochas Femme in vintage. The RF, esp, is so gorgeous in vintage. Oakmoss abounds. The bottle I got was dark juice & evaporated so I added a few drops of Everclear. Perked it right up! Yowsa! Miss Dior is raunchy galbanum. IMO, My Sin was soapy. Maybe I just got a bad bottle. I liked Arpege better but it isn't really raunchy. (Talking vintage here.)
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post #11 of 31
3/4/10 at 2:40pm
There is a good thread in the male section on animalic scents
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post #12 of 31
3/4/10 at 4:23pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the info and the suggestions, folks!

Interesting... I wasn't expecting My Sin to be in the lead. I see it has fans here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sean-dt View Post

Have you tried Bal A Versailles?

BTW you now have me lusting after Ajmal Musk Gazelle

BAV is one I haven't tried. For some reason it's in my mind as some demure powdery thing, but the reviews indicate otherwise.

Be careful what you wish for with Musk Gazelle! At first I thought "Cool, something impossibly animalic," but in the end there most definitely can be too much of a good thing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by kumquat View Post

I chose Miss Dior & Femme. I have never tried Geminesse, L'Insolent, Clandestine. I have both MD & Rochas Femme in vintage. The RF, esp, is so gorgeous in vintage. Oakmoss abounds. The bottle I got was dark juice & evaporated so I added a few drops of Everclear. Perked it right up! Yowsa! Miss Dior is raunchy galbanum. IMO, My Sin was soapy. Maybe I just got a bad bottle. I liked Arpege better but it isn't really raunchy. (Talking vintage here.)

Thanks for the info! Rochas Femme is intriguing indeed.
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post #13 of 31
3/4/10 at 4:38pm
Hey Galamb! Nice to see someone cranking up the skank-ometer! I voted for vintage Femme because it is seriously a piece of art. It has Mitsouko's peach note, but with a very, very leathery background and loads of smooooth civet. It is also somewhat related to En Avion parfum, which is also divine I might add. The leather is Femme is somewhat musty, yet never crosses the line of getting too sharp. Please, please try Peau d'Espagne which I recently discovered. It is very, very similiar to vintage Femme, but without the peach note. I'm surpised you found Cuir d'Oranger soapy! It's very animalic on my skin, but I can see where soapy comes into play, given the citrus-leather topnotes. If you get the chance, please try Bal a Versailles parfum (vintage preferrably, although I've heard the modern is very true to the original). It's not as powdery as the EDT, and feels alarmingly animalic (which is always a plus!) and dirrrty!

I had a funny story with L'arte yesterday. I wanted to wear it to bed to get a feel of the frag. So I spritzed two sprays onto my sheets and pillows and went into the bathroom to complete my pre-bedtime rituals lol! I came out and the whole room smelled like L'arte! Jeeez this thing is huuuge! At first, I thought it smelled quite bright, but quickly it turned into the mossy, leather-oil-civet base that was very similiar to Rose de Nuit! LOOOOOVE IT NOW!
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post #14 of 31
3/4/10 at 6:31pm
Actually, I noticed that Chanel No.5 in extrait is rather skanky--almost more than Bal a Versailles, in its own way.
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post #15 of 31
3/4/10 at 7:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asha View Post

Actually, I noticed that Chanel No.5 in extrait is rather skanky--almost more than Bal a Versailles, in its own way.

I often wear the extrait of No. 5 as my bedtime scent and I have to agree that it's a bit of a raunch fest from the get go. Indoles, civet? Another write is Scherrer EdP by who else, Jean Louis Scherrer. A green chypre that takes a serious walk on the wild side during the drydown. With all due respect to Lee, I'm not a big fan of Kingdom which smells rather dull and thick to me.
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post #16 of 31
3/4/10 at 7:36pm
I voted for Femme. I was lucky to buy a new extrait on e-Bay last Christmas. It was a gift for my mom, since it is her signature perfume. It is beautiful, and sexy.
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post #17 of 31
3/4/10 at 7:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Galamb_Borong View Post


BAV is one I haven't tried. For some reason it's in my mind as some demure powdery thing, but the reviews indicate otherwise.

Be careful what you wish for with Musk Gazelle! At first I thought "Cool, something impossibly animalic," but in the end there most definitely can be too much of a good thing.

But it sounds so intriguing...

BAV is certainly animalic, but to my nose the skank lends a heavy depth to the composition, and is more than just a homage to glorious filth. It has a very dense quality that actually reminds me of Paco Rabanne Pour Homme, and I think the animalic side makes it heavier and darker. Even with the skank toned down I think BaV would be fairly full on, but the musks seem to magnify everything, making it smell huge. It's certainly not a perfume I would forget in a hurry...
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post #18 of 31
3/5/10 at 12:05am
Whenever the subject of skanky perfumes comes up, my mind goes straight to Tabu. Skank dialed up to 100, projection for miles, revolting and come-hither in the same breath. It's the ultimate cheap thrill.

From your list, though, I picked Femme. Smelled it once years ago and I've never forgotten it.
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post #19 of 31
3/5/10 at 12:45am
Kingdom gets my vote. The cumin makes it very animalic and gives it the feel of body odour (pleasant BO if there is such a thing). The rose and sandalwood dry down is to die for!
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post #20 of 31
3/5/10 at 3:21am
I've voted for Kingdom and La Nuit...I feel they are more 'out there' with their animalistic notes. For a more classic animal, I would definitely recommend My Sin, an older but beautiful scent... and more subdued, but never the less, wonderfully animalistic :-)
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post #21 of 31
3/5/10 at 4:30am
Kingdom and Femme. Too bad you haven't tried BaV, Galamb. It's THE skank among skanks. Simply delicious!
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post #22 of 31
3/5/10 at 9:47am
...I figured it out
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post #23 of 31
3/5/10 at 9:07pm
You want an old skanky perfume? Hell, get a bottle of Tabu! It's cheap, old and total freakin' roadkill secretions with patchouli!! Heavy as a lead too.

I've been wearing it to the office recently believe it or not.
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post #24 of 31
3/10/10 at 8:34am
I voted Clandestine and L'Arte di Gucci.
Both are sillage monsters and extravagant!
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post #25 of 31
3/10/10 at 8:35am
Dear Shamu,
how did people at the office react to TABU???
Just curious.
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post #26 of 31
3/10/10 at 1:06pm
I voted for Miss Dior and Rochas Femme, then I read the comments. Kumquat and I were thinking the same thing. JINX!
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post #27 of 31
3/10/10 at 2:43pm
I voted for La Nuit and L'Arte. Because I think they are the best-smelling.Though Clandestine was a close third, and I was really tempted to vote for poor, forlorn L'Insolent, too, an all-but-forgotten little skank.
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post #28 of 31
3/11/10 at 2:02am
I voted for Kingdom and vintage Femme. I adore Kingdom and have three bottles of it in my collection - should be enough for a while... The only other fume I know from the list was My Sin which didn't work for me.
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post #29 of 31
3/11/10 at 2:39am
I voted Kingdom and the good ole' Rochas Femme!! Well, good luck and hope you smell as good as you sell :P

- Balava -
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post #30 of 31
3/12/10 at 10:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jalé View Post

Dear Shamu,
how did people at the office react to TABU???
Just curious.

Actually, no one reacted because I'm self-employed, so I guess I'm not all that bold after all! In all seriousness though, there are other business people in my building, and no one died that day from my overpowering patchouli and animal juice fumes.
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post #31 of 31
3/12/10 at 10:44am
Kingdom hardly smells vintage too me, nor is it particularly animalic. Unfortunately I can't help with the others on the list as I have yet to sample them.
The only vintage with skank that appeal to me thus far had been Chanel Cuir de Russie and Patou 1000.
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