Unsung Treasures - Page 6

(Sorry if repeat---appears not to have posted 1st time.)
Confession: This is my favorite thread ever on basenotes. I apologize if these have been mentioned already. But three unsung that I love:

Estee Lauder's Estee--Always mentioned in 'insecticide florals' discussions. (Caveat--I often like insecticide florals.) I find this a very appealing woody floral. When applied lightly, it has a beautiful arc over time. For you Bernard Chant fans, this is one of his often unmentioned perfumes. I have the pure fragrance spray, but there is another (sport spray or the like) but I believe they are effectively the same. Quite inexpensive and found in any of the dept stores that sell the other Lauder fragrances.

Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria Anisia Bella----Spectacular summer fragrance. An interesting treatise on anise, both direct and complex over time. Made by one of my fav perfumers, Aurelian Guichard. In fact, when I wrote my review of Anisia Bella on basenotes, it ended up seeming a bit like a teenage girl's fan letter. Great fragrance nonetheless, and though discontinued, easy to find on the cheap.

Ines de la Fressange (1999. There is one by the same name from 2004. It is an entirely different fragrance--not a reformulation.) The 1999 is an interesting tuberose-floral that I have to say is not so much odd as an uncommon style. It's got dry peach skin, styrax, woods. Gorgeous, distinctive. If looking for it, it's the one in the octagonal alternatingly clear and frosted glass bottle, not the one with a sort of diagonally draped gold top (2004 fruity floral.) Discontinued, currently still easily found, outrageously cheap. Very few comments to be found on it, but I think it's smart and wonderful.

I love Estee, too! And it is very affordable, bless Estee Lauder for keeping their classics. Evangeline wore it as SotD one day this week, and that got me thinking about it again. I didn't know it was a Bernard Chant creation. My husband said Estee smelled like hand soap (hopefully nice hand soap) when I sampled Estee once while we were out shopping. At least he didn't say bug spray. I pay no mind to "bug spray" remarks. That just makes me prick up my ears all the more, lol! I've always heard good things about Anisia Bella, though never tried it. I've never heard of the third one you mention.

This is my favorite Basenotes thread, too.

My small belated contribution has to include: Le Dix by Balenciaga, this wonderfully complex female chypre (almost a female powerhouse) does hardly get the appreciation it deserves

I 'd like to add a special edition of AVON which was launched in 2008 and the years followed discontinued and nowadays is very rare ti trace a bottle is MARK EARTH (Mark Earth by Avon is a wonderful and lush blend of green notes, flowers and warm woods, )

Ditto on my favorite thread and ongoing project (must seek out all mentioned and test)

@ jtd- I have Ines de la Fressage on order at the moment due to your post.

Very sad that I bought some Pivione and just didn't feel the love like I did with some of the others listed here- very sad- must retest

Oh, Knit, very interested to hear what you think! When i posted my review of it i was quite surprised to see that i was the only basenoter who had. I should warn this wasn't an, "Oh, Yes!!" fragrances on first sniff. More a quizzical, "Hhmmmm..." but i kept coming back and coming back. I quite love it now and almost more importantly admire it. Constantly dumbstruck to realize it is a 1999 fragrance. Utterly out of step with its era. Please let me know what you think.

Hillaire, am out of town at the moment but my blind buy of Patrick of Ireland should be waiting for me when i get home! Sounds right up my alley. Tedious flight and instead of trash novel and movies wrote about 10 perfume reviews. Will post when i can.

I'm fully with you on this one. I have a nearly full bottle. Is it really unsung? It's lovely.

Cabotine sensuelle by GRES
White florals(mostly gardenia) with prominent the sweetness of Vanilla,heliotrope(intensive) and almond(intensive)...very creamy ,velvet and sensual(no wonder about the name)...
I can't ignore the presence of a bit carnation spiciness ...



Juicy and gourmand top notes are composed of tangerine, peach and almond; rich flowers are in the heart: carnation, jasmine, gardenia and heliotrope; the base is made of vanilla, musk and patchouli

One of my favorites (even after some niche exposure) is the discontinued Dreams by Tabu.
Now if you are expecting the spicey richness/skankiness? of Tabu look elsewhere .If you like soft well blended fruity florals proceed on ahead.
The notes to this beauty are(according to Fragrantica)
Top: Bergamot,Freesia,Magnolia
Mid:Blackberry,Cassis,Peony,Lily of the Valley
Base:White Peach,Sandlewood,Musk ,Vanilla
I think the nearest scents I can relate this to are Lucky#6 by a Liz Claibourne brand and Trish McCavoy Blackberry and Vanilla Musk.Both of these blended together and "watercolored" (vs oil paints or acrylics )to give a visual analogy.

I acquired yet another full bottle of a frag on this list: Moschino, via a swap. Add that to

Chapeau Bleu
Gabriele Sabatini
Apercu
Parfum Prive
Talisman
Vendetta

And I've gotten a bunch of sizable decants of various others. What's your damage because of this thread, ladies & gents?

Good question,

La Perla
decant of Leonard de Leonard
Bogner Woman
Mini of something Laura Ashley (oops, not impressed by it, obviously)

But if I had more money to spare the list would have been longer

Hi everyone,

I've been on-and-off following this thread for a while and think it's about time I chimed in with my 'damage report'. Here's a photo of frags I've already purchased thanks to your recommendations:

Attachment 10627

L-R: Metal parfum; Eau de Metal; Anne Klein orig parfum; Balmain de Balmain parfum; Anthracite EDT; Roses & More EDT; Jil Sander No. 4 EDP; Chapeau Bleu EDP; Jean-Marc Sinan EDT; Apercu EDP; Moments; Donna Borsalino EDP; Gem parfum; and Van Cleef parfum. Minis of Trussardi Donna and La Perla original should also be in this pic, but I think I've loaned them to a friend.

But wait there's more! I've recently bought minis of the following, which haven't arrived yet:

Bogner Woman (plus Sonia Bogner Now and two other unidentified Bogners)
Empriente and Sweet Courreges
Gabriela Sabatini
Histoire d'Amour
Joop! Femme
Luciano Soprani 2
Nino Cerrutti pour Femme
Parfum de Peau
Rose Ispahan

Thanks to this thread, I also have a long list of 'wants' which are sure to inflict further damage to my bank balance :-( If any Aussie BNers are reading this and like the idea of doing sample swaps, please get in touch :-)

Oh dear, jtd I believe I have purchased a different version of Ines de la Fressage. The bottle mine came in is a very fancy gold and embossed leaf affair, which is not pictured in the I dl F review you posted, but is shown in the 2004 issue. No matter because ...I would never have tried without your post and experienced a resounding "Oh, YES". Now I just have to get the original version, too.

Per fragrantica: Ines de la Fressange 2004 was launched in- (what a surprise knit adds), 2004! The nose behind this fragrance is Alberto Morillas. Top notes are black currant, mandarin orange, neroli and bergamot; middle notes are peony, orris, white rose and lily-of-the-valley; base notes are patchouli, benzoin, vetiver and white musk

Right out of the bottle this has a juicy black current/ black berry note that is gorgeous and put me immediately in mind of Delrae Roth's Bois de Paradis. The heart and drydown are reminiscent of Olivier Strelli or a less sweet version of the original Adrienne Vittadini. I already want a back up bottle.....thanks jtd

More acquisitions (via swap): Strass, Balmain de Balmain, decant of Gucci 3

Hi, Knit,

So glad you like the I dl F that you got! I've always wondered what it was like. How funny that a planned unsniffed purchase became an inadvertent unsniffed purchase---and that it worked to your advantage! Now of course I'm wondering what I'm missing having only the 1999 version. I may just have to take the plunge on the 2004.

I've tried Patrick of Ireland for a couple of days now and just love it! I see the connection to Paco Rabanne pour Homme, but Patrick is really its own thing. I'm in hot southern California now and this is one of the better fougeres for hot climates. The musk somehow maintains the coumarin soapy thing and Patrick just blooms in the heat. Thanks for informing us on this one! Another winner from this thread. (And you're so smart to supply this to men you know. I wouldn't mind being surrounded by this.)

Manes and Manes Ice - two discontinued wonderful scents.

Carthusia 1681

1681 was quite a good surprise for me even if I'm not particularly fond of Carthusia's fragrances. An iris driven opening pleasantly leaning towards the waxy side (lipstick) and enriched by herbs (rosemary), lavender and musk. The frankincense note is remarkably present throughout adding some depth expecially in the middle phase. Woody patterns and hints of neroli/bergamot enhance the classic aspect of this "modern" masculine composition.

Overall 1861 is quite an unique fragrance that's at the same time very wearable yet anything but silly. Distinctive and discreet, classic and modern, somehow "serious". Love it.

You had me at DIA... so yes, I succumbed to the Roses and More blind-buy bugaboo, but at less than $10 including shipping -- what the heck? I'll report back when it arrives!

Bumping thread with a report:
Still happily investigating scents from this thread. I almost had a bottle of the Bleu de Chine by Marc de la Morandiere recently from e-bay. (heavy sigh) The seller cancelled the transaction and refunded the purchase price when he said he broke the bottle while packing it. Darn.

I did just get a 30 ml EDT of Genny as pictured in persephone88's post will sample today for the first time.

Having loved the original white floral extravaganza that is Murmure by Van Cleef & Arpels, and being a big fan of Ylang Ylang, I've often wondered what the Murmure Ylang Ylang de Madagascar is like.
Anyone?

I found a small bottle of this Musk for Men, the Houbignant version, at an estate sale for a couple of bucks. As a masculine, it's right up there with other classics like Guerlain's Vetiver, imho. Very clean, barbershop, James Bond-ish scent.

I'm bumping this as my face thread found so far on BN and I have something to add but need to do some homework first. Brb

Oleg do key . My treasure is Grain de Sable by Nicky Verfaillie. I was bought this at Athens airport in 1985 and used every drop and the bottle got broken in a move shortly after finishing it. I never found any again. If memory serves it's a floral, rare for me but a floral in the mold of the much later Dune which I adore, I think the note I love is the gorse.

Please if anyone has any of this please PM me.

Had a quick look around and the closest I can find unfortunately is this...

http://cgi.ebay.fr/LOT-DANCIENS-TUBE...0#ht_500wt_949

This small sample of fragrances appears to contain a sample. Perhaps it might help you remember it clearer and find a closer match that is readily available?

Reporting in- found one of the listed treasures- an almost full bottle of Dilys by Laura Ashley for $5 USD at a thrift store. It was priced lower than a bunch of BBW scents. tee hee. Never sniffed this in its heyday.

Bless you thanks for the help

I don't recall if anyone posted about this one but I just got a bottle of Chopard Madness . YUM! Incence,Spices,somthin fruityish,a whiff of cocoa(dark)?,and rosewood! MMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Hmm..... this may require a backup bottle ....
Off to evilbay.........

Bumping this thread.

Fans of floral green oakmoss-rich chypres, I just bought this blind and am very impressed.

Shiseido Koto was launched in 1967 for the Japanese market. Notes from FG: aldehyde opening, citruses, herbs and spices. The heart consists of narcissus, gardenia, orris root, jasmine, lily of the valley, jonquil and rose. The base features moss, patchouli, leather, amber, vetiver and castoreum.

I get moss, light green florals, and the base gets a touch powdery. Very well blended- genteel/refined but in a happy & non-pretentious way. Very strong for an EDC- but not loud. Non soapy.
If you like Y , Le Temps d'un Fete, Sabi or this genre in general, give it a shot. A 2.7 oz bottle will run you under $50 online.

This one is flying under the radar - Lucky Scent has it. But there, you get a DVD and a brochure with the purchase, to explain the movie character. Never mind all that, and try a 5 ML sample (roll-on or spray) from The Perfumed Court. One of my cherished favorites ...


TAUER PERFUMES - Tableau de Parfums - Miriam


Disclaimer: This User is not affiliated with TAUER PERFUMES.

I don't see Halston, which is still available and quite cheap. I love this scent.

Darn you, Knit!! With a "if you like" lineup like that -- listing three of my favorites -- I could not resist. (blind bought for under $30...)

As much as I hate to admit it, I saw a bottle of Vittadini Amore for 7.99 at Marshall's and said "what the heck". It is a ringer for Madness. Not that Madness isn't super cheap already, but if you want to pay dumpster prices, go with Amore.