Which reformulated fragrances are essentially DIFFERENT from the original?

Vent Vert, without question. Dune's vintage version is better, but only if you already know and love the original. The new Dune is still one of the best fragrances out there. Actually, several reformulations fall into this category; not bad if you're not dead-familiar with the original.

There are SO many, some drastic, some just the usual minor changes...
Maybe you want to keep an alphabetical list, because this could be vast!

Thinking of those that are so different the names should be changed :

Chloe
l'Air du Temps

Shalimar in the batwing bottle is one to totally avoid if you love Shalimar.

Well,you know I'm going to +1 on the Shalimar,though I still find the current formulation a lot more pleasant than some other things out there!Would also add Halston,not the same,but still nice.Heaven Sent was a drugstore cheapie I used to adore that was completely wrecked by reformulation.On the flip side,I was happy to find Ivoire de Balmain has withstood reformulation beautifully,thanks to a recent purchase of a large bottle from Walgreen's website(for only $26.99US!).

I am going to highlight the ones that I feel have utterly lost their character, and that moreover strike me as really painful. I cringe and weep as I type and conjure these devastations. Sorry for redundancies.

Balmain Vent Vert
Boucheron Boucheron
Cacharel Anais Anais
Cartier Must
Cartier Santos
Carven Ma Griffe
Chanel Antaeus
Chanel Cristalle
Chanel No 19
Chanel Pour Monsieur
Dior Diorella
Dior Dioressence
Dior Diorissimo
Dior Eau Sauvage
Givenchy Gentleman
Givenchy Ysatis
Gres Cabochard
Guerlain Habit Rouge
Hermes Bel Ami
Hermes Caleche
Hermes Eau d'Hermes
Houbigant Quelques Fleurs
Jean Patou Joy
Jean Patou Sublime
Montana Parfum de Peau
Nina Ricci L'Air du Temps
Rochas Lumiere
VC&F First
VC&F Van Cleef
YSL Rive Gauche
Yves Rocher Ispahan

Shiseido Murasaki is a completely different fragrance.

Maybe because I got to know them first -- I like the current Mitsouko edp and Channel 19 edt.
(it's not that I think they're better -- I just like them.)
(perhaps in a way I'm lucky not to have known, and therefore not have to mourn, many of the classics...)

I LIKE the Calice Becker 1990 Vent Vert AND the current Cabochard EDP! And I'm afraid to smell the originals, because I would hate to have these two lovely and very affordable perfumes spoiled for me forever ... sometimes ignorance really is bliss.

Well, if it's the urn bottle, it's the vintage.

I have vintage Mitsuoko EDC and current Mitsu EDT... I like them both! The new Mitsu seems a bit "sharper" than the older but the feeling is the same. Lush, fruity, lovely. I have a vintage Mitsuoko EDT that in actuality does not seem as nice as the current EDt, but... as a decant who knows about the quality of the juice?

And Chanel No. 19, the same thing. I have a vintage decant and a modern EDT and love them both equally.

Habit Rouge EDP in the red leather is VERY NICE and compares well to the EDC vintage which is lighter as a cologne...

I can't comment on the modern Vent Vert as I have a good version of that scent...

...and I can say that Ma Griffe (EDT) in vintage is different from the reformulation, while both have their good qualities i think the vintage DOES trump the modern. (honestly though wearing them both at the same time brings out the best qualities of each!)

Chanel Pour Monsieur I have not smelled in vintage form, the modern seems a bit too light with minimum sillage and longevity, so I'm sure that the vintage MUST be better.

Poison's modern formulation is grape koolaid and bug spray compared to the vintage.

Actias luna has spoken!

These in my experience.

Chanel Cristalle - What on earth happened to this? Modern is not recognizable when compared to vintage.

Chanel Cuir de Russie - utterly different, used to be a much darker, more leathery. Now green, fresh, mildly leathery.

Caron Poivre - completely different, not recognizable at all.

Caron Farnesiana - majorly different, still a few notes in common, weird new note added ( big banana-y ylang ).

Caron Tabac Blond - majorly different, stripped of ambery character.

Dior Poison - different but recognizable, stripped of its ambery-musky qualities, and more sweet and grapey.

I'm sure I'll think of more...

Murasaki is another tragedy!; the latest version is almost like water. And it's hard to find the vintage bottles!

Oh, if that was my mom's I'd beg her for it! Do you think she'd give it to you, if she's neglecting it, she might.

All of the chypres. What a pity! My favorite category.

A neighbor recently asked me about Arpege. She wore it in her youth, and saw a bottle in The Vermont Country Store Catalog but hesitated because the bottle was different than she remembered. I have the vintage and new versions and let her try them both. The reformulated version bears little resemblance to the original.

Its always precious to see peoples reactions when they discover that perfume companies reformulate perfumes beyond recognition. It's worse than telling a child there is no Santa Claus!

I have to say that I disagree on Mitsouko. The reformulation really is as successful and faithful to the original as possible, given that one of the most important ingredients (oakmoss) has been severely restricted. I think it's important to note successful reformulations wherever possible, to distinguish them from ghastly ones.

And on the subject of TERRIBLE reformations that are nothing like the wonderful originals:

Goutal, Eau de Hadrien
Dior, Dolce Vita

And on the subject of TERRIBLE reformations that are nothing like the wonderful originals:

Goutal, Eau de Hadrien
Dior, Dolce Vita

The following reformulations are inacceptable and a distortion of the original:

Magie Noire/Lancome
O de Lancome
Parfum Sacré/Caron
Dioressence/Dior
Climat/Lancome
Opium (in the new bottle!)/YSL
Caleche/Hermes
Amazone/Hermes
Givenchy III
Madame Rochas
Paloma Picasso
L'Air du temps(Nina Ricci)

Btw: Hillaire's list is brilliant, totally agree with her.

I find the vintage fragrances are quite masculine compared to the syrupy, overly-sweet modern fragrances. So the classics get 'reformulated' for the modern buyer. It's terrible! I was devastated by what they've done to Vent Vert and Tabac Blond

Gucci Envy for Men has been reformulated into a blue-green juice with a sharp greenish scent. The drydown is still nice, but nothing like the yellow juice was, which wasn't a green scent at all but instead a deep warm spicy one.

I disagree about Tabac Blond. The current extrait does not smell essentially different to my nose from the vintage extrait sample from TPC. Anyone wanting to convince me with his sample?

Mitsouko - I feel the new formulation is very good.The heart of Mitsouko remains true though the rest has altered somewhat . I am not a fan of the extra iris in the extract version .

Miss Dior - more or less the same but minus the deep lasting dry down - I feel the dry down is mostly patchouli and vetiver.

Chanel No 19 - this to me is significantly different in character from what I owned some 15 odd years ago I feel a lot of it's individual character has been taken away & watered down. It's still a wonderful scent but not the 'Madame ' she once was.

All in all the main issue -for me - with all the above- is loss of depth & velvety feel to these scents. I can say all 3 dry downs of the above ( new versions ) speak greatly of vetiver and seem similar to me - which is probably a reason why I'm drawn to all three.
To be dramatic - it's as if these fragrances have had their frontal lobes removed - a certain amount of taming has occurred . Still I'm wearing these perfumes -I do still love them.

Dear Mimi Gradenia,
just wanted to pay you accompliment for expressing the core issue so well - loss of depth and velvety feel - "tamed" fragrances indeed. So true!

I wonder why it's the chypre category that has suffered so much? From the sounds of it on this forum, there is still a big market for the original formulas. The reformulations seem so thin and flat, just as Mimi Gardenia says

About that specific category, most of the complaints come from the banning of Oakmoss in many countries, which was the ingredient that gave all Chypre perfumes the specific aroma that made them be part of that category, and the fact that the alleged first chypre (Chypre by Coty) had as a main ingredient and base said Oakmoss.
Oakmoss has been banned in many coutries since because of Law and Health issue regulations.

On most other perfumes, everything has been changed thanks to the massive regulatory requirements in perfumery because some industries claim that they (the scents) have allergens (both botanical and non-botanical) that can possibly harm a person. These allegations are backed by dubious clinical studies funded by the very companies that after the future bannings are the sole distributors of new "improved non allergenic" synthetic compounds that can be used in perfumery after the greenlighting by government agencies that now have a better PR reputation because they "protect the people".

In the olden days, reformulations were not done like now (clinical studies, alleged health issues etc) but the few times it was done, it was mainly out of whim of the new owner of a company, or because of tremendous shortage of a certain ingredient, and in the latter cases, the company preferred forgo production for a while until the ingredient became available once again instead of alienating the "fan base" of a scent; or the reformulation was done because the scent didn't perform as well as expeted and they decided to change either the name, the ingredients or the overall creation/promotion/ect and start all over again.

there are many other different cases but writing about it gets me down! there are even lists of ingredients "recommended to be banned" that come up every year and are taken into consideration...i won't even mention what those ingredients are...in 2003 there was one major list that came about but the list of ingredients were later on decided not to be banned -thankfully.


cheers

Thank you castorpollux! That is so interesting- you really know your stuff! Oakmoss is my favourite so that's sad news....

Bellodgia is dramatically different. The former is a dark, musty carnation, and the latter is a sparkling floral carnation, a far less glamorous but more joyful scent.

The Exclusifs version of No. 22 edt is quite a bit lighter on the aldehydes.

Tabu is much sweeter nowadays, a tad less skanky (say the vintage is a 10 on the scale o' skank, the new is just an 8 ) but just as loud; not quite as rich.

Long Lost Perfume's version of My Sin is as Mimi described-- tamer and less velvety. Like oakmoss, real civet/castoreum/musk/whatev adds incomparable and inimitable depth, but I, too, enjoy and love a lot of the reissues-- some more than the originals. I will also add that, had I not tried the original My Sin and been blown away, I would think the new one is the cat's meow. As it is, it's still pretty darned tasty.
Wear your reforms with pride, man! Even the "worst" ones are better than most the recent offerings.

This is splitting hairs, maybe, but how many of us can really compare "original" versions of very old fragrances like Shalimar, Mitsouko et al, to the current versions? Are we not, in most cases, actually talking of reformulations of those fragrances, ranging from 50's-60's to 90's versions of them? What do we know of the differences between, say, a 20's Mitsouko and a 60's Mitsouko? There are bound to have been several reformulations and versions between them, I suspect, and perhaps the differences are as great as between the current and the 60's version.

Also, I still can't help wondering if fragrance matures, just as wines do; if there are significant differences in smell between the 60's Mitsouko when it was fresh and the 60's Mitsouko today, if it has been well stored and is still in good shape. Any takers? I know that some of the raw materials do mature and evolve, notably some base notes.

I've considered both your thoughts, too, Pimpinett. Every new batch is based on what natural resources are available; the advent of synthetics make things more uniform throughout the years, right? But even as perfumers follow an exact formula, there are bound to be slight differences throughout the years. The winery we used for our wedding has yet to put out a Riesling as sweet as the one from that year.

I don't know if it is my skin, but the vintages I've tried are far less floral and more animalic, so maybe floral notes don't last as long, while animalic notes get darker and dirtier. I've wondered if the mustiness I get from so many is a spoiled or turning animalic or oakmoss note. I can say that my vintage Bellodgia was from the 1950s, the Tabu was likely late 70s or 80s. No. 22 wasn't too terribly old; I got it from TPC and it is not considered vintage, but it it not the Exclusifs, either.

Mr. G and Sorcery Of Scent will know the best answer, Pimpinett. I know Mitsouko has varied in smell through the decades . Also Mitsouko doesn't age as well as Shalimar etc .


{Though I have older Mitsouko vintage extrait and cologne ( probably 60s,70s and 80s ) - the difference I spoke of in Mitsouko - for me - is mainly the loss of depth and that woody velvet background ( from the missing/ minute amounts of included oakmoss ) .
I actually enjoy new Mitsouko for what it is but I lament the loss of that special extra 'something ' oakmoss brought to it ( and also to other chypres )
Comparing EDP manufactured in the early 2000s to the latest jus - the difference in depth is quite great. }

BTW, my new Tabac Blond has evernia prunastri (oakmoss) extract listed.

I think a lot of the above considerations are very valid. There have probably always been numerous reformulations and variations, but nothing has probably reached the effect of the allergy-frenzy of the EU. I have e.g. various Scandal extrait bottles from different decades I think. The differences are considerable, but yes, my very old ones 1940/50s might have disintegrated floral notes with pronounced skankiness, whereas the 1960s smells fresher with more florals present. Is it only the aging? I know from experience that my source for the very old Scandal has provided me with stunningly fresh juice (storage conditions). Just my two cents...

Aging must play a part too. I have an old pure patchouli oil from Houbigant and it has matured to the most fabulous smell. I always remember it as lovely but the harsh edges have gone and it is now velvety and soft.

Just a thought for the pot:- If oakmoss is the most interesting banned ingredient, then maybe adding some diluted oakmoss EO as a layer with a bad new reformulation could fix it. It is still easy and relatively inexpensive to obtain. The results may be quite interesting if you don't like the new perfume anyway. I have some new carven ma Griffe and the old, so I may try it and report back.