I loved this description:

Jolie Madame is a very intelligent woman who is 100% conscious of her femininity and knows how to charm. She owns 50 lipsticks and always wears stockings. She's got great legs and will cross them to distract you.

Cabochard is female and happens to be irresistable, but never looks in the mirror because she's busy reading physics. Her hair's glossy because she was born that way. When she looks up from her book, your heart nearly stops, her eyes are so beautiful. She doesn't wear makeup. It wouldn't occur to her.

Fulltiltredhead at POL, with permission

Jolie Madame 1953 Chypre-Floral
Top Notes: Gardenia, artemisia, bergamot, coriander, neroli
Heart Notes: Jasmine, tuberose, rose, jonquil, orris
Base Notes: Patchouli, oakmoss, vetiver, musk, castoreum, leather, civet

Cabochard by Gres for Women 3 Piece Set Includes: 1.69 oz Eau de Toilette Spray + 0.10 oz Eau de Parfum Miniature + 1.69 oz Perfumed Body Lotion has been one of my favorites for years. (I chose this set to highlight for you vs. the spray alone because I love the perfume. I've sampled the lotion, and it is great too, and often enough to wear alone for the fragrance.) However, I do love and wear makeup. ;p

My comments are on the vintage for both.

I think Jolie Madame by Pierre Balmain for Women 3.4 oz Eau de Toilette Spray is more wearable by more people. It is easier to wear, starts off easier and ends up easier.

Cabochard is a lovely fragrance and one I've worn a lot at various times. I think I'm lucky to be able to wear it. Not everyone can.

Cabochard 1953 citrus, leather, and tobacco; a refined, woody, arid fragrance.
Top Notes¦Citrus with spice accents
Middle Notes¦Jasmine, rose, orris, geranium, Ylang-Ylang
Base Notes¦Amber, Castoreum, Moss, Musk, Patchouli

”Cabochard” is French for “charmingly persistent”, or “stubborn” perfect for the individualist…
I recently read that it takes 6400 jasmine flowers and 240 roses to create one ounce of Cabochard…

It starts off with a bang...and ends up, on me, delightfully softened, a sweet floralish note comes out (and I don't usually wear any white florals well) and sits, not demurely, with the leather in harmony.

It's a kick-a&^ fragrance, one to wear if you want to make a mark on the world that day. And go really light with it, unless it hits the soften point fast. It might overwhelm you otherwise.

It's not at all like Knowing, but it has that hugeness to it.

Jolie Madame is a little sweeter from the get-go. I've only just begun to wear it. It's interesting to me that they both were created in 1953. I wear the parfum of Cabochard.

How about you?
Do you wear either of these?

Karin

Originally posted 2007-01-05 14:24:20.

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I've heard a lot of good things about Andy Tauer fragrances, originating in Switzerland, and I was excited to finally be able to try several of them thanks to a friend at POL. I will add my reviews as I try each of them. I have added links to both his blog and his website at my link section.

Perfumes are pictures, painted with scents. Tauer Perfumes

I think for my first foray into Tauer Perfumes, L'air du desert marocain was a perfect choice. It is said to be a unisex fragrance, but it is not like any other unisex that I have tried. Tauer Perfumes says it is for 'him or her.' They do not call it unisex.

In general most unisex fragrances on me smell too masculine. It might be that most unisex fragrances are really neither masculine nor feminine which is why I do not like them on me. They have a certain nondesript quality to them, on me, as if one set of notes cancels out the other.

On the other hand, there are men's versions of fragrances that I prefer on me (and maybe I just prefer them on anyone) over the women's (Guerlain's L'instant for men is one of them.) Many fragrances can be enjoyed equally by men or women if the categories of men's or women's are forgotten and one only goes by the scent and how it smells on oneself. I know several men who wear women's fragrances as part of their fragrance wardrobe.

So I was intrigued to see how I would feel about this one. I find it a winner for either a man or a woman, but I would not classify it as unisex.

The scent of desire. Inspired by the fragrant world of the Maghreb desert. Powerful, sensual and pure. Tauer Perfumes

I find this scent to be wonderfully evocative. For me, it does paint a picture with fragrance. It is very paradoxical -- it is both warm and dry; both sweet and non-sweet; incensy and clear; a sensual scent and an intellectual one... I am transported as I wear it.

And the wonderful thing about it is that no note cancels out any other. Each note stands distinct, yet blends with the others in a dance of joy.

I have never been to the Maghreb desert, but if it smells anything like this, I am ready to go. In one sense that is similar to Hermes Un Jardin Sur le Nil which evokes the area around the Nile.

I was careful my first try to take only the tiniest spritz, because I didn't know what to expect. Not to fear, it is delicious. The dry down is sweet, but not too sweet, full of spicy incense and woods. And the journey from the beginning to the dry down is a lovely bit of travel. The opening is distinct from the drydown. It is not a fragrance that would bore one with sameness in all three stages. A little goes a long ways, and it lasted on me very well. Twelve hours later, it was still strong on my wrists.

For those who fear a cumin note, it is not negative at all.

The elegant head note is based on typical spicy scents of the Maghreb; coriander and cumin, joined with petitgrain. The warm heart note surprises with the fragrance of rock rose and a hint of jasmine. The body note is full of warm woods such as cedar wood, vetiver brilliantly joined with a fine amber background. Tauer Perfumes

Today I tried a bit more, and it is every bit as good. I think of this more as a skin scent, as I don't know if I would want to apply for sillage. Let those who come close to me partake of the pleasure.

It is very sensual, but soothing. I think it is full bottle worthy. It goes for $65 for 1.7 oz at Luckyscent in the US. It is also available in NY.

Have you tried it? do you own it?

Karin

Originally posted 2007-02-17 14:14:56.

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Does your favorite go-to fragrance from the past smell different?
If you think one of your favorite fragrances from the past does not smell the same any more, likely you are right.

The list of fragrances that have been tweaked (and will be tweaked due to new regs) is getting longer and longer.

Shalimar
An example is Shalimar. I used to wear this when I lived up north. I wore it during the winter, mostly when it was snowing. A friend of mine told me that she used to wear this when she smoked and that is when it smelled the best to her. I suppose when I wore it, along with Shalimar (and the smell of snow) there was also the smell of smoke from wood burning fireplaces...

I thought I might have simply outgrown the fragrance, or that living in the south now, as there isn't a winter in the same sense, was making the difference. Certainly there is no snow.

But, vintage Shalimar is quite different from the modern. I find I love the vintage as much as I ever did. The modern is a pale comparison.

Rive Gauche
Same for Rive Gauche. Even the so-called intense modern version pales in comparison with the original, which was knock your socks off wildly beautiful.

Why the difference?
I believe it is formula changes, not that we have become more used to intense fragrances so that the ones from the past seem correspondingly less intense.

If you can find a vintage version today, then...
Sometimes it is like fine wine. The fragrance has become more intense as it has matured and perhaps through some evaporation. Fragrances have to mature to some degree anyway before they are bottled.

Sometimes the top notes have gone (somewhat bad), but that is the part that evaporates first on your skin, so almost immediately you are into the middle and base of the fragrance. And it is worth it to have the real deal.

Modern versions of old faves
Occasionally you will find a modern version that has its own beauty. For those who don't know the difference, this can be entirely satisfying. Others of us, might want both versions or only the vintage.

What about buying vintage today, where do you get it?
It is possible to find vintage fragrances in online perfume forums or on ebay.

Do you have any vintage fragrances you still like to wear in the vintage formula?

Karin

Originally posted 2007-02-06 19:25:37.

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