Now I´ve blogged about perfumes for a little over a year. I have blogged about anything from the nichiest niche perfumes to the most odd, strange perfume oils there is. I have blogged about perfumes you can find in almost every small town as well as perfumes available at the online discount stores for a little more than free and also about perfumes with price tags starting around 150-200 euros. I do hope I´ve manage to blog about the most common fragrantc families such as florals, orientals, spicy, woody, fruity, berry, leathery, vanilly, smoky and... well, no... not them!
An observant reader must have noticed that I haven´t hardly mentioned all the classic perfumes, perfumes still available 40, 50 or even 100 years after being introduced. Perfumes that have an ability to make other perfumebloggers -and lovers lyric and stary eyed.
Yes, I wrote about Guerlain´s Shalimar, one of the great classics that I really love. But there is so many others like, L'Heure Blue, Mitsouku, Chanel No 5, Fracas, Bandit, Tabac Blonde, Jicky and... I guess I as well admit it, I am deeply ignorant when it comes to the classics. Every time I am about to order samples I think that I should order some of the classic perfumes, but all the time a lot of modern, interesting perfumes comes in the way.
I guess I am afraid of being a camel trying to get trough a needle eye. That I am going to be to shallow and ignorant to appreciate the greatness of the classics. That I am going to smell them and think that they smell of old lady. I happily blogg about perfumes, but in fact, my perfume interest and knowledge lacks deep and ground. Isn´t the history supposed to learn us about the present time? If I haven´t tried almost any of the perfumes made before 1975/80 how could I understand how perfumery have changed, evolved and refined? Help, I am a fake!
You realise I have to do something about it! And I guess I have to ask you to help me. Wich classic perfumes do I really have to try? Wich of them can I wait a little while for and wich could I avoid totally? Usually I don´t like the note of oak moss so much, it tend to came out very harsh, murky and strange on me. So please, as little oak moss as possible. Thank you in advance.
Pic: Woman screaming
Hello dearest Rebella! Yes, I agree with you, it is really important to have a good understanding of the classics in order to interpret the modern perfumes. That way you can trace how perfumes evolve, understand the families better, find connections that new fumes have with the old, realize when things are derivative and where they are inspired from....
SvaraRaderaHere are some suggestions from me:
- Opium, Youth Dew, Must & Cinnabar to understand the oriental family. (You already have Shalimar covered)
- Chanel No.5, Arpege, Le Dix & L'Aimant to understand the alehydic fragrances of the past
- Chanel No.19, Cristalle, Vent Vert & Murasaki for the great greens
- Muhlens 4711 for the original cologne
- YSL Paris, Dior Poison and Lancome Tresor as introduction to florals heavy on the damascones
- Paloma Picasso & Cabochard for animalic chypres
- Montana parfum de peau, Aromatics Elixir & Rose Cardin for strong, thorny Rose Chypres
- Older Este Lauders such as Spellbound, Beautiful, Azuree & Knowing to get a feel for the "American" perfume. I can't really explain this... but once you are familiar with them and other markers of american perfumery like Giorgio Beverly Hills and contrast them against French perfumes you get a feel for their differences.
- Caron... the whole house has its own feel, distinctly marked by the extreme use of eugenol.
- All the old Diors, such as Miss Dior, Diorella, Dioressence, Diorama
- Fracas - tuberose marker
I've left out a lot (fougeres for example) and I am undoubtedly missing a lot, but have already written quite a bit so I'll stop here! Hope this helps a bit
Divina: Thank you so much, what an interesting list with interesting and toughtful suggestions. Some of them I´ve already tried, but most of them I haven´t (some of them I´ve not even heard of!).
SvaraRaderaYes, I feel it´s kind of important to know the perfumes from the past, I think it would be a good help to understand todays perfumes better.