Mood Scent 4 : Bring‘em Back! Perfumes We Miss
✨Best wishes for the new year to you all! Wishing you a very happy, fragrant and healthy 2020!✨
This is my first post of 2020 and it’s Mood Scent 4 time again! Sam from Wales (I Scent You A Day), Portia from Australia (Australian Perfume Junkies), Megan from France (Megan from Sainte Maxime) and I (from Amsterdam, The Netherlands) publish a post every month on the same subject, linking fragrance to mood or occasion. This time we have chosen to write about discontinued perfumes we miss.
There are many fragrances I wish were brought back but I will write about 4 favorite perfumes I treasure from Fendi, Joop!, Yves Rocher, Dior and mention some others too. Here they are, starting with Fendi Palazzo.
Fendi Palazzo Eau de Parfum (2007)
Palazzo is orange blossom extravaganza with sweet citrus fruit accents, think juicy tangerine. After some minutes you are left with the scent of expensive soap from a luxurious Grand Roman 5 stars Classic hotel and creamy liquid warm caramel like the sauce you can get on ice cream.
Palazzo was named after the flagstore of Fendi in the Centre of Rome situated in a 17th century palace (Palazzo in Italian). Fendi Palazzo is not easy to find for a fairly reasonable price but worth to seek after if you like orange blossom in perfume. Palazzo was created by perfumers Annick Menardo, Thierry Wasser and Jean-Pierre Béthouart. Karl Lagerfeld made the photographs for the pr campaign.
Notes: lemon, bergamot, tangerine, orange blossom, jasmine, rose, sandalwood, gaiac wood, patchouli.
Joop! What About Adam (1992)
Joop What About Adam was one of the first perfumes released from Calice Becker (Dior J’Adore, By Killian, Cuir de Lancome) when she started as a young perfumer and it reminds her of this period. Coincidentally What About Adam was one of the first perfumes my fiancé wore when he started working as well. I have searched for this fragrance all around the world and even had bottles shipped from Kuwait but the Eau de Toilette is almost impossible to find nowadays.
I noticed the last bottle I bought had top notes which were slightly off so it might be a bit risky to buy What About Adam nowadays. This can be a risk when buying “vintage” perfumes. The top of fresh crisp green tomato leaf on a warm vanilla base with labdanum and oakmoss remain very special and one of a green kind.
Notes: citruspeel, grapefruit, tomato leaf, cassis, spearmint, geranium, lavender, ozonic florals, cedarwood, sandalwood, oakmoss, vetiver, labdanum and vanilla.
Yves Rocher Cantate (1995)
Many magnificent perfumes from Yves Rocher have been discontinued, Secrets d’Essences Rose Oud, Rose Absolue, Ispahan (Maurice Roucel created this from Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur and Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist). One of the most natural lilac fragrances I know Pur Desir de Lilas (Annick Menardo) was discontinued years ago as well. Cantate is my favourite one from Yves Rocher.
Don’t be fooled by the horrendously ugly plastic cap on this bottle. This full dark red velvet rose, spiced with warm cinnamon on a smooth sandalwood base is well worth chasing after. It has a slightly dirty undertone as well and gives the same kind of feel as Guerlain Samsara. Wearing Cantate on cold days makes you feel like a baroque opera diva dressed in a long crimson dark red velvet evening dress, ready to go on stage in the Royal Opera. Glorious!
Notes: rose, jasmine, iris, osmanthus, cinnamon, spices, sandalwood, cedarwood, vanilla and tonka beans.
Dior Dioressence (1969/1979) Vintage
Although sale assistents in department stores may tell you differently (I had this experience several times in the past) Dioressence was reformulated and thinned beyond recognition as if a completely different fragrance is sold today.
Dioressence was originally created by master perfumer Guy Robert (Amouage Gold, Hermes Caleche, Equipage and Doblis) as an animalic fragrance for a bath oil in 1969 and released later as a perfume in 1979. Perfumer Max Gavarry worked on its later release. Guy Robert got his idea for Dioressence when after working with a lump of Ambergris he washed his hands with a cheap Miss Dior knock off soap.
I own several bottles like the one the photograph which is not too animalic anymore but centres more on the oakmoss. A lot has been written about Dioressence, you can read more extensively about them on other blogs. Perfume Shrine has an excellent background article. I love Dioressence very much, the name of my blog, Esperessence was inspired by it.
Notes:
Aldehydes, Bergamot, Orange, Jasmine, Violet, Rosebud, Ylang ylang, Geranium, Cinnamon, Patchouli, Orris Root, Ambergris, Oakmoss, Benzoin, Musk, Styrax.
These are my Bring ‘em Back choices! Have a look on the Sam’s blog I Scent You A Day, Megan’s Megan in St. Maxime and Portia’s Australian Perfume Junkies to read their picks. I am very curious, aren’t you?
Which perfumes do you miss and want back? What do you think of my choices?
Disclaimer: all perfumes were bought by Esperessence. Photographs were made by Esperessence as well.
January 6, 2020 @ 14:16
Hi Esperanza, What beautiful choices! I see that like me, you are nursing the last few drops of your beloved bottles. Mine came out of a dark drawer just to have their photos taken. I often wondered what Fendi palazzo smelled like as I was watching a bottle on eBay once. It staretd at a very low price and sold for 3 figures so I figured it must be discontinued! Shame, because over the past two years I’ve become a total orange flower fanatic. By the way, your photos are like a masterclass. I really need to raise my game!
January 6, 2020 @ 20:30
Hi Sam, I saw your photographs, you take good care of your perfumes to keep them safe in your cupboard. Thank you, a good camera helps and Dutch light 😉 . Your writing is sensational. Loved reading your choices. Xx
January 6, 2020 @ 14:58
Hi there Esperanza,
I had no idea Rose Oud had been given the chop. Thank everything I bought a bottle in Paris last year. PHEW!
What a crying shame the way they have shredded Dioressence, and so many others of their oeuvre. My own vintage bottle of the extract has only a dark, dank dribble left or I’d send it to you.
Portia x
January 6, 2020 @ 20:18
Hi Portia! You are lucky to own a Rose Oud bottle. It is not sold anymore online here. Maybe they still sell it in some shops. Dioressence extrait, mmmm it must smell amazing. Enjoy 😉 and thanks xx
January 7, 2020 @ 08:16
So lucky, it’s a gem.
I can tell the Dioressence extrait isn’t as clean and lilting as it should be nowadays. It has become somewhat doughy.
Portia xx
January 6, 2020 @ 16:52
I remember looking at Palazzo and thinking about it. Thought for too long and suddenly it was discontinued. Now it’s a coincidence that you have mentioned YR Rose Oud, just this morning I bought a bottle! The original Dioressence must have been truly amazing.
January 6, 2020 @ 20:16
Hi Cassieflower, it is a coincidence, you are lucky to buy a Rose Oud bottle. It is not sold anymore online here. The original Dioressence must have been amazing indeed.
January 6, 2020 @ 20:07
Hi Esperanza, we share the love for Palazzo! My husband bought it for me many many years ago at the ICI Paris in Hardenberg were we lived at that time. It was Christmas and he placed the package in the chimney of the fire place ( not burning ofcourse;) and a poem. That was so special. I still have the bottle with a tiny bit left in it. It seems that Annick Menardo makes many perfumes I love: Black by Bulgari and also the Rose Oud bij Yves Rocher ( of which I bought the only back up bottle ever)
January 6, 2020 @ 20:14
Hi Mary! We do share the love for Palazzo! What a special gift from your husband! A poem and perfume. Black and Rose Oud are both wonderful and discontinued too.
January 11, 2020 @ 13:25
All such great choices, Esperanza. And love the mood of your pics.