The above photo shows my friend K hugging a random pooch in a park having just liberally sprayed her gorgeous green Hong Kong tailored coat with current edition Fahrenheit.
She smelled great when we met and hugged at Kannai station on the way to the cinema in Isezakicho : aromatic; dry; androgynously beguiling. I didn’t pick up any of the burning leatherette or gasoline or violets in her scent aura, although all these notes were more apparent with liberal fresh applications.
It was strange that I didn’t immediately recognize Fahrenheit on K as I wore gallons of it in my early twenties, particularly when I lived in Rome. ‘Neil, sei profumatissimo’ my friends would tell me when I had really overdrive it for a night out clubbing in Testaccio; I practically drank the stuff.
Why didn’t I know what it was straight away?
Possibly because it is a new formulation – a good one, I would say; fresher, lighter- I might even prefer it – but it was definitely lacking some quintessential elements that pinged the automemory: the ‘nutmeg flower’; the underwray of gaseous florals ?
It wasn’t until the next day, when I took her to my secret Aladdin’s Trove down a nothingish street in a certain city in Kanagawa prefecture and she screamed with pleasure at discovering a 50ml bottle of the vintage ( which goes for hundreds of dollars now on eBay and the like because it is different : in essence, what the perfumers intended, in its original form, not a remixed attenuation); it was only then, as we sprayed it on in the precincts of a local shrine garden – along with an unbelievable haul – I ask you to brace yourselves – that all the real, visceral memories came rushing back; not a willed and somewhat forced attempt to bring back the past; but in true Proustian style, to physically relive it.
LOOT, THE BOOTY; THE BOUNTY
For less than a bottle of Tom Ford, but slightly more than the amount paid for the sledgehammer oud floral that K picked up in some airport somewhere ; Orchid Leather by Van Cleef and Arpels – erotic, I suppose, but with no breathing space – just so heavy and in your face – for the price of just one such niche meh bleh sprayable artefact we had all of the following artful blissfulness for less than two hundred pounds sterling ( with my current situation I just made a token contribution to the kitty… )
Vintage Fahrenheit Dior, 50 ml edt
Mitsouko 7ml extrait x2 + 100ml eau de cologne (in divine packaging)
Jean Desprez Bal A Versailles mounted/boxed extraits x 2
15ml YSL Paris extrait de parfum spray (rare!)
100ml vintage Calvin Klein Obsession edp (swoon!) – I have been dying
7ml Givenchy III extrait – great on her; I am finally starting to get it
Madame Rochas eau de cologne 100ml
Miniature Paloma Picasso Mon Parfum edp
Armani Pour Femme black spray extrait (ultra rare!) and pristine edt miniature
( these two were meant for me; as you will know from former reviews I really love this perfume but her reaction when she smelled it – throwing her head back with an almighty oh my god – made me realize that these beauties would inevitably have to be hers)
Nina Ricci L’Air Du Temps baccarat parfum
Nina Ricci Fleurs de Fleurs Parfum de toilette (heavenly) ; and Nina edt 30ml – two of my ultimate bedtime comfort scents
Roger and Gallet Santal miniature
Patou Joy boxed unopened vintage extraits – black bottles with red caps x 2
Torrente L’Or miniature
plus – at the least minute – an incredible 80’s Mugleresque leather jacket so perfect for the donning of the all the above leather chypres and vintage classics we were brimming and frothing at the gills with the very ecstatic acquisitional bargainhood.
In the morning, before we left the house, I had already bestowed upon K a Balmain Jolie Madame extrait and a parfum de Cabochard, both of which had her cat-eyed with pleasure ( she wears these perfumes so well; so much better than I do… ). She essentially left Japan with an entirely new vintage perfume collection.
You want leather ? Oh, we got leather
Oh, I am soooo envious!
Fahrenheit was my husband’s signature scent for many years but not so much now that it has been reformulated. I used to wear Sheer Scent Ultima II, which I thought was a great companion to Fahrenheit – now sadly no more.
Nina Ricci Fleur de Fleurs! I loved that! And Roger & Gallet’s Sandalwood Soap was my honeymoon accessory. Obsession, Madame Rochas, Paris, Mitsouko – more favourites of mine. So many memories today ….. I have tried to revive some, but failed as the new versions really don’t have the same magic.
That is a very handsome dog. Have a brilliant time with your friend – I suspect she is the tonic you need.
She was, actually; and the perfume didn’t hurt either.
If you are ever in Japan…
I’m envious too, for the dog hugging and the great photos of dog hugging! What a fantastic perfume haul. My equivalent to your Fahrenheit experience might be if I ever come across a 2005 “vintage” of CK Euphoria, with all the depth missing from the current version.
So gutting when the depth is ripped out and you are left with a wan replica- I only partially got to know Euphoria but remember it being full and woody. What got you about the original
And the god, yes. What a beauty!
Euphoria was always hard to describe and parse the notes for me… it was very “purple” although I might have been influenced visually! Almost too much if anyone wore too many sprays. But maybe it got me because it was a gift, I knew nothing about it beforehand, and it just fit.
I love it when you receive perfume as a present and it actually works
Some of my ride or dies right there!
Paris! Givenchy III SWOOOOONN! The multi Mitzi!
I’m very envious of the haul.
What do you love about Givenchy III so much ? I always found it a bit pinchy – but began to understand it on K
That Paris parfum is pretty rare I think.
Les Mitsouko were stupidly cheap – five or six pounds. Fahrenheit was by far the most expensive.
On me after the mean girl opening, which I love, GIII fills out with a warm spring meadow, both grass & flowers. Then that deep mossy base that still has some bright sunshine through the boughs & leaves.
I’ve had to dig deep into my olfactory memory to reply, when I wear GIII I can only smell the whole.
I would group GIII with two other fragrances I adore, Envy (RIP) & OG Cristalle.
Interesting – I love both of those but have never got the green in Givenchy iii – would love to experience it that way.
What a haul!! I have a Ricci Fleurs de Fleurs spray but somehow isn’t quite right, may have gone off. One of those massive lacy gold spray bottles. I much prefer the elegant little flasks. My Capricci perfume is on its last drops, I daren’t use it. This post just reminds me I should be perfumed to the hilt every single day, and if that means reapplying the weak ones too, so be it. Every day, as much as possible, or they will outlive me and end up in…one of those hauls….maybe with a lucky rescue like yours, but also just crushed in a fragrant landfill.
Ricci sprays don’t last: I never buy Farouche or Nina in vaporisateur for that reason.
I have Fleurs de Fleurs in edp and parfum de toilette – it probably smells as though I am trying to be Jane Seymour through a gauzy vaseline lens – very feminine – but I find it almost hauntingly comforting .
These mini pdts can be found cheaply and keep well, with a surprisingly animalic kick in the base
https://www.ebay.com/itm/182400629999?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1iKaxcSCXTy-WT9pPgHLSAg10&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-167022-171738-6&mkcid=2&itemid=182400629999&targetid=325425753764&device=m&mktype=pla&googleloc=1009331&poi=&campaignid=19936488699&mkgroupid=149470745402&rlsatarget=pla-325425753764&abcId=&merchantid=114605584&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19936488699&gbraid=0AAAAAD_QDh9oL0BTzb96owXz-uQzMW6-d&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxbv0suK1jQMVOl0PAh2XfgBwEAQYAiABEgKynfD_BwE
Thank you, lovely—I had forgotten I have a set of little ones, so dainty. Capricci still the favourite; I think that was one of your recommendations a while ago. Can only wear it in summer though.
Capricci is by far the most elegant and regal – Fleurs De Fleurs can sometimes be a bit nylon nightie but I love it anyway. Nina is mine because I can just about get away with wearing it.
Swoooooooooon.
And I will remember “a bit nylon nightie” next time I wear Fleurs de Fleurs. That’s *very* good.
I LOVE it – but perhaps you do know what I mean ….
Oh, I do.
Spotted that gorgeous green coat immediately. Love it! I have a lighter green trench coat for summer, but I prefer that deeper grass green and your friend wears it beautifully.
My mum wore Fahrenheit in the early 2000’s. It was the only perfume that gave her a kick that reminded her a little bit of vintage Rochas Femme.
I can’t believe the vintages you find there in Japan! If you ever find a vintage Bois des Illes can you buy it then I’ll pay for it if you’ve spent within £100? 🙂
NEVER found that but yes I will
V cool your mum wore Fahrenheit !