#ernest daltroff

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Caron Royal Bain de Champagne

Nose: Ernest Daltroff

notes: rose, lilac; opoponax, benzoin, incense; vanilla, sandalwood, musk, cedar

Congratulations! We found it! the Worst Smell In The World!

It’s that waxy-sweet, old-fashioned scent that makes me think “old lady’s purse” or “cheap old men’s flavored pipe tobacco” or “interior of a jitney cab with tinted glass windows and one of those Little Trees air fresheners and dice hanging over the dashboard” or “seedy dive bar.”

It’s the base of a lot of perfumes, old and new; Zibeline and Narcisse Noir land here, and so do Auphorie Miyako and Capsule Troupe and Jo Malone Leather and Artemisia. Kenzo Flower is saturated with it.

No two perfumes describe it with the same notes, but it’s unmistakable.

Luca Turin calls it “debonair” and thinks of Fred Astaire, but I just find it dismal.

Launched in 1923, Royal Bain de Champagne is the ur-form of this smell, on a pedestal by itself with no distractions.

Fuck this smell in particular.

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Vintage Perfume Quick Takes

brief summaries for when I didn't have enough to write for a full review

F. Millot Crepe de Chine

Nose: Jean Desprez

Notes: aldehydes, bergamot, neroli, lemon, orange; carnation, lilac, iris, jasmine, rose, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, elemi; oakmoss, galbanum, heather, sandalwood, leather, benzoin, musk, patchouli, vetiver, cedar, amber

Goes on with a hit of boozy-sweet resins, and quickly fades into a fluffy, chintzy mixed floral, heavy on the rose. I find it forgettable. It's supposed to be a bitter, sophisticated chypre; maybe I got a suboptimal sample or a bad nose day?

Evyan White Shoulders

notes: aldehydes, orange flower, green notes, peach, bergamot; gardenia, lilac, tuberose, jasmine, lily, lily-of-the-valley, iris, spices; civet, oakmoss, musk, sandalwood, benzoin

Your basic white floral. Smells good, though maybe a little too sweet and creamy for my taste; fades rapidly.

Guerlain Chant D'Aromes

Nose: Jean-Paul Guerlain

Notes: aldehydes, citrus, gardenia, plum; honeysuckle, jasmine, ylang-ylang, clove; heliotrope, vetiver, olibanum, benzoin, vanilla

This was a light, citrusy floral veil with a cuddly-soft drydown. There were some unusual herbal notes, almost like cooking herbs (thyme?). Delicate and pleasant but not too memorable.

Coty L'Aimant

Nose: Vincent Roubert

Notes: aldehydes, neroli, peach, bergamot; ylang-ylang, rose, jasmine, geranium, orchid; musk, sandalwood, vanilla, tonka, vetiver, cedar

This is a bit of formal glass-chandelier sparkle over the usual Coty powder-soft base. A milder, puff-powder version of the classic aldehydic floral. The powder certainly makes it easier to wear, but also less interesting. It settles into pure powder, musky and sweet and very skin-like.

Guerlain Mouchoir de Monsieur

Nose: Jacques Guerlain

Notes: lavender, bergamot, lemon verbena; neroli, tonka, jasmine, patchouli, cinnamon, rose; vanilla, iris, amber, oakmoss

A wine-dark rose, somewhat tangy; that almost immediately falls into pale powder. Not too sweet, just smells clean and comfortable. I must be missing most of the complexity because everyone else seems to smell lavender, vanilla, and animalics. I get very little of anything, maybe a little bit of the oakmoss spine or a touch of dry citrus, and clean soft powder.

Caron Tabac Blond

Nose: Ernest Daltroff

Notes: carnation, leather, linden; iris, ylang-ylang, vetiver; vanilla, musk, patchouli, cedar

Goes on with smoky, sweetened leather. a soft powdery landing. pleasant but not memorable. Basically Bellodgia with a leather top.

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Caron Narcisse Noir

Nose: Ernest Daltroff

Notes: orange blossom, lemon, bergamot, petitgrain; rose, jasmine, jonquil; narcissus, musk, civet, sandalwood

Narcisse Noir opens with a wonderful deep-green vase-water note, and a very realistic spring narcissus with earthy undertones.

The base underneath is a sinister gangster's-den kind of smell, powdery and sweet and a bit like pipe tobacco. Mustard-yellow in tonality, very 1920's.

It agrees very poorly with food, and is almost horrible but not quite.

The reviewer who said it was a predecessor to Poison is not far wrong. It's narcotic, intriguing, and rides the line between charismatic flair and outright nausea, between feminine grace and brazen vulgarity. Except where Poison is purple, Narcisse Noir is billiard green and yellow.

Lasts for-fucking-ever. Days at a time, even after a bath.

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