Scent and Subversion Read Online Free PDF

with “kept” women in this ad campaign for Chrysanthème perfume.
Bouquet de Catherine
by Rallet (1913)
    Perfumer: Ernest Beaux
    It has been argued quite convincingly that Bouquet de Catherine is an earlier version of Rallet No. 1 (1923), which itself is an earlier incarnation, give or take a few notes and the quality of ingredients, of Chanel No. 5 (see pages 35 and 32 ).
    Notes not available
.
Rosine Nuit de Chine
by Paul Poiret (1913)
    Perfumer: Maurice Schaller
    In Paul Poiret’s heartbreakingly beautiful Nuit de Chine (“Chinese Night”), a milk-fed peach rests on a spicy, animalic base to produce sensuous, carnal beauty. Persicol (a peach lactone base that was also used to stunning effect in Mitsouko) is overdosed in Nuit de Chine, according to perfume historian Octavian Coifan, and it creates an aromatic and milky peach that could teach some of the cloying fruity notes in today’s perfumes a lesson or two in restraint. (Persicol is also known as aldehyde C-14.)
    Notes from
Octavian Coifan: Jasmine, rose, cinnamon, clove, amber, musk, sandalwood, Persicol or Chuit Naef (special bases at the time)
Chypre de Coty
(1917)
    The perfume that launched an entire perfume category, Chypre de Coty, advertisement c. 1949
    Perfumer: François Coty
    The chypre that started it all, François Coty’s Chypre was named as an homage to the scents that perfumed the island of Cyprus—an aromatic mix of woods, moss, and citrus. Henceforth, thanks to this groundbreaking perfume, all perfumes in the chypre category have sparkling citrus top notes (usually bergamot) balanced atop a mossy base, with oakmoss and often vetiver, labdanum, and patchouli.
    Some classic, early scents can be enjoyed only for their historical notoriety, as the first perfumes that opened the door for later, superior incarnations. But for me, Coty’s Chypre stands alone as an incredibly beautiful and complex scent. At once fresh and herbal, warm and woodsy, and softly floral, Chypre dries down into a powdery, buttery softness. I keep inhaling my wrist for the almost milky richness of what’s left behind, combined with a disquieting hint of civet.
    Top notes: Bergamot
    Heart notes: Jasmine, rose, lilac, orris
    Base notes: Vanillin, coumarin, oakmoss, patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood, labdanum, styrax, civet, musk
Mitsouko
by Guerlain
(1919)
    Perfumer: Jacques Guerlain
    A sign of its Orientalism-inspired time, Mitsouko is a French olfactory fantasia named after a character in Claude Farrère’s novel,
The Battle
. Mitsouko falls in love with a British naval officer while married to a Japanese fleet admiral, and decides who she will be with by waiting to see who returns to her alive. But something burns at the heart of Mitsouko that belies its romantic namesake; it’s a perfume that lives in the spiritual as well as the carnal realm.
    La Parfum Idéal by Houbigant (Advertisement from 1911)
    With a sublimely subtle, milky-soft peach heart (courtesy of the rich Persicol note) and spicy cinnamon, clove, and oakmoss nipping at its tail, Mitsouko reminds me of the Japanese incense that burned during meditation sits I did at the San Francisco Zen Center. It is as delicate as spiced tea with a drop of milk.
    Meditative, sophisticated, and subtly sensuous, Mitsouko is considered by many to be the holy grail of chypres. Compare the peach in vintage Mitsouko with the fruity cocktails out now if you want to understand how fruit notes in perfume can be sophisticated instead of vulgar.
    Top notes: Bergamot, lemon, mandarin, neroli, peach
    Heart notes: Jasmine, rose, clove bud, ylang-ylang
    Base notes: Oakmoss, benzoin, sandalwood, cistus, myrrh, cinnamon, musk
Tabac Blond
by Caron (1919)
    Perfumer: Ernest Daltroff
    Ernest Daltroff seems to have specialized in creating perfumes for minxes gone wild. Tabac Blond paid homage to the scandalous bad girls who smoked cigarettes in the 1910s and 1920s, and in its heart is the rich, toasted-caramel smell of rolling tobacco.
    Unlike