How green was my valley
This Easter I did a little shopping for vintage perfume at Fritsch Pharmacy. I focused on green perfumes and chypres, which is all I want to wear these days. They are perfect for the weather, and, although they are beloved by perfumistas, green chypres are a neglected category in contemporary perfumes. It may be that one of the essential ingredients, oak moss, is restricted by EU rules. Maybe the bracing, bitter and dry, green category doesn't sell well, I would put two current perfumes, Estée Lauder Private Collection and Chanel No.19 as two of the best still available; heck, I think they are two of the best ever made. And Weil de Weil ranks right up with those two as one of the best green chypres I have ever smelled. It is an under-appreciated beauty.
Weil de Weil was released in 1971 and is now discontinued, which is a shame because it's lovely and the very soul of spring. It starts with a bracing green note, then a lightly floral and spicy breeze bows in, carrying the fresh scent of spring flowers like hyacinth and daffodil. The heart is grassy and green with some honey sweet flowers and is slightly powdery. Throughout the whole progression of the perfume I can smell the base notes: bitter, dry oakmoss, earth and wood. I don't smell the civet, but I'm not very sensitive to it. Maybe it's in the background, making the perfume more personal, melding it to my skin, instead of being too distant and abstract as something dry and green can be.
Green chypres can be like a beautiful but cold woman with an acerbic wit. She seems like a real bitch but once you get to know her, she's fascinating and one of your favourite people, all the more so because she wasn't easy, if you know what I mean.
I took a couple of days to warm up to it, but now Weil de Weil is on my desert island list: the limited list of bottles I would take with me if I had to be stranded. Yes, it's that good. If you love the green chypre category of perfume, you must try Weil de Weil someday.
Nose: ?
Notes: Top: tangerine, neroli, greens, galbanum and hyacinth. Middle: lily of the valley, honeysuckle, ylang-ylang, mimosa, rose and daffodil. Base: sandalwood, vetiver, civets, musk and oak moss.
Photo by wuu.
Grassy, honey sweet, dry...sounds like a gorgeous fragrance.
ReplyDeleteLove your comparison of green chypres to the types of women who come across as beautiful but bitchy -- with acerbic wits -- and then you get to know them and they become fascinating friends. Perfect description!
ReplyDeleteHi JoanElaine, maybe I can put some in our next swap.
ReplyDeleteHello Suzanne, most perfumes, if they have a personality to me, are female. That doesn't mean that men cant wear it. I think a dry green mossy perfume would be excellent on a man.
ReplyDeleteHow have I missed this? I love green chypres and your description of this one makes me want to try it for sure! Lovely...and I agree, green scents are most definitely unisex!
ReplyDeleteHi Daily Beauty: I think it's hard to find, but if you can, you should try it.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites! I have both the vintage splash in the triangular bottle and the newer spray which I got at a mall perfume kiosk. They are similar, tho the older splash seems to lean more toward the civet, whilst the newer is more toward white flower/leather. Both are green, green, galbanum monsters, and I mean that in the nicest way!
ReplyDeleteIt's pushing 35 years since i had this perfume and I would love to wear it again
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