Coty - Émeraude

Sláinte

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone! Being of Irish descent on my mother's side, we always wore green on March 17 and went to the parade. No one is more sentimental about Ireland than an Irish-Canadian on St Patrick's Day, and we're not even Catholic. I love St Patrick's day even more now that it's been almost universally adopted as a spring celebration. I go to the Parade in Toronto and see so many people of different colours and nationalities cheerfully wearing green clovers.

A few days ago, planning this St. Patrick's Day post, I chose to review Émeraude. I've been focusing on green perfumes this month, and I hadn't even tried my vintage bottle yet. Full of anticipation, I took off the cap, sprayed and thought... "Huh, Émeraude isn't green at all." Surprise! It's an oriental.

That's what I get for not reading other reviews first. Created by Francois Coty, the founder of Coty, Émeraude was released in 1921. Its citrus top and creamy vanilla plus wood base predates the much more famous Shalimar. Although Shalimar is the critical darling of the perfume world, I'm still not comfortable with it. I prefer my Émeraude.

My bottle is vintage edc. I'm not sure of the date, but I would guess that this was a drug store tester bottle from the 60's or 70's. It opens with a hint of citrus, but nothing like the strong lemon I get from Shalimar. the heart of the perfume opens quickly, within a few minutes I am smelling a powdery, creamy rose and jasmine blend over a vanilla amber and wood base. It's very smooth and, because it's only an edc, not very strong, but it's lovely. The base notes are slightly musky and leathery. In the far dry down, the wood notes reveal sweet violet tones.

I find Émeraude pretty and comforting, if the teensiest bit "old lady." I've never smelled the current formulation but I can recommend the vintage. I'll have a photo of my bottle up later today.

House: Coty
Nose: Francois Coty
Notes: Top notes are orange, bergamot and lemon; middle notes are jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose and brazilian rosewood; base notes are amber, sandalwood, patchouli, opoponax, benzoin and vanilla.
Where to buy: I got my vintage bottle at Fritsch's Pharmacy

Judith Muller - Bat-Sheba Bath Oil (vintage)

A bathing beauty

In the Bible, Bat-Sheba was a beautiful woman who King David saw bathing and was so smitten that he lured her into adultery. The tale does not end well for Bat-Sheba's husband, but the perfume, Bat-Sheba, Exotic Oriental, created by Israeli perfumer Judith Muller in 1966, is still a beauty.

To escape the sounds of football, I ran a bath and poured in my small, vintage vial of Bat-Sheba bath oil. Warm, hints of fruit and rose rose up in the steam and a rich woody base of powdery-sweet balsamic notes enveloped me. I did feel exotic.

After the bath, I dabbed the last of the oil on my wrists and enjoyed the deep woody base notes with a hint of leather. I'm doubtful it will be enough to lure my husband away from the game but I can dream.

I think Bat-Sheba was discontinued in the 80's, but if you find a bottle anywhere, I highly recommend picking it up. And if any of my readers know Hebrew, can you translate the back of my sample box from the photo below?

House: Judith Muller
Nose: ( Rumour is that it was Sophia Grosjman ?)
Notes: I founds many different notes listed on different sites. Octavian at 1000 Fragrances says "green-rose notes (cactus-rosewood) over a vanilla/cocoa/ balsamic/chypre-woody base."  Scentzilla says "aldehydes, jasmine, rose, iris (orris), vetiver, incense, and leather." Yesterday's Perfume lists "Top notes: Aldehydes, cardamom, bergamot, fruit note, rosewood
Heart notes: Jasmine, rose, orris, ylang-ylang, carnation
Base notes: Patchouli, vetiver, castoreum, amber, leather, oakmoss"

Painting: Rembrandt, Bathsheba at Her Bath 1654
Photos: Bat-Sheba bath oil sample, mine.

Téo Cabanel - Alahine

Warm amber on a self-possessed beauty

The perfume house, Téo Cabanel, was actually founded more than 100 years ago, and revived in 2003. The in-house perfumer, Jean-Francois Latty, has created four perfumes for the house, but the beautiful Alahine is the only one I've tried so far.

Alahine is an alluring soft amber. Captivating and seductive, Alahine will enrapture you with mysterious scents of luxurious oriental palaces.

Alahine is a floral oriental and a must try for all amber fans. The amber smells a little like smoke, as if the resin is being burned on a brazier. There are gentle spices, especially pepper. Amber and spices are artfully blended with a rich rose and both are joined by sweet honey with vanilla and orange blossom.

It reminds me a lot of Serge Luten's Ambre Sultan and Ormonde Jayne's Ta'if - as if the honey and pepper rose of Ta-if was combined with the spicy amber of Ambre Sultan. I tried it though, and that layering combo doesn't even come close to replicating the sweet/warm/spicy yumminess of Alahine.

With Alahine on, I daydream of lounging on multi-colour carpets, escaping the heat of the day behind intricately carved wooden screens, perfuming myself with rose, smelling the spice market on the breeze and burning some amber in a brazier nearby.

House: Téo Cabanel
Nose: Jean-Francois Latty
Notes: bergamot, ylang-ylang, jasmine, Bulgarian rose, spices, orange tree, pepper plant, "honeyed rose of Morocco," iris, cistus, patchouli, benjoin (benzion?), vanilla, sandalwood and musk.