The Other 'Staffordshire Hoard' - My Estate Windfall (Lots 2 & 3)

Andre Philippe 'scent spray' 

The other week I reported about my fragrant 'estate windfall', whereby I was the lucky recipient of a couple of vintage perfumes my friend found while clearing out his parents' house after his father died.  Well, it's an ill wind and all that, because I have since taken custody of two more hauls of perfume - the best had definitely yet to come...

For these latest finds included no fewer than four bottles or purse sprays that were BNIB - or Brand Old In Box, to be more exact.  The excitement of breaking the seal on a bottle that is anywhere from 30-50 years old has to be one of the highlights of my perfumista career.  The cellophane on one of them was as thin as rice paper and almost crumbled away in my hand.

So without further ado, here is the inventory of Lots 2 & 3, followed by thoughts on some of the perfumes.

LOT 2

(Top photo) André Philippe puffer bottle - never used!

Bourjois Soir de Paris - cute (and by the looks of it rather old) mini, sadly inaccessible due to the neck being bunged up with sticky and impenetrable black gunk.  I couldn't even prise the stuff off with a view to pulling the same 'henna tattooing' stunt as I did with Goya Pink Mimosa.

Nina Ricci L'Air du Temps edp - BNIB!  (Left of photo below)

L'Air du Temps was the first perfume I owned - a gift from a boyfriend in 1983.  It came in a pale yellow and white box as I recall, so I am betting that this one might be earlier.  It has a full-bodied but indeterminate floral bouqet, a slightly powdery quality and a soft, wistful aspect, which leads me to conclude that it shares minimal genetic material with the wan yet spiky carnation concoction that is L'Air du Temps today.

Houbigant Chantilly edc
Houbigant Chantilly edp - BNIBoxed Set - together with talcum powder!

I had never heard of Chantilly, and given that I have inherited two bottles of the stuff, was delighted to find I like it - a lot.  In fact this could best be described as a poor man's MDCI Promesse de l'Aube - poor only in a monetary sense, for Chantilly could easily pass for a niche fragrance.  From what I can glean, however, it was pretty mainstream in its heyday - bordering on a drugstore scent, even.  The best way to sum up Chantilly is as powdery, sherbety lemon meringue pie.  At the far end of the fluffy bell curve!  Girly and coy, I could see it being the perfect pick to wear with a 50s prom dress.

Mosman the koala kindly does the honours and holds the lid back

Madame Rochas purse spray - BNIB - with interesting frosting detail

Mme Rochas purse spray - first time out of its box!

Good job I like Madame Rochas - I also received a small bottle in Lot 3. : - )  It is another aldehydic grande dame fragrance like Chanel No 5, but more soapy and less fizzy, basically.  Very elegant and classic, without smelling unduly dated.

Yves Rocher 8e jour edt

(In the orange and blue spray canister below).  This is a scent from 1993, now discontinued, and appears to have become a bit of cult fragrance on Makeupalley.  It is a rather offbeat fruity-spicy-incense number, and reminded me a bit of a fruitier and less incense-y YSL Nu.  I see there is no fruit officially in there, but what I am getting may be the interplay of vanilla and honey with the ylang-ylang - sweet and intense, but tempered and made somehow more diffuse by the myrrh.

Notes: iris, jasmine, ylang-ylang, cinnamon, vanilla, myrrh, rose and white honey

Goya Gardenia edt

Let's just say that Isabey and JAR don't need to watch their backs - this could be fabric softener leaning in a vaguely white floral direction.

Yardley Flair
Royal Copenhagen edt
Samples of Lenthéric Tweed & Parfums Parquet Présence

Family photo of Part 2 

PART 3

Mme Rochas small bottle - BNIB

Rochas Femme - half-used tester of parfum!

Who would have thought that the day would come when I could contemplate the plummy civet and cumin-fest that is the legendary Femme with equanimity.  Much more than that indeed, for I really liked it.  It wasn't too animalic and felt simultaneously both fierce and warm, to the point of purring.  More rounded than Cabochard, say, another 'armour' scent from that general era.  Interestingly, out of all the perfumes I received, this is the only one that appears to have been a 'go-to' fragrance for my benefactor.

Jean Patou tester with glass applicator wand - it doesn't say which scent, but my money's on Joy!  An unctuous, fat, rich floral with a filthy underbelly - it has to be Joy, surely.  And I must say that I am especially enjoying the glass applicator wand - you don't see too many of those these days.  It looks rather like a honey drizzler, come to think of it.  Or an ornate toilet brush in its holder.

Also, I scored two bottles of gin(!) from the deceased - there were a further six bottles of cream sherry going spare, but I let them go to an old people's home.  Oh, and an unfinished knitting project in Manchester City football colours.  It is clearly some kind of a snowman-elephant-teapot hybrid, and if anyone reading thinks they can take it over the line and create a meaningful garment from it, I would be open to offers!

Finally, here is a link to the real Staffordshire Hoard - don't you just want that seahorse?