Private Collection 1973 Eau de Parfum

Private Collection (Eau de Parfum) by Estēe Lauder
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Top 100 in Women's Perfume
8.4 / 10 272 Ratings
Private Collection (Eau de Parfum) is a popular perfume by Estēe Lauder for women and was released in 1973. The scent is floral-green. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is still available to purchase.
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Main accords

Floral
Green
Chypre
Spicy
Woody

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
HoneysuckleHoneysuckle Citrus notesCitrus notes JasmineJasmine
Heart Notes Heart Notes
CorianderCoriander Orange blossomOrange blossom Ylang-ylangYlang-ylang
Base Notes Base Notes
SandalwoodSandalwood PatchouliPatchouli

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
8.4272 Ratings
Longevity
8.5219 Ratings
Sillage
8.0209 Ratings
Bottle
6.9196 Ratings
Value for money
8.321 Ratings
Submitted by Kankuro, last update on 29.05.2023.
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Reviews

12 in-depth fragrance descriptions
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
9
Longevity
8.5
Scent
Serenissima
Translated Show original Show translation
Serenissima
Serenissima
Top Review 31  
with clean lines
In 1944, Mrs. Estée Lauder appeared on the New York "stage of beauty", which was dominated by two impressive ladies.
One was Elizabeth Arden, called Miss Arden; also known for the "Red Door" that led into her beauty world, which was also the inspiration for the fragrance of the same name.
The other was Helena Rubinstein, known only as "Madame" by her associates, built her empire in parallel.
The two engaged in fierce and vicious competitive battles; the "powder war" that took place in the thirties is legendary in the industry.
They had staked out their empires by now, but were still trying to hurt each other.
One begrudged the other any success, nothing was too dirty not to be used.
In the Bavarian/Austrian world, both ladies would have been well served by the name "Bissgurn".
In this world, a young woman suddenly appeared: Estée Lauder.
With her homemade line of skincare and cosmetics and equipped with the necessary concession, she rented a booth in Mrs. Florence Morris's salon and thus began her ascent.
The individual treatment booths were separated from each other by screens; each of the women worked for herself, paying Mrs. Morris only a monthly user fee.
Of course, this activity did not go unnoticed by the two "highnesses" of the scene.
But Mrs. Lauder was smart: she stayed below the radar of these two and specialized in treating young women her age.
For both "queens" had already had to replace their youthfulness with maturity and the art of cosmetics.
Estée Lauder's products are as clear and straightforward as her beauty: nothing is loud or superfluous; everything is quiet and noble. Here it is shown that sometimes less is more after all.

I have just finished reading the third part of a series of novels about this world of the ladies Arden and Rubinstein, their "powder war" and the development of their businesses in their time.
That's also where I met Estée Lauder, who was going to be given a hard time.

After the beautiful "Youth-Dew" is "Private Collection" now the third fragrance of this brand, which I was allowed to test.
At the very beginning was "Spellbound", which I commented on earlier and which still reflects the essence of this woman.

"Private Collection" thrills me with honeysuckle alone - how I love the scent of honeysuckle.
Looking at the release dates, honeysuckle seems to have had a renaissance in the seventies.
I'm thinking here only of Yves Rocher's "Chèvrefeuille", launched in 1976, much loved and lamented, since now sadly discontinued in its original form.
In "Private Collection", honeysuckle is allowed to climb and smell in its most beautiful, sun-drenched form. Its blossom-strewn tendrils also entwine immediately after the first spray: summery, slightly rustic honey aroma spreads and dances around in the cheerful round dance.
Skillfully Ylang-Ylang, nobler, but no less fragrant and floral, was inserted into this fragrance web.
A fragrant robe of skillfully interwoven flower and leaf tendrils is thus created, before the delicate orange blossom blends in to further delight the heart and senses.
Coriander provides pleasant green spice and already is a light summer noble fragrance garment in the making.
Patchouli and sandalwood unite sensually and warmly, bringing darker golden-brown scent tones to this creation and thus giving it not only additional beauty, but also stability.
"Private Collection" is thus elegantly completed and allowed to develop its charm fully and unrestricted.
What it also does without additional request!

Here a fragrance was composed, which reminds in its straight, clear lines in the first moment of "Aromatics Elexir".
But this is an impression of the moment, because "Private Collection" also gets along without the usual pomp and opulent fuss for this time.
Summery light, but not too pastoral, floral and with light spice and sensual hints, something very magical and all-day wearable was created here.
It succeeded in giving this light-footed fragrance a surprising durability.
So it is possible to spray on "Private Collection" already in the morning, to spend the day with him and in the evening still go out together.
But what should never prevent to re-spray, if this need exists or simply for pleasure.

I think Estée Lauder's "Private Collection" will accompany me until the bottling is empty.
Then we'll see if the two of us stay together.
But for now, I start this Wednesday surrounded by Mrs Lauder's summery lightness and wish a "good morning"!
18 Replies
8
Bottle
8
Sillage
9
Longevity
8
Scent
Schwälbchen
Translated Show original Show translation
Schwälbchen
Schwälbchen
Top Review 24  
Honeysuckle at its best
Private Collection recently moved in with me. For a long time I read your impressive comments, studied the scents used and was sure that I liked it. I wanted to smell lime blossoms. The scent of those pale green trees that formed an avenue near which I grew up. I find the fragrance too complex or too incapable of perceiving all the individual components represented. Rather, it is a hint of green force at the beginning, perhaps somewhat scratchy or uncomfortable.
After about 15 minutes the fragrance becomes softer. Finally I hear the smell of my hometown.

The mild sweetness of the lime blossoms brings back memories that have long since passed. It's holidays. We play outside until the night forces us to go home. We're sweaty, dusty but frolicsome. Free, like the swallows who circle over us and whose cries accompany our game.
I smell a slight sweetness, not heavy but cheerful. Only when I look it up do I find out why PC is so familiar to me. The honeysuckle (we say "the longer the better"), whose bright sweetness I perceive here, once greeted me every day, climbed up to my neighbour's fence and exudes this scent that somehow reminds me of jasmine, yet is so much softer and purer.

So he stays with me for countless hours. The scent of summer, of childhood. I'm comfortable with him. Still in the evening it envelops me like the brought back childhood memories...

Summer in a bottle.
6 Replies
10
Bottle
9
Sillage
9
Longevity
9
Scent
Ttfortwo
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Ttfortwo
Ttfortwo
Top Review 25  
That green glow...
... is actually a misleading title for the fragrance, because it is neither the Rohmer film nor the optical phenomenon itself that is meant.

Rohmer's film, a vague, hovering and rather open-ended sketch of the sensitivities of a young lady with a slightly wavering soul, close to being lost, viewed from a distance, more descriptive than explanatory - the whole thing very French, that is - has nothing at all to do with Lauder's great classic fragrance.

Lauder's scent is - in this sense - very American. Complex yes, but at the same time open and straight. Lauder's "Private Collection" goes through the world with the natural relaxedness of an American upper class, with the certainty of being in the right place - and with good reason.

Nor does it refer to the optical phenomenon, namely that in the very last seconds of sunset rare refractive phenomena cause the sun itself, and sometimes also layers of air above it, to glow green: if it glows at the end of the solar day, a magical short moment just before dusk.

"Private Collection" does indeed glow in green - but it radiates this magical green glow very early on in the course, in the top note and with the colour of the chrome diopside: dark green namely, a little metallic and yet full of light. Mugler's aura flacon (which I find - in contrast to its contents - quite great) comes to my mind. Duftsucht's dandelion stem comparison is perfectly chosen, even after thinking about it for a while I can't think of anything that better describes the essence of the top note.

Now it so happens that I already had this fragrance in the 80s, in a version that was then called "pure fragrance". It was the same bottle, but it was in an elaborately designed two-piece box, more like an extra. I don't know if it was really the perfume at the time. By the way, the green overkill top note was the reason for me to buy "Private Collection" at that time, but it seems to me that it wasn't as herbaceous, stalky and glandular as the current EdP, a touch softer and softer maybe. This may be due to a reformulation or the fact that perfumes (if it had been one back then) almost always look a bit rounder than the corresponding eaux - or just a lacking scent memory.

The fragrance remains bright green far into his heart, but the colour changes, he becomes a little softer and gentler, orange blossom and golden ylang shift the spectrum into olive green-golden. Honeysuckle remains perceptible, in a wafer-thinly bitter and very mature, serious variation. I fully agree with the fragrance addiction: the equally magnificent Fragonard de Fragonard, a genuine honeysuckle fragrance, is clearly more sweet, the old Rocher Chèvrefeulle was cooler.

The olive green glow of the heart note is indeed an amazing phenomenon, translucent rather than transparent, with great depth. The soft bitterness mutes the orange blossom and ylang-ylang and pads it in, just enough to make the notes not look dull. The projection is remarkable, the fragrance is self-confident in an unagitated way.

By the way, the durability is excellent, for hours I am surrounded by this soft shining green.

A few thoughts about the perfumer, Vincent Marcello. Parfumo has three fragrances to him in its database - all three imperishable classics, masterpieces, milestones. "Private Collection," "Yatagan," and Halston's "Z-14." Why only these three? What do you think happened? Illness, accident, a personal break, death? Or did a world-class talent say to himself: "I'm just going to knock out three world-class brain hammer scents, then retire and let them all beg?

An - admittedly at most medium-deep - research on the net did not yield anything else besides the hits as a perfumer of the above mentioned fragrances. One source was as surprised as me about the seemingly trackless disappearance of the master, but otherwise? Does anyone here know more?
20 Replies
6
Bottle
7
Sillage
10
Longevity
10
Scent
Duftsucht
Translated Show original Show translation
Duftsucht
Duftsucht
Top Review 24  
An original masterpiece to lose yourself in
I sneak around some fragrances for a long time before I start a comment. Often, however, these are exactly those that touch me in a special way and where I am almost bursting with enthusiasm and the need to communicate.
I feel the same way about Private Collection. A blind purchase, I must confess, my meanwhile almost sore ordering finger pushed over the inhibition threshold by the forum topic "Who is your true 'life partner'", which Susan had raised.
A first spraying triggered a lot of associations - especially to several other fragrances. And so I spent the last two days sniffing around with Private Collection on one arm and with Chanel N 19, Fragonard von Fragonard and Diors Diorella (one after the other, of course...). Only when a colleague gave me strange looks in a session that felt endlessly long, because my head was constantly swinging from side to side like a snake, and I was afraid that someone might diagnose me as having mad cow disease, did I get a grip on myself again and decided: "It's time for a comment!
In fact, Private Collection has something in common with all the fragrances mentioned. But the honeysuckle is more lovely and a bit sweeter in Fragonard's work, while in Diorella's work it is overlaid with citric sharpness - especially at the beginning. I was reminded of Chanel N 19 by the green component of the top note - but there it is darker and goes into the mossy woods. Private Collection is a fragrance that truly need not fear all these comparisons. It almost fills me with a little awe, because it is not a simple fragrant water that one sprays in the morning lost in thought and which one simply forgets at some point during the day. No, he keeps reminding himself and seems to challenge me to fathom the secret of his complexity and versatility.
The beginning is a bang in the green. Not delicate, sweet lime green, not moss-covered dark green, not fir green, and not exotic jungle green, but the green of freshly cut stems - Annarosa's comparison with dandelion is actually very apt. Immediately I have a memory of when we used to put together dandelion wreaths as children. The stalk had to be slit with the fingernail to insert the next stalk. For me, a nail-biting, impatient child, not blessed with any special skills - a real challenge, which did not only end once in tantrums and shamefully left flowers - but the bitter smell of dandelion milk and the scratched stems is deeply anchored in my olfactory memory...
The green with which the fragrance greets me has a slight bitterness - and immediately makes a clear statement. This is a mature fragrance and from sweet-sweet miles away. But soon a wonderful white honeysuckle shines in the middle of the harsh green, whose natural scent I have almost fallen for. Until now, Fragonard by Fragonard (besides the old Chevrefeuille by Yves Rocher, which I am certainly not the only one who is mourning!) was my favourite honeysuckle fragrance. Now I have two - the more easily accessible, somewhat more lovely, romantic Fragonard and this radiant and yet somehow also cooler-distant adult honeysuckle, which perfectly combines flower, leaf and later earth and wood. But the icing on the cake for me is a hint of mysterious spice, subtly bitter, which always attracts my attention and gives the fragrance a charming originality - and I almost think I hear a seductive murmur: "Explore me, follow me, let yourself be seduced, lose yourself, maybe you will then discover the secret of my beauty..."

Many thanks to Susan! You make sure that my collection does not get smaller and my account does not get fuller - but my fragrance drawer becomes more diverse and more courageous!
12 Replies
7.5
Sillage
7.5
Longevity
10
Scent
Coutureguru

223 Reviews
Coutureguru
Coutureguru
Top Review 17  
Historical Perfumery Landmark
When I write a list of my top 10 fragrances (a daunting task best left for sometime in the future :o/), Private Collection will undoubtedly be on it more than likely somewhere close to the top. This is not because it is earth-shattering or so different that it brings on that "OH MY GOD ... I have to have a bottle NOW" feeling ... simply just because it is so constant!

I've been around this fragrance for a long, long time! It has been my Mother's signature since the late 70's, and harks back to a time in perfumery when wearing something like this was a status symbol, because even at that time it was considered 'expensive'. I remember being very frustrated that I would have to save my pocket money for at least two years to afford a bottle of this as a gift! As luck would have it, I had a job with Lauder for a short while when I left school and was able to give my Mom a bottle of extrait for Christmas that year! She still has it :) ... along with all the others I have given her since.
When Lauder reformulates, they generally do so in a sympathetic way that retains the original spirit of the fragrance. Private Collection has lost its 'monster sillage and longevity' but retains all of its fabulosity! A superb green floral leaning heavily in the Chypre direction, this fragrance carries all of the hallmarks of what Mrs. Lauder tried to create ... a little piece of luxury for everybody! The deft handling of the Oakmoss, Patchouli and Cedar in the base is a masterstroke of blending. I have taken to wearing this of late as it is completely unisex in the way that many floral chypre's tend to be 35 odd years on.

I yearn for the days of fragrances such as these, when just a drop of extrait carried half a block away. A few spritzes of Private Collection remind me why I am a fragrance fanatic in the first place!!
5 Replies
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Statements

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ChapeauClackChapeauClack 8 years ago
10
Scent
This really only needs one word to describe it: perfection.
0 Replies

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