Lancaster Lancaster 1987 Eau de Toilette Concentrée

When I was a child, I used to love looking at the negatives of family photographs. Things that were familiar to me took on a different twist, as light was changed to shadow and vice versa. Lancaster Concentrate is the negative to the photograph of Houbigant Chantilly. In the Lancaster, the powder is still present, but the incense, oakmoss and civet are amped up while the vanilla and citrus are played down, while they both whisper that melange of florals. This 1987 creation smells truly vintage and I love it.

"Lancaster Eau de Concentree" is a very nice surprise! I didn't know what to expect when I came across a Lancaster stand with a small row of these black boxes with Calla lilies on display. The price was very friendly and after looking at the notes online I decided to risk a blind buy.

Hmm! Oriental bliss! At first spray it's amber goodness with a smooth vanilla and a sandalwood infused incense. I am liking it very much...it's reminiscent of a lighter and younger Shalimar but with more white flowers and a herbaceous twist (basil, coriander & lavender) I can discern these notes clearly and find it a very well composed fragrance. The middle stage reveals neroli and in the dry down a lovely jasmine note is added.

It's smooth, soft and very yummy! I can't believe its been around for so long and I have never noticed it! I must go back and buy another bottle, especially since I know now its very hard to find. It's a scent that developed and morphs on your skin, it's interesting and never boring; I can only recommend it.

A must sniff for all oriental fans that would like to have a very smooth, aromatic and sexy beauty. It's not a *light* scent, but if applied with sense you can wear it to all occasions including the office.

Silage is: an oriental aura with herbal goodness -- Longevity is: 80s era true with a 9+ hours in which it becomes a slightly powdery skin scent that also likes to cling to your clothes forever. *YUM*

You look at the simple bottle and you can think of a serum or a product for the face by Lancaster, but it isn't so. This scent is a silent "bomb" realising its power little by little, hour after hour.
Son of the opulent Eighties, it's a masterfully harmonized symphony of flowery, aromatic and oriental notes which keeps anyway its discrete and classy character for a very refined result.
At the opening you smell a spicy-aromatic bouquet giving way after a few minutes to a very femininine and vibrant flowery heart dominated by the tuberose (pleasant and not too intoxicating), the Jasmine and a light mimosa touch. At the base, a wonderful mix of oriental notes: ambergris, civet, Woods and frankincense made smoother and sweeter by the vanilla note, soft and not too sweetish or medicinal.
The sillage is good but not heavy and the result is longlasting. It could be the perfect mid season scent by day as well as by night. Precious and refined but simple like a silk shirt or a string of pearls, it's the perfect scent for a "sophisticated lady",citing the title of the famous jazz ballad by duke Ellington.

La historia de la marca LANCASTER es la historia de una amistad surgida entre dos amigos, prisioneros en un campo de concentración durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial: el químico EUGÈNE FREZZATI y el empresario GEORGE WURTZ.

Durante la guerra, George Wurtz fué piloto de un bombardero británico cuatrimotor denominado LANCASTER; de ahí el nombre de la marca. Lancaster es una población británica y también una rama menor de la casa real británica de Plantagenet.

En 1946, un año después de finalizar la guerra, fundaron la fábrica de cosméticos y productos solares en el Principado de Mónaco.
Marca asociada originariamente al Grupo Coty Prestige, bajo la denominación Lancaster Group, ha sido pionera en múltiples incorporaciones tecnológicas pioneras es sus cremas cosméticas y solares: retinol, crema embrionaria de noche, oxígeno activo, factor de protección radical, heliotan, heliosoma, etc, etc.

Su primer perfume se lanzó en 1977 EAU DE LANCASTER, un Chipre Floral unisex para hombres y mujeres.

Su siguiente perfume fue esta EAU CONCENTRÉE de LANCASTER, también ubicada en la Familia Chipre Floral.
Casi olvidad hoy en día, esta fragancia merece la pena ser conocida.

Es muy fácil quererla y muy sencilla de llevar. Por supuesto que sigue siendo unisex, como su hermana precedente.

Todo en ella es suavidad y discreción.
Su inicio es un estallido herbal verde, a base de lavanda, bergamota, cilantro, tomillo y albahaca. Es un acorde chipre, pero para nada resinoso, acre o seco. Se trata más bien de un conjunto campestre en una línea provenzal, de montes frescos y jugosos, en donde el sol es tibio y el rocío es tenue.

Poco a poco, el perfume deriva hacia una amable floralidad, que tampoco resulta ni femenina ni intensa, sino más cercana a la estética años veinte de Daisy Buchanan y Jay Gatsby.
Buen gusto, simpatía y joie de vivre.

Pero una fragancia tan aparentemente sencilla como esta EAU CONCENTRÉE sigue evolucionando hacia un componente más masculino, más seco. El aire chipre resinoso comienza a denotarse en su secado, enmimbrando el ládano con el sándalo y el musgo con el ámbar. Incluso asoma un leve tono indólico floral, que sin llegar a ser animálico, aporta a la fragancia una mayor complejidad y un fondo en segunda línea, como la Fábula de Aracne en “Las Hilanderas” de Velázquez.

Este secado tiene reminiscencias de ciertos GUERLAIN como L'EAU BOISÉE y HABIT ROUGE y, por lo tanto, una suerte de GUERLINADE en su arpegio de vainilla, sándalo, bergamota, haba tonka y muguet.

Su estela es moderada, aunque en mi piel tiene ráfagas en las que el calor despierta su aroma y lo percibo circundándome. Su duración es elevada, dejando en la epidermis una pátina atalcada y jabonosa de un dulzor exquisito.

Es un perfume con clase, con mucha clase., que bien pudiera haber sido uno de los mejores GUERLAIN.

I think each of us has rituals! Things we do over and over again. Repeating something that brings us joy, that makes us happy. Making one thing or an old habit even more beautiful or celebrating it. Rituals give things consistency and a kind of magic. They adorn a beautiful habit and emphasize it. A ritual can make something beautiful even more beautiful. With a ritual, something can be started or ended. Today, I will take you along to a very important ritual in my life!

Every year we go to the Canary Islands for two weeks. Always to the same hotel. Every morning, even on vacation, I get up at six o'clock to go swimming. I put on my swim trunks and go to the bathroom to throw on my bathrobe. But before I leave the room, I spray my bathrobe with a perfume that pleasantly underscores the ritual that follows. A scent that accompanies me on my way to the saltwater pool. The moon is still shining, but the sky is already slightly orange-violet because the sun can already be sensed, but is still a long way from being seen. I slowly step into the water and swim for a good hour. No rush and no hurry. The birds begin to gently sing during this time. Wonderful! Then I go over to the saltwater pool to warm up in the almost hot water. The water is so salty that you float in it. After about fifteen minutes, I usually head over to the outer spa area and take a hot shower. Then I dry myself off and put on my white, perfumed bathrobe. After that, I head over to my lounge chair, which has already been prepared by one of the pool boys. There, I usually sit in a lotus position and watch as the light of the rising sun slowly breaks in the crowns of the palm trees, shining over the pool, while the air around me mixes with my feel-good scent that escapes from my bathrobe. Until now, I have only had two perfumes for this almost meditative ritual: Laguna by Dali or Royal Bain de Caron by Caron. This year, there will be a third scent that will celebrate this ritual with me. Lancaster by Lancaster. Why Lancaster? I would be happy to tell you!

Lancaster is like a cocoon of purity, protection, and sensuality. Orange blossom and various herbs like thyme, coriander, and basil give a hint of freshness and cleanliness. Spicy and herb-floral notes are added from herbal geranium and a powdery-soft tuberose. Lancaster has something of a chypre that gradually transforms into an oriental scent. Slowly and steadily, warm tones from soft amber come in, adorned with cozy notes of vanilla. An incredibly soft sandalwood makes Lancaster creamier and even more cuddly before it sinks into a smoky base of protective oak moss and incense.

Conclusion
Lancaster embodies a lot for me. It embodies shiny-brown bodies and sunbathing on warm, spicy sand on a hot day by the sea. But also a spa temple where men and women in white bathrobes relax in misty steam saunas and sultry warm baths. Or where one can get massaged away the stress in a hamam with spicy-warm oils and fine soaps. Lancaster is a scent that connects the genders. For me, it is neither masculine nor feminine. Lancaster is like a very well-groomed,
delicate, and flattering veil on the skin. It radiates a deep sense of security and calm, but also a deep sensuality. It has something luxurious and very refined in its composition. It can be worn in the deepest winter, but also in the warmest summer. Lancaster can do many things, but what it can always do is make something beautiful even more beautiful. Back then and still today.

At least for me!

I thank SchatzSucher for the sample and for rekindling an old love that had been forgotten!