Habanita Molinard 1988 Parfum

After regaining my consciousness, I Googled "Galbanum." It consists of resin, rubber, and an essential oil, which gives it a penetratingly unpleasant aromatic smell. The taste is said to be bitterly sharp and burning. And then: funny! After spraying it, I immediately had a strange smell of window putty in my nose, and I read further: Galbanum is sometimes listed as an ingredient in putties.

My skin brings out this scent note so incredibly strongly that I want to wash off Habanita immediately. It almost burns in my nose and is simply not pleasant to smell.

But I hold on, and slowly this special dense and opulent Habanita scent note comes through. This rich-powdery unsweetened-vanilla amber-woody soft note. Like a very old-fashioned but expensive face cream. To me, it smelled like the wealthy and well-situated wives of entrepreneurs in my childhood. Very elegant, very well-groomed, very well-dressed. I imagine that Habanita would perfectly match expensive camel-colored cashmere.

End of the 70s, I am in elementary school: In my small hometown in Lower Saxony, there was exactly one rich entrepreneurial family. He was 20 years older than she and already had gray hair. They had two small children and a modern villa with a driveway! Inside, it was spacious like in "Dallas," with several open living areas connected. In the expansive garden, there was a tennis court. And the madness for us small-town kids: they had a large indoor pool. And I think of this entrepreneur's wife when I smell Habanita. Who knows, maybe she really wore it, and my subconscious has stored this memory and is now shoveling it forward into my brain.

When I sniff at the spray head, meaning my skin is not involved, I can recognize this Habanita note even better. But Habanita is not wearable for me due to the oversized Galbanum note. The scent simply remains very dry-dusty-bitter "with animal" and does not develop this chic opulent rrrr-note for me. But I really enjoyed the mental time travel back to my childhood.