Therese

Cyprus, late eighties: Wild taxi ride from Larnaca Airport over bumpy roads to Polis tis Chrysochous, rent a room from the villagers, then off to the overgrown beach, forty degrees, shower in the evening, then the small fish restaurant in the center of the village with delicious swordfish....A roommate from England smelled delicious when he came out of the shared bathroom, the bathroom still smelled heavenly afterwards and once I see what he uses: Eau Sauvage. In the airport duty free, I looked to see what else was available from Dior and discover a fluted bottle with a delicate ivory cap - and what comes out of the tester is simply terrific: Miss Dior, by Roudnitska, by who else, this old-school yet very new interpretation chypre is elegant and bold at the same time, and also highly eroticizing. The sparkling top note rises to the head like champagne, the base note has a sleepy voluptuous component. Wonderful and delicious, pulled out yesterday after a long time and fell in love all over again in a flash. (Small note: Brought out after a long time because I was reading a book about Ted Hughes yesterday and it kept mentioning a Dior perfume that Assia Wevill wore. The woman with whom he began an affair that eventually drove Sylvia Plath to suicide, and who also killed herself seven years later, in the same way Plath did, along with the child Shura she had with Hughes. Look at the photos of this beautiful woman: this could only have been Miss Dior (it was 1962, otherwise I would have thought Diorama too).

Comment refers to a bottle from about 2010 (looks like the photo here).

What were the times when you couldn't order fancy perfumes so easily on the net. A business trip to London? Great, after work immediately to Harrods, to Selfridges, to Fortnum & Masons, but especially to Les Senteurs in Mayfair. In Paris, of course, immediately to Bon Marché, to Lafayette and to Avenue Montaigne: Parfums Caron, the glass urns, for bottling Tabac Blond, Narcisse Noir, Alpona. What I loved. Parfum Sacré I bought in Munich, that peppery soapiness, echoes of Coup de Fouet, of Or et Noir - and always of what the word perfume means: a worship of the gods through scent, through scented smoke. I'm wearing this version of Parfum Sacré today and am once again smitten - this is French haute parfumerie at its best. And the statement, I can't remember by whom: Guerlain is for maitresses, Caron is for duchesses (or something like that), I can relate to here, even if this perfume was no longer created by Ernst Daltroff.

Unfortunately, I never got to enjoy the original, but in the meantime I've stopped looking for vintage anyway - because I've had too many bad experiences - and spending a lot of money on pale perfumes whose top notes have evaporated. And somehow I'm tired of this "oh no, it's just a shadow of its former self" talk too, even though I've participated in it often enough. For that reason, this comment refers to today's EdT version and the two versions that were marketed before (and that I could still buy myself without any problems). This perfume, because you just can't call this a fragrance, is the world's first thought of elegance for me. A rare combination of oriental and green chypre - a blend of opium and Jean Louis Scherrer, underpinned with a cinnamon note. Lush, spicy, green, and, as I said, of an infinite elegance. Grandiose

For me, this wonderful, precious perfume is the quintessence of Diorella, Diorama and Eau Sauvage - the best of all, and made from the best raw materials. I cried when I first wore this beauty, I cried when I wore it and when I met a man. I still cry when I wear this perfume. Le Parfum de Therese and this man have left traces in my heart and they are linked. Unfortunately, and yet beautiful.

I appreciate Monsieur Fontaine's compositions very much, and Sortilege is indeed a wonderful, in the top note extremely soapy, in the heart note balsamic, old-fashioned flowery, rather chypriot scent. The first meeting: Overwhelmed by this beauty. And also worn every now and then. Enjoying the base note. But: I can't wear this perfume permanently. The abstract, yet cool, repellent elegance is simply unappealing to me. Still, it's a wonderful perfume.