Anne Klein II

Perfume Chat Room, January 15
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Perfume Chat Room, January 15

Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, January 15, and I can’t believe we are halfway through January already! I live in the Southeastern United States, and we can already sense the advent of spring. The days are getting longer, the sun is rising earlier, and some brave flowers are emerging. I have hellebores in bloom, and some hardy daffodils are poking their green shoots up out of the earth, though it will be a while before any bloom. I’m not yet ready to break out the full-on spring floral and green scents I love, I’m still wearing my “warmer” fragrances like L’Ambre des Merveilles, which I finally bought in 2020. This week, I’ve been enjoying Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker, which is between “warm” and “floral”. It is a true bargain beauty, widely available for less than $25 for 100 ml. I found a bottle recently at T.J.Maxx on clearance for $18.

Speaking of T.J. Maxx, where I was delighted to discover a bargain reissue of my beloved Anne Klein II , last week I found a bottle of that same reissue there at my local store, labeled with a price of $49.99. No, no, no! I’ve bought a few backup bottles there and not one cost more than $14.99. The reissue is great, and another bargain beauty, but the vintage original goes for ridiculous prices online. If you’re tempted, make sure you don’t pay vintage-zone prices for the new version; look on the box and the small print will say Made In China and distributed by Palm Beach Beaute LLC.

I read and participate regularly in the comments on a favorite blog, “Now Smell This”, which always has a weekly Friday “community project” in which readers wear a fragrance they have which fits a shared theme. This week’s theme (so creative!) is to wear a fragrance that reminds you of this year’s Pantone “Colors of the Year”, which are currently “Ultimate Gray” and “Illuminating” (a bright yellow). So today, I will wear another bargain beauty, Elizabeth & James’ discontinued Nirvana French Grey. It and its sibling, Nirvana Amethyst, are all over the bargain brick-and-mortar stores for under $20 for 50 ml, and well worth that price. All the Nirvana fragrances have been discontinued, so if you like them and you find them for a great price, stock up!

What’s new in your world, fragrance or otherwise? How is 2021 looking for you so far?

Perfume Chat Room, November 6
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Perfume Chat Room, November 6

Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, November 6, and we are having a LONG election week here in the US. I’ve been pretty immersed in volunteer activities, so fragrance has been a welcome distraction when I take a break from those. On the other hand, while I spent Election Day itself taking a day off work to visit polling places as a non-partisan volunteer, to make sure voters were being helped to exercise their rights (because unfortunately, we make that quite hard in the USA), I wore Chanel No. 19, which is my “armor” scent. Luckily, no armor was needed — so many people voted early or by mail this year that the polling places were very calm and orderly. And I smelled great!

When I was not doing volunteer work, I gravitated to comfort scents like a new favorite, L’Ambre des Merveilles, or Anne Klein II. I also used Dawn Spencer Hurwitz’ Smudge Nebula, which she describes as an “energy-clearing sprtiz.” I love it, and you can currently get it at a reduced price from her website, including in a roll-on oil format.

Do you find yourself using more “armor” or comfort scents lately? Have you tried any “eaux de protection” like Smudge Nebula?

Voters in long line, Fall 2020; image from abcnews.go.com
Perfume Chat Room, October 30
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Perfume Chat Room, October 30

Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, October 30, the day before Halloween. I’m taking part in the weekly Friday community project at the blog “Now Smell This“, which today is to wear a scent that generates emotion in you. Mine is Anne Klein II, which brings back happy memories of being a young adult in Manhattan. However, since tomorrow is Halloween, I may have to switch later to something slightly more sinister. Cabochard, perhaps? I’m currently very intrigued by that scent and am comparing the two most recent versions of both the EDT and EDP (they were reformulated in 2019).

Tomorrow I will probably wear something by Papillon’s Liz Moores, who is an actual modern witch as well as a tremendously gifted perfumer. Maybe Bengale Rouge? But I do love Dryad … decisions, decisions. Will you do anything special for Halloween? Or wear any special fragrance?

Scent Sample Sunday: Bal a Versailles
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Scent Sample Sunday: Bal a Versailles

Having read so much about Bal a Versailles in recent years, written about by everyone from Luca Turin to favorite blogs like The Black Narcissus, CaFleurebon, and Kafkaesque (and she’s BACK, even if only briefly!), I knew I would want to try it some day. I wasn’t in a big rush because even in its vintage form, it seems to be widely available for less than soul-crushing prices, and it honestly didn’t sound as if it would be a love for me.

But I came across an online auction for a full 4 oz. bottle of the vintage eau de cologne, which seemed as if it would be more approachable, and no one else had bid on it, so I did. And won it for a very reasonable price, less than one would spend on many forgettable modern fragrances at Sephora, Ulta, and elsewhere. It arrived a few days ago, and I’ve been trying it out since. I like it! My bottle looks just like this (except the label on mine is perfect):

Bal A Versailles by Jean Desprez; image from http://www.fragrantica.com

It is very interesting to me, because at first sniff, I definitely smell it as “perfumey”, which to my nose often means aldehydes. Yet there aren’t aldehydes in BaV, at least none are listed for it. So I’m concluding that another note that smells “perfumey” to me, probably based on my late mother’s perfumes from the 1960s and 1970s, is civet, which was used in varying amounts by the classic French perfumers to bring warmth, radiance, and sensuality to their creations such as Shalimar, Chanel No.5, etc., during decades when women were supposed to charm and seduce.

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Scent Sample Sunday: Anne Klein II, Revisited
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Scent Sample Sunday: Anne Klein II, Revisited

One of my regular fragrances in the 1980s was Anne Klein II, launched in 1985. That was the year I moved into New York City, sharing an apartment with my younger sister and two friends from college. It was exciting: New York was on the upswing after its near-bankruptcy and political troubles of the 1970s; Wall Street was on the rise; socialites were unabashedly socializing; and we were in our early 20s, enjoying being young in a great, vibrant city. Need I say more? We all had responsible jobs, but we also had plenty of energy to go out after work to places like The Bear Bar and King Tut’s Wawa Hut. We had fun!

I associate Anne Klein II with all of that; and it is indeed a warm, happy, floriental fragrance (also the only one that has ever prompted a total stranger to ask me, on the subway, what my perfume was). Its top notes were: bergamot, galbanum, peach, rosewood, and lemon; heart notes were jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang, marigold, carnation, and orris root; base notes were vanilla, amber, sandalwood, musk, patchouli, benzoin, and civet. Victoria wrote a long post about it several years ago at her blog “Bois de Jasmin“, identifying the perfumer as Yves Tanguy, who also created another favorite of hers and mine, Jacomo Silences, as well as Lancome’s Magie Noire. Sadly, AKII was discontinued many years ago, although I continued to hoard my last bottle of eau de parfum. I was glad I had, since the price went through the roof on eBay, commanding ridiculous amounts far beyond the $19.99 on my original 50 ml bottle. This seems even more egregious when one recalls that “Anne Klein II” was the name of the design house’s “bridge line”, which offered less expensive options than the main designer collection to younger and less affluent women.

I was very happy to discover Jeffrey Dame’s JD Duality, which is not a dupe of AKII, but enough of an homage to it that it fulfills the wish for a semi-sheer, warm vanilla-based floriental. Its list of notes is somewhat different: artemisia, lemon, bergamot, cinnamon, coriander, cedar leaf, rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, carnation, water lily, lily of the valley, vanilla absolute, vanilla, benzoin, cedar wood, patchouli, sandalwood, labdanum and musk. Duality is also a great value: high quality at Jeffrey Dame’s usual reasonable prices. It seems to be sold out right now on his website; let’s hope he makes more, because it’s great stuff!

Imagine my surprise, though, when on a recent visit to T.J. Maxx, I spotted a tall, 100 ml spray bottle of what looked like the original Anne Klein II! For $12.99! I realized it couldn’t possibly be the original, but the packaging was identical, and for that modest amount, it was worth making a blind buy. Reader, I bought it on the spot.

It turns out to be a relaunch of AKII by a company called Palm Beach Beaute, and it is a very respectable reissue, manufactured in China. Since I still have a half bottle of the original, I have been able to compare them directly, one on each arm. While the original is richer and deeper, the new version smells very similar, and lasts almost as long. It even goes through the same stages of drydown at about the same pace as the original, at least on my skin. I suspect that the differences I can smell are mainly due to changes in ingredients that were necessary to comply with newer regulations. To be fair, also, the richness and depth that I smell in my original bottle may be partly because it has aged well for 30 years. As it dries down on my skin, its basenotes keep getting richer and sweeter, more so than those of the reformulation.

If you miss Anne Klein II and can’t wait for more JD Duality to arrive, look for this reissue! Like the original, it is a semi-sheer, vanilla-based floriental, not too heavy but with a warmth that is very alluring, especially in autumn. Some commenters on Fragrantica have not cared for it, but many have. If you buy online, it will be important to know the difference between the original and the reissue, as the packaging is so similar but the prices so different. The original was made in France by Parlux, and it will say so on the bottom of the box. The reissue lists many more detailed ingredients on the back of its box, as is now required, and it will say “Designed in the United States, Made in China” on the back, with the company name of Palm Beach Beaute LLC and its website, palmbeachbeaute.com.

It seems to be rare that a relaunch or reformulation satisfies fans of the original fragrance, but I am very pleased with this one, especially at the bargain price of $13-15 for 100 ml. Did you ever wear Anne Klein II? Have you tried the reissue? Or have you found any other reformulations or relaunches of favorite fragrances that you found acceptable?

Scent Sample Sunday: Black Flower Mexican Vanilla
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Scent Sample Sunday: Black Flower Mexican Vanilla

In honor of American perfumer Jeffrey Dame’s generous giveaways last weekend and this one, on Facebook Fragrance Friends, today’s Scent Sample Sunday is devoted to one of the samples he sent me in addition to my freebie:  Black Flower Mexican Vanilla.

It is on my wrists as I write this, and wow, is it scrumptious! It’s not really gourmand, though; it has enough citrus, floral and other notes to prevent that. It is one of the “Artist Collection Perfumes”, described as creative collaborations between Jeffrey Dame and his father, artist Dave Dame. The artwork on the bottles’ labels is by Dame Pere. The fragrance is described as “a blend of vanilla absolute with touches of lemon, grapefruit, caramel, nutmeg, gardenia, jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, musk, and tonka.” It was launched in 2014. You can read more about Dame Perfumery and its three generations of Dames here.

Black Flower Mexican Vanilla is mesmerizing. It reminds me of the late, great Anne Klein II , a discontinued gem that I wore in the 1980s and which now commands outrageous prices online, if and when you can find it. Like AKII, it opens with a healthy dose of citrus, but the vanilla permeates top, heart and base. Like AKII, the floral notes emerge shortly after the opening and blend beautifully with the omnipresent vanilla. BFMV has gotten enthusiastic nods of approval from the two males in my household (husband and teenaged son), also reminiscent of AKII, which is the only fragrance I’ve ever worn that got me compliments from strangers on the New York subway.

I am especially enjoying BFMV because I’ve been looking for a vanilla-based fragrance I would like. My preferences lean heavily to greens, florals and chypres, with a special fondness for muguet and narcissus (yes, I have two bottles of Penhaligon’s Ostara). I haven’t been won over by any truly gourmand scents, and so many vanillas now are gourmand more than Oriental. BFMV is classified as an “Oriental Vanilla” while AKII is listed as an “Oriental Floral”, paying heed to the spice and woody notes each one includes.

Vanilla has a fascinating history, too; its orchid-flowered vines are native to Mexico and Guatemala, where it was first discovered by Europeans. National Geographic explains:

Vanilla is a member of the orchid family, a sprawling conglomeration of some 25,000 different species. Vanilla is a native of South and Central America and the Caribbean; and the first people to have cultivated it seem to have been the Totonacs of Mexico’s east coast. The Aztecs acquired vanilla when they conquered the Totonacs in the 15th Century; the Spanish, in turn, got it when they conquered the Aztecs.

Vanilla orchid vine and flowers by Dan Sams

Vanilla orchid flowers; image by Dan Sams via Getty Images

The Totonacs are supposed to have used vanilla pods as a sacred herb, using it in rituals, medicines, and perfumes. I find that the photograph on Dame Perfumery’s website, featured at the top of this post, is very evocative of that history and the actual scent, which is darker, spicier, drier and more beguiling than your standard vanilla. Nielsen-Massey, a purveyor of vanilla extract, points out:

Even after its discovery by Europeans, Mexico was still the sole grower of vanilla beans for another 300 years. That’s because of the symbiotic relationship between the vanilla orchid and an indigenous tiny bee called the Melipone. The bee was responsible for the pollination of the vanilla orchid flower, resulting in the production of the fruit… Vanilla from Mexico has a flavor that combines creamy and woody notes with a deep, spicy character, making it a delicious complement to chocolate, cinnamon, cloves and other warm spices. Even more, Mexican vanilla works wonderfully in tomato sauces and salsas, where it smooths out the heat and acidity of these dishes.

BFMV is very true to this heritage, as it tames the acidity of the citrus notes and brings its own creamy, woody, spicy smoothness and warmth to other notes like nutmeg, gardenia, jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli and vetiver.

As it dries down, I am finding that the vanilla intensifies while the floral notes slowly fade. Luckily for me, I love the notes that seem to be taking the stage with the vanilla during the drydown, especially sandalwood.

Black Flower Mexican Vanilla is a new love for me! It will be especially welcome now that autumn is here and the weather is cooling down. Thank you, Jeffrey Dame!