Premier Jour by Nina Ricci: launched in 2001. It was created by Sophie Labbe, Carlos Benaim and Rosendo Mateu.
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Saturday, May 28, 2022
Livia by Livia Parfums c1977
Livia by Livia Parfums: launched in 1977, by the Livia Sylva company, located in New York City having emigrated from Romania.
Saturday, May 14, 2022
Oussadba Russe
Princess Clementine Eristavi Tchitcherine owned a restaurant/tearoom called Oussadba Russe, in a 1929 directory, it was located at 84 Faubourg St. Honoré. It featured "tea and Russian music." It was also the name of a perfume, Russian Oussadba.
Clementine de Vere (20 December 1888–31 March 1973), also known by her stage name Ionia, was the most influential female magician in the first half of the 20th century. A British magician and illusionist she was also known as Clementine Weedon and Princess Clementine Eristavi Tchitcherine, she was a British citizen, although she was born in Belgium and lived in France for a long period. She performed with the stage name "Ionia - the Enchantress" or the "Goddess of Mystery".
Born in Brussels in Belgium, Clementine de Vere was the eighth child of the British-born illusionist Herbert Shakespeare Gardiner Williams (1843-1931), a popular conjurer and magician who took the stage name Charles de Vere, and his wife Julia de Vere (nĂ©e Ferrett, 1852–1916), who performed the first Oriental magic act under the name "Okita". He opened a magic shop in London in 1873, and a magic shop/factory in Brussels in 1878. One of Clementine de Vere's sisters was the French actress Elise de Vère (1879-1917), who starred in the silent film Miss de Vère (English Jig). The family moved to Paris in 1892 where Charles de Vere opened another magic shop which he ran until about 1909, assisted by his sons. Here Clementine de Vere was said to have been influenced by the artists of the Folies Bergère. On 5 May 1904 aged only 15 1/2 she eloped with the American circus artist and tamer Herman Weedon (actually: Herman Armond Wirtheim, 1876–1959) from the Bostock Circus.
In June 1904 the newly married couple travelled to New York as Weedon had a commitment on Coney Island. Clementine accompanied him in the following years on his professional travels in Europe and the United States. From her marriage with Weedon she had a son, Frank H. Weedon (1907-1984), who later was known under the name Frank Wirtheim Tchitcherine. In 1909 Clementine de Vere travelled with Herman Weedon to Denmark, Russia, and Vienna. Between 1900 until 1909 her brother Camille (1885-1909) was working in the family magic business at 13, rue Saulnier in Paris until Camille died of diabetes mellitus. Charles de Vère then gave up his business and retired to Rosny-sous-Bois, where he worked on the preparation of a big show for his daughter Clementine.
"Ionia" was contracted to perform in America, but did not due to the sudden closing of Broadway's Folies Bergere of New York. This theatre was opened in the spring of 1911 and closed in October of the same year because of financial difficulties. Clementine de Vere had a contract with this theatre and after its closure could not find suitable employment. In 1912 Clementine spends most of the year performing in Vienna at the Kaiser Garten and at the Ronacher theatres.
Some of the last recorded appearances of Clementine de Vere as "Ionia" were in Vienna, at the Ronacher Theatre. By 1914 Charles de Vere was disappointed that his daughter had not continued her elaborate act and tried to sell the tricks and pieces of equipment to curb the financial losses that had arisen for him.
She met a Russian-Georgian Prince Vladimir Eristavi Tchitcherine d'Aragvi (19 October 1881–February 1967) in Austria in 1913 and married him on 21 June 1919 in Paris, after her first marriage had been dissolved on 23 June 1917."My daughter who was Ionia was at Moscow when the Revolution commenced. All her material pillaged and she was in cellar of Hotel 3 months."
Her father's statement is correct, but her materials were not magic. Clementine had given up magic before when she met Tchitcherine. She was not performing magic in Russia. Clementine was in Russia to buy large tracts of rural real estate, mostly usadbas. In the 1920s Clementine de Vere lived temporarily with her second husband in Washington, D.C. and later in Paris. It was during this time that she opened a Russian tea room she called Oussadba-Russe at 84 Faubourg Saint Honore, Paris.
On 26 October 1928, this second marriage too was dissolved, but Clementine de Vere retained the title of Princess, which she had received by the marriage. She lived in France for the rest of her life and was buried with her parents in Batignolles Cemetery in Paris, after her death in 1973.
Ionia's performing career was relatively short, lasting just five years total. From 1908 until mid 1910 Clementine's act featured trained animals. Her magic act was constructed by her father Charles de Vere in 1909 and debuted in September 1910 in Marseilles. "Ionia's" act was spectacular, filling the stage with illusions. Her act was advertised with beautiful posters which many collectors consider to be some of the most artistic posters of magic's Golden Age. Of the 22 known posters for "Ionia" produced by Moody Brothers of Birmingham, only eleven have survived and are now considered expensive collectibles.
Info on Clementine from wikipedia. More information on deVere can be found at this archival website.
About the Tearoom:
The name Oussadba refers to the usadba, a form of property that includes a house with outbuildings and land surrounding it: a garden, park or vegetable garden. This term for a rural estate is mainly used in Russian architecture. Initially, usadbas were given as presents by Princes or Tsars, who thus "planted" the men they had chosen on a particular land, the usadbas were then inherited, and later bought. The usadba would be a permanent residence of a holiday destination.
La Revue de Paris, 1922:
"Go back now, look at the few shops that face the presidential palace; the narrowest, the smallest of all will strike you with its bright lighting, its colorful coloring, the disparate strangeness of the objects that you see gathered there and the words painted on the facade: Russian Oussadba. Small objects from Saxony, among small handwritten signs: Cakes and Russian tea, Furs for sale... And oriental-looking jewelry, a miniature, lace and an icon. Come in. The shop is tiny, with a narrow staircase applied to the back wall. An employee in a pleated smock, in Turkish red, is bored behind a table, surrounded by objects that are certainly elegant, but which still have a wild appearance, of too marked a color and of a shape whose whim does not has not adapted to certain rules of harmony, a certain perfection in the finish in which Italy excelled during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, France in the seventeenth and seventeenth."
Bulletin of the American Women's Club of Paris, Inc, 1927:
"The incense of fragrant tea and a background of old Russian fresques by [Ivan] Bilibin, court-painter to the last of the Romanoffs: the quivering heart of old Russia revives for you at the OUSSADBA RUSSE, Paris' super fashionable tearoom."
Paris and Its Environs, with Routes from London to Paris by Karl Baedeker (Firm), 1932:
"There is no longer a tea room at Chez Masson; La Maisonnette Russe and Oussadba Russe have disappeared."
address of the tearoom today, on the far right.
The Perfume:
Schager Courant, 1930:
"The perfume Oussadba-Russe. There is a lot of history associated with this perfume. Prince Alexander Bezoukoff, who resided in St Petersburg (Leningrad) in 1789, was a real dandy. His love for perfumes led him to convert part of his palace into a laboratory, where he made new combinations every day to prepare delicious perfumes in this way. A new perfume which he had prepared pleased him so much that shortly afterwards when he gave a party in his summer residence Oussadba, he drenched everything with this perfume. Perfume had dissolved even in the water of the fountains. This perfume was therefore very popular with the Russian court, and remained so from the time of Catherine II to Nicholas II. Due to fortunate circumstances, the composition of this perfume came into the hands of Princess Eristavi, who managed to form a combination, who took over the further preparation of this perfume."
The perfume was contained in a heavy, round, clear glass bottle, with a gray-blue tinted glass stopper. It had an oval shaped paper label with the name "Russian Oussadba."
The Prince:
The Prince called Orel, Russia home and he claimed his mother was Princess Nadejda (Nadine) Eristoff (Eristow, Eristavi) d'Aragva of Switzerland, from a line of hereditary ruling princes of Georgia, and he was the son of Victor Tchitcherine, he was related to Prince Simon C. Sidamon Eristoff, who married JP Morgan's cousin, Ann Tracy.
Prince Vladimir married second in March 1929, Diane Rockwood who was from Indianapolis, IN, and they were also divorced as she charged "cruel and inhuman treatment and non-support" and that the prince was "fault finding and quarrelsome." After his divorce the Prince went to Palm Beach, Florida and went to work selling jewelry.
The Prince married his third wife, one-time screen actress and Ziegfeld Follies beauty, Lucy Cotton on 3 May 1941, just one month after they met at a society luncheon, but they too divorced, in 1944.
She told her lawyer that "life in the household was unbearable; that the prince found fault with everything she did; that she was a prisoner in her own room." When she filed for divorce she charged "extreme cruelty" and "habitual indulgence in a wild and ungovernable temper." She said the prince their their home in a "fit of rage." She said he merely used the place to eat and sleep in and not as a home, despite her efforts to please him. He often locked himself in his room for hours, refusing to speak to her or respond to her entreaties. In the divorce suit, she mentioned that the Prince had none of his own money and basically called him penniless.
It is interesting to note that his former lawyer described the prince as "imperialistic in nature, high strung and irritable; that because of his royalty, he has little regard for what he says of how he says it; that all of these things make it difficult for an attorney to carry out legal affairs of the prince."
In 1941, the Russian Nobility Association issued a bulletin pointing out sternly that the Prince was not a Price. His mother was a Georgian who owned some land and the translation of the Georgian equivalent for landowner into Russian makes him a price in name only. Eristavi was an Italian name and no such title existed in Russia before the collapse in 1917.
Friday, May 13, 2022
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Eau d'Hermes by Hermes c1951
Fragrance Composition:
- Top notes: cinnamon, galbanum, herbal lavender, lemon, bergamot, burnet, petitgrain, sage, citron, cumin, cardamom, clary sage
- Middle notes: thyme, basil, rosemary, marjoram, jasmine, clove, coriander, Bourbon geranium bourbon leaf, floral notes, vanilla, tonka bean, labdanum
- Base notes: resins, cedar, flamed birch, civet, leather, oakmoss, vetiver, amber, sandalwood
Bottles:
Presented in the classic Hermes, boxed, squared off heavy, chunky crystal bottle with the mushroom-domed stopper. These are regarded as the "deluxe" bottles and have a suede ribbon tied around the neck of the bottle. Three paper labels are on the botte, the front has its large circular label and a smaller rectangular label down towards the bottom that says "Eau d'Hermes Paris France", and also a rectangular one on the back of the bottle which states the capacity. The base is molded with "Hermes - Paris - Made in France." Most were produced in France by Pochet et du Courval and you can find the little entwined "HP" symbol on the base.
If your bottle is missing its label and you do not know what size it is, use this handy guide to determine the ounce/milliliter:
- " tall = 26.3 oz (750ml)
- 7.75"tall = 16 oz (480ml)
- 6.5" tall = 8 oz (236ml)
- 5.5" tall = 4 oz (118ml)
- 4.5" tall = 2 oz (60ml)
Fate of the Fragrance:
Limited Edition Flacons:
- 1993 - The year of the Horse (blue ribbon)
- 1994 - The year of the Sun (yellow ribbon)
- 1995 - The Year of On the Road Again (sea-green ribbon)
- 1996 - The Year of Music (pink ribbon)
- 1997 - The Year of Africa (red ribbon)
- 1998 - The Year of the Tree (green ribbon)
- 1999 - The Year of the Stars & Mythology (purple ribbon)
- 2000 - First Steps into the New Millennium
- 2001 - Looking for the Beauty of the Earth (orange ribbon)
- 2002 - Year of the Hand
- 2003 – Year of the Mediterranean Sea (dark blue ribbon)
- 2004 – Year of Fantasy
- 2005 – Year of the River
- 2006 – Year of Paris
- 2007 – Year of Dance
- 2008 – Year of India
- 2009 – A Beautiful Escape (Travel)
- 2010 – Year of Storytelling
- 2011 – Year of the Contemporary Artisan
- 2012 – The Gift of Time
- 2013 – A Sporting Life
- 2014 – Year of Metamorphosis
In 1996, a 4 fl. oz., limited edition crystal bottle for the "Year of Music" theme, was engraved with a band of musicians occupying a horse carriage with a man standing in front cracking his whip into the shape of a music note, completed by a beautifully tied leather ribbon around the neck and a large sealed glass stopper. The original orange Hermes presentation box and outer sleeve.
For the millennium, the theme was "First Steps into the New Century." This bottle was engraved with a little boy tugging along a toy horse on wheels.
Parfums de-Folet
Parfums de-Folet are a very obscure French perfume company who only seemed to be in operation from 1938-1941.
Sunday, May 8, 2022
Andrade by Lise Watier c1978
Lise Watier Fragrances was a division of the Montreal-based cosmetic company established by Lise Watier in 1972. Her brand originally started in 1968 with a spa, called 'L'Institut Lise Watier'.
Tuesday, May 3, 2022
Essence Absolue Épurée
In your travels, you may come across a bottle of "Essence Absolue ÉpurĂ©e" and may wonder what it actually is. A "Purified Absolute Essence" is derived from a concrete, a natural waxy substance which results from a process of extraction of flowers. If the concrete is further refined—by rinsing with strong alcohol in shaking machines called batteuses— cooled, then filtered to remove the wax and natural pigments, the almost pure product obtained this way is highly concentrated, this is called "absolute essence".
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Le Fruit Defendu by Rosine c1913
Le Fruit Defendu by Rosine: created by Henri Alméras and launched in 1913, probably in USA by 1916. The name means "The Forbidden Fruit" in French and referred to the "forbidden fruit" of Adam and Eve's demise. The perfume was a favorite of American actress Gloria Swanson.
Welcome!
One of the goals of this website is to show the present owners of the various perfumes and cologne brands that are featured here how much we miss the discontinued classics and hopefully, if they see that there is enough interest and demand, they will bring back these fragrances!
Please leave a comment below (for example: of why you liked the fragrance, describe the scent, time period or age you wore it, who gave it to you or what occasion, any specific memories, what it reminded you of, maybe a relative wore it, or you remembered seeing the bottle on their vanity table, did you like the bottle design), who knows, perhaps someone from the company brand might see it.
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Faking Perfume Bottles to Increase Their Value
The issue of adding "after market" accents to rather plain perfume bottles to increase their value is not new to the world o...