Aphrodisia by Fabergé (1938)

Oh, my. I am really getting into this Fabergé trio.

Aphrodisia ("for the night-blooming you") is a luscious and complex floral chypre bursting with fruity sweetness that is tempered with spice, mossiness, and animalic warmth. (It has musk; my beloved civet; and ambrein, the substance that gives ambergris its oomph.)

A great example of an animalic that isn't dark and brooding, Aphrodisia radiates joy and warmth, and has the olfactory color palette and texture of those rich-hued art deco works by Tamara de Lempicka.

Top notes: Bergamot, lemon, neroli, fruit note

Heart notes: Rose, honey, ylang-ylang, carnation, jasmine

Base notes: Oakmoss, vetiver, civet, ambrein, musk

Aphrodisia might be too forward to be considered an aphrodisiac. I mean, my thoughts on perfumes or foods that claim to be aphrodisiacs is that they work on the same principal that voodoo spells are supposed to: without the intended target's conscious knowledge. You'd smell Aphrodisia coming at you from a mile away, along with your would-be seducer's intent, which is not to say you wouldn't succumb anyway. I'm sure Angelina Jolie or John Hamm's targets are near-helpless even if they know they're the objects of seduction.

But I digress.

I told commenter and blogger Angela yesterday that I wasn't sure if the formulas for these Fabergé scents (cologne strenth, I might add) were as high end as their first incarnations in the 30s. Partly, I think, that was because as much as I liked Woodhue, it seemed a little janky in its construction, a curious combination of smelling kind of cheap, but revealing its pedigree through its interesting notes.

Aphrodisia, on the other hand, (like Flambeau),  seems to have weathered the 50-something odd years it took to get to me, and I'm rethinking that assessment. It's not my type, and it's definitely dated, but wowee zowee is it freaking sexy! I cannot stop smelling my wrists. Whereas Woodhue was easier to appreciate in the dry down as the vanillic base began to mute the other notes, I loved Aphrodisia from beginning to end, with an emphasis on the beginning and middle sections. It's an embarrassment of (aphrodisiac) riches: fruit, honey, ylang-ylang and lush florals combined with  spice (vetiver, carnation) and an animalic chypre base. Throw in some truffled oysters and you might not survive it.

If this is the drugstore version of a once-grander Aphrodisia, perfume lovers back in the day still had it better than we do. (Or at least, better than women on a budget today.) This is just an amazing perfume.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Elizabeth]

I love these Faberge scents also, even if they do smell dated. Just curious: is it a vintage version of Aphrodisia you have written about? Thanks.

[Elizabeth]

I just read your Sept. 30 post about the Faberge trio, which I should have done before asking my question! Sorry about that. I am going to wear some vintage Woodhue today. I love it that these frag's can still be found here & there at affordable prices (probably not for long, though).

[Olfacta]

Will have to get some now. I hated it when I was in high school -- it had a "hard" note I didn't like then. I'm turning into a vintage bloodhound. Wih the cost of anything decent shooting into the stratosphere for new fragrances, these vintage finds don't seem so bad, although they are going up and up.

[Perfumaniac]

Well, it's definitely not subtle, Olfacta! You would've gotten into some trouble with this one. And yes, being a vintage bloodhound is expensive...I can only afford bottles of the lower end stuff, or minis and decants of the high end. Oh, well. I'll smell them all the same anyway!

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Elizabeth. No worries about the question. I should probably include a pic and a back story for each of these that people stumble upon. So what's your take on Woodhue? I'm curious about how your bottle has held up, or if you have a similar impression of it.

[Angela Cox]

I am finding buying vintage isn't so expensive now compared to Amouage for example. It's lovely when you can buy ( as I did) recently an elderly lady's and help her out financially . It sounds a bit callous but she knew she couldn't wear them all now and was delighted I appreciated them. I only got a few and curse myself for waiting on a Caron set at £ 200.00s when just a E.D.T can cost half that . I am a real un-educated beginner ( I wore Jicky and Shalimar as a teen but stopped after I became a home-mum). It's been wonderful discovering scents now I have a stash I'll out-live . One day that big bottle of Amouage Gold might be sold to an enthusiastic collector .My daughter likes scent but not as much as clothes and notebooks.

[Martina Rosenberg]

Dear Perfumaniac, I'm sorry to post my question just HERE, but I did not find an email to contact you. I am collector of old/vintage flacons, and I sometimes despair because I can not open the old and stuck glass stoppers. Perhaps you do have any trick or hint to help me to open the vintage treasures without breaking the glass stopper?
I am at a loss here, and I have so interesting treasures to sniff at, hopefully.
Kind regards and thanks for any help you can give me !

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Martina,

There's a profile button somewhere on my page with my email, but it isn't very prominent. It's better this way, though — the answer will go to everyone!

Because I'm not a millionairess, yet I am a vintage perfume collector, I tend only to have minis and decants, so I have yet to encounter your problem of having a lovely vintage flacon with a stuck glass top. However, I looked around, and it seems the writer for The Vintage Perfume Vault has many suggestions in her post How to remove frozen or stuck perfume : http://thevintageperfumevault.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-remove-frozen-or-stuck-perfume.html

She goes into great detail, and it sounds like you might need a knife and a nice person to help you with this. Good luck! Tell me how it goes. What do you have, anyway? Just curious...:)

[Martina Rosenberg]

Hi Perfumaniac, thank you so much for your fast answer and help. I will see if anything which is mentioned in the article will help me to open my treasures without damaging them... I am slowly starting to unearth my old collection which I started about 20 years ago alreadly and which was/is boxed and wrapped up still. And I am aquiring new "old" flacons with great joy, avoiding too expensive stuff and trying to find bargains... I made some pictures of a few things of my collection and posted about it in my Blog. There will more to be shown as soon as I find place for a vitrine, hopefully.
http://chatelainesdreams.blogspot.com/
Thanks and kind regards, Martina

[Perfumaniac]

Martina,

I just checked out your blog and your bottles almost brought tears to my eyes! The Coty bottles are gorgeous, and the vintage juice in the Habanita made my mouth water. :) I will definitely stop by and take a look, but if you post new treasures, please let me know!

[Martina Rosenberg]

I followed partially the ideas and instructions on the site you gave, but after tapping on the bottom of the flacon and then tapping on all sides of the stopper I decided to "do" it: Took my jewerlly fine nose pliers , adjusted them side by side with the stopper and pulled. And it opened with a "plopp". The juice (Zibeline) has a very slight sour appearance on the first sniff, which thanks heaven goes by rather fast. What now develops is just a faint scent of the Zibeline I know. From all that sniffing and the desillusion my nose gets numb. This is not the mind-boggling experience I had hoped for. But after about 15 minutes a very animalic, harsch and edge note appeared. Very animalic, but then softened by sweet and powdery notes. A strong and "black" soft leather comes to the surface and maybe a tad of a "flower" scent too. I will dive into this deeper the next days and let you know. Anyway, thank you for helping to open the bottle ;-) - and yes, I will let you know once I took pictures of my other oldies...and goldies !

[[email protected]]

Mmmmm, va va VOOM! This sounds gorgeous! (Anything like "Shocking" by Schiaparelli? From the notes it sounds like it could be).

Thanks for this whole blog, it's fascinating and I really enjoy reading it. You're very clever at translating scents into words - Emma

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Emma. First off, thanks for the compliment. I'm glad you're returning to read the reviews! To answer your question, Shocking, which is a floral chypre with a bit of honey and civet, doesn't seem as "big" or complex as Aphrodisia. Aphrodisia is spicier, fruitier, and sweeter. It has an almost Oriental complexity and spiciness. Hope that helps!

[Emma]

My goodness! I will keep an eye out for some - sounds amazing. Thanks! - Emma

[julie]

Mmmm! Put on the decant sample you sent last night in my now-perfected decant-sampling protocol, to wit: bathe early, apply late to wrists, back of hand (2nd metatarsal, the hand bone leading to index finger), and cleavage, to see how it develops with a little sweat and whether it lingers on clothing.

Shady, cool, arboreal floral with a visit from Moby Dick.* That ambrein is the smell inside of seashells brought in and not rinsed out, far from modern "clean marine" it is salty and fatty, irresistuble.

*Yes, I just giggled. What can I say, I deal with middle-schoolers.

[julie]

Want to add that this brought me straight back to my own, non-giggly junior high years, as I had the trio then. I put an Aphrodisia after swim class, so I was used to a chlorine note that obviously is not there! It really is lovely, I'd categorize it as one of several that remind me of my mother's scarf drawer.

[Perfumaniac]

Julie: That's a nice little ritual you have going on there. "That ambrein is the smell inside of seashells brought in and not rinsed out, far from modern clean marine it is salty and fatty, irresistible." Gorgeous writing, Julie! Glad Aphrodisia inspired you to poetic heights. Always the sign of a good perfume.

[Perfumaniac]

It's remarkable a scent can take you back that way, Julie. Glad I had a part in it! I love those Fabergés...

[julie]

Thanks. You set the bar high for writing about fragrance. The wonderful thing about the internet is by sharing our experiences in words we add yet another facet to the world of fragrance.

[Lisa Michelle Latham]

FIST MY MOOD IS SOPHISTICATED!

[Carol]

Hello, I love your description and musing about Fabege's Aphrodisia, I did wear it 50 years ago and wore it until they discontinued it. I was a - quirky girl - in high school and this perfume was the cat's pajamas snd pretty advant garde - offbeat, seductive, and yumalicious. I still purchase it when available on Ebay or other sites and cherish every drop. Although this blog is read by far younger ladies than I, it must be noted any vixens out there who want to try it, my advise- dab lightly behind the ears at the wrist and between the clevage.. it will make your pulse race and that of any gentleman or lady. interests in your company! Thanks for the memories and will check out your blog more often.