The Old Lady Scents

[blktauna]

Versailles is rather nice. It has a very sophisticated feel with the combination of citrus, rose, amber & jasmine. After testing it, I immediately thought my mother might like it, which is a first (she likes Lancome's Magie Noir & not much else).

 

I have to say I disliked Versailles and I still have my bottle of Magie Noir vintage 1983 or something. I have to say it's stayed true as well.

 

Do people mean 'powder' when they say old lady or what? And what age old lady My grandma would be near 100 now and I think some of the grandmas here may actually be my age... *cough* There's a big difference between Shalimar / Emeraude / Charlie / Magie Noir / Farenheit / CK2

 

All of which will be old lady at some point.

Edited January 27, 2008 by BlackTauna

[OdetteOdile]

Do people mean 'powder' when they say old lady or what? And what age old lady My grandma would be near 100 now and I think some of the grandmas here may actually be my age... *cough* There's a big difference between Shalimar / Emeraude / Charlie / Magie Noir / Farenheit / CK2

 

All of which will be old lady at some point.

I think that's a good justification for retiring the "old lady perfume" description. I invite all perfume enthusiasts to find some new, imaginative terms/descriptions for the scents they now lump into that category.

 

As someone on the second half of the journey to old ladyhood myself, I'm feeling inspired by tziporra to claim and celebrate the term "old lady perfume" the way I've seen my LGBT friends assert they are "dykes, damnit" and "Queer and Proud!"

[smallvoice]

Scents that I recall reading as "old lady" to me, at one stage or another: Midnight, Victoria, Peacock Queen, Nuit, Asphodel, Seraphim, Glasgow, Singing Moon, Florence, Sea of Glass and Lolita, to name a few.

 

I don't think I've ever phrased it that way, but I definitely get the old lady vibe out of these. I think that what people mean by this varies, because our experience of "old" and "classic" are so vastly different, to respond to an above poster.

[meeow712]

Florence!

 

I had such high hopes for it. At first, it was a spicy floral....and then went to old lady baby powdery floral. I got a mental picture of a wrinkly old lady covered in powder (Anne Bancroft in Great Expectations).

[ivyandpeony]

...

As someone on the second half of the journey to old ladyhood myself, I'm feeling inspired by tziporra to claim and celebrate the term "old lady perfume" the way I've seen my LGBT friends assert they are "dykes, damnit" and "Queer and Proud!"

 

ha ha! I like the way you put that, OdetteOdile, as you know you and I are around the same spot on the Road To Old Lady Map. Technically, you could consider ALL my perfume "old lady perfume."

 

Rose and violet seem to incite the most "ew, old lady" comments from my husband, who has no idea what notes he is actually smelling. So the old ladies in his life must have smelled like roses and violets. But not every blend with one or both of those notes gets that label from him. Hope and Faith have gotten compliments, Moscow, The Haunted Palace, Le Serpent Qui Danse, Rose Red, Rose Moon and White Moon have too. Some other rosey &/or violetty blends that I think no one could accuse of old ladiness are Morgause, Ace of Hearts, Three Brides and Utrenyaya - all seem very sophisticated and sexy to me.

 

Havisham was probably the one he disliked most - which was fine, it was already extremely hard to find three years ago when he told me he hated it and used the OL label.

[tziporra]

Okay, I'm gonna reply to my own request for suggestions with some suggestion!

 

 

I searched the review forum, and compiled a semi-list of scents where people referred to an "old lady perfume" smell. I threw out the ones that smelled like "old lady soap" or "old lady powder" and I threw out most generic rose blends, since I'm not looking for a generic rose blend.

 

This list proved that I really do like a LOT of the scents (the ones I've tried) where people compared the scent to old lady perfume, so this really is a great search criteria for me. So my theory that "old lady" can be shorthand for perfume-y sophisticated chic is bearing out. Anyway, I look forward to working my way through this list, since the ones here I've already tried I either really liked or didn't work for skin chemistry reasons rather than dislike of the blend itself.

 

Peitho

Marquise de Merteuil

Shroud

Voodoo Lily

Haloes

Kubla Khan

Vixen

Languor

The Winter of Our Discontent

Archangel Winter

Black Lace

Nocturne

Goneril

Madame Tracy

Twilight

The Caterpillar

Rose Red

The Peacock Queen

Nemesis

Eos

Ophelia

Machu Picchu

Crypt Queen

The Atrocious Attic

Marie

Belle Epoche

Libra 2007

Cathode

Antique Lace

Venice

Phantom

Ouija

Delirium

Ozymandias

Gennivre, L’Artiste du Diable

Melisande, The Puppet Mistress

Eve

Perversion

Florence

The Witch Queen

Lucy's Kiss

Lilith

Darkness

Fox Fires on New Year's Eve at the Garment Nettle Tree at Oji

Garden Path With Chickens

Red Devil

La Petite Mort

Bien Loin D'Ici

Pink Moon 2007

Viola

Chrysanthemum Moon

Black Pearl

Poisson d'Avril

Three Gorgons

Aglaea

Wicked

Mata Hari

Blood Countess

La Bella Donna Della Mia Mente

 

It's a pretty diverse list! Enjoy!

 

Best,

 

Tzi

[UploadedLobster]

You might want to give Hades a whirl, too. It's very much the scent of a haughty old matriarch wrapped in a ranch's worth of minks.

[AmyAngel]

Haunted reminded me strongly of my grandmother. Anything with a strong warm amber note tends to make me think of her, but Haunted smelled so much like what she wore that even both my sisters mentioned it when I let them sniff!

[Mary]

This may sound weird, but I think the most "old lady"-smelling thing I've had was a bottle of Follow Me Boy. I bought it from someone else who'd had it a while (don't know how long), but when I tried it on my skin, all I could picture was a nursing home. Not really the kind of thing to make me feel sexy, so I stopped wearing it. It's literally collecting dust on a shelf now.

[donnatron]

I went out for a friend's birthday last night wearing Marie. When I got there and gave him a hug he told me I smelled like an old person. After he was sufficiently drunk I suddenly smelled like candy to him. So either I amp violet or he's just a jerk (but he's my jerk, so it's okay).

 

Maiden, despite the name, makes me feel 150 years old. My skin just seems to eat the green notes and leaves me with this sickly floral that makes me think of rancid Lily of the Valley dusting powder and this underlying scent of decay.

[303marlena]

Maybe its just me, but Harlot and Brisingamen totally smelled like dusty old lady to me. Go figure. Hopefully they worked out for other people. Must be my skin chemistry. (hopefully I wasn't just smelling myself and I *am* an old lady!)

[mazikeen]

I don't know if this is the kind of thing that you were looking for, but reading this, Regan immediately sprang to mind. It smells womanly to me. Very grown up and sophisticated.

 

And frankly, the line between "adult woman" and "old lady" is very fine indeed. (It's all in the eye of the beholder, eh?)

[reina]

Well, one non-BPAL scent that I smell exclusively on women past their 60th b-day is Rochas "Byzance". I personally love the smell, although wouldn't want to wear it just yet. it's a classic sweet powdery floral.

Any BPAL that smells like it will score highly in the "old lady" section. I don't know the notes in it though... let me see:

 

http://www.basenotes.net/ID10212862.html

 

I'm not sure what's in it, although I suspect a hefty amount of amber, vanilla, and white florals such as jasmine and lilly of the valley...

[galleywest]

Last night I was out with a bunch of my friends for a kind of "girls night out." They were looking at my BPAL stash (I'm trying to enable them--why can't they let people do sales of these like Avon?!). One of them pulled out Vinland, sniffed it, and recoiled in horror.

 

"Ew!," she said. "It smells like old lady/nursing home!" Another friend tried it and had the same reaction. I told them it wasn't bad on (it's actually pretty high on my list of faves!) and put it on to prove it. They said I smelled like an old lady!

 

I think it smells herbal and floral and soft and...just lovely! Am I so wrong?! Well, I'm still going to wear it.

[flco]

I know you don't want a "generic rose blend" but hear me out for a moment here--I don't find these scents to be "generic rose blends" at all.

 

Check out London and, if you can get a hold of it, Rose Red. The one grandmother I had who was alive long enough for me to remember her well always wore rosy scents. Or maybe it was the same one she always wore. In any case, I came to find the smell of roses very comforting. London smells very similar to what she used to wear--classy, subtle, and very timelessly sophisticated. That's one of the reasons I adore London; it brings back fond memories of my grandma as well as making me smell really elegant.

 

Rose Red is a slightly more playful, hip, and flirtatious take on the rose scent. I also adore it as well.

Edited March 16, 2008 by FlyingCoffin

[letsrunaway]

This is a weird one but the non-apple half of poisoned apple reminded me of my grandma.. but more her house. Maybe even her carpet.. yech. Ruined it for me. I doubt it's what you're looking for.. but it was veryy old lady to me.

[cranberry]

event horizon. while this doesn't smell like an old lady to me, it does smell very much like a classic perfume along the lines of chanel #5 or maybe even coco. classic floriental. I think it's gorgeous.

[jarvenpa]

I am an old lady in training, or a young crone, and I do seem to love the powdery and old fashioned classic scents (well, I'm kind of "i love it all!").

 

The other day I was at the market when a woman came over sniffing happily and asked "May I ask you...what is your perfume?" I had to think, because I vary my scents a lot, but in this case it was Mme Moriarty. So I did my spiel about the interesting Black Phoenix company (I really should carry cards or something) and told her the scent name.

 

She said "it reminds me so of my dear grandma, who used to really kick ass".

 

[anardana]

When I smelled Salome, the first thing I thought was that it was a grandma scent. Totally not my thing. You might like it

[Floria]

The only thing I've encountered from the catalog that really says "old lady" to my nose is Paladin layered with Goblin, which smells eerily like old-fashioned scented face powder.

[stellamaris]

I really hate that "old lady" description, akin to the Eww Baby Powder one. Sigh.

I really love the old fashioned type scents, Wicked is one for me. Haunted another.

People say "Old lady" as if it is some type of horror, like "Eww, smells like a Felon or Child Molester"! "Gross, Garbage Dump"!

I am all for Banning The Old Lady Moniker as I find it horrible. How about Classic, or Timeless or Old Fashioned, or Anything Else But Old Lady.

Edited December 9, 2011 by stellamaris

[halation]

"Old-fashioned" strikes me as a good descriptor. I think that's often what people mean. Some combination of "old-fashioned" and "powdery", and many old-fashioned perfumes do have that powdery note. I can't make them work, and it's frustrating, but I can still see how they'd smell lovely on the right person. It does help if you have a stately sort of bearing, I think, which can come with age. I can't pull it off.

 

This is going to sound weird, probably, but Bastet smells so very much like my Grammy's perfume. It's craziness. And it makes me happy, because I never knew the name of the scent she wore and I'd always wished I could smell it again. Still can't figure out what it was called - I know it had a dusting-powder version that came in a cream-coloured shaker with dark brown writing on it, and that she used to buy it at a particular department store, but that's not much help - so I never thought I'd get to smell anything like it again. It was a very happy surprise when I got hold of an imp of Bastet. And it's still sexy, despite the association -- clearly, my grandmother had excellent taste.

[Poenari]

I really hate that "old lady" description, akin to the Eww Baby Powder one. Sigh.

I really love the old fashioned type scents, Wicked is one for me. Haunted another.

People say "Old lady" as if it is some type of horror, like "Eww, smells like a Felon or Child Molester"! "Gross, Garbage Dump"!

I am all for Banning The Old Lady Moniker as I find it horrible. How about Classic, or Timeless or Old Fashioned, or Anything Else But Old Lady.

 

I completely agree, and would much prefer if this thread were retitled as "Classic" or "Timeless." Maybe I'm being oversensitive, but I also find that phrase insulting and derogatory when used as a description. There are many forumites of varying ages here, and I am one who may qualify chronologically to be considered an "old lady" in the eyes of someone much younger. I know that when I was twenty, it seemed that fifty was old. It is amazing how my friends in their 60's now seem young to me because I'm not far off from hitting that decade.

 

Besides, I would never consider anyone who has the good sense to love and wear BPAL to be an "old lady" in the derogatory manner in which it is often used to describe scents. There is even another thread in the Randomness section called "Old Broads of BPAL " and we proclaim and wear our age proudly. Aging is something that we all are doing on a daily basis, and someday every female forumite will be an "old lady."

 

All that being said, and to keep this on topic, I love Halloween: Las Vegas with a passion, and while the scent doesn't necessarily evoke memories of my grandmother, somehow it fits my memories of her exactly! She passed away when I was very young and I grew up without grandmothers, but my recollection of her was seeing her sitting in her broken down recliner with a cigarette in her hand, in a cigarette holder, the long ash dangling off the edge, and her Manhattan in the other hand. Now that's my kind of "old lady."

Edited December 9, 2011 by Poenari

[RhinestoneHousewife]

To me, old ladyish means powdery and heavy on the rose. Wanton reminds me of something my mom used to wear back in the day.

[stellamaris]

I don't think it's being overly sensitive to cringe at derogatory remarks, no matter what group they are flung at. *gets ma old lady panties in a bunch*. I do believe that ageism is actually against Federal laws, yep that is correct. And that's because, it's not right. It's also a little hurtful for those of us who are

A. Ladies

B. Maybe not so young (PS I am 50. Whoa. So old)

C. Powder lovers.

D. Rose lovers.

 

In any case, it's funny because when I was in my twenties, I wore Ombre Rose all the time, which is heavy powder and rose. So when I smell that I think Ahhhhh! Oh no! It's the eighties and I am hungover and making poor dating decisions! Heh. I still love those type of scents, when someone says Yeech powder, I am right on that.