Aphrodisia
Fragrances of France (1938)

Aphrodesia is a very, very good Crepe de Chine clone - perhaps lighter and a bit more fruity than CdeC, but that might be due to the age of my bottles. It is also strong. The cologne has better silage and lasts longer than the CdeC extract I have, but again, that could be age. For a drugstore scent from 1938, it is still lovely and wearable, if a bit old-fashioned and formal. It was my mother's favorite, so I have fond memories of her getting dressed to go out on a Saturday night, wearing Aphrodesia and some chic 60's-era cocktail sheath. She had a gift set of 4 small Faberge bottles on her dresser - Tigress, Woodhue, Aphrodesia and Act IV, all with fun caps that looked like Jackie Kennedy's pillbox hats. Tigress was the best with a top that was fuzzy like tiger fur. Just before she died (age 98), she asked me to try to get her a bottle of Aphrodesia. I did, (thanks Ebay), but, sadly, not in time for her to enjoy a trip down memory lane. But, that search started my obsession (addiction?) with vintage scents, so thanks Mom and Faberge!

This Fabergé drugstore classic was a high school scent for me, too. Now I regard it as my reference chypre. A recently acquired vintage EdC had more tenacity than more modern scents in EdP concentration. Aphrodisia is cool, warm, spicy, fruity, and mossy all at once. Niche fragrances wish they could be this daring and persuasive.

Despite this being yet another copy of Millot's ground-breaking 1925 creation, CREPE DE CHINE, you can't fault it.

Honeyed floral tobacco potpourri with a rich animalic blend of oak moss, vetiver, civet and ambreum, you can't go wrong with this great scent, which has been copied by some of the greats:

Schiaparelli in SHOCKING; D'Albret in ECUSSON; Lelong in TAILSPIN; Monteil in ROYAL SECRET; Ciro in SURRENDER; Balenciaga in QUADRILLE, etc.

All the houses seemed to want their own copy of the CREPE best selling classic. APHRODISIA can hold its head up as worthy.

Yup, yummy stuff. In high school I was not as over-the-moon for it as I was for its sister fragrance, Woodhue. By college, though, I had discovered scents like this--complex, opulent and very French.

Notes off the internet (Perfumed Court): "bergamot, lemon, neroli and fruits; middle notes of rose, honey, ylang-ylang, carnation and jasmine; and base notes of oakmoss, vetiver, civet, ambrien and musk.

I am sampling a vintage version (successfully coaxed stopper off bottle...mawhahaha) and it is fantastic. A honey stew of old-style fruit...dark..not the modern shampoo fruit...cinnamon notes (or clovey-carnation) dressed with the chanel like rose and jasmine combo.... This all coalesces to rich creamy powder. Then, there is a tonne of moss and musk. So, it's a girly thing with a husky dusky voice.