Hope
Frances Denney (1952)

I first smelled Hope on one of Balanchine's corps ballerinas in the late 80's, a glamorous 21 year-old who was, at that time, sleeping with my lover's best friend. Hope was her signature scent, and it literally made me swoon. Monster sillage. I could smell it in a crowded room, in a party an hour after she'd left it; a scent shadow. It was eau de "Bad Ballerina", sexy and dangerous, floral and musky, strong enough to mask the ashy reek of cigarettes that ballerinas in the 80's smoked by the carton in lieu of food. Hope clung to every Stage Door Johnny she touched, pissed on every fire-hydrant in her path. So tantalizing and bad-ass I wanted to wear it myself, but the scent was identified with her so completely I would've seemed a poor wannabe.

No surprise when I started smelling it on my lover.

He's long-gone, but I have Hope now in my perfume rotation. Nothing subtle about it, but it's there on those long nights when I want to wrap my toe-show around someone's neck and wreak some grievous bodily harm of my own.

I read the review of vintage Hope and remembered how much I adored it! It was an amazing lovely fragrance - nothing compared! A soft oriental that I compare to nothing else. Learning that Frances Denney had a website I ordered a new bottle and the body lotion. While I was disappointed with the lotion, the beautiful perfumed cologne did not disappoint. I am as enchanted with it's soft elegance today as I was so many years ago. It is an underexposed treasure of a perfume. It is a timeless classsic proving as perfect for this mature woman as it was for that young woman so many years ago.

Yumm! It does make my nose itch, though. (Allergies) The bath oil smells the best, and I use it as perfume. It's richer smelling on the skin. Truly, Yumm. There once was a perfume called "Lost Horizon". Hope reminds me of that.

I wore Hope for a few years in the '80s and loved it, then put it aside. Recently I discovered the Frances Denney web site and ordered a .25oz bottle of the Hope parfum. Am I ever pleased. What a beauty. It starts out as a classic aldehydic floral, but the drydown is what makes Hope a real winner. The geranium settles in with the base notes and becomes dark and clove/carnation-like, a deeply attractive skin liquor. After an hour or two, Hope becomes a perfect bouquet of classic flowers balanced on a dark, sensually spicy backdrop. Notes include jasmin, Bulgarian rose, Algerian geranium, allspice berries (Pimenta dioica) and other spices. In many ways, Hope is like a tamer version of Caron's Coup de Fouet, which is also on my favorites list. I'm delighted that Hope once again has a prominent place in my fragrance repertoire after a 20+ year absence.