Faberge Tigress

Meeoooow! Tigress purrs so beautifully on my skin. This fragrance is one of four I received in a Faberge quartet along with Aphrodisia, Woodhue and Flambeau. It was for Tigress that I sought out this collection. I wore this in 9th grade (almost 30 years ago!). I believe it was a 'modern' reformulation c. 1988 that came in a flat bottle with an emerald colored cap (shaped like the classic Opium flacons). There appears to be no evidence online that this bottle ever existed, and when it did, it was only available on the Australian shelf for about two years (I went through two bottles). And my dear friend Justin loved the way it smelled on my Catholic school wool sweater when I made him hold it one day. So, it's been since 1988 since I have encountered this kitten, and today, it's an even older vintage than I started out with. The bottle I have now is the same as the one pictured above, acquired recently at online auction. To start, Tigress reminds me very much of Tom Ford's Shanghai Lily, but richer, fuller, higher quality and much longer lasting than Ford's Oriental floral. Neither perfume contains true lily to my nose but rather representative of powdery flowers with big, velvety petals, perhaps even bushels of rich carnations. The oakmoss in Tigress provides such a tenacious base that carries the richness all the way through. The spices are warm, full, not sharp, smoothed and simmered by the oakmoss and well balanced aldehyde which is not overt, providing softness and light. The gentle sweetness of the florals and a nuance of pink rose along with vanilla and tonka make something of an incense accord. 1988 was less floral, more amber and I would have classified it as a solid spicy Oriental. This earlier version is just a little more complex than the style of the bold 80's but the shift in balance here presents more aromatic notes. Only a little different. Perhaps take that evaluation lightly as this is purely from my olfactory memory of almost 30 years ago. Do sample Tigress if you get a chance. I would even go so far as to say not to waste your time or money with Shanghai Lily and opt for this fearless, affordable vintage instead. It's one of very few Oriental fougeres for women in the database with its rich warm base and pulsating, aromatic heart. I happen to have two in this genre with Grossmith Phul-Nana being the other. Both are a superb experience in wearing and would not be out of place in your wardrobe today.

There are so many versions of Tigress out there, I think we all must be smelling different things. I have two bottles, each smelling a bit different from the other. My older bottle has a fake fur cap with bold black, white and orange tiger pattern. It's probably from the 70's. The scent in this bottle is gorgeous. Warm and spicy throughout and becomes softer and powdery as it wears. This one is beautiful from start to finish, along the same lines as Youth Dew, Tabu, and the like. The newer bottle is packaged with a gold cap, no fake fur at all, but still says Faberge. I think it's possibly from the 80's. This version is not quite as impressive and not the best example of Tigress. This one opens up a bit harsh, but as the opening notes subside, it develops into a sort of cola and incense scent. I like this one after it settles down but it's not as pretty as the one with the fur cap, and I prefer to smell lovely notes right away instead of waiting for them. Apparently the most beautiful and coveted version of Tigress has the fake fur cap with the muted golden colors. I have not smelled that one but I believe it must be truly gorgeous. Apparently there is a more recent version of of Tigress produced by a company other than Faberge but I don't believe it could possibly be true to the original. Somehow those new versions of old classics are never as good. Even Faberge reformulated Tigress a few times during its approximate 40 years of production, so I doubt a different company would bother going back to the true original. Too bad.

"What's the principal doin' with her? Who's that guy, is he screwing with her? What's her perfume? Tigress by Fabergé It makes me cream my jeans When she's coming my way" - Rough Trade, 'High School Confidential' My first knowledge of Tigress is from the lyrics to this classic song and it added to its mystique. I used to have a splash bottle with the felt tiger-pattern cap which unfortunately slipped from my hands and shattered. Man, was it a glorious smell. I had since replaced it with this pressurized-atomizer spray and what a sweet sensation this hot number is: a real knockout spicy amber that blasts you senseless with aldehydes, and sweet, sexy effervescent white florals soaked in cola! Then there's a carnation POW. It starts off heady and then simmers down to this powdery, furry-musky dry down with heaps of tonka (coumarin). Delectable and sexy.

If you get the actual vintage Tigress you are in for a treat if you like spices. The vintage bottle has that auto spray thing where it sprays for a certain length of time, it's like my vintage Tabu spray bottle. I love how amazingly spicy this scent is. Just thick sweet spice....if this is your thing. The opening right off the bat had me concerned with a sharp amber and aldehyde blast, but after only a few minutes I started getting the heavy spice w/the amber smoothing out and it just keeps transporting me back in time. Oh how I wish I could just snap my fingers and have a true vintage bottle that is full...I will be cherishing what little I do have. Makes me want to put on a pair of bell bottoms, platforms and a risque halter top made of a a silk scarf!

My sister wore this but when I got old enough to buy my own perfume, I opted for other scents like KL and Murasaki and Bakir. Tigress seemed kinda cheesey. But I decided to try it and found a vintage bottle for under $30 on eBay. It arrived today and I sprayed one arm. OMG. What a fantastic frag. Heady is a good word for it. Also sensual, warm and seductive. I can understand why a man might like to smell a woman who smelled like this. Not sure how I'll work it into my perfume wardrobe, but it will definitely fit in somewhere. Maybe when I wear a nice animal print. :-). Oh, and Lola FalanA was the name of the iconic entertainer chosen by Faberge to be the face of Tigress.

My favorite in high school 50 years ago. I used the bath oil as perfume. IMHO one of the loveliest fragrances ever made. Warm and inviting, I wore this for years until it couldn’t be found. I also enjoyed Tigress Musk. Made me feel beautiful, and the men liked it. How I wish they would re-issue some of the older fragrances with the same notes. There was a perfume made in the 50s called Lost Horizon. It was similar to Tigress as far as I can remember. Hope body oil by Francis Denny is also similar. Smelling great wasn’t very expensive back in the old days. ❤️

Love, love, love this fragrance. I remember wearing it at just 12 years old. I would sneak in my parent's bedroom and sample the bottle on my mother's vanity. I'd walk out innocent and she would ask me if I've been in her perfume again - lol! Eventually, she gave it to me when I turned 14. I think I was the only freshman in high school that smelled this rich, beautiful and seductive. I would buy it to wear again (especially to wear for my husband) but it's very hard to find.

Vintage Tabu Bottle that the previous review mentioned is perfect. Love her she's spicy and rich and sweet in an unexpected way. I cherish my full bottle and use on special nostalgia moments only. Love , she is indeed a Tiger. Aldehydes and Tonka are an incredible unexpected move for it's times ! How can a fragrance be so classic but futuristic it surprises me. I feel so fortunate to have her in my collection. She's the gem of the 70's.

I believe the advertising slogan for this in the 1960's was, "Are you daring enough to wear it?" No, I wasn't! Tigress was not for good little girls like me. It was for the woman who knew a thing or two -- or three. Rich with spices, exotic, and filled with heat. Tigress had a lazy, luxurious quality, like a big mama cat lolling around in the sun. Now that I know a thing or two or three I dare to wear it!

Warm, rich and provocative. It's 1969, the Summer of Love. I'm 13, full of raging hormones and in love with Tom Jones. As I unscrew the furry cap and apply Tigress, I feel the womanly, animal power I'm just beginning to wield. There's a sense of danger. I shiver with excitement, not knowing the source, but loving the feeling. That heady juice transformed me into its namesake. Ah Tigress that I was!

Tigress by Fabrege was my first "grown up" fragrance. It was given to me as an 8th grade graduation present. It was spray cologne and dusting powder. I loved it! I loved the animal print! I remember waking up on summer mornings inhaling deeply and getting whiffs of tigress (soft & powdery) I wonder if I would love it today almost 40 years later! ... Thanks for the trip down memory-fragrance lane!

This starts out similarly to Bal à Versailles before something sweet starts popping up. Whatever it is reminds me of cooked plums, but it does a great job of balancing the powdery and citrus notes as well as lending a cozy feeling. I get the feeling that this would be cloying in warm weather, but I wouldn’t mind trying it again then just to see if the aldehydes are more noticeable.

I just picked up a half full bottle of Tigress at the flea market for a dollar... it has the felt print around the cap.. OMG I love it.. a very warm spicy oriental, strong with great sillage.. Luckily I dont get any green (other than the oakmoss which isnt that heavy) or any aldehydes as I dont like them, it may because the bottle is obviously pretty old..

Both of my grandmothers wore Tigress, back in the 70's. When I was little, I remember playing with the fur cap, as others have mentioned. I was really fascinated with the bottle. I even sneaked a couple of drops from time to time. I might order one from the Vermont Country Store, for old time's sake. I remember liking the fragrance a lot.

I am a child of the '60s, and LOVED Tigress. I have found that Emporio Armani smells very very close to Tigress on me. So many wonderful scents from that time, many lost. Lanvin's My Sin, L'air du Temps, Oh! de London; but Tigress was my first love!

soft, powdery aldehyde floral that smells like Liu to me, skin scent that does not last long; nor is it powerful or spicy as many reviews claim

I personally enjoyed this fragrance,back in the day.Body chemistry maybe? It smelled fabulous on me , but Non est ratio gustum.

I was reminded of Tigress yesterday while reading the story about Snooki's perfume release. Something about that cheesy cylindrical animal print bottle seems like a modern twist on the Tigress packaging to me. I couldn't tell you if Tigress was seen as a trashy fragrance in its heyday (too young), but I do know that the vintage juice is much sought after on Ebay these days. The fragrance itself reminds me of Tabu without the root beer note. It even is a bit similar to Bal a Versailles, if you happen to like that sort of thing, which I do. Edited to add: I recently got myself a decant of vintage Tigress from The Perfumed Court. Holy sh*t, now I know why people go crazy for vintage perfume! This stuff is so incredibly smooth and mellow, it's like 20 year old single malt scotch...no broken top notes, either. Highly recommended.

I tested this in a drugstore when I was a university student - men loved it, one man was extremely intrigued with it, he said it suited me. In those days I was described as exotic, sultry and tantalizing. I preferred 'Rive Gauche' and 'Straw Hat', which he hated. I married him anyway, so 'Tigress' holds very special memories for me. Years ago I bought a vintage bottle which had turned slightly. It still brought back those wonderful years. I'm curious, I've seen 'Tigress' in the Vermont Country Store catalague but wasn't sure if it was the original formula. Can anyone who knew the old 'Tigress' tell me if the VCS version is the original?

I was afraid to try Tigress because I thought it might be too opaque and spicy for my tastes. My nose just can't abide a lot of the hard-hitting amber-colored juices. I was quite pleased to find that it smells of refreshing and sparkling cola drink with a spoonful of cinnamon and hamster's wood chips plopped in. It reminds me a bit of a birch twig. As soon as I smell this, I think of Michelle Pfieffer in "Scarface," with that big floppy hat and disco dress. Tigress is very 70s. I like it, but I don't ever reach for it. The version I am reviewing is a vintage cologne concentration in a glass bottle with a gold, metal cylindrical top.