Infini (1970)

I wasn’t sure whether to get a second bottle of Infini after half using another one. My first one was a pressurized atomizer, early 70’s PdT that, while green and wonderful at first, became sour, stale and ugly after a few minutes. I’m guessing poor storage and expired propellant had the upper hand upon that gorgeous tobacco green haze that couldn’t survive more than a couple of minutes. Some weeks ago I came upon a pristine and boxed infinity bottle of the PdT as well, in the gray geometric box. 1974 batchcode and a bargain price. And here goes. This version of Infini is vastly different from my previous one, although both are roughly the same year. Infini, as many Caron’s, is known to be notoriously batch sensitive; the same concentration can vary significantly from one bottle to another. One greener, the other heavier on tobacco, ones with a prominence of narcissus while others offer a nondescript floral melange. My bottle goes from a Calèche/Madame Rochas prim aldehydic-ness to a greener, irisy N°19. My first Infini opened with a bitter herbal green; grassy, wheaty, smoky. Soon after, it died. This Infini opens with sparkling aldehydes. Soapy, a little bit astringent even. What follows is a tender floral medley that doesn’t show a prominence of narcissus. Hence the comparison to the above two same period classics. At this point, even though stronger than Calèche and Madame Rochas, I don’t find it particularly different or memorable. Had it been a narcissus heavy variant, I would’ve felt different. And honestly, it doesn’t start to impress me until the heart notes start showing. A smoky vetiver, rich foliage and spicy coriander take center stage, along a very Chanelesque iris, touch of galbanum and what I believe is a dollop of Mousse de Saxe. Among the golden tobacco tendrils, the abundance of green and the lick of civet, a leathery narcissus creeps timidly, but the floral star becomes the iris and the lilac. I can smell the cool beauty of vintage N°19 edp, but, with the leathery undertones of a 1940’s perfume. At this point it has nothing to do with futurism but more with the past. It lingers like this for hours, projecting vividly, before the base engulfs me in sandalwood with slight coumarinic sweetness. The greenness never really subsides but the leathery darkness slowly takes over before fading away almost a full day later. The 60’s and 70’s were all about space age, pixie do’s and mini skirts among spider lashes and plexi chairs. Shag carpets, orange and maroon furniture amidst avocado green bathrooms, all the while Paco gave us Mētal and Calandre, Yves gave us Rive Gauche and Robert Piguet was taking us into the Futur while Courrèges was Empreinte(ing) us its signature! Infini tries to tap into the future, but after the sparkle of the opening starts to fade, it really just goes to the past. The classic and solid bases of the house are still here, even if less noticeable. Is it possible it harks to the original 1912 Infini? I couldn’t say. Infini was marketed to the young and free woman of the time. Modern, vivid, full of life. But underneath it all, it can’t hide the good upbringing of the house, its masterpieces that came before, and offered another excellent perfume with quality and class. Subtle differences and a different approach to the green and floral aldehydic, make Infini one to try. It didn’t win me over easily, but it has become a favorite in no time. Stunning!

This version of Infini PdT is layered beyond its opening aldehydes. It would seem disingenuous to discuss what notes I detect, whether a narcissus accord goes in whatever shape or direction or the rose is a certain kind of rosy and the lilac reminds me of arboretum walks in May, and so on. This is because my nose doesn't tell my brain that it knows where one ends and the other begins, or even if there are clear overlaps. It all just coalesces like the seasonings in a good warlock's broth: a composite deliciousness. It's so tasty. Orbiting it all is muted, cool greenness and spiced-clove smoke, discreetly herbal accents, moving forward into the iris-cloaked "woods are lovely, dark and deep" and a warm amber sunset. It feels crepuscular, recalling that sensation I love, a hypnagogia, the liminal space between awake and asleep, a heavy-eyed mossy sedative. I took a nap in the afternoon while wearing this, and it served as the "smell-track" as some Don Slepian new age was the "sound-track." Infini PDT inspired me to explore this concept more. This earlier Daltroff version is a must for green aldehyde floral adventurers.

Vintage Parfum in angular bottle with cut out: Infini is a lovely blend of iris, jasmine, narcissis, and aldehydes. The beginning reminded me somewhat of Grand Amour with its aldehydes, leather and resins. Then 5 minutes later florals came forth and it evolved into a floral bouquet of jasmine, lily of the valley and narcissis reminding me of a Paco Rabanne Metal but with a lot less aldehydes. It's a gorgeous scent that is sleek, modern yet pensive and oddly a little androgynous. This perfume is not making statements of sexiness, or power, or anything like that but rather it makes a statement about fixed points in time that symbolize a world of possibilities.

Poor Infini has been through so many reformulations it is likely each of us is reviewing a different version of the scent! The Infini I had twenty-five years ago was a hugely lactonic floral with remarkable sillage and a faintly metallic drydown, like the jingle of keys on a ring -- a little edgy, a little cheerful. The version I own today still has some of that wonderful milkiness and decent sillage, but alas, the drydown jingles no longer.

Today i received a bottle of VINTAGE Infini from Caron - 1st version. Ooooo my God, this scent is sooo beautiful - typical old school of scents...I cannot even describe of what its smells, but so far it is my favourite Caron smells. It is very expensive feminine aldehydic scent, in a way similar but much more interesting as Chanel No 5. Absolutely gorgeous, precious!!! Love it.

( Actual Pure Parfum Review ) I think I like it more than Nocturnes. Both are similar fragrances, but this one is a little better and original. This is not an agressive aldehydes scent, its pretty much a pleasant intense fragrance. Infini is Extremely elegant and sophisticated and the sillage is perfect! I get a light and sweet-powdery tobacco note, wich i find very addictive.

My mum top five favorite perfumes : Quadrille by Balenciaga, Infini by Caron, Arpège by Lanvin, Antilope by Weil, Vol de nuit by Guerlain.

Why, oh why, do they insist on re-formulating these already stunningly beautiful perfumes. Don't tamper with perfection!!

This one has some similarities with the Vie Privée vintage by Yves Rocher. Needless to say that I adore them both!

Lovely warm Caron scent veering towards feminine...love it!

I have a vintage (maybe, but at least 10 yr old) bottle of edt and wore it today. If the sillage and longevity on this were better, it would be right up on my short list. As it is, I quite like it. It has a haunting quality that is quite romantic for me. I wish my spray nozzle worked better, but this one is worth reapplying, even messily.

I disagree with the name Infini i see nothing Futuristic about this fragrance it makes you think of edwardian times then space travel. the opening begins with a warm aldehydic note but it has a plastic undertone dries down to a sharp lilacs and dry iris. and the drydown of warm amber.

Heavy on aldehydes, but nevertheless beautiful and elegant fragrance:soft, soapy with a metallic note. Reminds me of a few fragrances: a smoother version of Madame Rochas, less sweet Byzance, Y. I have an older packaged EDT,but it's not vintage, I don't think so.

Mine's the one without the eometric cutout. It says 85 deg., whatever that means. I'm completely intrigued. It isn't love at this point, but it is a floral that really makes me think.

The scent is wonderful. Beautiful soft scent reminds me of exotic flowers with a hint of a powdery scent, Great for everyday use outdoors or office.

I picked up an unopened 7ml parfum on a flea market website. Only $5. REF.11.09.06 It's a square, straight bottle. Must be from the 1970's. Oddly enough, there are still a lot of Infini vials for sale here, Japan. I don't know the background, but it may have been one of the standard souvenirs of overseas trips at that time. Anyway, I adore Narcisse Noir, so I wanted to try this perfume from Caron. Well, when I put this perfume on my skin, I was overwhelmed by a lot of aldehydes. The aldehydes leave relatively quickly and I can smell the lily of the valley. Also, it has a resinous scent like clay. During the transition from the opening to the middle, this clayey scent bothered me. But as this perfume moves into the middle, it has a lovely white floral scent. I think this is the scent of the good old days, and I think it's outdated. I can't say I like it so far, but at least I enjoyed it as a history lesson. The impression may change again with the passage of time.

I bought this blindly, and from my research have figured out that it is the most recent version in the bottle pictured above, the tall bottle with little studs. It is discontinued, and I see why. The people who would buy it today would be so few, considering perfumes like LVEB have taken over the masses. This is the polar opposite of a modern fragrance. There are many Avon perfumes from the 50's that remind me of Infini, but I actually enjoy those more because I find them more nuanced and more affordable than this version of Infini. It starts out like a massive aldehyde attack mixed with smoky leather, bitter galbanum, oakmoss and perhaps narcissus. I picture a woman in the 50's, wearing an angora sweater and red lipstick, walking into a funeral home (the name fits!). Part of me wants to call this "outdated" while another part of me finds it kind of glam. The cloud of aldehydes lets up a little as it dries down to where I can tell there are flowers in it, albeit very hard to discern. I'd buy into a classic rose/jasmine combo, along with something that lends a touch of sweetness. I can not imagine anybody smelling lilac. I have never smelled a vintage, so I can not compare. But there are elements of my early 90's bottle of Or Noir that remind me of it, particularly dark leather-like note...although Or Noir seems spicier and less of an aldehyde bomb in comparison, and you can really smell the jasmine in it.

This is pretty much an update from my previous review. From what I have read, this fragrance has been reformulated many times since its release in the ‘70’s. (I know it is older than that, but my experience dates to the 70’s versions on.) This is one of my all time favorite fragrances. I will miss it very much when my stash is gone. To describe the releases, I am going by boxes and bottle styles. For the eau de Parfum, I have/had the silver and white box and the grey box. Both had the figure 8 geometric bottles. To me they are similar that I never notices a big difference. The initial “nose tingle” of the aldehydes is the best part. They are floral like and have a brightness. I absolutely adore the opening. As it mellows down, there is a cool floral. I think to me it is iris and hyacinth. Final dry down is the Tonka and musk with the florals waiting in the back ground. Absolutely lovely!! The perfume lasts about 6 hours on me (really dry skin) Now the EDP is hard to find, so the Parfums de toilette is more common and was easier to find. There seem to be three bottle styles. There may be more, but this is what I have. Oldest (I think) is a squarish bottle that had a grey plastic top and grey packaging. Usually this was a parfum de toilette. It also usually had an 85 degree on the box. ( I am assuming that meant it was 15% concentration). This smelled closest to the eau de parfum. The scent break down to me was the same. It has pretty decent silage and lasted about 3-4 hours. This is my favorite of the pdt’s. The liquid was a light gold color. Next was a metallic blue box. It is packages as an EDT. The bottles are the classic Caron pimple bottles with the gold crown top. This scent differs a bit from the above description. I get, the aldehydes, but they are not as strong. They do lean floral, but fade from sight fairly quickly. This still has the floral note, but is more iris, and very powder like. The final dry down to me is powder, and fluffy musk, and some sandalwood. I like it, but it is really really light. This is the most woody smelling of the lot. The liquid is a very pale gold. I think this was the newest formulation before the "big"change. The last package I have is the classic white Caron box. This also has the traditional Caron bottle. The liquid is a very light yellow. The opening is the aldehydes and a strong floral. The floral is more pronounced in this formulation. It has the most iris, some rose, and the tuberose. This dries down very floral. To me this is the most floral formulation. I do like all of them and usually will mix my sprays. I never get the vetyver, Amber. I have tried the modern formulations, but they smelled like fruit cocktail to me. They are not my style.

Whoa- hold on a minute. I never reviewed Infini here before, frankly because up to this point, it has been probably the only Caron I've not been overly impressed with. (I stick strictly to vintage for this house. While they made some of the very best fragrances of the 20th century, Caron certainly suffered a very great demise going into the 21st Century. And at this point, the cost and rarity of most of the classic Caron perfumes makes serious collecting of them a privilege I really can't afford.) But today I am wearing Infini in cold weather, apparently for the first time, and I find a new identity blossoming in the chill air- Infini has been overlooked in my collection because of her fickle nature. In the cold, her green and floral elements positively sing, but are perfectly harmonized by fine powdery base notes. Some reviewers have compared Infini to White Linen and I agree. But although White Linen is pretty, it can be over whelming, while to my nose Infini has a much more refined and discreet nature. So, if you are a fan of complex green florals done in a classic style, I say go out and scoop yourself up a vintage example of the pure perfume while it's still around.

I am reviewing Infini in a vintage 1980's PDT formulation. On me, Infini opens with a lot of soapy starched aldehydes that remind me of Madame Rochas or White Linen. The dominant floral note is jasmine, with a subordinate role played by iris. (I do not perceive any rose or tuberose in Infini.). Gradually, the scent becomes more grounded, with excellent oakmoss and sandalwood and perhaps the tiniest hint of civet. Some reviews of Infini state that it is leathery. I do not find Infini to be leathery at all, but there is a kind of dark raspy smokiness within it. I should also add that Infini is a very atypical Caron, with no hint of the characteristic "Caronade" or spicy, vanillic, ambery base found in Nuit de Noel, Tabac Blond, Bellodgia et. al. Infini doesn't soar or feel like an especially futuristic composition for its time: it is a dry, unobtrusive scent, extemely elegant but perhaps a little lacking in passion. I like Infini, but I do not love it, but my appreciation grows each time I wear it.