Tabac Blond

This perfume just makes me want to shout out all the notes as they come to me, in ecstasy, lol. I want to become the type of woman whose signature is Tabac Blond. I want to wear it every day in every situation and not have anyone wonder why I smell "like that". As an ex-smoker, this really satisfies a nostalgic part of me, which doesn't long for or crave the cigarettes themselves anymore, but misses the times I spent with friends, drinking coffee or wine and smoking and talking... Some of my best conversations were tinged with the scent of tobacco. In a sort of more abstract way, Tabac Blond does smell like tobacco, only lighter and fresher, and also like dark, floral vanilla. I personally get a far more prominent floral accord than I do spice. I love the vanilla in this fragrance. Spiritueuse Double Vanille by Geurlain could be its sweet little sister. Soft and deep, fresh and rich, Tabac Blond needs to be worn a few times. It is one of those perfumes that has a life of its own, and as such you might not have the opportunity to really get to know her at all right away. She's the woman riding in the elevator with you each day, who you notice and briefly admire but don't feel the need to speak to, until that one day when you suddenly realize you've fallen half in love with her. And even then, the mystery continues. . . I think that I must have a bottle of this perfume. When I breathe it in my mouth falls open as if I'm drinking the scent. Tabac Blond has perfect pitch and temper, it sings beautifully. This perfume reminds me of having the courage to follow your deepest, darkest passions, and to be open to all chances to uncover what those passions are! I don't think that anyone should deny themselves the greatest pleasures in life, so please try to wear this perfume a few times throughout your existence on earth. Just don't force Tabac Blond to adapt to our contemporary ways, our current surroundings, changing beliefs, and new attitudes. Really, I want to adapt my way of seeing and of being to this perfume. I challenge you, Caron invites you, and Tabac Blond begs you (in so far as such a Lady could beg), to take a step toward revealing your secret to yourself.

The only trusted way to buy this scent is to go into a high end department store like Fortnum and Mason's or Harrods in the UK and see it decanted before your eyes from one of the large Lalique flacons into a beautiful bottle of your choice (there are several including gold, silver and mauve and blue glass). The half a dozen or so large flacons (probably containing more than a litre each of scent)with their tiny taps are displayed in a semicircle in their own space on a white bar counter on Fortnum & Mason's beauty floor at the perfume end by the spiral staircase.But you are not getting a beer here! The heavenly Tabac Blond is in one of those beautiful flacons. You are served by one of several very smartly dressed men who patrol the perfume end. Surprisingly there were no women in charge of perfume that day. When I asked why, I was told that men know more about perfume and that most noses are male.Well that me put in my place! You might be surprised to discover the price - just £75 for the EDP and about £25 for the refillable bottle (but I chose the more expensive gold metal one because I did not want it to maybe break inside my handbag). This is expensive but considering the quality of the scent and compared to the cost of perfumes from other houses like Creed and Roja Dove for example, it's very good value. The scent itself just cannot be faulted; it achieves a unique balance of leather/tobacco and floral notes by some miracle. If you want to find the Caron flacons in Harrods, they are not in the huge perfume hall on the ground floor. You have to go to the Salon de Parfums on the 6th floor and navigate your way through the Beauty Salon to get to it. You enter a dark low lit black marble walled sanctuary with sofas and the most expensive perfumes are displayed like precious museum pieces behind glass. Quite an experience and you need a bit of bottle to walk into it as it is so exclusive and you will also be immediately approached. But when you talk to the (male again) assistants, if you are even a bit knowledgeable about perfume, you will be welcomed, even if you don't buy any

This is the ultimate femme fatale scent for me, powdery, sophisticated, dark, magical, slightly animalic, spicy and smoky! I will make sure to have a small decant of the vintage parfum for life. I love learning about the history behind this perfume and the nose Ernest Daltroff. I am also learning about Turin, he famously stated that Tabac Blond was "dykey" which is a very crude remark. I don't understand how he, a so-called expert of fragrances, does not appreciate Tabac Blond? Tabac blonde was created for women who started to smoke during WWII, it is a game-changer! This is a spellbinding scent, I also call it a "liquid courage" kind of scent. It is intended for the bold, daring woman with a strong personality who wants to smell unique. I am new to fragrances, my review will never do Tabac Blond justice. The tobacco note is my very favorite thing about this fragrance. The first spray on my skin is the spicy carnation with leather, I think, I smelled a hint of gasoline, I have tired Mitsouko (Mitsouko was created in the same year as Tabac Blond I believe) before and I sense the sort of similar tantalizing gasoline accord in the opening here. It wears off all too quickly. Vetiver, and the sweet powdery iris, earthy spicy warm cloves gradually comes through. The leather here is dry like an old leather jacket found in a thrift shop, the carnation fades and the leather is becoming softer. The drydown is similar to vanilla incense. I know that my nose is missing so many notes! I genuinely think that all perfumistas should try this once in their lifetime. A great scent to try is Molinard Habanita! It is of a similar vibe as Tabac Blond: a deep smoky powdery, retro-style scent. The longevity is great, and the sillage is soft.

I got a sample of the new version in the round bottle. I get a lot of iris, carnation, chocolatey patchouli, musk and vanilla. The leather is really hushed and the vetiver and cedar is barely perceptible, though perhaps without it the fragrance wouldn’t have anything to support it. It hardly has any of the gusto of a perfume “a daring 20s flapper girl who smokes” would wear. I don’t get much mossy mousse de saxe. However! If I think of it as an iris perfume it’s totally gorgeous and possibly the best I’ve ever smelled. It has that musky sweet and powdered skin-scent base that I imagine is the “Caronade” that people talk about. It’s very sensual and smooth. I love that it doesn’t smell synthetic and modern. It smells like a real perfume! It’s addictive, and I might get a bottle of it. I have some vintage on the way so I will come back to add more thoughts. EDIT: Wow. Got the vintage parfum. It’s a completely different fragrance!!! Why did they discontinue this?? It doesn’t even smell dated! The opening is crazy. The leather/carnation is almost scary. Extremely indolic, spicy, and harsh. Ten minutes later it’s a smooth, spicy, powdery floral-leather. Last edit: okay, I revisited the new version. It’s actually amazing. It smells like the vintage, only the leather is more blended. You miss out on the smack-you-in-the-face leather opening (a drawback) but you get to smell it until the dry down (a huge plus). I am absolutely getting a bottle of the new stuff. Long live Caron! What a gem. Might be the greatest perfume ever made.

Tabac Blonde Current 2017 EDP formulation Linden, light aldehyde to give it lift and brightness. Vanillic leather soon follows with a powdery lipstick iris note. Vetiver stirs to give it a metallic/medicinal note from the bottom and a touch of cedar. The carnation gives it a spicy touch but know this isnt a carnation bomb as sometimes carnation can dominate a fragrance. Here, it does not. Back in the 20s ladies would spray perfume on their cigarettes. It was known Germaine Cellier would spray bandit on her cigarettes so a beautiful aroma would mix with the tobacco from the cigarettes. I think here we have the same type of idea where a pleasant tobacco scent is to be worn wile smoking enhancing the users aura. My mother was a smoker and wore Opium Edt and the combination smelled fabulous on her. Now, with present day sensibilities one now sits at the precipice of choosing to smell like a fine leather jacket, minimal florals and tobacco. Is this a ghost of its former glory? Yes. However the negative press isnt warranted. You can do a lot worse buying todays thin designer frags. This is a good niche buy thats interesting and unique. Its not the Icon it seems to be. Its worth a sample and a try. I hope the new nose at Caron reformulates this closer to its former glory. Id put the quality on par with modern Lubins. If one wanted to discover what the big deal was about with the house of Caron, I feel one needs to obtain vintage samples to fully grasp its true splendor. To be continued : Tabac Blond EDC Vintage review.