Emeraude

I am a lover of almost all things old and vintage. I also don't have a large budget to spend on perfumes, so naturally I gravitate towards "drugstore" fragrances. Coty, particularly the old school Coty fragrances, have been my very favorites. Coty, once upon a time, was the undisputed King of smelling high-end while on a budget. He is famously quoted as saying: "Give a woman the best product to be made, market it in the perfect flask, beautiful in its simplicity, yet impeccable in its taste, ask a reasonable price for it, and you will witness the birth of a business the size of which the world has never seen." L'Aimant I first tried about 4 years ago, and was blown away by how close it was to my all time favorite, Chanel No5. I discovered Emeraude some time after L'Aimant, and I discovered it before Guerlain's Shalimar. I bought the cologne spray when it was on sale at Walmart, and fell in love with it. I seem to really love fragrances released in the 1920s. It was really a game changing era of perfumery, and so many masterpieces came out of it, the likes of which haven't been replicated. Emeraude is a deep Amber fragrance, with a heavy vanilla / oppoponax / benzoin / sandalwood / amber base, middle notes of florals and rosewood, and top notes of tart citruses; lemon, bergamot, and orange. I love the blend of the citruses with the heavy resins in the first spray of the fragrance. After the citruses disappear, you get a vanilla scented / lightly floral powder scent. I think the name "Emeraude" fits this fragrance perfectly. It's tagline in many vintage ads was "The jewel fragrance..." And Emeraude shines. Even as a cologne spray. I bought the now unfortunately discontinued dusting powder as well, and loved it every bit as much as the cologne. It was a very comforting scent to wear at night after my shower. I loved puffing on the powder at night and spraying the cologne on my wrists and climbing into bed, wrapped in the rich scent of vanilla and resins. I eventually used up my bottle, and haven't bought a new bottle since, as I've been spending my money on other favorites and some new-to-me fragrances to try. Then, just today, I discovered an antique shop while at an auto show. I was pulled in by looking at the store front, and was so excited to find that it was an antique shop. I've been in a few antique stores before, but this antique store really had everything. They had old 78 albums and records, vintage dresses and ladies gloves, and the most exciting find for me, were the perfumes they had. I seldom find perfumes at thrift stores / antique stores. And when I do, it's usually a small selection. I first spotted a miniature perfume that was nameless, and had no label. I kept looking, and while walking down an isle, I spotted a table with Avon fragrances and cosmetics. As soon as I walked over, behind it was a vanity with a handful of vintage scents. A flacon spray of Emeraude was the first thing I spotted, and I immediately picked it up. I bought it, and brought it home. Having read so many reviews here and online, alot of people have pointed out that it has been reformulated. Reformulations are the WORST things next to discontinuation when you are a vintage perfume lover. I'm not sure how old this bottle is or how long Coty manufactured these flacons, however I'm aware they were first on the market in the 1960s. I'm still very familiar with the current cologne spray. I wore this vintage tonight after my shower, and I did notice some differences. When I first tried Emeraude, and then sampled Shalimar, Emeraude seemed to be a "lighter" version of Shalimar. The opening notes on the current formulas are very different. This vintage formula, however, is ALOT closer to current Shalimar. The citruses are amped up in this formula, and both fragrances share a screechy, "chemical" smelling opening. The current Emeraude in stores smells much more natural, and the citruses aren't nearly as strong and tart. The dry downs, however, are very much alike. After this has dried, it smells like the Emeraude I'm familiar with. I'm quite surprised, due to this being a Coty fragrance. Aside from L'Aimant, and now this, Coty has discontinued and ruined many of it's great old school fragrances with reformulations, in my opinion. This however, while not 100% alike, is much closer than other reformulations I've encountered. I only wish this were still available in more than just a cologne spray. An eau de parfum version of this would smell incredible. I still hope, someday, that Coty will re-introduce some of it's older fragrances with new, high quality formulas. I would gladly spend the typical retail $48 dollars, (usually what celebrity or "affordable" fragrances cost in retail) on a high quality Coty eau de parfum. Until then, I will have to settle for this cologne spray; that is until I'm able to follow my perfume hobby, and try recreating this myself!

I'm not going to talk about how it 'smells like Shalimar'. I love both Shalimar and Emeraude and can appreciate the subtle differences. At the first spray, totally the same opening as Shalimar with zesty lemon and bright orange. The citrus top notes are coming through loud and clear, but they have a bathy or soapy kind of effect, like coming out of the shower fresh and clean. An old time perfumy perfume scent at the beginning with citruses. But as far as I can tell, this is the only time it's close to Shalimar. The rest of the fragrance's performance is very different. As soon as the citruses start to fade, you are left with a night blooming jasmine and ylang ylang floral notes. They are oily, like rose oil and oil of white jasmine, with a sensuality that I never thought could come from flowers. The white floral note of jasmine is at the very heart and core of this fragrance. It's meant to be and is an Oriental fragrance. When we think of the Orient, the Far East, we think of India and jasmine gardens. This is Shalimar, a sultan's jasmine garden in his palace. There is a soft silky quality to the florals. It caresses and does not overwhelm or overpower. If you spray only once or twice, you're good to go and it will smell wonderful on you and by others. It's an evening cologne for dressy night time affairs i.e. dinners, evening parties. It feels like wearing a beautiful emerald green dress or evening gown, made of silk or satin, and with shoulder straps. It is extremely feminine. The florals are old fashioned and being a drugstore cheapie from way back it can feel 'old lady' or your grandma's perfume. It does not feel modern and up to date because they never did reformulate this (to my knowledge maybe they did?) and continually sells in drugstores like CVS Walgreens etc, for years and years. But it is such an enchanting perfume. Once the florals start to subside, the base notes in the dry down are what brings this fragrance together. Vanilla. Dark chocolate musk and vanilla, like real vanilla extract. There is incense and strong sandalwood. You get a rich dry down of warm smoky goodness. Vanilla, incense, musk, and woods. Also, patchouli, a root of herbal and woody exotic power. The patchouli is dark and mossy, like oak moss but with more wood, and with the incense going, smells very much like something out of an alternative medicine shop or a hippie store but in a very good and sexy way. The patchouli in this scent is incredible. But to me the real big base note is the musk. The dry down is warm and very musky like you put on a fur coat over that green dress. This starts off citrus-floral with the traditional florals of jasmine and rose (more a rose oil to me than rose-rose) and finishes off as a musk and sex appeal scent at the end. This perfume is very grown up and sexy, daring, and seductive. Not only does it paint a picture of a romantic moonlit garden in India or Arabia, it's sexy as fuck and evokes Theda Bara, silent movie star and vamp-queen, as Cleopatra in her now lost silent film. who would have been all over this perfume. Egyptian kohl based make up, smoky make up, white semi transparent gossamer dress. It is a woman of great sexual power and feminine allure in an Oriental way. A goddess. This is just much more than a perfume but like the name an emerald a jewel. Despite the price (cheap) it is a luxury. Not for a little girl but definitely a woman-woman perfume! She means business in this scent and she can get any man she wants in this scent but mostly with her confidence and her intelligence and personality which can also be reflected in this fragrance. I highly recommend this scent to fans of vintage perfumes, if you like Shalimar and don't mind wearing something akin to it. Great for fall and winter because it's warm. Absolutely beautiful.

* * * "The liquid jewel" . . . (from vintage ad) In honor of my late mother, LaVon, I purchased a pristine, unopened, 1960s vintage Emeraude eau de toilette. I will never open but always display the faceted-glass, gold-capped bottle of lime-green liquid. First, in my new fragrance hobby, I found myself wanting to recover fragrances from my past, reminders of my youth when I discovered the likes of Revlon’s Charlie, Ciara, and Jean Naté; Faberge’s Tigress, Flambeau, and Woodhue; Dana’s Ambush, Canoe, and Tabu (see my reviews of the latter two). So, for such nostalgia alone, a bottle of Coty’s Emeraude in its current, eau de cologne formulation has just arrived. Sheer beauty! Bright sweet-tart lemon pops out from among its citrus counterparts, underpinned with naturally sweet, woody, spicy, and ambery accords derived from earth’s flowers, woods, and resins. Yummy ylang-ylang, fresh powdery-green jasmine, soft romantic rose, Brazilian rosewood, and creamy sandalwood—a harmony of light airiness juxtaposed with deeper shades of vanilla, opoponax (sweet myrrh), and green patchouli. What a creation, equally sweet-and-light and rich-and-warm, so unobtrusive that even a baby could wear it. Yet, somewhere under the innocence lies a grown-up and exotic sophistication. Today’s formulation in a plain bottle may be a shadow of Emeraude’s former self, but the scent is preserved well enough for us to realize that Francois Coty created a true classic back in 1921, one still on the market over 100 years later in 2023. And, testing it now, I clearly see why my mother wore this gem as her lifelong signature.✿ Scent family: Amber Floral Current formulation's longevity on me: weak to moderate

Since I have read good reviews of them all, I took the plunge to buy both L’Aimant, Vanilla Fields and Emeraude from Coty. But I have to say, that Emeraude is the only one of the three I kind of liked... I HAVE to stop blindbuying perfumes!! Ok, these were not very expensive, any of them, but still I think that it is very bad to have wasted money! I could have used the money to buy one perfume that I have tried on my skin already, and know that I like. Well, well... Anyhow, I guess that it is mostly the sharp aldehydes of L’Aimant and Vanilla Fields that I don’t like. Emeraude does nor have that. It is greener, mossier, and yet kind of warm and soft. It reminds me a bit of Habanita, actually. Though Habanita is stronger and more longlasting, and have more notes, more depths and layers. But Emeraude is nice enough, when you feel like wearing an oldfashioned fragrance, that isn’t too much ”in-your-face”. I know some have compared it to Shalimar as well, but I don’t think so. Much. Other that you can notice that it is from the same era, and have notes that of course were popular back then. I do love some of the older perfumes. But I understand now (I hope I’ve learned..!) that to buy these oldies, you have to really know what you’re doing, AND the same goes for modern ones! I have done a couple of mistakes with modern perfumes too. Even though they had gotten very good reviews, I did not like them at all... Still, to get samples of everything is not very easy all the time. So, I am sorry to say, that I suspect I may blindbuy something again!! 😱🤪

If I had smelt Emeraude just a few years ago, I would have immediately disliked it. It is "removed" even from my sense of taste in fragrance which was molded by intense exposure while growing up and coming of age surrounded by the big chypres and aromatic fougeres of the '70's and '80's. To my nose, they were very "modern", while scents like Emeraude and Shalimar were of another era. Not even my grandmothers' era (1940's-50's) of scents like Chanel #5, but my GREAT-grandmothers' era. But they were young once, too, just like all of us. Imagine being a sophisticated "modern" woman of the 1920's, when arte nouveau and high Victorian was still clinging, and art deco was emerging as its own, distinctly "fresh" style, touching everything in fashion and architecture. And times *were* changing rapidly back then... Going to movies was all the rage, playing card-games and mah-jong with friends and the radio playing swanky jazz, and for the very-boldest: sneaking into speakeasies for some bootleg martinis with the chic crowd. Women finally had the right to vote, and many were embracing their own independence and powerful sense of femininity. These are the images that come to mind when I spritz on a little vintage Emeraude nowadays. The younger me wouldn't be able to "connect" with that long-lost time, but now I do so with fascination, and great appreciation for the lives my great-grandmothers lead back then in the roaring '20's when they were young women coming into their own.

Emeraude is one of those underrated treasures of historic perfumery. It was always very accessible for customers looking for something elegant without paying a fortune. It doesn’t remind me of Shalimar. Shalimar reminds me of Emeraude because this beautiful cheapie was created 4 years before, and there’s no doubt the Guerlain’s legend was inspired by the Coty green jewel. It’s an eau de cologne so be ready to spray it a couple of times during the day. It’s notes smell like glamour and old times. How wonderful! Some frugal citrus opening notes followed by adorable florals, woods, a very shy vanilla and a cozy powdery trail. Emeraude is perfect to spend an evening at home, reading a good book with a glass of Port or Sherry wrapped in a cashmere sweater and looking at the leaves falling from the trees. If you wear it to bed you will surely have very pleasant dreams. But don’t let it spend all the time at home, wear it to a cafe, a walk along the trees, shopping and everywhere you want to feel comfortable and unique. Things like Emeraude deserve staying on the market for 100 years more. It may be a drugstore fragrance but that doesn’t make it less adorable and lose all the allure it has had for many decades for our grannies, aunts and stars from the golden age. In a world full of fragrances that smell pretty much the same, dare to bring something from the past and be different. After all what’s the price? Way less than a bargain!

In my opinion, one of the greatest fragrances of all time. It gets compared to Shalimar but they really don’t smell hardly anything alike. They are a similar style, yes, but two entirely different creations. I love both and have numerous bottles of each, and if you are really familiar with both you will find more differences. Back to the emerald green masterpiece known as Emeraude. I only have vintage bottles, newest being 20+ years old, so I have no idea what the new version smells like in comparison. But the vintage stuff, especially the parfum and parfum de toilette is the stuff dreams are made of, its truly some sort of sorcery. But I understand the hate it gets also, I hated it all my life until around 5 years ago. It actually made me angry to even smell it. I thought it was evil, hateful perfume. But after a really intense decade or so of smelling thousands of scents, I came back to it and realized the magic I had previously missed. It just takes a very experienced nose (forgive me, I hope this doesn’t sound arrogant) to appreciate the work of art that it truly is. I’m no perfume expert nor do I claim to be, I’m just an avid collector and fragrance lover and Emeraude will forever be in my top 10 and very often it’s my #1. I think the greatest creations are often polarizing. For me at least. Vintage Emeraude is a 10/10. Note: For powder lovers only!

The Concentrated Cologne Spray formulation I have stocked up has not been made for many years, but I don't get the impression (from the cheap packaging) that it was especially precious or rare in its day. I sought vintage bottles of this perfume out for nostalgic reasons, never expecting to enjoy wearing it. Emeraude was my Mum's signature day scent; I remember it smelling green, floral, and aldehydic, kicking into high gear of beastly projection with heat or exertion. What I've got bears some little resemblance to my memories, but I enjoy it all the more for the admixture of familiarity and surprise. If the vintage CCS bottles I have acquired have turned, they have turned for the better! Citrus and floral top notes are perceptible, but the emphasis is on a delicious, long lasting amber/musk/oakmoss base accord that shares almost no commonality with the current EDT/cologne formula that to me smells of bathroom cleaner. The vintage formula is definitely an old-fashioned fougère (minus the lavender) that reads more masculine than feminine (on my skin) - not sure if that was the intention of the original 1921 recipe. I Iove Emeraude layered with a spicy amber like Rag & Bone, or with Molecue No 2 for a modern 'niche' style update. Imo, this is a classic deserving its historic stature and worthy of collecting.

A lady in the perfume department of a department store introduced me to Diorissimo when I was a girl, and I fell in love. I had my signature fragrance. But when I was living on my own and working as a bank teller, it got too expensive for me. Astonishing, go figure. So I went looking for more affordable substitutes. Muguet des bois, Emeraude... I wore both at different times, liked both, forgot about both. Yesterday I tried a spritz of Emeraude, and wow. I don't remember how it used to smell, but I sure like how it smells now. All I got was patchouli at first, but not the overdone kind my friends wore in the 70s. Then it softened into something delicious. I can't wear a lot of current perfumes because they all have something in them (I'm suspecting it's white florals) that gives me a sick headache. Emeraude, thank goodness, doesn't have whatever it is. On the contrary, it has some magic that compels me to take another sniff and another, to consume it ravenously almost like a forbidden sweet. I never wore powdery scents or Orientals -- those were for my mother. Now I'm wondering if she wasn't on to something great.

Another of my visits back to the great scents I remember wearing in high school. Coty Emeraude stills makes my heart melt. So what if she has been around for many years as a "drugstore cheapie", as some call her. She has been around since 1921 and hasn't lost her soft sweetness and sexy elegance. She starts out with the brightness of bergamot, then heads for the flower garden. As she dries down, she is creamy vanilla, amber, sandalwood, and benzoin. Not a single bad note to my nose. Emeraude has been compared to Shalimar many times, but I can't wear Shalimar no matter how many times I've tried. And why would I bother when I can buy this classy lady for such a great price and smell like a soft, powdery, clean, sexy woman. The only downside is that, due to many reformulations much the origina and new regulations, there is much less of that really sexy musky smell and the longevity is mediocre. Still, it is a lovely perfume. Now I am hoping that one day I will score a REALLY vintage bottle somewhere for less than an arm and a leg!

This perfume ended up on my "vintage perfumes I must try" list without much impetus to rush out and buy it, but I ended up asking for a test spray at Walgreens and falling in love. On the paper it smelled strange, medicinal and alcoholic, but then a rich spicy vanilla started to appear and won me over, even though the only size bottle at the store was an enormous 2.5 oz green block. Since then I have worn this perfume quite often, as the bright, citrusy "hairspray" opening almost instantly dissipates into a soft, spicy vanilla-amber sort of scent that makes me feel elegant and womanly, but not raunchy or overpowering. My only disappointment is that after about four hours Emeraude is down to a very soft skin scent, and I have to reapply if I'll be out all day. Personally, I hate reapplying perfume while out of the house, especially a spray formula that those around me might not be fond of. Still, I reach for this one quite often, and I might repurchase it if I ever run out. It is the most ladylike of my favorite Orientals.

Unexpected love. I am still heartbroken over losing my amazing mother-in-law to cancer two months ago. She would always tell me I smelled good when we hugged each other, and appreciated discussing what perfume I was wearing to that particular family get-together. During one of our last conversations late this summer when she was still feeling well enough to sit on her back patio and eat lunch together, she mentioned to me that she loved Emeraude years ago, and had a lot of memories attached to this fragrance. I sprayed it on yesterday, and I was embraced by a lovely, powdery, softly spicy green floral scent. I can picture flapper girls applying it while rouging their knees 100 years ago, and my mother-in-law as a young flower child of the 60's wearing it while being her romantic vagabond self. It seems to fit this image, as my husband said he liked it and thought it smelled like Nag Champa. I have a special place on my shelf for this one. I love you and will miss you always, Kristy.

Thanks so much for your fantastic review, Labaloo. The way you have placed Emeraude in its historical setting means it makes sense when I smell it. Even a few months ago I wouldn't have been able to get my head around Emeraude. Now, if there was room on my top shelf in Fragrantica, it would be there. I received my blind buy of the current formulation last week and thought it was unbelievably beautiful from first sniff. This is an Opoponax I like. The Amber, vanilla and sandalwood sweeten the whole. Sometimes I find sandalwood a bit cloying, but it is gorgeous in this. All I can add to Labaloo's review, is to suggest is that, with fragrances which fall outside current trends, keep trying them from time to time. If a particular vintage fragrance continues to be a firm no, fair enough, but you might just (re)discover a gem in the future.

Emeraude is shiek, sophisticated, with a masculine edge, and mature. A classic scent, and something you would definitely smell in a night club in the 1920s. I love the citrusy/lemon opening, and the dry down is all about woods, amber and reisin. I think that the fact that Guerlain's famous "Shalimar" came 4 years after this shows just how good Francois Coty was at his craft. It makes me sad that a great majority of Coty's original fragrances have been discontinued, and it almost seems that there are no great "drugstore" fragrances left. I hope Coty keeps this out and puts back out a couple of their other famous fragrances (i.e. L'Aimant, Paris, Chypre) and in eau de parfum concentration, because I would buy! A classic Coty fragrance always promises to smell high end at a drugstore price.

This and Tabu were my Gram's go-to fragrances when I was a little child. She had a stick cologne of Emeraude; she used to let me wear it. I LOVED it. (In my teens I wore her Tabu too). I've loved it ever since. I have a bottle I bought not long ago, I think on Amazon, that came with a dusting powder. I miss dusting powder and layering scents, makes them last longer. Someone said there is an element of the fougere in it and I agree; I like to use my lavender (sharp, herbal, not sweetened, God why do they ruin lavender with sweetness?!) body wash and powder with it. I don't know what I'll do when I run out. Well, the gods know I will die long before I run out of perfume, so I shan't worry about it. But still, my life will not be complete until I get an early bottle of Opium again.

Ouch, my heart. What a pity to lose this beautiful fragrance. She was one of my first "drugstore throwbacks" I discovered and fell hard for in my early pursuit of vintages. I love Emeraude more than Shalimar; the rosewood really makes it special, and even the most recent batches feature it prominently. Shalimar is gorgeous, but so much more demanding to wear, like an expensive cashmere sweater. Emeraude is rich and luxurious too, but completely comfortable; silk pajamas you got on sale at TJ Maxx. We should've been celebrating 100 years of Emeraude a few years back, and here Coty was planning her demise. I collect old and obscure Coty and thought Emeraude would be around forever, since she made it so long. 103 years old when she died! I grieve 💚

I stumbled across this perfume per chance. Although a fan of vintage scents, I admit I've never heard of this one before. I snapped up a bottle for £11 on Amazon. I wasn't expecting much....wow. I love it! Let's be clear this is no Guerlain....however: I have read people comment that this is similar to Shalimar. Yes and no. But I can see why people say that. The opening is slightly reminiscent of Shalimar....but where Shalimar leads off into its amber, resinous delights Emeraude goes into a citrus, green powdery note. It's quite unique. The bottle is a monstrosity...but look past that and you have a bargain, vintage wee green gem. (You must love that old, powdery feel) Wear it to feel like a vintage, aspiring starlet.

Let me smell Shalimar's inspiration Muses Emeraude-- refreshing and bright citrus, its own right with dry lavender, grafted on a rich and warm tonka bean-vanilla-smoked amber note, where It is also lined with sultry, fluffy civet, a layer of sweet powdery floral notes and calm and firm patchouli wood, dark moss, and spices add variety and flavors (sour, sweet, salty...), strong contrast , Emeraude pattern is grand and highly complex. Different from Shalimar, which is romantic, beautiful and picturesque. Emeraude is strong and powerful, and no one can beat François Coty when it comes to structural ingenuity. Emeraude transparency and depth go hand in hand. It really is a sparkling emerald. A well-deserved great work.

I was raised by my grandmas mother...my great grandma on my mothers side,so I know how to respect all ages,perfumes,styles,and also tell the truth & respect different scents& years change...I like vintage,modern,heavy,light, fruity floral,oriental floral,gourmand,deep or sweet,or fresh all styles,then some I hate,I actually enjoy this citrus floral...in a very classic,basic vintage way.....we had an orange tree& roses 🌹 right by& this takes me back to those sunny days outside ,before she passed,this is also just a nice citrus,floral,powdery,very green fresh stems of a classic....I really enjoy coty& grew up on a lot of their perfumes.but wish they gave them all more lasting power~3hrs on my skin~ ..

Being on a vintage kick and using a lot of different vintages recently, including vintage L'Origan, Emeraude stands out as a truly green fragrance. Yes the liquid is green, but it also has a strong green note. There's nothing listed in the notes that is green except patchouli, which does not usually smell green to me. However it was done, this smells like the perfumer started with L'Origan and put the leaves in with the flowers. This also smells vintage, of course, but what's different about it feels like a forerunner of modern stems-and-all florals with prominent green notes along with the floral notes. I can smell the florals and the vintage amberiness too but the greenness makes it timeless.