20 Carats

Thank you for adding this! 20 Carats eau de cologne was my mother's signature fragrance for as long as I can remember. I think she wore it starting in her teenage years, and she always had a bottle with the gold flakes floating in it (it looked just like the one pictured above), and the bath powder as well, on her vanity. For the longest time, that was the only fragrance she wore, the 20 Carats and cigarette smoke (this was in the 1960s, before women were told not to smoke during pregnancy) aura that wrapped around her, day and night. She once told me that when she was pregnant with my brother, her cravings were not for a type of food but for saturating herself in 20 Carats, and incessant smoking of cigarettes. The consequences of this are that my brother has had asthma and allergies all of his life, and my mother, feisty though she is, has emphysema and carries portable oxygen with her, always. She no longer smokes, but she also no longer wears fragrance because she is scared that she might not be able to breathe. On the good side, her sense of taste came back. She was and is as mysterious (and often as frustrating) as her zodiac sign, which is Pisces. The beautiful, ornamental fish tempts and calls you to come closer to adore and contemplate its cold beauty, and then as you draw near to exclaim how fascinating it is to behold, it splashes you in the face with water from a powerful swish of its tail, and it swims away, taunting you. My mother is very much like her zodiac sign! I digress. She still doesn't know that when I was wee little, I would reach up for her bottle of 20 Carats and take the occasional tiny sip. I never wore it, but I have tasted it. 20 carats was a spicy, slightly floral scent and the only way that I can describe it (from memory) is that 20 Carats is the stepping stone to Ispahan, and then from Ispahan to Opium. Picture a lady from 1963, with a teased, bouffant-y type hairdo holding a daiquiri in one hand and a cigarette in the other, with the music of Antonio Carlos Jobim playing on the Heathkit Hi-Fi. And she is NOT giving out her secrets! This is a 20 Carats woman, and this is my mother. It smelled heavenly on her, rich yet light, alluring and compelling you to come closer, yet at the same time demanding that you admire her from a distance. The first fragrance that she gave me was a cute little bottle of Ambush, and she instructed me on how to dab it behind my ears, and to keep it out of sunlight. She told me "you're a floral girl" whereas she was an Oriental (perfume type) because she could wear easily the heavier, spicier scents. In the 1970s she decided to branch out a bit, and occasionally wore the original Zen by Shiseido, Shalimar (absolutely stunning on her), and the Germaine Monteil fragrance (Royal Secret), along with her beloved 20 Carats. 20 Carats underwent a reformulation, either in the late 1970s or early 1980s (My memory is fuzzy on that. But after that reformulation, it soon disappeared forever). The sales ladies at Abraham & Straus told her that it had been "modernized" and oh was she upset! Opium had recently debuted and she decided that Opium would from then on be her signature (you would laugh if you heard both of us grumbling about how our signatures were ruined; her beloved 20 Carats and my beloved Anais Anais). I think she had a brief flirtation with Hypnotic Poison, too. I'm sorry that I can't give more insight into how this perfume actually smells, it has literally been around 40 years or so since I've smelled it, but I came pretty close the other day when I received a bottle of Ispahan (I think it's the original formula) and sampled that. 20 Carats would have been a bit lighter, with just a tiny bit more floral and with the vetiver and whiskey notes. Very similar sensations,at least to me. Well, I need to get back to my studies, and my dogs are patiently waiting to be fed. Thanks for reading my ramblings, and thanks again for adding this lovely perfume to the database!

Dana 20 Carats vintage cologne splash. A beautiful citrus with feminine whiskey cherry tobacco opening. Tobacco these days is so masculine. Here it definitely has a foreign feminine floral edge. This is a fragrance for a DAME! An opulent release to help soothe the women coming out of the austerity of the great depression and WWII. I can see its cache in the swinging 60s, but 20Carats belongs back in the 40s. Its well put together, structured and quality. Today, if you bottled it differently, it would be an exotic niche. Top notes: bergamot, cherry, orange, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and aldehydes Middle notes: heliotrope, carnation, rose, jasmine, lavender, herbs, fern, myrrh, frankincense Base notes: sandalwood, ambergris, oakmoss, tonka, musk, balsam, tobacco, patchouli, vanilla, benzoin and vetiver Just to note for collectors/time travelers : There is a lotion that was made in mexico with a white bakelite cap. It is very smooth and mild. The cologne made in the USA is stronger with the silver cap. Both have gold flakes in the formulation. Later editions (1980s) do not have the gold leaf. It was marketed as a female fourgere. Males can rock this easily. Complete contraband according to the current IFRA standards. And how sweet it is to wear.

20 Carats EDP opens with what reminds me of the aroma of an Old Fashioned, complete with orange peel and maraschino cherry, eventually transforming into more a cherry tobacco and carnation, seasoned, spiced, and muddled with myrrh and benzoin. Smooth and boozy, this could at first be easily mistaken for a 21st niche style amber perfume, but some of that mid-20th century glamour puss muskiness and mossiness billows through in a way that would be hard to match today. The dry down is a superb sweet-smoky, tobacco-tinged cinnamon musk, lusty and heady, reminding me of all the aspects of lit a cigarette that is pleasant, aromatic, without the foul-choke-cough inducing aspects—so many buried memories surface any time the smell of cigarettes comes up, as bittersweet as it is. Warm and enveloping, it's less vampy than its sibling Tabu, showing some restraint while responsibly indulging in some hedonism. .

It smells like ginger ale. From the spicy kick at the outset, I find it full of smoke and champagne bubbles, equally light and transparent without being heavy. Warm, but with a cold and merciless light like a diamond. Sour, sweet notes released by the crystallization of sugar, revealing a cinnamon, carnation and patchouli-resin base. In an instant, it was like going back to the era of "The Great Gatsby" and participating in high society parties. Ambre Russe (Parfum d'Empire) turned out to be based on 20 carats, added more cinnamon, filled with a lot of amber, and enlarged to make a tower. In addition, special effects such as smoke are further amplified to make them more intense.

This is a vintage scent that repackaged today, would come across as a quality niche. Everything is blended so well in 20 Carats, that this perfume wears like a beautiful amber with depth: I pick up genuine oakmoss with resins, spices and tobacco. And it’s glorious. A wearable vintage perfume, with zero aldehydes. 20 Carats is smokey smooth, a little boozy and a big love. I immediately went onto eBay looking for a vintage bottle. I could not find the “Vintage cologne spray, yellow "metal/plastic" bottle with an aerosol spray nozzle” mschnabel666 described, but I will keep looking.

I have a fluted 2 oz clear glass bottle with a light brown, ribbed cap, almost 8 inches tall, black aerosole nozzle that can spray a continuous spray, marked cologne. Hah! Cologne. Better intensity than many modern perfumes. It's just lovely. Spicy, sweet from the cherry, light touch of fresh tobacco, and a little boozy. Reminds me a booze soaked Christmas cake. The difference being, I can enjoy as much as I like without my butt getting bigger. I bought a second bottle. Super cozy in cold weather. Cold hands, warm, spicy heart. Love it.

WOW - thank you for adding this one, Fragrantica staff. We love you!

A dear friend gifted me TWO small extraits and I really can't believe how GREAT this is.... Oddly this doesn't give me a vintage vibe other than the obvious (now forbidden) quantity of oakmoss in the elixir... If I smelled this on a friend I would honestly think they were wearing a Tom Ford private collection fragrance... It's THAT relevant and THAT high quality... If you have a chance to snag an old bottle for a good price I really can't imagine you'll regret it... And a reminder to everyone who has a little decant or a 10ml something or other collecting dust on some shelf... Give it to a perfume buddy.. your ho-hum might be their next signature scent!

I was very fortunate to obtain a sample of this beautiful perfume! It is so rich and really does remind me of Opium and Yves Saint Laurent Champagne perfume. It is rich and really worth giving it a try.

20 Carats Dana Year 1933 *Splash Cologne & Cologne Spray Purchased on eBay "I'm oh so glad my sapphire is a star! I rather like a 20 carat earring! If I'm not pure at least my jewels are!" - Cunegonde, Candide, Leonard Bernstein Splash Cologne & Cologne Spray Purchased on eBay What an interesting perfume! I have a very old used bottle in golden amber yellow liquid color and a similarly colored bottle showing it's age but I was going antique fragrance shopping a week ago and the order came in time. This is a perfect fall and winter fragrance to wear in cold New York winters which I have to deal with living in Manhattan. The furs leathers boots gloves scarves and hats have their own scent, particularly leather, but this fragrance has an aroma that seems tailor made for wearing with fur coats and leather fabrics. This is absolutely fantastic! Nothing like it out there today. It was launched in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression and it could only have been worn by the wealthiest of ladies whose husbands were billionaire bankers whose lives and finances WERE NOT affected by the Depression! This perfume speaks of high society ladies in 20 carat diamond jewelry, fur coats, mink stoles, pearls, the most elegant evening gowns, their own box seat at the opera, their own chauffeur, their own butler and maid service. You know. Think Daddy Warbucks if he had a wife! The splash is more to my taste because it's more delicate and though strong it can be applied more like a powder on the skin rather than the spray which can be difficult and tricky. Both editions are the same as they are both cologne concentrations. This opens with old fashioned aldehydes and they are quite potent in the vein of Chanel No 5 but due to the intensity of the florals which far exceed the rose and jasmine of No 5, it's more like Patou's Joy with a 'night' theme or more like Lanvin MY SIN. It's also remarkably similar to a later 80s fragrance by Giorgio of Beverly Hills - RED which I've worn and can compare to. This is a sublime boozy spicy floral musk scent. Once you get past the ocean of aldehydes you're swimming in sweet fruity scents of cherry and citrus like a Cherry Coke but in a pleasant perfumy sense. It's fizzy and aldehydic champagne with a cherry flavor, cherry wine. The whiskey note is also quite obvious from the start, like a combination of fruit and whiskey. As far as florals go this one seems to be a dominant carnation scent, typical of the period, with equal parts rose, jasmine and iris with a slight powdery touch. It never goes into a super feminine sweet floral aroma because the theme here is booze, cigarettes, and jewelry. It is not a young maiden who receives floral bouquets but a mature older grand dame of high society who is a diva and who gets her way most of the time. This woman smokes cigarettes nonchalantly or has a long cigarette holder stick. She goes to parties and is not the center of attention but she is the hostess who prefers to observe the party's progress. If this lady does wear perfume, it's Shalimar or Tabu also by Dana. Her preference is for exotic boozy and spicy scents. The spices are front and center. The spicy notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise and herbs are beautifully paired up with the dry down of incense, benzoin, myrrh and frankincense, balsams and resins. This is a deep complex rich opulent Oriental. Balsamic and smoky, but also green at the same time with aromatic herbs, oak moss patchouli and vetiver. All these notes are strong, my God are they strong. They give the fragrance an incredibly long life. I splashed it on one night and it lasted through the entire night. I had to put my clothes in the wash that same night. Must be worn only at night with formal wear and with warm clothing in winter. By today's standards this powerful volcanic perfume is out of touch and outdated but for vintage fans this is a Holy Grail perfume. Extremely rare to find but can be found on eBay if you are lucky enough to find one. The cologne spray is not always easy to use. The smallest amount must be used in order not to cause your own cough and so as not to offend people who smell it on you. This one's not a stinker but it is pretty heavy duty perfume. I wear it with caution and prefer to lightly dab or splash it on me rather than spray it on me. This starts off sweet and boozy but ends up smoky, spicy, musky, one might even say unisex/masculine. The tobacco and musky notes are totally unisex. I can see a grown older man wearing this. This is divine perfume. It's personality is like the Countess de Lave played by Mary Boland in the 1939 classic George Cukor movie THE WOMEN. She's had several husbands and been divorced many times over but does she care? No she has her 20 carats jewelry furs and her perfume that smells as magnificent as this one.

Fragrance Review For 20 Carats By Dana Notes: Orange cherry tobacco whiskey nutmeg myrrh star anise spices carnation cinnamon tonka patchouli musk resins oakmoss vetiver. 20 Carats must have been the Tom Ford Black Orchid of it's day or Angel or Alien of it's day. This is an exotic powerful bomb detonating whenever you wear it. It's quite bold and very hard to wear. My first thought was that it was probably worn by the same type of woman who could pull off Bandit or Shalimar. This is an Oriental with a lot of resins, patchouli, oak moss and vetiver. All of these scents are strong on their own terms and pairing them up together results in an epic concoction. 20 Carats opens with a Shalimar style citrus and there's something that blew my mind: whiskey. Very noticeable and boozy. There's no fruit or flowers to speak of (one carnation) so its not sweet. This is saucy, sexy, aromatic. My nose picked up on so many scents it threw up: tobacco, musk, cinnamon and a touch of cherry. It's dark, unisex, and makes me feel confident. It's a fragrance for older women? Is that right? Well they must know something everyone else doesn't know. This is beautiful. Very sexy. It's totally unisex but unfortunately discontinued and hard to find so if you really want to experience this epic fragrance you need to go and hunt for it on ebay.

Vintage cologne spray, yellow "metal/plastic" bottle with an aerosol spray nozzle (constant stream until you let go). I dated these in the 60s when I got the same bottle for Tabu. A website with vintage ads showed 1967 for these styles. Whoa. Another vintage win! I hit the jackpot lately with vintage "unicorns" on ebay for affordable prices. I'm so happy! First spritz. This is good... it's like Tabu (and all it's thick resiny goodness) mixed with the floral/powder of something like L'Heure Bleue. It's opens with a creamy fruit and vintage smelling "old" (which I love), and then it's a thick boozy-sweet-dark-incense-spicy mixed with ladylike floral/powder/soap. The best of both worlds! What a treat this is! Has a play-doh-like middle creamy part that I often hear said about LHB. Spicy too- now I understand why people compare this to Opium! What an interesting, layered gem! I can't wait to wear this proper! (Tissue test) Drydown- yes very Opium, but I still get something vintage/animal/skanky which always makes me happy. Even further into the drydown- powdery musk. I would say this is: 50% Opium 25% Tabu 25% L'Heure Bleue sounds crazy, but this perfume is amazing!

A winner over Tabu in my heart. Upon receiving my package of decants, I was working through 1-2 a day and each time, the loveliest spicy rose greeted me every time I opened my little box to pull one out. Something had accidentally leaked, but I couldn't determine what it was until my last sample, which was 20 Carats in EDC. I haven't smelled Opium yet, but the rose could only bring to me a comparison of Coco. Coco is obviously bolder and rosier; Tabu is almost chokingly heavier on the root beer and sandalwood. 20 Carats is an incredible happy medium of the two, with a tiny sprinkle of cherries and sweet tobacco, stronger floral heart, and an earthy vanilla-like drydown from the whiskey note. I imagine the latter would be stronger in EDP concentration. No soap, no skank. I get wafts of star anise too, which I mistook for licorice at first. Overall, more comforting than intimidating - but still a statement. I almost want to think it gives off a "mom's best perfume" association. And in a cologne, this already smells as beautiful as it does? So disappointed it's discontinued and isn't as celebrated as it should be - even on the current "Dana drugstore" level.

I was given an aged sample of this and could still smell it's astonishing quality. One of those rare people who actually like slightly off perfume, I found this one had a memorable heart that continued to resemble only the best in old perfumery. The aldehydes, the genteel smoke, everything, yet it is unusually unique. The notes are like many modern scents, and yet the blend is rich in depth and powdery warmth. This is Exactly what I look for in any really good vintage. Nutmeg, anise, myrrh, cherries, resin, whiskey, and tobacco meld equally well into either an evening at the opera or an intimate one at the fireside. Although this seems particularly feminine to me, I'm sure that it's deep, mysterious base would enable an amazing man to carry it off. Elegance itself. Good sillage and longevity. Moderate weather.

Oh my. I purchased a vintage cologne bottle last year and it was jammed. I desperately wanted to access the fragrance within, so I prayed and broke the bottle in a container, and then decanted it into a vintage glass perfume bottle. This is...heavenly. It's spicy, fruity, and extremely...modern for the era. My bottle was likely from the 40's and the contents have kept beautifully. This is decadent, sinful, and heady. I've heard that it's similar to YSL's Opium, or rather, Opium is similar to 20 Carats--whatever the comparison, this is sublime. The cologne has excellent sillage and longevity and dries down to a spicy, yet sweet musk. Anyone can wear this if they're brave enough. I love this perfume--can't wait to sample Dana's other offerings!

Sweet whiskey indeed. I get that bit over sweetened oakmoss, with doses of tonka beans and tobacco with some spices on the way. I get a oakmossy resin with big doses of myrrh, carnations & nutmeg. Very vintage blend with that heavy overly sweet factors. I tend to see it over sweetened for my taste tho! Nice. Edit (20 minutes in) now the drydown is surprising! as the over cloying sweetness vanishes, the orange, cinnamon, and spices rises with glory leaving the blend with sweet yet spicy in a very sophisticated vintage frame. The drydown made me re-think it's beauty! Beautiful indeed!

I received a vintage 2 oz edt splash of this. The opening is "bright" light aldehyde fruity vibe..kinda of a "typical" drugstore scent....but...wait..wait....The middle goes light boozy cherry tobacco-ish..whiskey and water....a tad of "greenness" (moss?). The drydow is where this one shines. These vintage scents,they way they were blended,require developement on the skin in order to truly appreciate them. The only reference to YSL Opium,IMHO,is way underneath in the drydown...just a touch. The final result....a classic !!

A 20 Carats EDP is actually quite different. While the cologne wears EXACTLY like vintage Opium, the EDP of 20 C is very layered and long lasting. Starts out fruity like a cherry pipe tobacco, a bit of "hay", boozy, and then a floral powder middle, and Opium-like drydown. Oh I love this! This EDP is soooo worth having and I love it!

Sadly unable to find beloved Lasso by Jean Patou but 20 Carats by Dana comes very close albeit drier than Lasso. This review is for the Edp.