Ambush original

ETA - Many reviews describe an “aftershave” or fougère opening. I experienced this only briefly upon first opening a long-sealed vintage bottle; after airing the bottle a few times and wearing on skin those volatile aldehydic/fougère notes disappeared, revealing Ambush’s true identity as a creamy ylang and spiced carnation amber. Judging this perfume by a single cold sniff or a single wear would be misleading, I would encourage people to wear it several times before reviewing. Both of my bottles behaved the same way, I don’t have an outlier. That being said, here is an actual note pyramid of Ambush - Top • Aldehydic lift • Ylang-ylang (creamy, floral, banana-vanilla leaning) Heart • Carnation (peppery, clove-spiced) • Soft floral haze (rose/heliotrope effect, not syrup) • Fougère freshness (not citrus) Base • Amber • Benzoin • Musk • Coumarin • Subtle licorice/anise nuance from spice + coumarin interplay I was curious about any reformulations! So I did a simultaneous wrist comparison of a 1956 original release Ambush (white label, heavy glass rectangle ribbed bottle with a light gold flared cap), and a late 60’s/early 70’s hot-pink label version with a hot pink rectangle cap (guessing first or second reformulation). They were worn side-by-side on each wrist from opening through deep drydown. Here’s the short takeaway that should please collectors: Ambush’s core DNA is absolutely intact across both of these eras. Opening (both): Ylang dominates early, with a creamy, slightly sweet profile. The hot pink label presents the ylang brighter and sweeter at first; the original is softer and airier. There’s a slight aldehydic lift that’s mostly evaporated with age. Mid evolution: Both move into a spiced floral heart where carnation (clove/pepper) and a light fougère backbone emerge. On the hot pink, carnation appears earlier and more clearly. On the original, carnation arrives later and more integrated. Drydown: Both converge into the true Ambush signature: amber, musk, carnation spice, ylang cream, and a subtle licorice/anise nuance (from eugenol + coumarin interplay). These are the main differences I’ve noted: •Original formula (white label): lighter, airier, and more luminous, yet paradoxically more intense and longer-lasting. The ylang becomes a gorgeous banana-cream note that lingers well into the skin-scent phase. •Hot Pink label: denser and more compact, but fades faster. Still very pleasant and unmistakably Ambush, just with less projection and stamina. Longevity test (30+ minutes): The vintage retained a distinct licorice-ylang “banana cream pie” aura, while the pink had already softened to a subtle sweet-spicy skin scent. Bottom line: This is a rare case where a reformulation preserved the soul of the fragrance, even if time made the original quietly superior. Early Ambush edges out the later version in radiance, complexity, and longevity. HOWEVER, the hot pink label is faithful enough that I would happily buy it as a wear bottle, especially at a good price. They’re both such an interesting fragrance, I’m not sure if a modern equivalent exists! Ambush is a must in any vintage perfume collection.

I just received a bottle of Ambush Eau de Cologne. This is a description of the bottle. The bottle is the short, three lobed one. The bottle is 5 cm high at the shoulder and 7 cm wide. Back to front is about 30 mm. The cap is 17 mm tall. The cap appears brown with just a bit of gold remaining. (I thought it was dirt at first.) The rectangular label fits 2/3 of the middle lobe with a metallic border and text. “Ambush (in script)|EAU DE COLOGNE|Dana (in script)|2FL OZ.” The back of the label reads “DANA PERFUME CORP.|NEW YORK, N.Y. (and an illegible zip code).” The underside of the bottle has moulded “Dana” in script and the number 5 at a right angle to the D. There are imperfections in the glass on the back and base that look like white marks. They are smooth so they must be on the inner surface of the glass. This is a splash bottle. Based on an image search, I believe this bottle dates to about 1964. The liquid is golden, amber brown. It smells fantastic, although I have not yet given it a full wear. Edit: In the air Ambush has a slightly sour smell on top of the herbs. Since this is a smell I remember from childhood, I am pretty sure that this is not because of damage. On skin this is definitely a smell I remember from childhood and I love it!! It is almost completely different on skin. On me the notes are completely blended and I cannot pick them out; I cannot even identify them really. This could be because the scent exists powerfully in memory. I can sort of identify the resemblance to Canoe, but if I did not know the relationship I would not have suspected it, apart from the scents being from the same era. The base notes, even though I cannot pick them out, are definitely softer and warmer than the sharper base in Canoe.

I do not know what it is about this combination that makes me feel butterflies in my tummy, and makes me totally giddy and happy. It`s quite like falling in a new love for me, and always has been for... hmmm... I have to say 30+ years? Boy, that really dates me ! I had received miniature bottles of Ambush, Chantilly, and Anais Anais ( all still loves of mine ) as a gift when I was about 14 years old - and back then,I thought Ambush to be a grown up version of Loves Baby Soft and akin to Chantilly. There seems to be so many twists in this juice... cool minty lavender combined with those florals and oakmoss , to me, is to die for ! Very retro, yet fresh, and nothing else like it that is being produced that I can find. Yes, Canoe by Dana for Men is similar. But it does not have the punch. It was always on my Christmas Wish List, and back in the middle `90`s, my mother presented me with a bottle. To my horror, it was not the same scent, and I thought it had been from a bad batch. When I went to exchange it for a 'fresh' bottle, I had found it had been reformulated. I resorted to scouring through catalogs and clearance counters for testers and discounted bottles( the old days before internet online shopping ). How can Dana call it Ambush without any of the former attributes? I am awaiting the day that Dana reissues the Real Ambush.

This was one of the fragrances I wore in high school in the early '80s; I couldn't remember the name at first, only that it was made by Dana, but I eventually found it online on Ebay. I have 2 bottles of the vintage formulation, and they do smell exactly as I remember. I get a bit of a fennel-like blast when I first spray one of the bottles on (the other bottle doesn't have this reaction), and then it softens down to a comforting, powdery blend of lavender, heliotrope, carnation, rose, vanilla, and woods. It's not a sweet fragrance at all, but there's an appealing warmth and innocence to it. It reminds me a bit of the original Love's Baby Soft. It definitely lasts - I'll put it on before bed and I can still smell it in the morning. I remember my mom suggesting it when I bought it as a teenager; she graduated in 1961, so it makes sense that this fragrance would have smelled familiar to her.

If there's any perfume I mourn the discontinuation of, this is it. I've loved Ambush since I was a toddler and my mom had a large colored bottle of this on her dresser. This was one of her date night perfumes, so I got to watch as she spritzed it on after she'd gotten all dressed up. It was probably the first perfume I ever smelled and loved. It was the only perfume I had during my first year of college and I had no idea then how much I'd love it today. Now I have my own vintage bottle because I never want to be without it. It's one of my very favorite perfumes I've ever worn, very few smell better on me than this. It's like a slightly spicy and more floral version of Canoe, which I also have and make comparisons with from time to time. I miss perfumes like this that were simple, yet beautiful and could make a statement without being overbearing.

I remember this fragrance in the early 80s as a teen. My mom had the original bottle and I got the one with the pink lid as a gift. I also gave it as a gift to my best friend. Fast forward 10 years or so and I found this fragrance again. I was working in a barber shop and wondered why the men were smelling like my mom. I realized the powder I was using to dust hair off the customer smelled just like Ambush! This was back in 1994ish. But I’m pretty sure the fragrance has not changed. The powder is Clubman. (They have a cologne also but I’ve never smelled it.) To me, it never smelled masculine. It reminds me of my mom and friend back in the day. Good times

Reminds me of what Love's Baby Soft used to smell like (it's sweeter now.) This is good stuff! Sweet and powdery with a cologne-y citrus opening. Conjures up images of feminine innocence, yet a grown woman could wear this without smelling juvenile. I only have a tiny bottle, now I'll be on the hunt for a reasonably priced full-size. Update: I have since acquired a comically large 16oz bottle of vintage cologne, and splashing it on tonight, I keep getting whiffs of Old Spice. I love it!

I thought I had arrived at the doorstep of womanhood wearing sexy Ambush perfume, my Farrah Fawcett hairdo, my Maybelline Great Lash eyes, and my "lip potion" kissing gloss lips. Having my whole life in front of me with endless possibilities and NO FEAR. Ahhh, the sweet, sweet memories. I LOVE AMBUSH!

spicy soft floral opening that dries down powdery and smells like nothing else; light, young, innocent, sexy, pretty

Fragrantica should change the photo of this fragrance - If I'm not mistaken, I think the bottle shown in the photo is the 1990s reformulation, which is completely different from the vintage juice. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember the original Ambush ever being sold in that type of bottle. That said, My mother wore three Dana fragrances (Tabu, 20 Carats, and Ambush), so this is a comforting, nostalgic scent for me. I remember wearing it in the early 1980s. I even recall that a guy I was dating told me it smelled like a men's cologne. I knew that Canoe is similar, but Ambush never smelled particularly masculine to me. I liked the lavender and spice in it. And I'm surprised that carnation isn't listed as one of the notes, because it always smelled of dianthus to me.

Soft and comforting like a fuzzy blanket, vintage Ambush is a pleasure to wear. This review is for an old (precise age unknown) edc. Some of the notes may have deteriorated in my vintage sample, but what's left is still beautiful. A. spiciness reminds me a little bit of vintage Old Spice: both are warm scents devoid of sharp notes. Sillage is poor - again probably due to age. A. becomes a skin scent on me, with moderate longevity.

In my youth, I liked this so much too!

Ambush was a popular fragrance when I was a teen in the 1960s. I never liked it, as it smelled aftershavey and masculine to me, probably due to the prominent lavender and citrus notes. Moving forward to today, I have many crossover and unisex fragrances in my collection, but I still have never warmed to Ambush. I didn't understand the hype then, and I don't understand the nostalgia now.

Ambush is a bit of a gender-fuck. It was a perfume for women, based on a perfume first designed for women but then marketed to men, Dana Canoe. Both were composed by perfumer Jean Carles. Canoe was a fougère initially marketed to women. It turned out that Canoe fit the masculine barbershop style that was taking shape in the USA between the World Wars, so it was repurposed for men, who bought it in droves from 1932 to the present. There’s no record that it was reformulated at the time, just repackaged. Canoe fits the classic American take on the fougère. It was launched at the end of the Depression and though it was initially produced in France, WW II brought production to the USA, where it became a huge success. It was herbal and floral like the classic fougère but less angular, more harmonious. It emphasized the musky-sweet side of the fougère formula with an oily-powdery quality and would come to define the barbershop sensibility. It became the definitive American fougère. After the Depression and WW II, American gender lines were drawn in bold and the fougère landed squarely on the masculine side. It became masculinity coded in scent. Carles pulled off an interesting trick in designing Ambush as a women’s perfume. He took a men’s ‘grooming’ scent, touched it up with notes from women’s cosmetics, and called it feminine. Madison Avenue knew how to sell gender with an underlying threat of ridicule, so hygienic/grooming products were marketed with strong gender markers. Carles’s repurposing of the fougère for feminine use should have shown the gender line to be akin to the Emperor’s Clothes. But who in 1955 America would have been tactless enough to point this out? Ambush’s compositional trick was a heliotrope accord. Heliotropin was a well know material and its vanillic-almond range of tones could be shifted one way and another depending on the context. It gave a matte quality to floral perfumes and a marzipan note to vanilla-orientals. It was also a common component of cosmetics at the time. In Ambush it gives a plasticene quality that fits both the sweet, musky base of the perfume and the aesthetics of the era. It lends Ambush a stiff, molded character appropriate to mid- century fashion and design style, leaving Ambush the furthest thing from a ‘skin scent’. No Jean Carles formula was ever simple and heliotrope is one note among many in Ambush, but it’s a pivotal component. It creates a distance between Ambush and Canoe at the same time that it harmonizes with the fougère accord. It marked the fougère as feminine. The marketing for Ambush was centered on the suggestive name of the fragrance. It equated gender and sexuality, a largely unquestioned pairing in the mid-’50s. It phrased femininity as predatory heterosexuality. Men were objects to be stalked and taken down. The ads over the years riffed on images of coy women hiding behind palm fronds, peacock feathers, spider webs, etc. with copy such as, “A Romance in Every Bottle. Ambush...The Tender Trap.” and “Take Him Completely by Surprise.” Stereotype? Camp? Yes. There’s even a bit of homoeroticism. An ‘ambush’ implies deception. The unseen man of the ads is caught unawares, taken from behind as it were. Was the predator a woman in wearing Ambush or a man in Canoe? Which would he prefer? Dana perfumes changed ownership more times than you can shake a stick at, leaving the lasting impression that Dana was a drug store brand pulled out for father’s/mother’s day-Christmas gift packs. The last bit of gender irony is that the company that currently owns Dana (but no longer produces Ambush) is Patriarch Partners, a company named and owned by a woman.

My bottle is a 15 ml mini plastic and it has a white cap and it’s eau de cologne, but the sticker that says Ambush is a mauvish tan color with white lettering. The box it came in has a red swirl at the bottom and the color matches the label. I ordered it because it was cheap on EBay and because of the reviews on here. I wish more people would share what their bottle and box looks like in the reviews to help us try to get the right bottle. It often gets confusing especially with vintages. Nothing really exciting, but not sure if it’s turned or what version I got. I mostly get strong lemon with some baby powder, but I’ll probably try again in the spring, it’s almost winter here and this definitely is a spring or summer scent, but odd everyone on here is voting fall, winter, spring. Makes me wonder if I have the newer version or a spoiled one, mine is very light and kind of reminds me of Jean Nate which my grandma wore in the 80’s. I can see how people like this with the dry down, it is kind of soothing and comforting. Maybe I should get some Canoe or the other men’s cologne this is compared to. I definitely want to get ahold of another, different bottle and do further testing. Edit: The top notes are screeching, but the dry down is soothing. I get mostly the sage, lemon and some powder shaving cream vibe. I wish I got more rose, carnation and heliotrope. I will not spend too much more though for bottles of this because the one I have barely lasts and those darn, harsh vintage top notes are off putting.

Such a wonderfully nostalgic scent this is: an aldehydic floral head, rich with heliotrope and bergamot descends into its signature smell: a delicately spicy, sandy beach-y, baby powder smell with a pronounced musk base. It is the "sister" scent to that other great 1950's masculine, CANOË, and both smell very similar indeed. AMBUSH smells like the suntanned nape-of-neck of a 1950's teenaged boy who has just had a flat-top haircut done. Like a barber's powder with an oily, slightly unctuous musk underpinning that reminds me of that 1950's brilliantine: Wildroot Oil by Mennen... a smell that used to telegraph: wholesome, sunshiny masculinity. A very 1950's technicolor-warm picture of collegiate American youth. I feel like Tab Hunter or Troy Donahue when I wear this, with white buckskin shoes, blindingly white smile, and a pink carnation in my lapel. It smells, synesthetically, like those "fleshtone pink-beige" colors that were popular in the 1950's/early-60's. This is the original 1955 AMBUSH, not to be confused with the new monstrosity that was launched in 1997. Footnote: I have obtained a bottle of "Tonquitone", the synthetic perfumer's aromachemical which seeks to emulate real muskdeer musk. I am almost certain this is the musk used in AMBUSH. TÊTE: aldehydes, bergamot, lavender, anisic note COEUR: heliotrope, carnation, geranium, cinnamon FOND: musk, amber, vanilla, oakmoss, sandalwood

Ambush is a fragrance my mother wore in the 60's a few times. She didn't care for it and thought it was too soft and "girly" at age 20. A girlfriend of mine in the UK wears this fragrance, the original vintage that is. She let me borrow it. After wearing it a whole day I decided to buy it for myself. I searched for a vintage on ebay. Heliotrope is the dominant floral note in this perfume and heliotrope is my favorite flower. This has the perfect harmony of heliotrope and lavender. It's very perfumy, old fashioned but absolutely beautiful. It's not too strong and as someone pointed out it has a resemblance to Old Spice for Men. This wears like Old Spice for Women. It has a soft floral delicacy and coziness. It smells so good and I use it to scent my pillows with and the air in my bedroom. It's also a suitable office friendly scent to wear to work in public. The oak moss becomes very prominent toward the dry down and yet it's not too woodsy. It's such a nice well balanced well behaved and lovely perfume. I haven't tried the reformulation and don't want to. This one is perfect.

My vintage perfume collection could not be complete until I found the original Dana Ambush. It had to be the spray in the pink poly-like rubenesque bottle with the gold tone cap and label. Well at last my search is over for this throw back to the 60's sentimental scent, as it arrived yesterday. The thrill of the first spritz was a blast of good memories. It overflowed with it's floral woody essence just as I remembered. Laced with lavender and just enough jasmine with a pop of orchid, but it's solely the musk that works this baby! When wearing this scent the soothing and casual qualities of the sweet yet some what powdery musk performs in full force that lingers on leaving you in a state of satisfaction. No case of anosmia in this blend of musk choices. Following close behind and wrapping up this composition is a pinch of patchouli which warms up the the ending phase to perfection. This nostalgic baby boomer favorite will forever and ever amen be one of my all time cherished treasures.

This was a perfume that my mother and her mother wore. I remember sniffing this as a child and thinking it was very magical. There is also something amazing about the packaging (the three-sectioned glass bottle is a classic design,) and the name itself has always fascinated me. I saw an ad from a 50's magazine that shows a gorgeous woman waiting behind a palm branch, the shadows of the thin leaves falling mysteriously over her face, waiting to 'abmush' the man that was coming along the path - really showed the animalistic side to the perfume more than I had thought of before. I just bought a vintage bottle of this from a seller on ebay because I'd like to relive the memory, and I'm starting to collect vintage scents, and I know this is still held by many to be a classic.

Ambush: Teased hair & Cleopatra eyes,innocence and hopefulness, a "grown-up" fragrance for young baby-boomer girls. A one-of-a-kind fragrance for a one-of-a-kind time. It was a joyous fragrance in the original compliation. And probably started my love affair with a powdery dry-down with lingering jasmine. Pure romance. Today I think it'd be a unisex fragrance IF one could find an original. Interestingly, for me, Zizanie for men(also re-popular at that time) WAS very similar. It, too underwent reformulation and is now a disappointment. I've never found anything like Ambush; and probably it should remain frozen in time. Iconic.

I was a young teenager in the 60s. A friend's glamorous older sister had this and we thought she, and Ambush, were the height of sophisticated living. I never tried it on til now, fifty years later! It's very nice, I don't have any complaints about it and I'm picky. It is clean and spicy at the same time, refreshing and comforting, it's pretty and I'm enjoying wearing it. As a side note, I've been testing out some decants of Guerlains and, frankly, I like Ambush more than any of them! I didn't wear this, but I think a lot of guys in my high school may have worn the guy version, Canoe, because it is so, so familiar.

Ambush... The nose behind this scent is Jean Carles, the founder of Dana. He also created Canoe, a male fragrance which is very similar to Pinaud Clubman, another male fragrance. Ambush, Canoe and Pinaud Clubman are a combination of shaving cream, hair tonic, florals and talcum powder. On my left hand Ambush, on my right hand Pinaud Clubman and they are identical all the way to the end. They filled the same liquid into different bottles. A nice fragrance, very classic.

Softer men aftershave cologne. More like a mild sweet aftershave soft cologne. I get soft lavender, sandalwood, carnations, tonka beans, geranium, bergamot (of course), and a very big chunks of sage. The geranium later goes bit big with the help of sage as the tonka leaves a bit, and then it turns quite like a soft shaving cream. It's quite interesting indeed and screams soft vintage. Beautiful.

I found a vintage bottle, looks to be 1960s, and it reminds me of Early American Old Spice, actually (in the drydown). It's not exactly the same, certainly missing the strong spices, but otherwise isn't too far off. I'll likely keep my EAOS bottle so this one is likely to be moved out, but it has a little "bite" to it, along with depth, so don't think it's just a "baby powder scent."

Original Ambush was truly exquisite. It was re-formulated in the 1990s and sales dropped "through the floor". Instead of bringing back the original formula Dana simply stopped making all Ambush. Please, please Dana bring back the original Ambush! It was probably the best overall women's perfume ever made in the United States. A revival would be absolutely wonderful!

I bathed in this in the 70s. It was love at first smell. I went through many a bottle. It was clean and spicy and sexy all at once. I don’t know why Dana created a totally different fragrance and called it ambush. The original was Devine. I miss it greatly

I wear the vintage version of this one alot. It has a beautiful sandalwood drydown. It's hard to put into words, because newer sandalwood fragrances are so different. There's something almost mystical about real sandalwood.

Can’t we get Dana to bring back the vintage Ambush? So many would love to have it again. The problem with buying used online is not knowing where it’s been kept and what the fragrance is like. Time causes issues.

I agree with you, Phantomias, I loved the vintage Ambush. Just so sweet and beautiful. Not too sweet, simply lovely. It was suitable for a night out and also jeans and a sweatshirt. Very hard to find nowadays.

I have the vintage spray bottle, with the curved plastic spray nozzle. I can’t get past equating this with men’s hair cream, after shave splash, etc. I grew up smelling this on older men. It’s a no for me.

One of the smells of my adolescence. I also remember the wonderful Montag stationery that was scented with ambush; there was also a very faint sketch of a woman looking through a bush on the paper.

I just got a mini-bottle of Canoe, and it does smell a lot like I remember my old Ambush, in the pink bottle, smelling, back in the 'sixties, when I was in High School.

THIS HAS BEEN AROUND FOREVER!!! Nice scent but I would never ware it again. It's along the lines of Ciara, that type of woodsy scent and this one is sweet too.

Don't be fooled. The new one smells nothing like the original. Such a shame - I wore it for years and can't seem to find anything else I like as much.

My review is that I still have my little bottle, Which I only put on in the winter and for another one that I think is close is Hypnose by Lancome.

This one I got when I was maybe 10? I kinda forgot what it smelled like but remember using it so I must of liked it.

This smells like a mixture of Brut and Canoe. I have the vintage stuff with nitromusks. I love the sandalwood note.

I used to love this as a child. It's soft and pretty, with a slightly dusty dry down similar to scents of this era.

Soft and powdery. What a "lady" would wear. Not something typically sexy, but quietly flirty I think.