Tatiana

Years back, while waiting to board a delayed flight at SFO, I did a double-take when I spotted someone who I thought was an old friend...correction, an old lover...It had been years and years, at least 25, since I had seen him. There was no mistaking that handsome profile and full head of hair, which had now gone from a very dark brown to gray. I couldn't take my eyes off him and, you know what "they" say,you can often sense when someone is staring at you. He did. He initially looked incredulous, then overjoyed, when he spotted me. His face broke into that inimitable, gorgeous smile that I so well remembered. It was close to a scene from Wuthering Heights, where Heathcliff and Catherine run with open arms to each other in slow motion,except this time, it was David and Ginny lol. We made a beeline toward each other, hugged and hugged, then decided we had time for a quick cuppa. We stumbled all over each other while trying so hard to quickly catch up. We had both moved on, married, had children. I was unsure how to broach the subject of why he had suddenly disappeared from my life one day, because we had had a two-year relationship and had been inseparable. Then one day *poof* he was gone. I had called, I had searched, but then decided he actually had taken that job in Chicago he'd been mulling over. I refused to pursue and just let my broken heart marinate in grief. Denial, anger, grief. Just like the three stages of death. Why? I kept asking myself and eventually asked him. As it happened, he had been diagnosed with a neurological disease that, at the time, would become quite disabling if not fatal. He did not want to drag me into a relationship where eventually I would become a caretaker. However, his prognosis wasn't as bad as predicted, and he was put on medication(and still is) that gives him a relatively normal life. Shortly after his disappearance, I had moved to another residence, got an unlisted phone number, and did my best to obliterate the ache in my heart. He tried to locate me through mutual friends but they were angry because they knew he had hurt me deeply. My grief subsided eventually, and I moved on to another love interest, which is yet another story. I have rambled on much too much, because this review is about perfume, not my love life. Tatiana is memories. Happy ones, smiling ones, nostalgic ones, glowing ones. That first love is the one you never forget, ever, and I wore this scent during my time with David. Coincidentally (is there such a thing?) I found a sample of this beauty cozily nesting itself in my perfume collection the other day. Memories, memories, memories! Sparkle, shimmer, shine, is what this fragrance is all about to me. A lost love but a treasure trove of memories that no one can take away.

OMG!!!! I found a vintage bottle for a pittance in an antique mall.I am so thrilled to have finally found it. "Why" you may ask. Well, I bought a bottle online a few years back and though the main idea was there, the gardenia being most prominent(at least on me) there was something harsh about it--raspy? Sharp? I forget the term but too much alcohol--making it metallic in a cloying way. I don't know if that makes sense but the new formulation(I assume that's what's happened) is just too abrasive--the dry down helps a little but not enough to resemble the original. My mom bought this for me in 1983 when I was young and glamorous. It was the first perfume that seemed to me, to be adult and sexy. My first perfume was Blue Grass, then Pavlova, then this--mom making sure everything was age appropriate hahah.It was also the first perfume that people commented on and complimented me(if you consider men saying "you smell intoxicating, "come closer, I'm addicted" compliments, which back then we would've but now, I guess not? hahaha). I moved on to all the big, nuclear, beast mode 80's scents(Poison, Obsession, Opium, Halston, Cinnabar and the original Lauren). Later, I ended up with the classics from Chanel, Guerlain, Piguet, Caron,etc and finally to niche and higher end scents(can't afford them but passion ids passion, i need them)--but....you reach an age where you start to become nostalgic for the things from your youth, i.e., music, clothes, scents, and so on. I started down that path on Fragrantica--looking up and reading about my old faves(flinching every time the words reformulated and discontinued appeared). Finding an original bottle from 1979 just made my day. The first whiff took me right back to those heady days of young adulthood. It's just so much rounder--it always seemed a bit tropical to me (without the gourmand notes of mango, coconut or the sun and sand notes). Much more mature than the super sweet suntan lotion scents that seem to be ubiquitous but not as Ava Gardner in a satin peignoir in a forties boudoir(what kind of alliteration is that? hahaha) in Fracas. A little citrus-y, then creamy white flowers and then a floral musky dry down--just the way I remember it. I could just swoon with happiness.

I went through probably a half dozen bottles of this MOST STUNNING Gardenia Queen after it came out in the 70s. My X-Mother-In-Law introduced me to it when it came out & I was as smitten with it as she was. It was my favorite for a long time. I loved Diane's wrap-dress designs, her Book of Beauty, & agreed with her so much in what she wanted in her fragrance(s) & makeup line. She made a lipgloss in a little round pot that looked like darkly colored grape jelly that was one of the best lip glosses I have EVER used, in that it stained the lip like a kiss of wine, stayed on for hours & hours & tasted good. Like her, I love books, read a lot & collect them & have even copied some of her own home decorating techniques with books. And to top it all off, we share the same name! So I was & remain a BIG fan of this trend-setting designer. If I recall correctly, I believe she named this gorgeous floral after her daughter, Tatiana. She is quoted as saying that she doesn't believe that a woman should smell like food, fruits, candies & such that are so popular right now. She prefers florals, woods, resins, musks, etc., & I have found through the years in my fragrance preferences I tend to agree with her there, also. Tatiana was so popular in it's hey-day other companies began scurrying to come out with their own version of a bold, fresh, gardenia floral to compete, but Tatiana was the best of them all. Our local Belk's had a hard time keeping it in stock for a while there! A 70s Diva that was a more modern spin on the earlier classic Jungle Gardenia by Tuvache. But Tatiana had a more sparkling, light quality. If you love gardenia, tuberose, narcissus...the original is addicting, possessing the wearer's heart forevermore.

A vintage '79 1/2oz bottle of EDP I found on ebay arrived today. I hadn't encountered Tatiana since wearing and loving it during jr high and high school in the late 70s and 80s, and based on the "fake jasmine bug spray" warnings posted here, did not fancy trying the reformulation. I had only a fugitive memory of it, but remembered it was white floral heaven. I put on some as soon as I unwrapped it, and shouted, "Jasmine!" Even after many hours of wear, it's still an aldehydic dance of tuberose and jasmine, with hyacinth and gardenia right behind them but certainly making their presence known. There's a hint of amber and maybe a glimpse of sandalwood, but I'm not finding the civet. It begins rather sharp, with the flowers loudly rattling their sabres until they are soothed and mellowed by time. The scent becomes and remains floaty and ethereal after the initial drama, and I notice very little bottom. I'm so glad to once again spend time with this delightful, mercurial old friend. I'd missed her a lot. I always loved von Furstenburg makeup, too. Such great colors and a luxurious feel to the cases, applicators, and the cosmetics themselves! She made a lipstick the exact same color as my lips, and she made powder and stick blushes in the most insane fuchsias I've ever seen. Those blushes were surprisingly natural on me, prompting male friends to ask, "Got a little Sun today, huh?"

I wrote a review for this before, but this is so gorgeous that I had to come and sing its praises once more. Now that I have an appreciation for indoles and civet, (within reason), this has to be one of the most beautiful scents I own. Even though it is a big fragrance I threw caution to the wind today and wore it to work, something I hadn't done before. As soon as I stepped through the door the compliments came rolling in. I think people are hungering for scents of days gone by and they've had enough of those wishy washy nothing there fragrances. This is a PERFUME. A vivacious, floral explosion of sweet indolic jasmine, hyacinth, tuberose, and narcissus. To me, narcissus doesn't really smell like much in nature, but this is how I imagine it would smell from looking at that flower. It is the truest rendition of that flower in my imagination than any other perfume featuring that note I've smelled to date. The composition as a whole is stunning and ranks right up with the best of them, even with many of the best floral fragrances today. I am so glad I have a bottle and a backup, both vintage, as this intoxicating floral bouquet is something I never want to be without.