Beautiful Absolu

(Original late 1980s EdP comparison to the Absolu EdP) Beautiful is indeed beautiful. Lauder’s history has many examples that the brand is perfectly capable of giving us beautiful perfumes, so why they struggle to maintain quality output now, and especially with the litany of brands they are buying-up, is a mystery. That’s an aside for a different conversation. I wore Absolu quite a while back and was very taken with it, telling myself, thankfully, that Estee Lauder stayed faithful to the original. But when I went to recall the original in my mind while wearing Absolu I drew a complete blank. It had been quite a long time since I wore the original. I couldn’t articulate how Absolu was the same or how it was different, save for that the original was more powdery aldehydic and musky (i.e. old school smelling). So, I told myself I’d have to wear it again, and play my favorite game, an arm-by-arm comparison with Absolu on one and the original EdP on the other. The orange floral opening is inspired. In Absolu it says it wants to nod to the past but also look to the future, presenting sparkling aldehydes and a more saturated/vivid 4K presentation of citrusy florals than the vintage EdP. The vintage EdP is a true fruity floral amalgam that very nearly feels like it has Roudnitska’s signature on it, but that is more Bernard Chant’s influence on the perfume than it is Grojsman’s. The vintage EdP is very yellow floral, powdery and musky; the citrus and florals are dry and wispy, they have shadows, a sultriness to them, and a very hazy texture, which make their lines and characteristics blurry and create a true floral amalgam more than Absolu does. And that says quite a lot because Absolu is definitely an amalgam as well. Absolu pushes tuberose forward, but overlayed with plenty of citrusy orange blossom and jasmine. The vintage EdP is also tuberose forward, but keeps the volumes of the orange blossom and jasmine a bit quieter than Absolu, which allows rose to shine more in the vintage. Before you begin thinking "oh, a 1980s American tuberose perfume? - I guess I better expect something like Amarige or Giorgio Beverly Hills, and Beautiful is going to announce itself for blocks away as soon as I spray it and dominate the conversation with anyone that comes within six feet of me." No, it won't. This is an unusually well-behaved tuberose for its day, and because red rose has more of a voice this gives the vintage a richer, elegant, and more serious feeling than the Absolu’s happy-go-lucky and vibrant citrus-led energy. Wearing the vintage EdP I’m reminded of the intense fog we get in the late winter months here in Northern California. The fog is cool, very close, cloudy and hazy. It has a silky yet misty texture that’s palpable to the skin and nose, and it’s this feeling of thick fog I get in the vintage EdP. Absolu has a lot more sunshine in it. Fortunately, the dry down of Absolu sticks to the original brief and doesn’t descend into a hateful and scratchy soap musk or fruit-chouli abomination. Green woods that have been sanded down to linen like textures thanks to a very precisely balanced composition of sandalwood, gently green vetiver, and touches of musks keep the intention alive and well: beauty that is not majestic, grandiose, loud or showy, but instead beauty that is calm, restrained, softly spoken, yet alive and confident. For a quiet, restrained, and beautiful tuberose perfume - and not the garish monsters of the 80s and early 90s - very little else is as good as the original Beautiful. It truly lives up to its name. However, it is inevitable and to be expected that the powdery and abstract presentation is likely going to feel too dated to modern noses. That is where Absolu comes in, and I am very grateful to Lauder for updating Beautiful for the 21st century while being very faithful to the original. Absolu is Beautiful, just with a new lick of paint and some youthful energy. The original Beautiful is one of the best perfumes the Lauder brand has created, but if you can’t get your hands on a vintage bottle or you’re not big on vintage perfumes, Absolu is a very worthy choice that is very worthy of the Beautiful name.

Beautiful Absolu is so good--it's worth a dozen of those misbegotten Legacy Malle reboots--and whatever happened to the reformulation of the OG Beautiful does not seem to be affecting this flanker, which I picked up for very little on eBay in its original Andy Warhol box. The first time I wore it, I noticed the tuberose--which is a big part of the regular Beautiful, too--but the marigold jumped out at me first, and it blends so beautifully with the tuberose and other flowers that you don't get the bubblegum effect that sometimes comes from a tuberose accord. The drydown is my favorite part, though; the sandalwood (I'm sure it's synthetic, but it's a good synthetic), amber, and vetiver come together like magic. It has the same clean and cheerful bouquet feel that the original has in its prereformulated form, and the performance is quite good--better than the current formulation of Beautiful and about equivalent to the way it used to be.

Splendid! A very elegant & pretty floral. Balanced across the spectrum of white-yellow-rose notes upon a noble base of sandalwood-amber. Not overpowering. Classic, luxurious and also very unique.

I love this one! Such a pretty floral scent. Warm, elegant and just a beauty in the bottle! Win for me! Blind bought.

This is an Eau De Parfum spray and it is gorgeous! Very close to the original DNA