Hope

I was quite young shopping with my Mother and Sister and found this lovely perfume. I immediately brought it to my Mother's attention. She, too, was enchanted with it's elegant loveliness and purchased it for us. That was many years ago. When I learned it was still available, I ordered a bottle and can report that the years have not changed my appreciation for this under-exposed treasure of a perfume! While many heard of Frances Denney's "Interlude", the softer "Hope" never enjoyed the mass popularity of that time...but, I think it is absolutely a timeless classic.

So beautiful that it has nearly brought me to tears tonight. Maybe it's my emotional time of the month... Vintage. No fruity-floral here. Spicy Soft woods. Powdery. Soft rose. A whisper of sweet. It makes me think of vintage cosmetics. If I had ever had the chance to sit at the dressing tables of Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grabel, Bettie Page, Mae West and all of those classic vintage beauties, Hope is how I would imagine the scent would be, sitting there. Heavenly!

Hope was a powdery floriental in the same family as Tigress, L'Origan and L'Heure Bleue. The notes were: Top - aldehydes, bergamot, peach, lemon, geranium, coriander, cinnamon Middle: orange blossom, lily of the valley, carnation, Bulgarian rose, Florentine orris, ylang ylang, orchid, jasmine absolute Base: vanilla, musk, Argentine guaiacwood, vetiver, Mysore sandalwood, amber, benzoin, tonka, civet, Somali frankincense

I have HOPE and INTERLUDE bath oils to wear for longevity. I wrote to Frances Denney and the company practically swore there has never been a reformulation. I receive mailers from Denney. Both fragrances come in so many forms for layering. I wore HOPE in high school and INTERLUDE in my early years of teaching. Both are beautiful.

I wore this when I was young. It was very versatile and reliable and quietly deep, introverted you might say. . I remember it as being warm and powdery, a bit poetic and a lot mysterious. I see a couple of people used the word haunting to describe it and I would say that is the perfect word for this perfume.