Le Parfum Ideal

Discovered this extremely pleasant surprise through a small 1960's pure perfume. The overall scent is an aromatic, ambery, sweet floral. In the top I definitely smell the odd green/herbal/bitter amyl salicylate, but it serves to shape the abstract floral core. While this is definitely an early impressionistic fragrance--"parfum ideal" seems to maybe refer to the mythical abstract flower in its core--ylang ylang and jasmine definitely stand out, the former for its warm "humanness" and the latter for its indolic sweetness. These harmonize with what feels like a sharp clove that is tempered by an almondy and sweet tonka. I've smelled a couple of rare Guerlains from within about 20 years (give or take) of this scent--Bon Vieux Temps + Sillage--and they both seem inspired by the structure of this scent. That is to say, strong, harmonious aromatic floral chords. That makes me feel like Ideal was another trendsetter from Houbigant (like Fougere Royale) that was a basic skeleton taken and toyed with. While they don't smell alike truly, I can also see how this ylang-inflected aromatic floral segues into later perfumes like Chanel no 5. I'd love to learn about/smell more of Ideal's contemporaries. EDITED TO ADD: Big important note...I've just smelled a couple of bottles of a more recent EDT (still vintage...the ones in the gold screw top mini bottles that look like this vintage bottle here)...and that is a *totally* different scent. Doesn't even smell remotely close to the jasminey, clovey, ylang-ylang aromatic floral with a tonka base. Smells kind of like Lentheric Tweed almost...cheap, kind of mossy...very dated. So be aware that different vintages you buy may be entirely different scents.

I have the rare 4 oz eau de toilette in the gorgeous stopper bottle. It is truly stunning. Warm and soft. Smells heavenly.