Ecusson

I was fortunate to win at auction many years ago a rare 2 fl.oz (60 ml.) glass/crystal flacon of the pure parfum (ref:404), the bottle sits upon a raised footed grey velvet dais and is accessed by lifting off a pale pink & grey fitted cardboard case/lid also known as a coffret, this is a older presentation as the stopper is oval matte glass and fitted with a ground tipped bung which is firmly secured by gold thread & is double labelled with the Jean D'albret golden ~Ecusson~ shield & neck collar, thankfully there has been no evaporation with the contents displaying a rich, brassy & clear golden hue hence my unwillingness to open and use as I have a smaller 30 ml. bottle that I sample from time to time purely for reference purposes against other vintage floral chypres from approximately the same or similar time frame. The parfum is a rich sumptuous floral formula drying down and bolstered by lashings of rare Indian sandalwood, vetyver & oak moss finishing with smoldering mid century & now long discontinued nitro musk's, this is a very heavy fragrance and typical of perfumes from that era, this gem is kept in climate controlled conditions which hopefully will extend it's olfactive integrity. Application by vaporiser/natural spray would benefit in opening up this heavy, dense fragrance allowing for a protracted & glorious dry down, a most elegant blast from the past... ~Ecusson~ is French for a badge, epaulet or emblem

I have a small bottle of vintage "Ecusson" eau de parfum, most likely 1970s, simply labeled "perfume". It's lovely... A quick top note burst of faint herbal-floral and perhaps citrus notes (bergamot?) of some kind, probably softened and blurred by age. Then musk of the "Bal a Versailles" type, a relatively heavy but hard to tease apart bouquet of florals, with carnation and a touch of rose most notable to me. It gets beautifully creamy here. Drydown has a richly resinous and powdery quality, and a musk that is delicate but persistent. I feel that there is oakmoss in here too, which gives the base a woodsy touch and enlivens the muskiness. Over and over, I am reminded of" Bal a Versailles", but not in a derivative way; this simply feels like her more refined---or more subtle--- cousin. It reads like a musky chypre, to me, or a chypre musk. I find it very pleasing, and while it has a definite vintage character, I think it wears plenty modern too. Sillage is moderate, with amplification if skin grows warmer. My bottle lacked its sprayer, thus I had to dab it on; I suspect that this would bump up a bit in sillage if sprayed. Very enjoyable!

I have been extremely lucky to have found a small Ecusson parfum in its original bottle, encased in a plastic shell, with lid, in the original box. I found it on a local site which sells used or unwanted goods. It is as beautiful as I remembered, warm, feminine, musky and soft. This fragrance (Ecusson) along with the original Casaque were available from the Orlane counter in Sydney, sadly it's been decades since they were sold here. The challenge for me will be how to conserve it for as long as possible without wanting to wear it every day!

as it took other reviewers a long time to say: a woody musk.

Just received my eau de toilette vintage bottle and I'm a bit disappointed... I cannot find any of the complexity or the floral notes that other reviewers mention. All I can think of is a rather flat spicyness. Maybe it's just that this bottle did not stand the test of time.