Fantasque

I was googling something else today and stumbled across a picture of this WONDERFUL fragrance. It was given to me by my aunt when it was introduced by Avon in the early 80's. Had forgotten how much I absolutely loved it until I saw the pic. I usually shy away from ebay, but am going to start watching it for this one. My recollection of exactly what made this so spectacular is rusty, and my forte is not deciphering and describing the various nuances of the individual notes, but what I do remember is that it was a powerful, heady, complex chypre; terrific projection and longevity and gathered so many compliments. I have always been a fool for chypres and this was one of the really great ones. Being an Avon fragrance, it did not reach its greatest potential market, IMO. I remember being so upset when it was no longer available, not unlike my melancholy when the original Armani for women was unceremoniously given the axe! WHY do they kill the truly great ones? This was really good!

Fantasque Eau de Cologne is a rich, deep, heady, silky, softly feminine , very smoothly blended chypre. Yes, it would be considered an "old fashioned" scent compared to current fragrances, no doubt. The citrus top notes are wrapped in soft pear, so they are not sharp or tangy. Aldehydes lift and project the scent. Green notes are barely detectable. Rose and rosewood are prominent. Spices and orris are there, far in the background, only lightly noticeable. Touches of sweet jasmine, ylang and lily of the valley wrap around the vetiver to give an overall fresh floral softness. Patchouli, sandalwood and oak moss are blanketed in soft sweet musk and sweet amber. Cedar is barely detectable, smooth, not sharp. Fantasque is a 1980's classic floral beauty. Former Avon ladies have said Fantasque was their best selling fragrance of that time. On my skin, Fantasque lasts easily 8 hours, projecting moderately for about an hour, then wearing very close to skin for the next 7 hours.

Definitely something to try for oakmoss lovers! I am thrilled to finally have this, I've been remembering it warmly for decades! My kind and very generous neighbor Avon lady brought me several samples of this when I was a little girl with a burgeoning lifelong interest in perfume. I knew I loved it then, and that scent seemed to stay in my memory hoping to be awakened someday. Now having sought it out online and found it, it's amazing to think I can wear it every day if I want to. It's a luxurious, refreshingly un-fresh, oakmoss-dominant, one of a kind chypre floral Avon that I think could confidently stand with designer chypres of the era. Although this is a designer fragrance too: Louis Feraud created some real works of art for Avon, I love both this and Vivage. I think it's a lot of fun to wear older discontinued classics like this. Fantasque is beautiful but not pretty, very wearable and approachable for how un-clean it is. I love it.

A beautiful perfume that transports you to the late '70s, early '80s. They don't make oak moss effusions like this anymore. Fantasque is undeniably sophisticated and arguably sexy. To me, very sexy. Plus the black glass bottle is perfectly gorgeous. (I smell exactly what Radchick smells, so I won't repeat it.)

I'm the original owner of a Louis Feraud Fantastique from the 80's, and have always gotten a lot of fruitiness from the pear and citrus on top, along with the other dominant notes. Longtime fan of fruity chypres.