Epris

From the mere moment of reading about this bad boy, I felt a kindred spirit towards this scent in my heart, and when I received it amidst several other vintage scents in an acquired lot of fragrances, and smelled it - the super tiny, mushroom-capped perfume with chocolatey-wine liquid - I was smitten. A SMITTEN KITTEN. It's mossy, sweet, *RICH*, earthy, yet somehow damp and light and wet, greeny, delicious, it's so 70's, it's spicy, I'm sure it's lost the top notes that were a fine flossy appeal in its heydey, but like with most fragrances I've begun to hunt down like Indiana Jones with a whip-like fierceness, I really DGAF about what's lost - I love the depth and the deep, sinewy, sexy accords that have been brewing. I smell this one and even though it's sweeter than this scene would pray tell, I keep seeing a foggy, moss-tree-covered forest with ferns and about 30 feet of visibility. What? Yes. I love this one tremendously and don't even want to convince you guys that much because I DON'T want you to go out and buy the bottles and leave LESS for ME so THERE. DISLIKE THIS ONE PLEASE IT'S TERRIBLE. ALSO, I sense zero resemblence to Ciara or Obsession; in fact, so far I've smelt nothing like Epris in my life on earth - except for a random frosted glass miniature bottle that I just acquired, with no name, standing like 3 inches tall, with an elongated gold cap that I thought for sure would be a Lauder Private Collection mini and smells, instead, like an Epris cologne spray but could not possibly be due to massive packaging differences. So whatever is this other wonder, yay, it smells like Epris and I have a double :)) Epris, you are a genius, you are a soft-sexy-70's-hippieish-liberated-sexual goddess-working woman-no need to be who you aren't-no one telling you how to be any type of woman-genius. No wonder they discontinued you, as they didn't know what the fuck to do with you. Edit Side Note: The bottle I reviewed is for the pure perfume 0.12 oz glass bottle with the silver mushroom cap, and the fluid inside is so dark and inky it looks like brown opaque swamp water. It must have been marinating forever. I just received another 0.12 oz pure perfume glass bottle with silver mushroom cap; the juice is more of a maple syrup color (younger? exposed to more light?). It has less of a deep, mossy, damp sweetness to it straight from the bottle, but it does manifest some of that on the skin, however some of the richness, fermented sweetness and earthiness is missing, which makes sense given the color. The major notes are still being hit; the inkier juice is just more of a bonus, in my opinion. Just wanted to put that out there. I actually like the range in concentration, even if it's technically the same product - I want to try the cologne spray, I think that would make a dynamic body mist or skin musk scent.

I am not good with picking out certain notes, but I read mossy, and earthy when searching I found this through max factors line of scents, and stumbled upon Jaclyn Smith's ad representing the fragrance, I thought (I really want to smell "unsettling" and "disturbing") I knew I had to buy a bottle to try. When I did, and I first sprayed it. It was love at first sniff. I knew I had to buy back up bottles. It is so strong, and lasts for hours depending if you have the original formulated concentrated cologne, because It has been reformulated at least once that I know of. I have only come across two reformulations of the cologne. The reformulated version lacks depth. But you can never go wrong with the mini EDP. This is a phenomenal fragrance, it's so daring and "provocative" It's so earthy, and mossy I feel like mother nature is wrapping her arms around me. I am addicted to it. It is my signature fragrance during the cold season. Very few people I know like it, the rest despise it, and find it extremely offensive. But I do not care at all, I wear what I want, when I want. EDIT- I found a website that had notes displayed. Top notes Ylang-ylang Lily if the valley Rose Mimosa Middle notes Carnation Coriander Basil Clove Base notes "Woods" Moss Amber But Basenotes states the notes as this. Top notes lemon mimosa coriander basil aldehydes bergamot tarragon Middle notes carnation clove ylang ylang lily of the valley damask rose jasmine orris Base Notes oakmoss amber sandalwood vetiver musk incense vanilla Now I'm not entirely sure how accurate those notes are. I got the information from the "parfumo" website and Base notes. This is definitely an everything in the kitchen sink perfume

I have both the vintage perfume and an EDP which has thickened and concentrated into a dark inky potion. I have placed that EDP in a rollerball bottle and it goes on like a powerhouse perfume. When I was at the end of my teens I loved Jaclyn Smith and wanted to be like her, she was always my favorite. Then this perfume came out and I loved it so much and made it my signature perfume for a time. It seems funny to think of a young 19 year old wearing such a grown up perfume but I always loved oriental and full bodied fragrances. Epris is strong and bold the way Angel is but *does not smell like it.* It's just not a shy fragrance. A few dabs are plenty. As often happens with most of our favorites, it was discontinued and Max Factor went out of existence. Years later I found some bottles on Ebay and was thrilled to smell it again. It is still beautiful but I have to be in the mood to wear it. If you like perfumes like Timeless, Rumba, Jovan Woman and some others mentioned you may like Epris. It has a sultry old school vibe and might be great for you vintage lovers.

Nowadays, releases that purport themselves to be chypres, even in their very name, so often leave me cold. They feel more like attenuated "diet" versions, meant to be commercially viable to ever more fickle and distracted consumers that may like the idea of a chypre without wanting to fully commit—see Barénia from Hermès or Chypre Mojo 45 from Parle Moi de Parfum, for example. It's good to know that you can find a knockout moss-monster, an earthy, smoky, bitter floral that will scream "pong" to the norm-core sect, for a fraction of the cost of some overblown excuse of a chypre in a garish looking bling bottle and 300 buck price tag. Epris was a CVS dark corner speciality, a bottom-row-of-glass-case *pharmakon* that even Epris spokes-angel Jaclyn Smith asserted in its commercial is "a little unsettling, a little disturbing." And it's damn good.

Review is for the pure perfume, from a previously unopened vintage bottle. Dark color indicates oxidation although there is no evaporation. A sweet and boozy entrance, with lots of Benzoin, Carnation, & Jasmine, blends seamlessly into a mincemeat pie of spices-Cinnamon, Nutmeg, powdered Ginger- enveloped in Damascan rose, all anchored by what I am sure is natural Beeswax and Patchouli. The collision of notes calms nicely within about 15 minutes, when Oakmoss serves as the canvas for muted versions of the previously screaming notes. A beautiful perfume for the holidays. Despite the designation as a Chypre, I do not get any citric notes in the top; perhaps they are degraded in my bottle. The longevity and concentration are insane; a mere drop lasts close to a day. At $10 for a mini of perfume, this is not to be missed!