Habanita

Molinard - Habanita (1921) EdT, Vintage from the 1980s, splash "I see you undressing me with your eyes... Don't stop now, you're only half done...". Every year on my birthday, I decide to be extravagant and douse myself in a vintage collectable from my little stash of treasures. I had a few in mind for 26, but as fate worked its magic, a beautiful vintage splash bottle of Molinard Habanita in EdT, which I'd ordered from a fantastic seller on Etsy (Hanna if you're reading this, you're an absolute star) based out in Italy. What would you know, the gods that govern logistics and international shipping decided to bring in this bundle of wonderfulness on my birthday, and I simply couldn't be happier. The most sumptuous packaging befitting Habanita, from the 'roses on black' gift wrapping paper, the gorgeous bows, the little ornamentation, the gilded envelope and golden seals, I only wish I could've done an unboxing for ya'll because Hanna's packaging was so grand. She even sent me the gift of a necklace for my dear mum, since I'd told her during one of our conversations that it was from my mum that I get my taste in perfumery, for she had wondered how a 25-year-old lad came to love a grand dame of the likes Habanita. I have forever been in love with Habanita, I have it in the sublime, and very true to the original, EdP recreation and in the newly imagined La Cologne as well. Before I delve deep into the vintage, I must say that Habanita in EdP as it is now available remains a very successful reformulation and is oft praised by many a critic as being a very close approximation of the vintage EdT, which has been discontinued for a while now. So fret not if you can't get your hands on a vintage EdT or Parfum, the EdP is a good reach too. History, the beginnings are interesting because Habanita was never really conceived as a perfume, it was supposed to scent cigarettes. Just so that the rebellious flappers of the 20s could appear elegant whilst being chain smokers and not simply reek of stale cigarette smoke. This is the very first 'tobacco' perfume, but it doesn't contain a hint of tobacco. Though having said that I think that honour technically goes to Caron's Tabac Blond, I'm not too sure what the general consensus on this is. You could buy sachets of Habanita to put in your cigarette cases (so that the scent would permeate into your cigarettes) or a tiny liquid vial with a glass rod to drip a little of the liquid directly into a cigarette and thus perfume the smoke that emanated. If only millennial-cool Emily knew that her great-grandma Helen was the original vape girl, oh well. I believe somewhere down the line people simply started using Habanita to scent themselves directly, which is when Molinard decided to bring it out formally as a perfume to be applied on oneself, 1921 being the widely accepted launch year for the perfume. To me, Molinard exemplifies the true essence of French perfumery from Grasse, with Habanita boasting a supposed 600 ingredients in all, working to create a nuanced melange of sultry, purring notes and accords. Bottle, it is a gorgeously moulded Lalique flacon, an original creation of Rene Lalique, with the murals of many a lady in their nakedness cheekily attempting to cover themselves with shawls. Probably my favourite perfume bottle design. The screw cap is beaten golden metal and filigreed. It is a splash bottle. Scent, in this vintage EdT, it opens rather differently compared to the EdP, the butch Leather is front and centre from the absolute start, with the Galbanum, Petit Grain and most importantly the Mastic gum resin peeking in shyly, the Leather decides to let the top notes sway in and out of stage curtains giving you a momentary freshness from the Petit Grain (far too shortlived) the tiniest bit of mildly green-resinous-dustiness ala Galbanum and the Mastic. Note: Mastic is a resin from Yemen, obtained from a shrub and smells a bit like pine tree resin and follows after olibanum in scent profile. Milky tree sap? The Leather in here is NOT the oddness that prevails in modern perfumery and does in no way smell like car seats and the like. It smells like Leather that is worn against bare skin, salted by sweat and has a slightly funky overtone to it thanks to the undertone of Musk. Mind you the original formula for Habanita is a 'Russian Leather' base, it was never a simple Leather construct to begin with. But the heart is important because it is what helps restrain the otherwise potent Leather accord, the Nutmeg and Heliotrope are most potent giving it the signature spiced powder feel. Habanita is spicy and it is powdery, of its Guerlain peers Shalimar and L'Heure Blue, and distant Caron cousin Tabac Blond, this is by far the most focussed on the spice of the three and there is unparalleled depth and floral darkness here. There is an oiliness from the dense and rather indolic florals, the Grasse jasmine, the Rosa centifolia and Ylang-Ylang bring in the sweetness but the 'sweetness is cut' and grounded by the Vetiver and Cedarwood in the heart. There's enough in here to tame any manner of sweetness. There's also an odd Raspberry note which plays a very adept game of 'hide and seek' and is only perceptible when your skin warms up. This Raspberry note is nowhere to be found in the EdP. The powderiness here is thick, in a mature and rather sensual way, there is something about this that would make one think of the smell of well-worn and broken-in Leather which has been powdered to mask the scent of wear. The base is heavy and with a Benzoin-forward Amber, a perceptible dose of Vanilla, Patchouli, Oakmoss, and the aforementioned Musk which ISN'T 'clean' thankfully. Feel, this has never been a simple, decent fragrance, in every day and age this has been the scent of the morally dubious seductress, it is only for the femme fatale and she doesn't border on the spectrum of the good or the kind, bad is in her bone and she's smirking at you even when you tell her she owns your heart, she loves you sure, but with irony. The powder is proper and the leather is lustful. Habanita's elegance is only skin deep, a deeply disturbing voluptuousness lies barely hidden from the discerning eye. This is probably why I relate immensely to Habanita, there is a side to me that is prim, proper and preppy but that's just the face that deals with the world at large and there is a darker bit of debauched longing lurking deep beneath, if you've been privileged enough to see that side, I've probably marked you with my teeth or nails, and if I've been subtle I've left you with a bruised heart. Your very own, The Perfume Vigilante

I believe most people don't understand this perfume because it was created to evoke a place and time that no longer exists. When I first tested it, I felt like it was taking me back to the time it was created. I know my history, and what scents people loved, and why, in eras long gone. Production of perfumes have changed in our time, and so have tastes, but back in the early 1920's and over the turn-of-the-19th-century, the orientalist art movement helped influence major imports of Asian and Middle Eastern culture, including exotic fruits and incense, deepening base notes for their lasting, mysterious power making women's perfume sink into clothing long after it's been washed off from skin. The labor of washing clothing took a lot more work, and your most delicate underclothes, ones you couldn't just scrub over your laundry board, you'd just air dry with a few sprays of your loudest perfume! Hence the saying of things smelling like a French whore house because often times working girls were the only ones who could afford those expensive oriental perfumes, so strong they masked any body odor, or blended with it to create an altogether different scent! The heart notes where floral, a bright mixture that often was a crushed mixture of the best, loudest scents from spring and summer to have all year long. Your top notes were ones that were slightly fruity, a gentle opening on the nose before the musk and woods invite you into the "room" or experience of the fragrance. The perfume itself was an experience, like savoring a glass of wine -- you smell it at intervals to let it open each note to you -- and Molinard's Habanita is like a elegant 1920's lady giving you a tour into her mansion... first she leads you through the garden, then into the hallway, then finally into her salon where trails of incense burn, you can smell the old, aged leather of her furniture, and the slight stale smell of aged pipe tobacco smoke from a distance where her husband, no doubt, has decided to hide away from the limelight while she entertains her guests of the evening. If you've ever been invited to a very old, historic house where all the furniture is just as old as the house, and even though everything has been restored, it has that sense of place accompanied with the sweet stench of decay (cracked leather that's almost like rubber hide, plus powered wood with a bit of green mold). Marry that to the scent of cut flowers that aren't so fresh from the outside garden -- we're talking flowers the favorite flowers every grandmother's grandmother's grandmother has planted for generations and more: lilacs, roses, heliotrope, honeysuckles, hyacinth, orange blossoms, apple blossoms, everything-blossoms -- all flowers no longer living, cut in vases that haven't yet been refreshed, so you still smell the hint of that humid hit of dying boutique, like being at a funeral. But then at this house you're served something sweet, tarts or pie like peach cobbler, strawberry rubarb, or your glass is filled with sweet summer raspberry wine/cordial, and you get the complexity of how this scent works. This perfume is a place! It's there for the elite few who like the luxury of this atmosphere that once was the playhouse for the rich and famous from a bygone era. Next time you take a sniff of Habanita, don't just "wear" it, spray it and let it dry on your skin, wait a few seconds for the scent to dry, don't rub it in, close your eyes and then slowly smell, letting each note open new doors for you. You might experience something different each time. For me, it was time travel.

Yes!...I've discovered that Habanita is quite the dark little treasure! It just arrived in the mail yesterday and,I must say,I was pleasantly surprised. The initial application (yesterday) was..at first....a blast of dusty-waxy roses then somewhat quickly it morphed into a thick, warm smokey vanilla...laced with cigarrette smoke....then finally a long lingering baby powder swirled with incense.I really didn't get much in the way of leather. I tried it again this morning and the rosy greeting from yesterday was barely there(boo)....I kind of liked that..it gave it a "vintage cosmetic" smell. Today, it is still lovely but even smokier/spicier and even more vanilla ( like right from the pod...heavy...NOT fluffy.)Still not smellin' the leather...which is really ok with me. Is there such thing as an Oriental-Gourmand? Because I really want to devour my arm....it's like sipping the perfect cup of sweetened black tea....or chai...or something while puffing on an expensive cigarette(and I don't even smoke) I can't quite put my finger on it. I could wear this everyday..I really don't find it too heavy and on me, the projection is minimal.I've already worn it out and about and didn't experience that "oh-s%&t-this-stuff-is-too-strong-in-public" thing that can happen when you leave the house..if you know what I mean. That's probably just my skin as I often have to reapply my fragrances throughout the day. This stuff makes me want to get a fire crackin' in the fireplace, get cozy with a hot cup of something, light some candles and incense and fiddle with my Tarot deck. It's a fabulous Fallish/Wintery way to smell! Just for the heck of it, I tried to "re-create" the smell of Habanita on my other arm using 1 spritz of Cabochard, 2 spritzes of Tabu, 3 of Toujours Moi and 2 of Chloe(to add that soapy/creaminess.) In my personal opinion, it comes pretty close. Habanita is most definitely a vintage smelling perfume and rightfully so. It isn't, however, "old" smelling...or out of date. Not to me anyway. It's classic....dark,powdery,smokey,vanilla....just how I like it! In the Perfume Guide, Luca Turin gives it four stars and names it's overall description as "Vetiver Vanilla" Personally, I'm not getting the vetiver much( I DO love vetiver though.)He does go on to say,however, that the the vetiver and vanilla juxtapose "in such a way that they both disappear and are replaced by something that is not the sum, more like the vector product of the two" I also love the way he describes it as being the "gorgeous hypothetical child" of Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe! EDIT/UPDATE: I have to add to my last reveiw that after wearing Habanita for several hours the second time ( it was a very humid/wet/rainy/cold day) I detected something in the late stages of the drydown that somehow reminded me of bong water.....yes...you heard that right. Now...it's been a while since I've smelled bong water and I really did put alot of thought into what that "curious" note was that I was smelling....it perplexed me for a while until I it finally came to me. It was a dank, earthy, sour-ish sort of smell that had a hay/dead grass thread woven through it. Definitely something that had once been alive and green then transitioned on into something dry,resinous and smoked ( for lack of better description)....hence the "bong water" smell. After even more sniffing and thought, I've decided that I was smelling the elusive Vetiver.....makes sense. Oh...and....this actually added to my positive experience with Habanita. It took away nothing.

(Review of an EdT from the early 1980s) Little Havana is hardly little. There is a very big, old and wisened personality in this bottle. Parts of that personality are warm, friendly, and comforting, yet other parts are rough and tough, loud, and tell you it has seen its fair share of rough times and weathered through all of them - and you are not going to be able to command or intimidate it in the slightest. Habanita was born in a turbulent era, bookended by two world wars but riding a wave of industrialization and progress, both imparting just as much hope and confidence as they do disillusionment and skepticism. Habanita is a complicated individual. Habanita introduces itself to you with a firm and exuberant handshake, an immediate blast of fruity cured tobacco that launches into the air. Brown and green, vanillic and earthy, a touch sweet and a touch sour, dry yet honeyed. The tobacco is relieved of its starring role quite quickly by an extremely spicy heart of clove and nutmeg meaning to pull all moisture out of the air. Bold would be an understatement. It goes up your nose and down the back of your throat with a hot earthy fervor. The tobacco is still very present but it has new and very powerful foils competing for attention. Florals of rose, orris, heliotrope, orange blossom, ylang-ylang and who knows what else have this spicy boot heel on their throats; they’re there, but they are kept down and made quiet. It isn’t until the clove, nutmeg, and tobacco dispense towards the dry down that they are allowed to stand and speak up, but by then they too have mostly lost muster. The rose and orris have the most durability, and are better detectable in the vanillic, leathery, woody amber dry down. Patchouli, sandalwood, benzoin, leather, vetiver, cedar, wisps of oakmoss - every character in the amber and chypre sagas are here to some degree. Most readily apparent is the earthy and resinous vanilla thanks to the patchouli and benzoin, a very dark brown leather, creamy sandalwood, with small threads of green and damp oakmoss weaving its way in and around these other characters. Again, Habanita is a complicated individual. It’s a shape shifter. Changeling. Skinwalker. Protean. Throughout its very long wear time you will feel like you’re wearing several different perfumes. Of the many, many times I’ve worn Habanita nearly every time I’m curious what I’m going to get. It’s not safe, but it’s not dangerous either. It’s not courteous and pretty, it can be quite rude actually, but it’s not a lout hellbent on breaking public decency laws. It’s going to attract attention, and probably blow some minds in the process, so if you’re going to wear it you need to wear it boldly and confidently just like it is. There is no halfway point or timidity with Habanita, though on any given wearing it might present itself to you a bit differently than the last time. While people were rabbiting on about Guerlain and Coty in the early 20th century, Molinard was working away, out of site, like Dr. Frankenstein bringing his monster to life though with the full intention of releasing it upon the populace. That’s why I keep it chained up in my perfume cabinet.

So, I have owned this completely unique and intriguing fragrance for 2 years now. In those 2 years, guess how many times I've worn it? NONE. I've, on occassion, spritzed the tiniest of dabs on at night, just as I'm about to fall asleep, then i forget all about it for a year. Maybe I've just been scared. This is definitely NOT a safe fragrance, especially in the cheap, synthetic candy world we live in today. Well last night, I was feeling a bit nostaligic, vintage and dark and opened my perfume cabinet and there this little bottle sat, staring me in the face. Naturally, because I think this bottle is the greatest thing since sliced bread, I spritzed it on, and climbed into bed. WOW. I have always enjoyed this fragrance, but only now, am I truly appreciating it. Talk about a POWERHOUSE. I found PerfumedBrunette's review so intriguing and the more I read, the more I opened my heart (and my nose) to this masterpiece. What is it about this prefume that is making me feel giddy, sensual and completely confident, all at the same time? It could be the simple fact that it was created in 1921, an era I should have lived and am always searching to recreate in fragrance(although I'm pretty sure I did live there, in my past life, and is why I have such a strong love/connection for all things Deco). Is it the fact that this bottle is the perfect representation of the juice contained with in? I mean, just look at it! Black and gold and Deco all over! How much do we love that Deco Siren on the bottle??!! Yes, its all of those things, but it's also the fact that I am litereally transported back in time. A time when Chinese silk screens lined beautful, dark and opulent lounges. I can place myself in this lounge so easily. I am smoking opium from a hooka, perfectly draped in a deep saphire blue velvet dress, wearing balck lacey lingerie underneath and dripping in Deco jewels on top. Powder puffs scented of dark amber sit on top of a gorgeous vanity, in the womens waiting room. Ladies touching up their lipstick, powdering their noses in the hazey mirror of the smokey air. That's what this smells like to me. Dark powdery amber, laced with resins and lipstick, soaked into velvet and warmed on the skin. A haze of 1920's glamour and Pure.Genius. So today, for the first time, I am going to wear my beatifull Habanita in public and go about my business, knowing that I have a very special, very sexy secret. You will most likely get a whiff of this secret (there's no getting around that) but you'll never guess what it is, unless of course, you are like me and are privey to the special knowledge of this intoxicating creation...and if that's the case, then I think we should be friends. P.S. My husband adores this on me...all the 3 times I think he's actually smelled it. He finds it arousing. That should have sealed the deal for me long ago.

My initial reaction when I first tested Habanita, I took a whiff and it opened my eyes with surprise. This is an exciting perfume, to say the least. It stands alone amongst many that have been marketed. It is a unique fragrance that cannot be duplicated or counterfeited in any way. It's sensual, it's dark, it's smoky, it's leather, it's powder, it's rubber, it's a sharp assault in your face that drys down to an unusual scent that's very difficult to describe but absolutely one of a kind. On me, there are no flowery notes. It drys down to a powder that wraps itself around leather, tobacco, musk, oakmoss and benzoin. It's warm and smoldering. Not a warm that you wrap yourself in a blanket with warm. Habanita exudes a sexual warmth. It's musky in its own way, not a typical musk that one expects that is so common on the market today. Each time I wear it, I pick up different nuances of this quaint perfume and I am looking forward to wearing it in the different seasons. This was a blind buy for me and I am delighted with it. It's a red lipstick, dark eyeliner and boots kind of perfume. Others won't recognize it, which is a good thing. You'll stand alone and be remembered. It's a wonderful addition to my perfumes. I don't reach for Habanita very regularly. I can't even say I wear it that often. But when the mood strikes me, it's a frag that is so unique, it I know my entire demeanor is different. This perfume is meant for a person with a zest and passion for what they are about to do because it is a strong fragrance for a woman that can pull it off. Definitely not for the weak, not for a wallflower, and not for the shy. If you want to be remembered, and not necessarily in a good girl way, then this perfume is one to try. After all, how many perfumes do you know that smell of leather, smoke and benzoin, tempered with woods and moss notes? What an incredulous combination. This is a power-house scent, but not for power in the boardroom. It's for power elsewhere. Whenever I wear it, men seem to be hypnotized and comment on it. Strangers even. This is the one fragrance I'll wear that strange men will ask me about, comment on or want to get closer. Habanita lays low but is the strongest, most compelling perfume I own.

Vintage Habanita by Molinard: O.M.G!! This to me is just pure sex appeal in such a beautiful glossy black bottle with the golden top!! Actually it was my Great Aunt who used to wear Habanita as her signature fragrance,& it was her who then bought me a bottle from Paris which I still have in my vast perfume collection!! My Aunt Grace used to say "Habanita Is The Perfume Of Movie Star's" & By heck she was right as apparently Mae West wore nothing else only vintage Habanita & Carry Grant also!! This Perfume was said to be created for those high class ladies/gents who used to enjoy smoking & it's supposed to blend perfectly with the smell of cigarettes or cigars & actually enhance rather than try & mask out the aroma!! Not Being a smoker myself I can't put that statement to the ultimate test!! But indeed Vintage Habanita does have a beautiful smokey quality to it that I just absolutely adore!! & it most certainly draws a lot of attention & compliments when I Wear her out!! It's most deffo a very up-market quality perfume that very much enjoy's being itself & not anyone else!! Meaning nothing else smells exactly like it!! Yes a person can indeed wear a Chanel perfume,but when a person wear's Molinard Habanita to me anyway Habanita is far more unique/timeless & Pure Frence chic than any Chanel perfume will ever be!! Molinard deffo nailed it when they invented Habanita & Deffo Habanita is up there with the "BEST FRENCH PERFUME HOUSE" which is deffo Guerlain!! I'm actually wearing my Vintage Habanita as I type out this review & I can honestly tell you that the wafts I keep getting of myself is just absolutely outstanding!! It's dark,mysterious,smokey,balsamic,aromatic, mossy,beautiful & real sexy all in one very unique perfume!! & just like my Great Aunt Grace it smells absolutely Devine on me too!! They sure don't make perfume like this anymore & Molinard sure is a great French perfume House Indeed!! I have yet to try out the new edp Habanita but I do have the White L'Espirit & La Cologne which I deffo equally love!! Aunt Grace you sure where one very classy lady indeed!! & thankyou for my first ever bottle that I still have & will treasure forever!! & they say perfume is a memory?? Indeed there right!!

One of the most delicious oriental vanilla dry downs ever. Creamy, powdery, peachy but with a oriental punch. Incredibly unique, smells like no other. I think a lot of people miss out on this little piece of heaven because the opening is pretty potent and sometimes even has an ever so slight gasoline or chemical smell initially (depending on which version it is). I know, yikes...but for me just a little patience brings me to something wickedly delicious and addicting....a real all day long wrist sniffer. If you told me it was $500 a bottle I wouldn't blink. It is a spellbinding and very high quality fragrance. The dry down is so sexy and the vanilla/almond from the heliotrope mixed with the other notes gives it an almost honey like smell...but without the sickly honey punch that makes some true honey type scents unwearable for me. This smells like the way I WANT honey notes to smell if that makes sense. Mix that with the dark peach, powder and oriental notes and you get something that will stop people in their tracks. I have actually heard "good God!!" I don't really get much smoke or leather, it is very slight and just enough to keep Habanita from being too sweet or headache inducing. The floral aspects are downplayed to me, this is not a "floral" fragrance...for me, this is all about that incredible well blended Oriental, semi gourmand, sensual fruity vanilla dry down....which is heaven on earth. Habanita isn't a perfume, it is an experience. A never ending evolution from start to finish. It isn't for the tame or mild or meek. But the dry down is so much tamer and more wearable than I expected. It is like bad girl meets powdery innocence. But Habanita does make me feel a bit like a bad gal for the day. Even if only in the daydreams in my mind. Habanita is probably my favorite fragrance of all time.

Dusty, musty, fusty, unapologetically vintage! What an indescribable scent she is to me. Like nothing else I own. Don't misunderstand. I Love My special bottle of Habanita! Gifted to me by the kindest Fragrantican, happily before prices skyrocketed. As my ordered bottle went AWOL enroute to me during an infamous winter storm, I treasure this supreme sacrifice on her part! So precioso. But I want to add that this vintage lover has not found it to be a man magnet. It is not that I personally avoid fragrances on this criteria, but Unanimous votes from men that it smells EXACTLY like baby powder cannot be overlooked! So if you are looking for something that wafts about oneself with the quality of film star seduction..... you will need to look elsewhere. I find it quite comical that a fragrance at once, dark, heavy, and mysterious could possibly be perceived thus, but so it is. Reason? The talcum here may be the only recognizable note to many uninitiated souls. All of this said, dark talcum may grow on some! And I certainly would not gainsay the sophisticated yet somehow comforting, niche scent that is vintage Habanita. If all of that sounds good to you, don't hesitate to test the newest version in edp form - the square bottle. It is EXCELLENT. Less talcum, just as much artistry. Highly recommended for those who adore unusual French scents with only the slightest update in style. Habanita - she who never goes out of style and never blends in with the crowd. Absolutely timeless, if an acquired taste for many. Five Stars and Five stars also for the new version as aforementioned. What a quality house is Molinard!

Oh, Habanita EDT ! How totally beautiful, dangerously sexy, yet comforting, and extremely long lasting ! VERY POWDERY, but it's a clean rich almost creamy powder, not baby powder. Habanita is a master blend of deep vanilla, crispy fresh vetiver, spicy leather tanner oils, jasmine, rose, ylang -ylang, lilacs, and orange blossoms expertly smoothed together with a light blend of peach, bergamot and raspberry. A gentle touch of cedar tones down notes that would otherwise be too sweet. All of these notes swirl into a beautiful powdery cloud. Oakmoss and soft thick musk give Habinita excellent staying power. Actually, leather itself has no smell until tanning oils are used on it to give it a fragrance. The tanner oils used in Habanita are smooth, ultra rich and sexy. Sometimes these tanner oils can give some people the impression of a 'tobbacco' or 'smokey' smell.....but in Habanita, this is an underlying fresh smell....not a burning tobbacco or an ashtray odor. Habanita is easily a unisex fragrance. Sweet but not too sweet. Silage is strong for hours, then settles deep and close to skin. It lasts on skin, in hair, and in fabrics until you wash it off. Use Habanita sparingly. No need to drown in it, even though you might want to because it's so beautiful. A little goes a long long way. Thanks to everyone for their reviews ! Everyone's thoughts are useful and appreciated, whether you like a fragrance or not. If not for ALL of you, I might never have experienced Habanita. Now Habanita is one of my all time favorites !

An unusual, one-of-a-kind number, with a definite Art Deco 1920's feeling. Some have called it "SHALIMAR's naughty flapper sister", or "a SHALIMAR-scented handkerchief rubbed out into an ashtray". Like SHALIMAR, one gets the impression of something Oriental-sweet with balsams, amber and vanilla and fruit; but in HABANITA the sweet, powdery, sandy-warm quality is always tantalizingly held at arm's length by stern, bitter notes of gum mastic, geranium, petitgrain, smoky tanned leather and cedar. The sweet-versus-bitter elements continue their repartée throughout the perfume's development, never to resolve, even into far drydown. An opening accord of gum mastic and benzoin smells startlingly like pure white powder cocaine, and indeed the whole perfume, to me, has a subtle "louche" quality, like something you'd smell at the Kit-Kat Kabarett in Weimar Berlin: omnisexual debauchery laced with an unspoken ominousness. It is an Otto Dix painting come to life. The perfume was originally released in 1921 as a unisex number for scenting one's cigarettes: Early vials of the jus contained an inner glass wand for stroking the curious scent onto one's smokes... thence, in a nightclub, your unusual, bittersweet fragrance would waft mysteriously over the revelry. A classic I hope never to be without.

I pulled this out just to renew our acquaintance and am feeling the love today. To my nose this is a powder bomb: mostly leather, vanilla-amber, oris root, the occasional rose wafting through with a spicy! benzoin kick! The flowers are well blended with heliotrope and ylang-ylang, but no note, except perhaps the rose peeks through, and it's their beautiful marriage that makes for the powder. I have a supply direct from Molinard from 1999, and I have the EDP from about 5 years ago purchased also from Molinard. There are some differences. But overall, the soul and essence are there (perhaps it is more powdery, less spicy now). To the untrained and "young" nose this will perhaps smell of "old"--all I can say is "Fie on you powder haters." I was wearing this at 25, 30 and now--and it's considerably "older" than I am. It's a classic scent. I personally love powder and enjoy the tremendous complexity of this scent; it is both utterly feminine yet fantastic for a man: sexy, spicy-powder, amber-vanilla-benzoin goodness with silage and longevity that rivals all the fruity-licious-berry-bombs out there (so tiring). Doesn't anyone want to smell the scent of adventure, of travel, of history, of the exotic and erotic and individual?

What a masterpiece. I almost doomed it at the first sniff, for the sweet powder. I ́m happy i didn ́t. Just the history and idea of Habanita is stunning (...Molinard introduced Habanita in 1921, not as a personal fragrance but as a product to scent cigarettes. It was available in scented sachets to slide into a pack of cigarettes, or in liquid form: "A glass rod dipped in this fragrance and drawn along a lighted cigarette will perfume the smoke with a delicious, lasting aroma") Amazing! And the Lalique flacon hits the nail. Habanita smells velvety smooth and teases senses eroticaly. It might be the balance (and tension) between its main attributes - woman (lipstick, powder, rose) & man (tobacco, leather, motor oil). It has a dark side, some mystery. It ́s not only pretty scent and nothing more. This is the kind of perfumes I love and that is what I ́m missing in recent producton. This woman is not sweet dull doll with trendy look. Nothing phony This one is the real thing. She is more likely a person with bad past, difficult girl, that fires straight with live bullets. And the man would die for her. Kind of like the song "you're too much, for one man - but not enough for two"... but here is the right guy.

My love for Habanita only began earlier this year when my friend gifted me a bottle of the current EDP after a trip to Paris. I had never smelled it before, but it had always piqued my interest due to it's complex list of notes, dazzling black bottle, and its storied history. Once I fell into Habanita’s captivating abyss, I knew I needed to experience her in all her forms. I hunted down vintage bottles of the EDT and Extrait, drawn by the glowing praise surrounding earlier versions. When I finally found them, I had discovered my perfect perfume. Habanita is a true chameleon. Some days she reveals her softer side a sweet, slightly fruity, powdery veil that dries down into a boozy, vanillic amber. On other days she bares her carnal, animalic soul, emphasizing a leathery bitterness grounded in dry, smoky vetiver and oakmoss. To me, Habanita is one of the most underappreciated icons of perfumery free spirited and bold, a symbol of the rebellious women who dared to challenge the norms imposed upon them. She is both comfort and confidence, softness and strength. A fragrance that doesn’t ask to be noticed it demands to be perceived and respected.

Oh Boy! When I first sprayed this the first thing I felt like doing was putting on a red and black dress, high heels, a fan, a rose behind my ear, and a table to dance the flamenco on. Muy, muy, caliente! When I read Turin and Sanchez, they referred to this as "vetiver vanilla." That description doesn't do Habanita justice. There's so much more going on. I do get that lipsticky, bubble gum scent which by itself would have been a pretty cool fragrance but there's a wonderful spicy, woodsy, vanilla, powdery rose scent that is just fab. I worry around many rose scents because they often get too sweet, cloying, and wheeze-inducing to me, this one isn't like this at all. The leather note is very smooth, like old gloves or purses - doesn't shout, more like a stage whisper. I don't know what older versions smell like, and if I never smell an old bottle I will be okay with that because I have a hard time believing this could be improved. Habanita is sooo sexy, earthy, full-figured and proud of it! The sillage and longevity are terrific - the scent doesn't just disappear and leave you with the "Where did it go?" feeling. Very satisfying.

Hello, Habanita! For some reason I skipped this until today, when it found it's way to me thanks to a dear friend that sent this to me as a gift, and I am truly impressed by this OG perfume version of it. This stuff is super strong, dark, resinous, very femme fatale and daring. No idea, how old this version is or what the newer versions smell like but after receiving this now I can really recommend trying it. I would say it's quite daring to wear in public, I would partially call it simular to the opulence of "Corday-Toujours Moi" but substract some of the incense, late base notes of the resinous first version of "Bal a Versailles" pure perfume (when the sweet notes have faded), the powdery almost birchy tobacco of "Tabac Blond-Caron" vintage version and the russian leather style of the castoreum-birch-resin heavy old version of "Piver-Cuir de Russie" essence. Sometimes I wonder what the women that wore this must have looked like or to which occasions they chose to wear this, as I find this quite dramatic and a perfect fit for "special occasions" and wild nights out. Lovely stuff!

Blind buy of a discounted tester on this as I was intrigued by the fragrance's unique place in history and, wow - this is not what I was expecting. I was expecting heaviness, sourness, and an overpowering aftershave-like thwack! in the face... I'd thought Habanita was going to be something really forceful, designed as it was to cut through layers of heavy cigarette smoke in clubs way back in the day. Instead I find this fragrance on me is layered, nuanced and sophisticated; really quite sexy; very beautiful indeed. There's jasmine and/or ylang ylang in the background, spices, some vanilla, a touch of musk for sure but not overdone, and lots and LOTS of leather and smokiness. A really heady but not sweet floral note that I am guessing must be heliotrope? REALLY seductive. Can be worn by any gender as long as you're feeling (or want to feel) elegant, assertive and a tiny bit mysterious. Certainly not your usual bright fruity 21st century fragrance affair; but I don't think it smells dated or old-lady or "urgh, aftershave!" either, just very, very unusual. LOVE.

I am a man who wears Habanita, who appreciates the beauty of the Lalique bottle (I have an older EDT formulation), and who loves a good heliotrope note anywhere he can find it (especially when there's a smidgen of bitter almond bite), and here it really shines on my skin with the moody leather and aromatic tobacco. The duality between bitter and sweet, rough and smooth, masculine and feminine, captivates my nose. There is this shape shifting sensation that I am always thrilled to encounter in a fragrance: florals and fruits peek through only to be shrouded by all the deep, brooding darkness that is at the core of Habanita. Yes, this is powdery. Yes, this has a dirty civet undertone especially in the drydown. Yes, it is not for today. But what is meant for today I frankly don't desire (not very much, at least). I've surpassed the phase of wearing fragrances for compliments, for performance, for validity or prestige. I wear them for the very personal, visceral connections from which they derive. And my love for Habanita de Molinard is testament to that.

I had tested Habanita many times before but I couldn't appreciate her, until one day I put her on with many other perfumes in a perfume store. I left the store and I was driving home when I smelled something wonderful coming from my wrist. It was Habanita. I drove back and bought not only one, but two bottles, because the lady in the store told me that it is going to be discountinued. What can I say about Habanita? I wear it all the time, from morning until the moment I go to bed. I wear it everywhere: the office, the club,the cinema, the restaurant. I am mad about her. Habanita is complex, she doesn't reveal her full face at once, you have to be patient and you will be rewarded. Habanita is so feminite, so sexy, so mysterious, so warm, just like a leather jacket or a precious fur coat. She is unique, you can recognise her from a long distance. She works better in cold weather but she is marvelous all year round. She has a good sillage (not a monster one) and very good lasting. She is perfect, just perfect.

Femme Fatale Russian Spy. Beautiful powdery heliotrope and orris, makes the leather slightly dusty, almost suede, slightly animalic imo, humble florals, vanilla weaving through each of the notes, the vetiver makes everything a little more robust. I know the history of this perfume tells us it was created for women intended to mask the smell of cigarettes but I can only imagine how delicious pipe tobacco, cigarette and cigar smoke would smell lacing through this fragrance. The benzoin and musk in the base is sweet, fluffy, heavenly. Not the way you’d describe a femme fatale Russian Spy but the composition creates a harmony that flickers between feminine and masculine, soft and rugged. Such a gorgeous and unique perfume. I’m beginning to really enjoy leather x orris x iris. This vintage is marketed as an EDT concentration but has the longevity of a really decent EDP. I could still smell it around my neck and décolleté the following day albeit a cozy, musky, warm, vanillic and slightly resinous skin scent.