Shocking

Vintage Shocking by Schiaparelli I blame Frida Kahlo for making Shocking by Schiaparelli my new obsession. My cousin, a friend of the curator, arranged for us to have a private tour of Frida’s show at the Palacio De Bellas Artes in Mexico City. It was breathtaking. There were paintings from private collections that I’ve never seen in print before. She told us stories of Frida that the collectors told her. It was as if Frida herself was speaking to me from beyond. I thought I had died and gone to heaven and I didn’t think it was possible to love her any more than I already did. It was there that I learned that Shocking was one of Frida’s signature perfumes, along with Tabu. It makes perfect sense since both Frida and Elsa Schiaparelli were the “wild” children of their day. Both women had such passionate and colorful lives – Frida as an artist and Elsa as a designer – it was a match made in heaven. From that day forward, I was determined to find and wear this scent. I am a firm believer in cooking and in perfume that you should always start with the original formulation before you change it and make it yours; so I knew that nothing less than the vintage fragrance would do. It took me years, but I finally found my vintage bottle with the “S” in the corseted bottle based on Mae West’s figure. I began with the Eau de Cologne, knowing that if I liked it, I would upgrade to the pure parfum. Today is the first day I wear it, and for the occasion, I put together a Shocking pink vintage outfit that Ms. Schiaparelli would have loved. Then, in a moment of passion, I doused myself. With a vintage fragrance, it can sometimes go either way. You can go straight to Heaven or Hell with a spoiled note or two, and I usually play it safe by just dabbing it on and waiting it out. Not this time. I went for it. I doused myself. I figured I had nothing to lose and Frida and Elsa would have wanted me to go for it. Then, I grit my teeth and waited. About 10 minutes later, I got what I now know is the QUEEN of honey scents. I felt like I was walking in a room full of cut flowers dipped in honey where someone has just made love. It’s a full and complex composition; so well blended that I can’t pick out any particular notes. It has that naughty animalistic undercurrent that I LOVE. It takes the entire fragrance out of the “nice” and “pretty” categories and puts it in the “dangerously beautiful” “sultry”, “risqué” categories. This is not a signature scent, this is a LIFESTYLE. Both Frida Kahlo and Elsa Schiaparelli are beautiful women – beautiful inside and out – for who they were and what they contributed to this world as women and this fragrance is a tribute to that lifestyle. I can’t deny that this fragrance makes me feel beautiful and inspired and unique. I feel like it’s the only fragrance I have that acknowledges that I too have a purpose in life, like I am here to fulfill a very specific calling in my own unique beautiful way. Wear it well and bless this world with your unique beauty and your unique purpose too.

SHOCKING, in EDC concentration, takes off smelling boozily like an herbal liqueur, not far from the aromatic realm of Underberg digestive, or even Jägermeister. Touched with bergamot, dry rose and lime peel. Throughout the development, an herbal quality is most evident to me... yes, moreso than any floralcy or animalics; It must be the tarragon. It is bolstered by what I am quite sure are myrrh and opoponax, giving a resinous, "stony" quality to the mix. Dusky narcissus adds an unsweet, orris-y quality, with improbable hints of a painter's linseed oil. I'm convinced that a bitter/dusty turmeric is also part of the dance here. The honey, patchouly and civet emerge over time. A faint accord of what I am taking to be clove and thyme give a slight, pleasant "medicinal" quality to the fragrance. Despite SHOCKING's honeyed reputation, the fragrance never, ever becomes overtly sweet, IMO. Certainly not juicy/fruity, vanillic or gourmand in any way: the bitter herbal qualities always have the last word, and for me, define the character of the scent. In far drydown, there is a faint, intriguingly louche "stale cigarette tobacco" quality, which a number of classic pre-1960 numbers boasted, as we know. Perfumers knew where and when their scents would be worn, haha. A most intelligent aldehydic/floral/chypre, the scent increasingly smells masculine as it dries down. Not what you'd call "pretty" or "femme". I wouldn't even call it "sexy", per se... compelling, stimulating, sophisticated, yes, but not exactly suggestive, erotic or alluring. If I had to synaethestically bestow a "color" upon the smell, I'd say it was olive green or pea green.... ie., a muted yellow-green. Certainly not Schiaparelli "hot pink". I find SHOCKING to be most similar to Weil ZIBELINE and Revlon INTIMATE. INTIMATE's debt to SHOCKING is without question, though not, I would opine, made of ingredients as costly. People list TABU and BAL À VERSAILLES as being similar, yet I really don't get that... SHOCKING is nowhere near as sweet/syrupy/vanillic as BàV, and not as conspicuously "dark" and spicy as TABU. The nose behind SHOCKING is Jean Carles, who also famously authored the vintage MISS DIOR, Carven MA GRIFFE, Dana TABU and ELLE...ELLE for Lucien Lelong. [UPDATE--->] I just received a bottle of the eau-de-parfum. Likely dating to the 1980's, judging from the emballage. The smell is all the ideas of SHOCKING, but highly concentrated, more "opaque" and tightly interwoven, with a pronounced sweet floralcy... brimming with ylang-ylang, nostalgic violet ionone, hay-ey/vanillic tonka and old-fashioned iris; the patchouly, tarragon, civet and aldehydes greatly ratcheted down. Arguably more traditionally "feminine". In this concentration, the scent bears a striking resemblance to Guerlain APRÈS L'ONDÉE (1906). If you are heartbroken that Guerlain no longer makes APRÈS L'ONDÉE in an EDP concentration, you must obtain an 80's/90's bottle of SHOCKING in the EDP... It's almost a dupe of ALO, I'd say, and 10x as strong as the current EDT.

[1250] Elsa Schiaparelli was a true pioneer, a fashion designer known for her innovative approach to her craft, often encompassing the use of art techniques like surrealism and trompe l'œil. Shocking is the most famous perfume from her house, named for her signature colour, "shocking pink". In addition, Schiaparelli's provocative designs were sometimes considered - fittingly - shocking at the time of their release, like her tennis skirt that was a precursor to shorts. Shocking is a perfume whose bottle is more famed than the juice within. Shaped like a female torso, it was famously modelled on Mae West's measurements, whom Schiaparelli dressed for one of her films. An obvious inspiration for Gaultier Classique et al., Shocking's then-groundbreaking bottle is in keeping with Schiaparelli's artistry. I only have a tiny miniature in a plain bottle, and would love the real deal. I was glad to discover that the perfume itself is a thing of beauty, worthy of its iconic bottle. Shocking is a compelling, opulent perfume, old-world in style, richly beautiful and classically feminine. It opens with tart freshness, its bergamot note up top prominent and intact. The aldehydes are soapy, and there is some greenness. There is some bitterness here, perhaps due to age, but it only adds character. The floral heart unfurls after a little while, sweet, rich and full-bodied. It is very smooth, almost creamy, but becomes powdery as it settles. The yellow florals, an accord I'm partial to, are initially dominant. Narcissus leads, pollen-y and slightly grassy. Ylang ylang adds sweetness, but is much less cloying than in many modern scents. Bold, powdery rose follows, and some clean, powdery jasmine is in there too, if subtle. The honey adds rich sweetness to the florals. It marries beautifully with the musky amber base, which develops in the background alongside the florals, enhancing the bouquet to perfection. It becomes increasingly animalic and musky as it dries down, with the sweet florals remaining as it fades. Soft spices emerge here, enhancing it to perfection. A nice Mysore sandalwood note emerges in the base, Opium-style alongside the amber and spice. It fades to a sweetly musky skin scent. Sillage is strong and longevity is long-lasting. It is feminine-leaning in my opinion, very feminine by the standards of its era, but perhaps could be unisex today. It is an autumn/winter scent, best worn in the evening. It is masterfully-composed, its many components expertly balanced, making for a cohesive, even seamless scent. It is of the high quality than no longer exists in designer perfumes. Glamorous, opulent and utterly beautiful, Shocking is the olfactory equivalent of an elaborate opera coat. I'm not shocked - I'm in love. 5/5.

So I've had the opportunity to get acquainted with Shocking through 4 packages of nips for the vintage parfum by now, and I have really grown to love its fresh, smooth, honeyed jasmine a lot. Every bottle I have ever smelled has been off-smelling except for these nips. And today, I receive the much maligned reformulated version of the fragrance - the EDP, still sometimes available online for quite a bit of money. This is very much an honest attempt at reissuing the fragrance. It's completely different, ingredient-wise, but the scent is very, very close. The opening is a bit more synthetic but it captures every nuance of the original's lovely and very soft opening. The middle started to blow my mind - it is dead on. Perhaps again a little synthetic, but otherwise dead on. The beautiful, soft, almost liquid jasmine and amber honey accord that is exactly what Shocking is supposed to be. Then it changes from the old one - an updated classic. The patchouli is given a sharper, spicier edge and the soapy quality of the original seems to be toned down. The sandalwood is different, there is a different musk, and there is something like the cumin in Kenzo Jungle present here. It's beautiful, sure, but it is definitely a little modernized from the original (but not much). I can see why one would be upset about it, for it does ruin the illusion of the 1930s a little bit, a common issue with perfumes that have been in production since the first half of the century. I'm stuck, because it is a beautiful, high-quality rendering of the original fragrance. It is, however, different from the original. Since both versions are rare, discontinued, and expensive, it's hard for me to recommend this one over the original parfum. If you don't mind a little toying with the basenotes (and that's largely to aid in projection IMO), it is definitely one of the best perfumes money can buy. If you want the authentic 30s feel with the nitro musk and the extinct complex vintage bases or if you're simply a purist, you must go for the original. As for me, I don't think the original Shocking smells particularly vintage anyway and this new version is an example of one of the best reformulations of all time. I miss the deeper animalic base but it's still boiling over with sex. A marvel of perfumery resurrected (though briefly). I only hope that future iterations of this are as respectful to the formula.

pale petals torn asunder in sullied gardens. estromanic honeycomb perspirant. blushing rosebuds stained with lipstick. right off the bat, shocking lives up to its name: skank, skank, and more skank. civet dances in massive clouds of dirty musk, with aldehydes provocatively sparkling on top alongside a sweaty note of sour bergamot. the animalia begins to tame itself a smidge, but soon comes narcotic white florals to seize the baton: rich narcissus, sweet ylang-ylang, and indolic jasmine, soaked in pungent honey and dripping all over, making a sticky mess of the now-ravished flowerbeds. ivory flowers with the help of clove give a brief impression of carnation, bubblegummy and coated in rouge. in the end lies a saccharine sheen of dirtied blossoms, orange zest, flowing honey, and cozy musk. i wore shocking to bed and actually dreamt of exploring mountains, and while photographing my endeavors a civet appeared before the lens! blessed by the oneiric civet goddess, it's hard to imagine i would've dreamt that without wearing shocking to sleep. upon waking, the scent was even sweeter and softer than the night before.. honey, jasmine, tangerine, civet—shocking is a dream of its own! it's so fitting that out of all artists, leonor fini designed shocking's flacon. part-woman part-feline, fini was finely in tune with the jagged talons of eros as well as its soft side. her pink-hued paintings depicting violently sensual scenes from pauline reage's novel 'story of O' alone proves this, but so does her self-portrait portfolio filled with photographs featuring long legs spilling from tulle dresses with a cat mask shrouding her face—mew! fini understood the harmonious dualism of eroticism well, so it's no surprise that schiaparelli commissioned her to design the bottle for shocking: delicate amber curves and sharp shoulders hugged by ribbon and crowned in a laurel of flowers! "there goes my girlfriend, strutting like an alley cat.." songs for shocking: fallogentrismo by charles, lady shave by fad gadget, this dark desire by justine & juliette, she's my girl by ariel pink's haunted graffiti.