Crown Bouquet

Ok, Amberonic, here's a quick history of Crown Perfumery. And not an authorized version. They were an oldtime British fragrance company. I don't know when they started but the really old bottles sometimes on eBay look late Victorian era, maybe 1890-1903? Then they started up sometime in the late 1980's or 1990's, but only sold in the UK and maybe Europe. As far as I know, they weren't sold in any US stores. I didn't know anything about them until maybe 2000, when I was on a different perfume chat group. At that time Crown Perfumery was going all out trying to make it, or at least that's what it looked like, with a shop in the Burlington Arcade in London, a super high rent location. It certainly wasn't there yet when I was in London in the fall of 1993. So it must have been there maybe 1994-2000? But there was way too much competition, and probably no advertising budget; in that era I bought British Vogue fairly often and that other high end British fashion magazine (its name escapes me) and no Crown Perfumery scents were ever advertised in either of them. So Crown Perfumery went out of business around 2003. So the prices were discounted big time and a lot of us were able to get bottles really cheap for about 3 months or so. I think they normally retailed at about 80 pounds (sorry, I can never remember how to access the British pound sterling symbol when I'm not in Word). In that era, the general cost of a good 1.7 oz bottle of perfume was maybe 65 pounds. When they folded, I think some of the scents were down to 35 pounds. Anyway, Crown Perfumery had wonderful scents. And more than just the ones listed here on Fragrantica. Rich, warm, floral women's scents. Classic men's stuff. I kept their catalogs and could find the list later, but off the top of my head Crown Rose was a very Victorian Era rose, spicy and practically effervescent. Malabar was fabulous. Heliotrope very sweet, and it shook you by your shoulders. Alpine something or other, lily maybe. They made a good Tanglewood men's scent.

While I wouldn't go so far as to call this perfume strange, I would say it's definitely unusual. Since this was launched back in 1936 you'd expect it to smell old-fashioned, as one reviewer says it does, I say it doesn't. Upon smelling it I find it difficult to categorize as it has so many facets, sweetness, freshness, herbaceous, earthy, dry, maybe even a hint of soapiness. The opening is very floral, heavy with tuberose and hyacinth, rounded out with a tinge of orange blossom. Gardenia is listed in the notes but I don't really detect it as the hyacinth and tuberose are very domineering. As it dries it becomes a "dirtier" tuberose, reminiscent of moist soil. If you've smelled the Histoires de Parfum Tuberose 3 you may recognize this dirty style of tuberose. The dirt, or moist soil note gets even stronger while some green herbal notes emerge, and what smells like to me, fresh ground black pepper. The more it dries down the more earthy, rooty, and grassy it becomes. Though it's not listed, I get a strong presence of vetiver. So much does this remind me of vetiver I have to also compare this with Encre Noir by Lalique. Dark damp earth, roots, greens, leaves, stems, new shoots of grass emerging from melting snow is what this perfume finally becomes. So, rather than smelling completely floral, it smells more like *planting* flowers in early spring while the mornings are still a bit chilly. If niche lovers don't mind "slumming it" by buying an inexpensive scent I can't help but think it would appeal to them. I also think this is a unisex fragrance.

I didn't like this one when I bought it 2 or 3 years ago, thought the open notes were off and smell strange. Last year, I gave it another try, and it surprised me. There is no strange notes any more, just beautiful green flowers. The first thing I noticed is, though the perfume is decades old, it still retains a sparkling quality, fresh like the new mown grass, newly picked flower. It's a quality that not all green/white floral fragrances, even those new launched ones, are able to get, they often get a mute or stale smell. But Crown Bouquet, still has it after all these years! I think it's because this sparklingness, the scent never gives me "old" or "dated" feel. It may not be a young girl's scent, but certainly not socalled granny's one. It could be a bit reserved if we see it in nowadays view, but still very delightful. And considering the period of its birth! in the 30s! I can't bring myself thinking people in that era could produce such a timeless beauty. I'm suprised, amazed!

This is one of the strangest florals I've ever had. I feel like someone hit me in the face with a huge bouquet of hyacinth. There's also a strange note that I absolutely cannot identify, something chemical, but that doesn't last long. In the final there's a tiny sweet note, like a vanilla flower (I have no idea how that smells like, it's just my imagination here 😀). It's absolutely beautiful and addictive, I can't stop sniffing my wrist. I have just a 5 ml sample, I definitely need a bigger bottle. I wouldn't say it's only for mature ladies, but I don't think many young ladies will like this hard-core floral, or will have the courage to wear it, in a world dominated by cotton candy perfumes and overly-sweet florals.

This one taken me by surprise, because it's not any perfume I have ever smell before. very strange yet unforgettable, very spicy and bitter, I can smell Hyacinth in the background.