Secret De Venus Eau de Parfum

This must be the reformulation of the original Secret De Venus. I've never had the vintage SdV, butI suspect the new version doesn't come close to the original. The scent is vanilla based, with a dose of sandalwood thrown in, and while it's not unpleasant on its own, it's not remarkable either. Wearable and work safe, even unisex are good ways to describe SdV, but that's not what I want. Vintage SdV is the kind of perfume that commands high prices even for partial bottles. I'd love to try it some day, just to experience a classic. Current SdV is fine on its own, even with the modest sillage and lasting power of a Weil perfume.

Secret de Venus by Weil, originally released in 1933, though my still-vintage bottle is much more recent. The medley of fruits and white florals listed on the note pyramid seems fairly accurate, ...though the tarter elements of cassis and grapefruit are the most identifiable. There is also a strong, unlisted note of anise, prominent enough to suggest a lighter version of Lolita Lempicka, ...though that similarity is far from exact, ...and becomes much less so in the drydown, when a hearty and vanillic sandalwood seizes control and takes the base notes in a very different direction. The whole affair strikes a fine balance between brightly lively and powdery soft. ...and the intoxicating beauty of the drydown slowly builds to a crescendo, ...something like Ravel's Bolero. Overall, this is another distinctive oddity. One that stands alone in its own corner of the half-forgotten past. A woody, anisic, fruity-floral, if it must be described in words, ...NOT a chypre as fragrantica labels it above.