Ispahan

„Ispahan the Great” First time we met, Ispahan and I, was at a friend's house. She was in the middle of moving, and packing down her things was apparently something she had postponed for too long. When I came by she was trying to make all her stuff fit into the moving boxes she had bought for the purpose. I made myself helpful by emptying some of her shelves in the bedroom. When showing her some of the many bottles that were on her vanity she said "hey, you can have them". So, among Byzance, White Linen and other jewels that are all used long ago, was Ispahan. A big bottle. Having these was a real treat. Being a student with no money, I was so thrilled that a friend gave all these fairly expensive perfumes. So I made a big mistake by not being the least curious about the Yves Rocher bottle. I knew at that time that this was inexpensive perfumes and therefore I jumped to the conclusion that it was also uninteresting perfumes with no qualities. Oh dear, how wrong I was. Luckily, I became wiser :) When finally I found it i the back of the closet and tried it I was stunned by its personality. It has great longevity, moderate sillage and an absolutely wonderful development. It starts out spicy, really spicy and a hint of vanilla. After half an hour the scent softens into a vanilla-nutmeg-tonkabean mix with tiny whiffs of flowers, and it stays like this for 3-5 hours. The last phase is vanilla. So lovely. The only drawback is that if you spray it too close to your face, your nose and mouth are overwhelmed with it and you start tasting it. So be careful. I like the bottle. It is pretty simple and the colour is deep. I just wish that they would not use plastic. Glass bottles are so beautiful and classy so why on earth (I know: money!) do they make it out of plastic? But there is nothing wrong with the vessel here. It prepares the user for what is inside, in my opinion. Since it is discontinued but still sold on ebay for a reasonable amount of money, I would not hesitate to recommend this to everybody. This is really a great perfume. So good luck hunting.

I am simply binge-buying this one: any ISPAHAN parfum extrait I come across on ebay inevitably lands in my perfume treasure chest, at ALL costs! For starters, there's a sentimental value in it for me: my late mother used to wear it on special occasions ( I believe, this was the only pricey (according to the USSR standards) perfume she ever owned - got it as a present from her boyfriend who had brought it from Italy in the late 80s, so it was a WOW item to have on a nightstand!) I, as a child , was facsinated by how unique my mother smelled! I am confident that this smell chooses its wearers, because if the skin is not moist enough to absorb the bordering on acid bitter notes at the opening - you are doomed. The drydown is plain strange: it's blue grapes and cold breeze with mimosa all over it, and once it settles - it's just too complex and beautiful for me to even attempt to break it down into single notes! I have now aquired a few pure perfume bottles ( that's the concentration my mom had ), and been simply too afraid to properly try it out - soooo scared that my body chemistry will let me down! A little dab on the wrist is all I could brace myself for, and it did not disappoint:such a sophisticated, very ladylike, aristocratic I dare say, fragrance! I imagine black cashmere tight sitting polo neck dress, vintage rings, a proper hairdo (the one we nowadays could not possibly manage even with 2 right hands at our disposal). It just has CLASS in it, in a very good standoffish way: understated, yet not mixing with the background. The new formulation was AWFUL. This was what I bought at 1st (was simply easier to get than the vintage!) and I rue the day: it really is just brown alcohol with some sulphur in it - NOTHING like the old velvety version. Highly recommended for all those who like old school perfumery with an unusual twist. The matt galss bottle and the packaging are simply THE BEST: the holy grail that Yves Rocher once got hold of.

I cannot believe my luck when I found this beauty in the back of my mom’s closet. It must have been there for years. My mom is not into oriental scents, so I got almost full bottle of vintage one in the black bottle all for myself. I remember wearing it back when I was 20 years old. I always liked this scent but now I truly appreciate its unique beauty. Ispahan is a sultry, dark and deep oriental. I have many other oriental scents including Shalimar but this one stands on its own. It is bewitching and beautiful. The black bottle that looks like an ancient vase that was discovered somewhere in Egypt after 4000 years of being hidden from the human eyes in the pyramids fits great for carrying this wonderful perfume. The scent opens right away with a strong, dark and sultry citruses and ylang-ylang. There is no day or sunshine in this perfume. It is all deep and dark starry night with haunting melody coming from afar somewhere in the desert. There is almost leathery and incense-y quality to this perfume right from the start. I also smell some spices, perhaps nutmeg. The scent develops beautiful with ylang-yland becoming more buttery and mixing with slightly sweet vanilla notes. The final stages are gorgeous vanilla (not like in a cup-cake) but woody and incense-y. The sillage and longevity are excellent. I am also impressed how well this perfume survived the storage. My mom must have had it for decades and it still smells just like I remember it. Overall score 9/10. Why YR discontinued this??? I love this beauty.

I just saw this on special on strawberry.net and was curious so checked the reviews here - checked back and yep, they seem to have the original formula because it's the black bottle and packaging pictured above. (Also, the packaging looks as if it's had a few knocks over the years!) Anyway, I took a punt on it and the bottle arrived today. At first sniff I thought "hmmm, this is okay, but I don't quite understand the fuss, it smells a bit like something my grandmother might have worn out to a really fancy dinner". After a while I started sniffing my wrist every few minutes just to enjoy the smell. As the evening wore on I realized that I absolutely loved it - even though I still think its something my grandmother would have worn out to a really fancy dinner, that's actually a really great way to smell! It's warm and calming and elegant and luxurious and frankly, a bit more womanly than the Escentric Molecules or Comme des Garçons I normally wear. But it's winter here in New Zealand and I think I feel an Oriental obsession coming on to get me through the cold months. Since it sounds like its hard to get hold of, I've just gone back and ordered a second bottle because its there, it's reasonably priced, and I'm now completely under its spell.

After loving the look of the packaging and bottle, reading the reviews and looking at the notes I knew that I HAD to have this too rare gem. We should really start a write in campaign to Yves Rocher to bring this beautiful lady back. Along with some others they have foolishly discontinued. Anyway.. Back to Ispahan. Of course my bottle is kind of old. It's the half ounce so no spray, just put your finger on the top and tipple some out. And at first sniff the bergomot hits like a turned alcoholic twist. Not very good but not choke me up bad either. And very quickly the ylang ylang is just THERE. Along with the sweeet mimose. So a lot of yellow florals in this otherwise sweet and spicey oriental. I know there's vanilla in it but to me that takes a back seat to the most delicious nutmeg scent ever ever ever. There I was, at the restaurant, celebrating my birthday, and I could hardly get my wrist off of my nose! And I actually got good longevity off of this! That's really rare for a YR fragrance on me. This fragrance truly is a masterpiece from YR. They've had some along the way. And for some reason they get discontinued. Unfathomable to me. If you can find this.... Let me know.

I'm currently wearing vintage Ispahan while drinking green chai with almond milk and brown sugar so 3 of my 5 senses are enveloped with warm spicy caramel. Don't mistake this for saying that this gorgeous scent is as simple as a cup of tea but the coincidence has sharpened my thoughts as to what the "formula" may be. Some detective work with Coco and Nuit de Noel (you'd never mistake Ispahan for either of those but they share some DNA) makes me love this gentle scent even more. This is a quiet, demure, elegant scent. The vanilla seems toasted and caramelly; the amber is warm and radiant; the florals are abstract but sweet. There's certainly cardamon, mace and ginger. I also smell tonka bean and a subtle incense. This perfume warms you in the snow and feels like a fur cape in Siberia. I obviously appreciate and love this juice that's quietly going extinct. Sillage: ladylike 1-3 feet Durability: 2-3 hours, not long enough Fabulosity: ermine Price to value ratio: irrelevant 10/10

I wore this in the 70's when I was a poor teenager and couldn't afford swanky, designer perfume. It was as cheap as chips in those days and did I appreciate it's beauty? No I definitely did not!! How I wish I would've bought every bottle made and saved them until the day my now mature and all appreciating nose, would know how utterly glorious this little bottle of juice is! Dark, sensuous, woody, spicy, sultry, mysterious, beautifully crafted and amazing longevity for an EDT. This is as good, if not better, than YSL Opium (vintage) it is a masterpiece, although I don't think it was created for that purpose in the 70's. Yves Rocher got this just right when it was created. Ispahan is a ravishing spicy oriental which dries down to a soft creamy base and lingers for a very long time. Utterly delectable!! I just love it! I wonder if YR brought this out again, it would smell the same as the original? Probably not!

This is a lovely, warm and spicy oriental which seems to form an olfactory bridge between Opium and Cinnabar, in my opinion. The Chinoiserie in its' presentation and the scent are very much 'of the essence' of its' sisters. Cinnabar came out a year later and it would seem that Yves Rocher pipped Estee to the post with this one. It is easy to wear and there are definately more notes than those above, including incense and maybe some cloves. I was lucky enough to pick this up for £6 at an antiques shop (75ml) so I'm very happy with it!! Sillage is good for the first hour longevity not great - will try it on fabric maybe (EDT)

I have a small bottle of Ispahan I've owned since the early 90s. It came as a gift with purchase of a large bottle long since used and gone This is an incredibly beautiful and sensuous scent, but deeply personal. You can smell it, but unless someone leans close to you, it is your secret. The similar Opium was everyone's secret. I don't wear it very often as I want it to last so I can revisit the scent. My collection is a bit out of control, but once I use up a few more bottle of things I'm not going to replace, I think I will look for something close to Ispahan. Maybe Youth Dew...

Hi Cinsot! Great review on the Ispahan! Just wanted to let you know that the vintage Yves Rocher range contains very complex perfumes with many many notes. The sad thing however is that Yves Rocher has not been open about the fragrance line in the past, so the notes cannot be found that easy. Thankfully Yves Rocher is communicating more info on the notes and Noses that work on their current perfumes, but as far as the vintages go, I am glad they can still be found when you look hard enough. The notes and noses of those lost beauties remain a mystery though... Good luck! Action

Dear fans of Ispahan! I kindly ask You to visit the topic 'Questions about vintage Ispahan Yves Rocher' in the Vintages section of Fragrantica forum. If You have some information/pictures about genuine Ispahan, please, be so kind as to share it publicly in the topic. So many fakes of this perfume have flooded the Internet, though, it's been almost 20 years since its discontinuation. We have a strong wish to find out the truth about this vintage beauty. Thanks so much for any useful feedback in advance! Will remove my comment later.

I was very lucky to find two 75 ml vintage bottles of this piece of art. One for my sister - who is an enormous fan of Ispahan, she missed it and craved for it for years.. And as for me - I love it now even more than 15 years ago. All those years noone has come up with a fragrance which comes a little close to this magical and unique creation. Pity.. Ispahan takes a very special place among all beautiful orientals.. Truely DIVINE!!! I treasure it.

It's lovely, Ispahan - warm, sensual and deeply mysterious, exotic and oriental. Spicy at first, then sweet, and floral, and lovely. Very comforting and very strong, lasting all day and into the next, with its beautiful rich smells of vanilla and spices and lovely flowers and citrus fruits, and gorgeous incensy mystery. It's a beautiful elegant and womanly perfume. And the bottle is absolutely wonderful!

And this perfume has A LOT in common with Gala Loewe. They are almost identical. So to get a better idea of the notes that are in this perfume, just take a look at the notes of Gala Loewe. You can see there that it is an oriental animalic perfume. LOVE IT!

If vintage Opium and vintage Byzance had a baby, this would be the result. A deep and sultry oriental that would likely be considered "mature", but sexy is a state of mind, regardless of age. Mine is a mini, but would love a full bottle some day.

So I today discovered that the vintage Ispahan is like an oriental version of Miss Dior vintage!! They really are a like, only Miss Dior more a typical chypre and this one oriental. It is like Miss Dior is going a night out downtown! HAHA!

The small, blue Ispahan bottle has been with me for "all my life". I use it for special occasions like Christmas and New Years Eve. It is a unique fragance, I have always thought of it as "spicy" rather than "floral". Love it!

i have to agree with malia......of all the scents..and i have tried many...nothing is as delightful and original as ispahan...even though for me its staying power was not long.....i would love to use it again.......

No this perfume is indeed nothing like Opium, and I agree too, it is an oriental on it's own, with an extremely good quality. It is in the family of Shalimar, but not the same. Good luck! Action

I really feel like this is a dupe for Tubereuse Criminelle without the big opening of car smells. Am I wrong?? Well, since Ispahan came first, I guess it's not the dupe.