Ah, the lust for fragrances of yore!
For most of my adult life I did not have this affliction, but lately I've been bitten by this contagion. Perhaps it is the proliferation of light fruity scents that has made me long for the sophisticated womanly scents of the past, maybe it is wanting to be different, maybe it is just acquisitiveness, but anyway I am exploring the fragrant past (another possibility is that the EU rules have pushed the perfumers to make rash reformulations)
Ebay has been my biggest supplier. I have successfully hunted and bought a variety of vintage smell goods and have been satisfied with my winnings. I have purchased dead scents like Lanvin's Mon Peche and Houbigant's Indian Summer. I have also purchased fragrances which were created many years ago like Narcisse Noir and Jicky. Both avenues have been satisfying and I have more bottles than I will use in several lifetimes.
Another way of procuring dead scents is reproduction fragrances and the best out there is Jeffrey Dame's Long Lost Perfume line at www.irmashorell.net. The quality of the fragrances is consistently top notch and his nose is extraordinarily accurate. My Sin and Crepe de Chine, two of my long lost favorites are alive once more in his creations. The packaging is of course different, but that's a minor concern.
I should have included Mr. Dame in my list of American perfumers. Not only has he revived some stunning perfumes (his Darling, a recreation of Revlon's Intimate is my favorite), but he has developed and launched three fragrances of his own. Wanderlust was the first, an understated elegant floral with a delectable warm wood base. Next was Lazy Love which revolves around a benzoin base and is a total femme fatale scent. The most recent offering is Lullaby, another floral, which is structured around mimosa. Unlike another famous mimosa, Farnesiana by Caron, Lullaby is a gentle endeavor brighter and perkier due to the citrusy opening. Mr. Dame merits a bigger following.
If you are not satisfied and believe that the maximalist is hiding something about her desire for old fragrances, you are right. And if you guessed that nostalgia is a big part of the quest, you are right again, but only partially. Truly I have an urge to remember the past, but I also have an urge to find that one perfect rose, that scent that will make me stop looking. Marcel Proust said, " The only paradise is paradise lost," and he may be right. Maybe the perfect perfume is lost under thousands of new releases that seek to be noticed in a throw away culture that keeps moving on to a new thrill, but I think it is probably just reformulated or discontinued.
Update: The review I read of the Albee play accepted the characters at face value but loved the play anyway. I still say it does not succeed without a deeper more symbolic evaluation. On its own the characters are too silly and unreal and the story line stinks. Besides, Albee has never shied away from mental illness or even imaginary children in the past. Perhaps future Albee scholars will come across jottings that will clear this up.