Introduction
Retro styling is fashionable and you see it everywhere but what about a ‘retro scent‘? Which fragrances should you use to ‘retro perfume‘?
Making yourself or your room feel retro is not just about clothes, shoes, paint and furniture. Atmosphere is everything and for this you need a retro perfume! Even the most beautifully elegant vintage dresses or rooms can lose their feel because the atmosphere isn’t quite right. Take the time to charm all of the senses by adding a retro scent.
From here on down, we will introduce the designer retro perfumes that defined their decade so that you can retro scent to perfection.
The 80ies
The standout retro fragrance of the Eighties was Poison by Christian Dior. You could not only see the big shoulder pads but Poison had unrivalled power to radiate its perfume and announce your entrance with a scent!
• Poison by Christian Dior: floral (tuberose), fruity (plum, berry), balsamic (Opoponax, honey) and woody.
By today’s standards, potpourri is a bit old school, even if you want to make a retro styled room smell great. If you are, however, passionate about pot pourri, are happy to refresh it regularly and don’t mind cleaning away the dust, then why not make your own pot pourri?
You could display it in an 80ies bowl to boost the mood of any living space. Pot pourri is most effective for retro styling a room.
The 70ies
Another way to make your room smell great and add to the ‘Flower Power’ of a 70ies styled atmosphere is with incense or an oil burner. Remember the Hippies ?
They did have their own unique scents that you can virtually smell when reading these:
• patchouli,
• sandalwood, or
• tea rose attars.
Burning incense from a beautifully carved, Indian-themed holder or warming patchouli oil in an oil burner would certainly give an instant retro feeling to a home.
The designer retro fragrance which exemplifies the era is YSL’s Opium with an accord centred around notes of incense (myrrh), spices (cinnamon, cloves, pepper) and sandalwood.
Two other notable fragrances were:
• Charlie by Revlon: woody (sandalwood, oakmoss), green (galbanum, hyacinth), aromatic (vetiver)
• Anais Anais by Cacharel: white floral (lily of the valley, hyacinth,lily, jasmine, honeysuckle) and green
How do you retro scent a room to a time when ‘home fragrance’ did not exist? Quite simply, … by choosing fragrances in your perfume candles and reed diffusers that are strongly reminiscent of a particular time.
The 60ies
For example, how do you add a scented 60ies feel to a room? After all, home fragrance did not really exist at the time. We would suggest a luxury scented candle on a chrome pedestal. The sixties were the time of polished chrome and beautiful curves.
The two memorable retro fragrances of the 60ies were the following two:
• YSL’s Rive Gauche: aromatic (lavender, rosemary, citrus, geranium), fresh spicy (clove, star anise) and woody (patchouli, guaiac wood)
• Christian Dior’s Eau Sauvage: citrus (lemon, bergamot), aromatic (rosemary and fresh spicy basil)
Both are also perfect for invigorating a room’s atmosphere and washing away a stressful day.
The 50ies
The most memorable retro perfume of this era was Femme de Rochas (1944). This rich, sultry perfume was the scent of the ‘femme fatale’. Although Arpege by Lanvin was launched in 1927, it became very popular in 1950s to become another scent of this time.
• Femme de Rochas: warm spicy (clove, cinnamon), woody (oakmoss, rosewood, vetiver), fruity (plum, peach, apricot), balsamic (benzoin, amber) and leather.
• Arpege de Lanvin: white floral (ylang ylang, jasmine), woody (sandalwood, vetiver), aldehydic and powdery
The 40ies
After World War 2, lighter and fresher perfumes became more popular.
Two of these are:
• L’Air du Temps by Nina Ricci: warm spicy (clove, carnation), floral (gardenia, jasmine, iris), aldehydic, woody and powdery
• Miss Dior by Christian Dior: woody (oakmoss, vetiver, patchouli), green (galbanum), floral (narcissus, iris, carnation), aldehydic
The 30ies
The most notable fragrance of the 1930s was Joy by Jean Patou (1929 – the year of the Crash on Wall Street). It was launched in 1929 (the year of the Crash on Wall Street) and despite being launched as ‘the world’s most expensive perfume’ at the time, it became a huge commercial success.
With its rose accord, it is to this day considered as one of greatest floral fragrances of all time:
• Joy by Jean Patou: white floral (jasmin, tuberose, ylang ylang), rose, woody (sandalwood)
The 20ies
There is no question, Chanel No. 5 is the fragrance which defined this decade but in many ways also the twentieth century, as it is even today amongst the best-selling fine fragrances and not just as a retro perfume.
Wearing a perfume was something only the very rich could afford at the time.
Marilyn Monroe famously stated: “What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.”
Guerlain’s Shalimar (1925) is another fragrance from this decade and is has become one of the most popular fragrances of all time!
• Chanel No.5: woody (patchouli, sandalwood), powdery/amber, aldehydic, floral (ylang ylang, rose, iris)
• Guerlain Shalimar: balsamic (vanilla, opoponax), citrus, woody (sandalwood), powdery
Conclusion – Retro Scent
As you can see, it is not too difficult to Retro Scent yourself and/or your home once you have a clear understanding of which retro scent for which period.
All the retro perfumes we have listed here, you should still be able to purchase without too many difficulties.
If on the other hand you are looking for trendy & modern Niche Perfumes, then we invite you to wear one of our Natural Eau de Parfums Intense and fragrance your home with one of our luxurious Reed Diffusers and Perfume Candles.
