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The golden leaves and blustery wet weather make it clear that winter is on its way. It is time to snuggle up near a warm fire with a good book. It's also time for couple of generous blasts of my favorite spicy oriental fragrance - vintage Basile by Basile. I much prefer this warm, Italian mass-market beauty to the more popular (and more expensive) YSL Opium.
The
Basile I love is the EdP from the 1980s. This deep amber colored jus resides in
a narrow, angular bottle adorned with geometric, black plastic "shoulder
pads" - so 80s! As far as I know the newer version of Basile is only
available in EdT. While very similar to the original, the reformulation is
missing the shoulder pads and seriously skimps on the rich clove, warm
ylang-ylang and intense tangerine that are so generously supplied in the
earlier version.
Here
are the notes listed on Fragrantica:
Top
- tangerine, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, cinnamon, cloves.
Heart
- jasmine, tuberose, rose, iris.
Base
- sandalwood, patchouli, oakmoss, amber.
I
don't always agree with or understand the published breakdown of a fragrance,
but vintage Basile evolves exactly as the description above suggests. Sparkling
tangerine is spiced with cinnamon and clove and rounded out with the richness
of ylang-ylang and orange blossom. The fragrance evolves to a lush rosy, floral
and dries after 8 hours (or so) to amber, oakmoss and sandalwood infused with
remnants of the initial comforting ylang-ylang and mouthwatering tangerine.
The
"mouthwatering tangerine" reminds me that November is the month when
the new crops of citrus fruits hit our Pacific Northwest markets. It is time for me to start nagging the
produce managers about just when to expect the new pomelos, tangerines and
grapefruits! When these new crops
finally arrive I am invariably treated to fresh cut samples of the latest and
greatest from Florida, California, Texas and around the world. Yum!
I
wear the majority of my big, spicy oriental fragrances any time of the year but
for some reason I tend to reserve Basile
(which is a little more "subtle" than most) for late fall and
early winter. What is your favorite
spicy oriental? Do you enjoy it year
round?
Azar
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Sounds like I need to try this! It looks like you can get a very large bottle of the new version for under $15 on Amazon.
[Bottle with shoulder pads photo by Azar; new bottle photo from Fragrantica; other images from Wikimedia]
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