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Shalimar, the daring new scent for the flapper

By Anonymous


Or... in a day how I came to love Shalimar (in honor of my late Gran, a Missouri-style Flapper or near to it). Why the flapper? Other than the fact the Twenties Flapper has been the topic today on another site, and Shalimar was created in the Roaring Twenties..it really does seem the fitting scent for a modern girl. My grandmother was athletic, sturdy, wore her hair in a bob and in all the photos I've seen had a smile on her face that hinted that THIS was one liberated girl. The youngest sister of 12, she was the darling of the family, and clearly used that status to do what she wished. That "moxie" shows in all her photos from that era, mugging to the camera, leaning on behomoth cars, living it up. Shalimar, I'm certain, was one of HER scents.

I'm reviewing a vintage (the zigzag black and white box variety circa 1967-1983) EDT.

Four notes: Bergamot, Iris, Opoponax and Vanilla. How complex they become, while staying light and implying sensual entanglements, all in a few hours' time.

I can't warm to the topnote, for whatever reason. I LOVE bergamot but in Shalimar the Bergamot just smells oddly "off." Fortunately that topnote takes back seat to the iris and opoponax and the underlying vanilla. Simply charming, with a hint of naughty...sweet, but not too sweet, and always sparkling... quite like my grandmother, who was Queen Bee at the assisted living home up to the day she died.

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  1. AromiEroticiJanuary 17, 2011 at 3:59 PM

    Reading this, I can picture your grandmother quite literally since I've known women from this era ! Shalimar is an appropriate scent for sure.........

    I have an empty bottle of the vintage EDC that I presently keep another splash fragrance in because I dig the bottle !

    Nice review actias. You cheered me up today when I was feeling quite blase'.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 4:12 PM

    Thank you Aromi!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 9:31 PM

    Oh... and I'm drawing a comparison with the Flapper Girls of the Twenties and our current crop of youngsters (17-22?) who are doing similar things... mugging to the cameras, wearing "scandalous" clothing, getting tattoos... drinking and smoking and doing oh-so-daring things, using language that would make a soldier from a former era blush... I'm sure that there is a scent like Shalimar for this era's Flappers as well. (what that would be??? I suppose I should ask my 21st century version of a Flapper niece!)

    ReplyDelete

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