You know, the attitude of modern perfume lovers toward ancient perfume houses is sometimes surprising. This maximalist enthusiasm: "Come on! Let someone bring this historic brand back to life! I'm sooo interested!", which gives way to "Oh, why isn't there a brand store in my city? And why aren't samples free?", and finally, "I've smelled a couple, and their reformulations are kind of poor." The demand turned out to be inflated and not widespread.
On the other hand, it must be acknowledged that in the current market and with current consumption, we've been overfed with fragrances, both new and old. There's no time to smell everything, no time to choose, no time to buy, no time to wear perfumes to finish the bottle. People are even starting to sell decants in bulk! And revived old-fashioned perfumes—without the former hype of monarchs—are once again beginning to survive. Although, if there's one thing they're not lacking, it's their unusual character, and not always in the form of old-fashioned style or historical truth.
An example is our hero of today's review, the sunny jasmine Secret Joly from the venerable French house of Oriza L. Legrand, which traces its history back to 1720 and has supplied cosmetics and perfumes to the royal courts of France and Europe for centuries.
Secret Joly was first released in 1920, amidst Art Deco icons (Shalimar, Habanita, No.5, Nuit de Noël, Adieu Sagesse, name your own favs) and relaunched 100 years later, in 2020, based on the same formulas. Over the past century, fashion has changed, people have changed, but have our perfume tastes changed? Or do we still love the scent of flowers, fresh, juicy fruits, and aromatic oriental mysteries?
"Secret Joly is a wild and sensual bouquet, fiercely animalic and utterly mysterious. Created with the jasmine sambac flower, which gave its precious elixir to perfumers, Secret Joly unfolds with warm, animalic notes with honeyed and delicate spicy accents," says the brand.
