Sniff Test: Clinique Aromatics Elixir 40th Anniversary Perfumer’s Reserve
To mark the 40th anniversary of Clinique co-founder Carol Phillips and perfumer Bernard Chant’s indelible creation, the company has commissioned a special Perfumer’s Reserve edition of Aromatics Elixir ($66 for 100ml limited edition floral glass bottle, at The Bay, Sears, Holt Renfrew and Ogilvy; embossed limited edition amber bottle, $90, and solid perfume necklace, $78, both exclusively at The Bay). Is it still fabulous at forty? Dave Lackie and I travel back in time to take an honest whiff.
He Says:Former New York Times Scent Critic Chandler Burr once described Clinique’s Aromatics Elixir scent as near perfect. And I couldn’t agree more. This interpretation dials up the verbena and rose notes. But it is the woody-chypre base notes that make this scent special. I can smell the vetiver (a personal favourite), moss, patchouli and the dark woods. It’s warm and enveloping. ★★★★ (out of 4)
She Says:Before wisely deciding to decant my lab samples at a safe distance from co-workers and conduct Sniff Tests from the comfort of home, I spilled a precious few drops of this retro elixir on my desk and hand. I promise you: Lady Macbeth did not rub out her damned spot as furiously as I did that perfume (fun fact: only rubbing alcohol gets such stink off skin and even then). But there was nothing to be done about my desk. The redolent floral chypre – yes, Bulgarian rose, but also patchouli, labdanum and oak moss oh yes and also sweet velvety ylang ylang, iris and vetiver – was a stink bomb loudly diffusing to cubicles in every direction and I was apologizing for days (such longevity erases any doubts I may have had that the ingredients are top-notch). The kicker was the heady, resinous benzoin; two months later, I swear I still sometimes catch a whiff. So pungent and purely, transformatively, hedonistically 1971 is this elixir that I would not have been surprised had Halston himself materialized in my cubicle, complete with entourage of Halstonettes and a few Quaaludes. There are some fragrances that embody their era so fully, they’re like a time capsule. This is one of those, and in a time capsule is where it should remain. ★
Still feeling sniffy? Browse the Sniff Test archives, here.
Sniff Test: Clinique Aromatics Elixir 40th Anniversary Perfumer’s Reserve
Tags: Tags: 
