Valentino by Valentino (1977)

The original Valentino perfume is one of very few fragrances (if not the only one) I seem to prefer as an EDT over the extrait de parfum concentration. Maybe that's because my very first bottle of it (bought around 1991) was, indeed, an EDT. I wore it over several summers but never repurchased until last year when I found old bottles of both the eau de toilette and the parfum on eBay and on a dusty shelf at an antique store.

This green floral is probably not the most balanced in the genre, as something about it (my money is on it lily-of-the-valley heart, a note that's ridiculously easy to mess up) can get loud and screechy. I don't mind the hint of a peachy melon (or melony peach?), as it seems to function as a sweetening and softening backdrop for the flower bouquet, but one must admit this is no Le Parfum de Therese.

A drop of the parfum under a couple of EDT spritzes is nice, but more than that is the stuff that gives floral perfumes a bad reputation as being too suffocating. Other than this little issue, the original* Valentino is a pretty, super feminine perfume. My favorite part is the green and hyacinth combination that is all about spring and wearing pretty dresses with a cute purse and adorable sandals (all by Valentino, of course).

Valentino is easy to wear on a late summer day, when you've had enough of the crazy weather, already exhausted your summer perfume collection and want something a bit different. Some would argue Valentino smells dated. It has a hint of an animalic base (though not enough to raise the eyebrows of your nearest and dearests) and enough oakmoss in the base to choke an IFRA bureaucrat. I don't care, though. Sometimes a perfume that smells like a perfume is a very good thing.

Valentino by Valentino is available online fairly easily, but it seems to have been discontinued at some point, since there's a new(ish) and very different perfume under the same name.

*Valentino was released in 1977 and again in 1986. I can't find any info on what, if anything, was changed in the formula. Since both bottles in my current collection seem to smell identical to the way I remember it from 1991 I'm assuming all I know is of the later version.

Valentino Eau de Parfum (2009 Edition)

I had a bottle of the original Valentino that I got as a gift and used to wear in the very early 90s. I finished the bottle but never repurchased because it had absolutely no staying power (hence going through it in less than a year). I don't remember much about it, except that it was a sheer aldehydic floral with quite a bit of green, a lovely hyacinth note and a sweet drydown. From digging online, I realize that the 1986 version was a re-launch (and probably a reformulation) of a 1978 chypre, which sounds a lot more interesting with its oakmoss and civet base. As far as I know, both came in the ribbed bottle and the Valentino-red box (I still remember how beautiful and shiny it was).


While the original Valentino perfume tried to keep some sort of connection to the über-fabulous fashion house, the designer and his aesthetics, the 2009 launch of the same name has no such aspirations. The licence holder of Valentino perfumes is no other than Proctor & Gamble (you will have to agree with me that this explains a lot), who chose to go with a very pink juice. From the company's website: Top notes are pomelo, pear blossom and magnolia; middle notes are orange blossom, mimosa and violet leaf; base notes are rice vapour, heliotrope and vanilla-orchid. And if that sounds to you like a royal mess, you'd be right.

Now, I've smelled worse things than Valentino EDP. It isn't vile by any mean, and I can see why some might find it appealing. Basically, it's a very sweet floral, a genre with many fans. The opening is very sweet and quite fruity, but the majority of this scent is a mix of poorly blended orange blossom and mimosa. It gets a bit loud and swallows up anything more subtle that might have been mixed into the juice. I was looking forward to the promised rice vapor (thinking of the lovely rice steam accord by CB I Hate Perfume), but got none. The bad mimosa also killed the promised heliotrope, leaving a generic sticky sweet drydown.

What kills me about the new Valentino (other than the idea that this unconvincing cocktail is supposed to evoke Valentino Garavni), is that this Neiman Marcus exclusive is sold for $80-$100 (depending on size). Under the same roof you can buy Chanel, Goutal, L'Artisan, Aqua di Parma, Jo Malone and others, all are better made. The first bottle of Valentino are already making an appearance at a couple of online discounters, which, frankly, that's where they belong. So while I certainly don't hate this perfume, I resent those who try to convince us this is a high-end luxury fragrance.

Perfume ads: okadi.com. Cranky attitude: my own

Zahara in Valentino

Not long ago, we had Suri Cruise in a Burberry dress. Today we see Zahara Jolie-Pitt giving Suri a run for her money, carrying a mini Valentino purse.

Picture from Mollygood