L.T. Piver Reve d'or

As promised, I'm back to report on one of L.T. Piver's modern offerings. For a perfume house with such an lengthy history- the name has been associated with fragrant perfumes, powders and lotions since 1774 after all. It is sad to see that Piver has not been in the same hands continuously but today some of the "classic" or historically popular Piver scents are being put back in current production. Reve d'or (Golden Dream) is the one I chose. Originally Reve d'or was composed in 1886. In 1926 it was re-orchestrated by Louis Armingeat, although I'm sure that is not the version we find today. Some UK men's shops carry portions of the L.T. Piver line that includes several masculine fragrances. But I went with Reve d'or, classified as a feminine floral bouquet,  because I loved the notes- a refreshingly simplistic blend of orange blossom, tea rose, geranium, vetiver, heliotrope and sandalwood (from memory- so double check it for yourself or read back a few entires).  I've been (back) on a heliotrope kick for the past month or so, and wearing quite a few vintage heliotrope-laden scents this spring and a floral bouquet featuring orange blossom with oriental leanings is always appropriate.

The Reve d'or of today comes in appealingly vintage-ish packaging, still looking very similar to what is shown in this 1920s advertisement (even the lid of the new product appears vintage, an ivory plastic resembling an old bakelite cap). I rather liked that the bottle is sealed with a metal (brass) inner cap, just like a vial of medicine or something. Once you peel it off, there is a little styrofoam plug underneath, and then you get to the juice. I wish other companies would take such pains to seal their perfume; it prevents leaks in shipping and you know you are getting what you're supposed to get. But as soon as I sniffed the bottle, even before unsealing it, I could smell the essence of Reve d'or. It's fairly strong especially for a "lotion" strength, which is 70% (or degree). It is a warm, bewitching floral with a rich, royal character. It reminds me of something a king or queen would use as a part of their daily toilet. But it has a certain quality, an intimate ability to improve and amplify the natural scent of the wearer. It becomes a part of you in a way many scents do not, forming a subtle vail emparting an aura of gentle mystery. You might think it is just a case of super-natural skin chemistry with me, but it isn't. This L.T. Piver creation is actually an international best seller and something of a "cult favorite" because most of its popularity is due to its ubiquity in the middle east as a men's barbershop cologne [even so, to L.T. Piver it is classified as a feminine scent]. In some areas of Arabia, it has been considered one of the most very traditional (and especially popular) scent worn by men. So I am not the only one under its spell. For something so light, it is incredibly rich and tenacious. It is not so strong, or so obnoxious as to suck the air from the room but I can see it might benefit from a restrained hand in hot, humid weather. It's golden efffect seems to be in the harmony of sandalwood and a perhaps a powdery facet of heliotrope enriched with the rose, which seems to form in its own hybrid, a unique sweet spicy musk that isn't an actual musk, and which imbues the natural skin. There are herbal and grassy facets thanks to a fresh green vs rooty vetiver and citrus-floral geranium. A green-apple lemony freshness hovers above the musky base, captured within a creamy carnation cloud, promoting sort of a clean and divine baby-skin effect.  For me, that effect is the cause for repeated sniffing of my shirt, prompting me to ask, "Is that me [a trace of some exquisit old perfume,] or is it the new laundry detergent??... No, no-... it's Reve d'or!" The ingredients of Reve d'or are: alcohol, water, parfum, benzyl alcohol, cinnamal, cinnamyl alcohol, citral, cintronellol, eugenol, geraniol, hydroxycitronellal, isoeugenol, linalool and some coloring ingredients. Unlike many other vintage vault scents, this one can  still be found and purchased online for a song, so why not give it a try? I'll be trying their Cuir de Russie next!

The Vintage Perfume Vault, where the scent of yesterday's vogue lives.

image credits:
colorized image of Gloria Swanson by Talkie_King.blogspot
vintage LT Piver ad from Mes-Parfums.com