Max Factor Green Apple Cologne

Go take a look at OKADI.com for another view of this 1973 magazine advert.

So do you remember this one?? I've been thinking about it for years. We used to wear MF Green Apple so much back when I was a pre-teen! The apple shaped decanter- in frosted or clear glass, depending on the size you bought- is so iconic and the grass tinted juice inside it was- fantastic. Back in the 1970s, that Green Apple bottle sat on so many American girl's vanities. You may be thinking that one of Donna Karan's very very similar (and I'd have to say, nearly outright copy-cat) Delicious scents would be an acceptable substitute.

But believe me, they don't come within a country mile of the original Green Apple by Max Factor. For a cologne, MFGA was very strong and clear with a tart bright and sweet mouthwatering opening. The greenness and appleness were spot on to a Granny Smith apple- which can be almost too sour and crunchy to eat as a raw fruit but it translates beautifully as a scent. And as lovely and long lasting as the opening was- there were sly flower notes, Lily of the Valley and lemony rose, and a stunning but light sweet musk base that fleshed the scent out and married perfectly to the opening tartness. I don't smell smell such simplicity in the DKNY apple scents- they have too much wood, too much perfume, and way too much production about them.

Max Factor's Green Apple owed more to Boone's Farm than to Primitif or Electrique, so it should not be surprising that I would reject LVMH's attempt to stylize and modernize the original concept.

You might ask yourself why you hardly ever find mention of this scent today- really, it's vanished so completely that to some of us, it had seemed like a fantasy scent; as if perhaps we'd all shared the same young-girl's fever dream... But no, it was a real scent and it was a Max Factor creation. It was so easy to wear, so natural- it was exactly right for a young girl. So where did it go? This stupid little cologne actually accomplished a pretty rare thing for a perfume back then- more like a modern day body spray with a good 3 to 4 hour sillage- it was light and tenacious- and wearable for so many. And you could reapply and reapply without ever overdosing on it. I believe unlike so many perfumes that languish, most of the bottles that were produced were sold and quickly consumed.

Max Factor did not choose to pursue Green Apple. It was made for maybe 1970s-1980s and by the mid-1980s, I believe it was gone in the USA entirely. It seems likely that perhaps some back stock was shipped off to other countries, as we hear some people who recall it in being sold in other markets through the 1980s.

Why didn't Max Factor like Green Apple? It seemed to fit in with their attempt to update their image in the 1970s, as with their Organics Line... But in the end and at the time it was just marketed too young, I believe.  After all, I was able to buy bottle after bottle just on my allowance and meager babysitting earnings; it's price-point was much lower than Max Factor's other perfume offerings of the same time. So that's one thing.

And Max Factor was changing rapidly in the 1970s. The third and final generation of original Factors had gotten out of the business to pursue their own interests, and the company was now being run more and more by and like a machine. At the time, Green Apple was almost a novelty. It had a limited appeal (only because of the marketing!) and in the end the almost hippie, natural vibe did not fit well with the rest of Max Factor and their Make-Up for Movie-Stars image. While Max Factor never really got a toe-hold in the youth market other players, Love's Baby Soft line of colognes, as well as Avon and Bonnie Bell, would dominate the growing scene of cosmetics aimed at young American girls.

But as for Green Apple- I always wonder, did someone connected to DKNY or LVMH fancy the original enough to seek out and snap up whatever back stock was around back in the early 2000s, when Be Delicious was on the drawing board?? And where has all the old advertisement copy gone- it was ubiquitous for a short time in American history but believe me, you won't find many images of Green Apple around now.

In any case Green Apple has become incredibly rare at this point- and it surely deserves a special mention here at the Vintage Perfume Vault for its well deserved cult status. I sure do wish I would have saved that last bottle of mine that I lugged around in my purse back in junior high... It's the time of year, I suppose- still summer but with fall drawing nigh- that's gotten me in the mood for this spectacular scent from yesterday!

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

note: I'm not posting image references here anymore. If you look at my html text you will see that I tag the reference site source to the image in the photo title, which I've been doing for quite awhile. Let me know if you want a specific reference.  

The Continuing Search for Max Factor Geminesse...

There is a very interesting thread on a favorite vintage perfume of mine called Geminesse at Perfume of Life titled: In Search of Max Factor Geminesse(http://www.perfumeoflife.org/lofiversion/index.php/t25815.html). In that link, perfume lovers lament the loss of this scent and try to come up with suggestions of similar scents. Since Geminesse remains wildly popular yet rare and hard to find, many people would like to find a substitute. To get you started thinking about it, Geminesse is in the beachy and fresh aromatic realm of scents but there really aren't any modern perfumes I could compare it to. It is light and fresh in a totally different way than today's overly sanitized, ozonic and watery marine ideal.

In fact, today's perfumers might want to take note of how popular and really well done the older marine based scents were (and seemingly without the all too common water note of today, the molecule Calone!). Edit: I assumed Calone is newer than it is but turns out it was discovered by Pfizer in 1966, although I do not smell it in Geminesse. It is one of the unusual perfumes that represented the idea of a warm herperide-aromatic-marine scent for women. The mid stages of leather-floral mix found in Geminesse sit on top of a mild musky and ambery base, so there is an almost oriental feel to it as well, but the feeling it gives is much lighter and more transparent than many modern oriental scents. In 2008, someone started an online petition drive to bring Geminesse back, see http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/bring-back-geminesse.html. Sadly this movement never got off the ground and right now the petition has stalled with only 50 signatures but maybe they could use a few more?? (Hint, hint.)

Notes listed for Geminesse over at Basenotes include jasmine, rose, ylang, muguet and tuberose supported by vetiver, oakmoss, amber, musk and leather. Given that list of notes, some people surmised Geminesse might smell a lot like Bandit since the list of notes is very similar. But the notes listed for Geminesse do not give a good picture of it. For one thing, lavender is perhaps the most prominent note in the composition but strangly it is not listed as a note anywhere! In fact, Bandit and Geminesse could hardly be further apart in spirit. Bandit puts its leather upfront and center- black and stiff and the whole perfume is done in a somewhat harsh, haute couture style (which I also happen to love) but Geminesse is much more relaxed- a hippie-dippy sort of leather, more like that of a soft, hand-tooled leather purse than Bandit's kinky mask and gloves routine.

The aromatics create a soft lemony haze that surrounds Geminesse, making it incredibly comforting to wear. I understand it was maybe not so popular here in the US originally(?!) but it was apparently a hugh hit in Europe and London in particular... Strange really, since it smells like exactly sort of thing a quintessential California beach-girl from 1973 would want to wear. It is very wholesome and actually smells very similar to the original 1979 Fabrege Wheat Germ Oil and Honey shampoo, if you remember that one.

In fact Geminesse smells similar to scents in the family of soft citrus, green and leather tinged chypre (the ambery oriental aspect is lighter, laid over that base). It really is wonderfully done, projecting a citrus, powdery and meadowy fresh vibe at the same time, recalling Jean Patou's Moment Supreme and especially resembling Prince Matchabelli's Abano more than any other scent I can personally think of...

Of course these perfumes are rare scents, all highly sought after. For comparison sake, Abano's notes are listed as oakmoss, orange, patchouli, lavender, herbs and grasses. Honestly those notes give you a much better picture of Geminesse than the much notes I found listed from Basenotes.

Of the three scents (Geminesse, Abano and Moment Supreme), Abano is actually the fragrance I most prefer - the citrus is just a bit greener and for some reason Abano has a mouth watering effect on me that I crave sometimes, but the other two are excellent perfume compositions. Geminesse is a stand out for me because it comes from the workhorse of cosmetics in American movie business in Hollywood's Golden Era, Max Factor. The brand was born in 1965, incvluding the perfume making it safe to say that Geminesse was not a modern Calone spin-off but an old school perfume with great bones. Both Abano and Geminesse were Mediterranean inspired. Abano being the name of a resourt town in the mediterranean and Geminesse showing its Grecian influence in the classic Greek art work that adorned early bottles. Each of these represents the extinct ideal of the European resort scent, a beachy, vacation scent but not made to reflect Miami or Tropical Pan Asian Island areas. Obviously marine scents can be handled in as many different styles as there are shore lines. Clean aromatics, vetiver and musky leathery notes were used instead of fruits, white flowers or big synthetics... to create the impression of wind and surf, transporting us back to the place where warm sun and the salty tang of sea air kissed the skin as fingery breezes teased one's hair. Geminesse takes you to that kind of a place, too so it is no wonder the scent is sorely missed!

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