Tova, for those of you who don't pay any attention to QVC or MUA, is the wife of Ernest Borgnine. He's the actor who won a best oscar for playing "Marty" in the early 1950s. But, back to Tova, she has this line of among other things, perfumes, on QVC. She's been selling her special Tova Original or Tova Signature, there for the past 15 years or so. I originally came across what's known as the "old formula" for Tova Signature perfume. I was immediately struck by a sort of hybridized musk-sandalwood with a light bergamot and possibly jasmine opening. The entire thing struck me as weightless, like a certain type of musk (the kind that plays hide and seek with you all day) with a cool citrusy opening. It felt like sort of an extreme abbreviation and a sugarless abstraction of Shalimar. Then the change came. First came an almost cheesier bottle, sort of a budget Narcisco Rodriguez style but clear with pink stripes. Then the smell- a cheap, harsh, wacked-out detergent, chemical bug spray. Now I've come to realize, the change (away from macrocyclic musks?) to a newer musk and probably less sandalwood are to blame. The proportions are all off now, even if nothing else has changed, it threw everything off about this fragrance. But the thing is, it "cooks" over time and actually improves, coming closer (but never really reaching) the greatness of the former version. But now there are many flankers and even single note variations (among them, sandalwood and jasmine, natch.) And I don't know that any of them really capture any of that old Tova magic. I usually do not trash fragrances here. But today I cam across a perfume-related product of Tova's and I'm so dissapointed in the lack of quality that I had to blog about it.. I'm speaking of her perfume powder pendant. It sounded so promising, but after opening the package, what was I thinking? Powder perfume? Sure, maybe... A pendant- possibly, especially if the production quality of the item is high. But unfortunately here it isn't and nothing came together. The pendant materials, espcially the silk cord and it's hideously ugly closure, look and feel cheap; also the powder cartridges are small and not very scented. Unlike Tova, who is herself a beautiful woman, the pendant does not live up to the former glory of Tova Original 3 ingredient Signature perfume. It's a bittersweet moment here in the vault since in this case, things have changed, but not for the better.
Vintage Perfume Vault, where the scent of yesterday's vogue lives.
