Buying vintage scents

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I have seen vintage unopened bottles of After Shave/Cologne for sale, how much of original scent profile can be expected of a Halston Z14 or other oldies from last century?
 
I've bought one or two vintage bottles of Kouros and Aramis 900 and found them to be fine. I certainly wouldn't hunt them down and pay any more than a new bottle though.

Beware posts on Basenotes raving about the superb quality of the older scents and bemoaning reformulations.

There's a reason the old stuff smells a little bit different to the new stuff. The old stuff is just older, it's sat in a bottle for 20 years. Take a new bottle and leave it for 20 years and it'll smell differently to something you'll buy in 2038. Not better or worse, just very slightly different.

Fair dues, oakmoss has been removed from a lot of scents due to it causing AIDS or global warming and scent-geeks will tell you that has caused everything to smell different but I'm pretty sure the perfume wallahs at these firms managed to replicate the smell of oakmoss.

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I've bought one or two vintage bottles of Kouros and Aramis 900 and found them to be fine. I certainly wouldn't hunt them down and pay any more than a new bottle though.

Beware posts on Basenotes raving about the superb quality of the older scents and bemoaning reformulations.

There's a reason the old stuff smells a little bit different to the new stuff. The old stuff is just older, it's sat in a bottle for 20 years. Take a new bottle and leave it for 20 years and it'll smell differently to something you'll buy in 2038. Not better or worse, just very slightly different.

Fair dues, oakmoss has been removed from a lot of scents due to it causing AIDS or global warming and scent-geeks will tell you that has caused everything to smell different but I'm pretty sure the perfume wallahs at these firms managed to replicate the smell of oakmoss.

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Not to paint with a broad brush, but what you say is true...………….somewhat, but not entirely. It depends on the maker and where they cut corners on the reformulations. Usually, the reformulated versions have a weaker opening and don't last as long on the skin scentwise. Chanel Antaeus is a perfect example of this. A good example of a "neutered" reform. cologne was/is Jacomo de Jacomo EdT. The vintage version had an oakmoss opening that was unrivaled IMO. It would make you drop to the floor and go into the fetal position sucking your thumb as tears of ecstasy cascaded down your cheeks. As one reviewer said "...dark brooding incensey masterpiece." Jesus' beard surely smelled like this!! :eek:
 
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