Caron Acaciosa

One of the main reasons I love Acaciosa by Caron so much is that it doesn't smell like any other jasmine perfume I know. Actually, it doesn't smell like any other perfume, period.

Yes, it's a jasmine blend and I can smell the supporting notes such as orange blossom, rose and maybe a hint of muguet. But somehow Acaciosa escapes the Joy-clone trap and manages to form a unique identity. It took me a while before I learned to identify the odd pineapple note that gives this perfume its flesh- this is not a fizzy cocktail on the beach. It reminds me of those dried pineapple slices I sometimes buy at Whole Foods as an alternative to snacking on chocolate (it must be healthier, right? It has fiber, after all). The flowers and fruit are honeyed, but it's a slightly smoky honey, dark and smooth. Maybe it's the Acacia note- Acacia honey is quite delectable.

Acaciosa is impossibly elegant in an effortless way. It's rich, womenly and despite its 1924 birth year it has an odd quality about it that makes it quite at home in a mostly modern fragrance wardrobe. This is one of Caron's urn perfumes, so its distribution is limited to Caron boutiques and few select stores (as far as I remember Bergdorf Goodman carries Acaciosa, or at least used to have it). My bottle of extrait de parfum is fairly new but apparently not as current as the reformulation Tania Sanchez tested for her review in the Guide, as I don't get the "soapy woody floral of not much character" she experienced.

Vintage Caron ads from the 1930s and 1940 : paperpursuits.com, vintageadbrowser.com