Aromatics Elixir Clinique (1971) Perfume

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7.7 / 10 360 Ratings

Aromatics Elixir (Perfume) is a popular perfume by Clinique for women and was released in 1971. The scent is spicy-woody. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is being marketed by Estēe Lauder Companies.

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Perfumer

Bernard Chant

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Bergamot, Verbena, Geranium, Chamomile, Coriander, Clary sage, Rosewood
Heart Notes	Orris root, Jasmine, Carnation, Orange blossom, Rose, Tuberose, Ylang-ylang
Base Notes	Oakmoss, Musk, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Frankincense

Ratings

Scent

7.7 (360 Ratings)

Longevity

9.3 (261 Ratings)

Sillage

9.0 (248 Ratings)

Bottle

6.4 (242 Ratings)

Submitted by Sani, last update on 18.05.2019

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Reviews

Cryptic 6 years ago

„The Mouse that Roared”

Clinique's Aromatics Elixir has been somewhat of an oddity since its launch in 1971. At the time, perfume houses were splashing out with big ad campaigns...

Sorceress 6 years ago

„Dirty Laundry Scent”

When I was 19, I became a Clinique fanatic. I delved into their skincare diligently. I even allowed an SA to give me a makeover one evening before a date with...

05/16/2019

9.0 10.0 10.0 10.0/10

Lillie
0 Reviews

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Lillie

Greatly helpful Review 11

Ur tincture

The most bitter, spicy, impressive, most loved, most hated perfume on the planet. Its wearers are either anosmic (and accordingly it is overdosed), then it attracts negative attention, is loud and almost rude, or they wear it like a veil, are aware of the magical powers and let it seep deeply and gently into their environment.
My first attempt with Aromatics Elixir took place in midsummer. Big city, noise, dust, people, fumes, dirt. I put on the EdT (!) in Karstadt at Herrmannplatz and was enchanted. Like a protective cocoon I am surrounded by silence, almost meditative pausing and my muscle tension is released, as is my irritation. Instant wellbeing!
Then further attempts with the EdP ("Perfume"), and here the dose constitutes the magic. One sprayer too many and you're over it. I dabbed it on at first, used a mudflat swab as a carrier. You can also spray it into the air and walk through it. I particularly like the minis (4 ml), which have a very small spray head, here then spraying goes flawlessly. I love the scent in winter because it envelops me in cosy, cuddly herbal and spice melange and I love it in summer because it cools and centers through its aromatherapeutic effect. Personally I also find it very sensual, patchouli and tuberose, ylang and sandalwood are in my opinion very erotic in their scent. I can only recommend to everyone who doesn't dare to go for it because he or she might associate his or her (bad) experiences with the name with the overdose carrier to sniff at the bottle like a smelling bottle and to feel this beneficial effect. I swear by this almost therapeutic scent even in the case of inner restlessness. A masterpiece!
For me the primordial mother of all Chypres (although only 1971 created).
Am I the only one who can smell cinnamon?
Allegedly one of the most popular women's fragrances in the Mediterranean (it makes itself surprisingly good in the heat - rationally dosed -).

5 Replies

03/02/2019

Merteuil
0 Reviews

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Merteuil

Very helpful Review 9

faye dunaway in fur

the ultimate hippie-chic perfume for pel-wearing ladies from the taunus in 1978; clean and dirty at the same time, it actually reminds of the smell of old furrier goods when they were 'politically correct' and harmless. kamille, patchouli and eichenmoos play the main roles here, the overall effect is completely different from many bernard chants of that time, which all somehow rotate around aramis and/or cinnamon.
patchouli in a completely different way, and dilutes a great ironing water (which I don't mean depektierlich)!

2 Replies

11/26/2018

10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0/10

Sonnenwende
0 Reviews

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Sonnenwende

Very helpful Review 15

You're different

You are headstrong and have a strong character.
You're not quiet, but you're never pushy.
You leave a lasting impression,
without wanting to ingratiate you.
You waited for me until I was ready to get involved with you.

You welcome me with a warm hug.
Let me take a seat in front of the fireplace and enjoy the pleasant warmth.
While you talk about your herb garden, you make me tea and I take the scent of chamomile, sage and bergamot.
You care for me, cover me up and let me rest in a feeling of absolute relaxation.

For over 30 years Aromatics elexir has been my faithful companion and I admit,
that I've struggled a little at first with this extraordinary scent.
In the beginning I perceived it much more pleasantly in other people.
The aura surrounding its bearers held a fascination that captivated me.
The fragrance trail was enough to make me feel good.
In myself I felt the aromas, like too tight a grip.
Whether it's the habituation or the dosage, I can't say, but in the meantime I feel pleasantly carried by this elixir.
All I do is perfume my wrists. Anything else would be too much.

In 1972, Aromatics elexir was the first perfume to make use of the findings of aromatherapy.
Relaxing and stimulating components are in perfect balance and subtly influence the mind.
It is said to contain over 90 incredients, although I can only determine a fraction of them.
Oak moss, patchouli, vetiver and bergamot I take was clear.
So are chamomile, rose and ylang-ylang.

I'll leave it at that.
An artistic creation it is
and sometimes I wonder if Jean Baptiste Grenouille didn't have his fingers in the game ;-)

7 Replies

11/17/2018

9.0 9.0 9.0 10.0/10

Alex1984
39 Reviews

Alex1984

Helpful Review 2

Emerald Queen

I’ll start by saying that the bottle I own was purchased in 2009. Not vintage by any means as I haven’t been able to find one (yet), but still powerful with both treemoss and oakmoss listed, and a deep amber brown color. I believe it is still very much Aromatics Elixir.

And it is one heck of an elixir. Seductive, powerful, serene. Confident, just like the person who wears it. Statement making, not only because it is strong and room filling but because it represents perfectly a concept, an era, the perfume itself. Wearing Aromatics today, just like other vintage fragrances with highly marked personalities feels like time traveling; it is so specific, that the image just flows right in your mind. It is so personal, that it becomes part of you. While to many it’s dated and old, I can’t help but get weak in the knees when I smell it on someone. And thankfully I still do!

Aromatics on me is mostly about the green. Herbs, patchouli, oakmoss, vetiver...and less about the flowers, which bloom magnificently on certain chemistries. On my skin, the initial bracing bitterness dissipates just too soon to reveal a forest tapestry, where the floral notes simply enhance the overall feel. In all these years I haven’t been able to find the tuberose that’s in the formula. Sometimes I can sense the rose or the jasmine, but they leave so soon that only a flicker of their presence is left, enough to magnify even more so the beauty of the other notes. And the chamomile is simply stunning; not often used, here it acts as the link that ties the layers of the fragrance together. There is an overall honeyed smell, much like in Knowing or Paloma Picasso, but where these fragrances rely heavily on the rich florals, the sweetness here doesn’t feel floral in particular. It enhances even more the green/leathery/animalic facets; it relies on the beauty of its basenotes to showcase its true nature. And Aromatics is so powerful that the honey-ness simply serves to counteract its force. It might be a tough one, but it is also elegant, smart, beautiful and joyous. A sweet woody chypre. Powerful and perfumey enough to ensure a grandiose chypre structure that feels as exhilarating as Angostura on an upset stomach, Aromatics does the same for the soul. Originally conceived as a treatment fragrance, it advertised the properties of jasmine, oakmoss, chamomile and civet. But it’s so much more than that. Hippy chic in the 70’s for those who could afford it. Powerful enough to cut through the smoke in 80’s ‘Club Opium’ or ‘Poison Discotheque’. I don’t recall it in the 90’s, was it out of style? Couldn’t be, Aromatics defies the laws of style and vogue. It simply is.
While it’s still very popular, many are intimidated by it, including shop assistants. And rightfully so; you have to go near it with determination, spray and let it engulf you. Only then can you truly appreciate its beauty, whether you enjoy it or not.

Aromatics has, and also demands, a big personality. Someone that doesn’t follow trends, who works hard but knows how to unwind. Aromatics feels like a wonderful signature fragrance and one that no doubt leaves an imprint. I’m lucky that I can smell it so often and more often than not, it suits its wearer beautifully.
Magnificent!

10/17/2018

8.0 10.0 10.0 10.0/10

GreyGold
0 Reviews

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GreyGold

The scent of scents

That's all I can do. More receptors cannot be selected, more emotions cannot be addressed. A fragrance, stench, beginning, end! Here everything is captured in a sweet-bite bitter essence in a bottle.

1 Replies

06/22/2018

8.0 8.0 8.0 9.0/10

Siebenkäs
0 Reviews

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Siebenkäs

Greatly helpful Review 35

New wave, not punk.

The rain obviously couldn't decide either,
it fell flat on the shiny plaster, in which the neon
Writing of the "Krachnest" and the lights of the few other
Shops, then he preferred to let the wind
drift across the mostly shabby cars, which are almost completely
park left and right of Oranienstrasse. That Berlin in winter
was hard, he'd been told, and he'd believed it.
But now that it was real, it was different.
Anselm struck the collar of his dark blue homecomer-
Army coats up. Somehow it was cool. All this
Berlin Island Bleak-Atmo... walled city...coal stove smell
and a sense of so many possibilities.
No wonder Bowie moved here, he thought
He had a date. Another try, the fourth one this week.
Funny how hard it was to find a drummer in this town -
when there were thousands of bands, bands of all styles, from which
most of them played for a few marks everywhere where it's something like that
like a stage. Like over there in "Krachnest", in its basement
they had their headquarters. Rehearsal room was such an uncool word,
it sounded like diligence instead of inspiration, genius and turmoil.

At that moment, twenty meters from the "Krachnest", an old,
dark red hump-backed volvo and parked rather swinging.
It took some time for the door to open and a long, lean guy
i got out of the car. He wore a wide coat with a faded flower pattern,
blue suede trousers with several holes and old laced boots,
that looked too big in spite of his size. So perfect.
A pair of drumsticks looked out of the coat pocket.
"So you're Anselm!" - said the Hagere and walked straight towards him.

And then there was the scent.
Intense and soft, springy, spicy and above all warm.
Warming up, just like that. A stove of fragrance.

"So, you're the drummer?"
"Exactly! I'm your new drummer..."
Uh, yeah, I'm Anselm..."

When he unlocked the door, a piece of memory
in him like a shadow from long faded days.
And disintegrated again.
The scent, however, still intensified in the narrow staircase.
Flowers were added now, heavy and overripe, field herbs,
tart, straight plucked out, a little bitter or also sweetly stunning.
It was confusing, he thought of chamomile tea and an old rose-
bouquet with his favourite aunt in her Viennese Belvederchen.
On the other hand there was this clear edge.
Mysterious, wedged somewhere between earthly and heavenly.
New wave, not punk.

Anselm unlocked the door.
Shortly afterwards the Hagere sat behind the Gretsch Drumkit.
Anselm decided for the Telecaster and started the AC30.
He played the riff from "But a Dream", slightly distorted,
i'm not being cautious, because it wasn't about him.
Suddenly the Hagere stood up again and stepped up to him.
"Before I get started - a little elixir for you..."
He sprayed Anselm, who just kept playing, a few times
from a small amber bottle to the chest.

Then he sat down behind the Gretsch again and started.
Dry, straight as a candle, actually nothing more than the usual
Wum Ta Wum-Wum Ta. But so precise and sharp,
with such a ravishingly swinging hi-hat, which always scarcely
before the first hissing the Basedrum pushed up - more aggressive
and more thrilling than anything drummers have ever done before.
How long that went on - hard to say.
Just as the Hagere a few sophisticated Basedrum snare variants
anselm became completely aware of the fragrance,
he merged with the beat, the riff entwined him,
the guitar tones turned into swaths of flowers and herbs.
To the thunderstorm of flowers and herbs came now what had been missing.
The basis on which everything made sense, the key, so to speak.
A deep, lush, archaic hippie aura that is more likely to deny
and rebellion. Or no, it was the postulate, the essence
of Love and Piece, no ifs or buts. It reminded him of
a wide panorama, in front of which the time courses blurred.

"I knew he wouldn't get bored,
here in the punch society..." said his uncle Nelson,
"but believe me, he's had enough of this elixir..."

Anselm opened his eyes and just saw,
as his uncle swiftly and nimbly the little bottle in the pocket
of his floral dressing gown.

Then he dawned back into the deep vastness of his dream.

23 Replies

04/20/2018

QuercusAlbus
72 Reviews

QuercusAlbus

Chamomiley Character.

This is basically a good solid oakmossy chypre, with a very strong - stronger than one might suppose on basis of summary assay - undertow of amber - a rather °gassy° amber, and plenty of grit & earthiness. Oh, and what a surprise! there's orris in it ^again^! The 'fumes I choose oblivious to their notes-analysis so very nearly always do!

But a more peculiar & seldom-used ingredient of this is chamomile; and I think it is largely that that is the cause of the distinctive earthy quality of this 'fume. It gets me wishing that chamomile were used more; but on the other hand it might be better that it be used seldom as it is - after all, it's effect on a 'fume is indeed rather peculiar. Another (but _very_ upmarket) instance of the use of the note is in ~Blue Sapphire~ by Boadicea the Victorious. Comparing these two 'fumes, it is readily perceived as a note they have in common, as a °certain earth peculiarity° that both have. And similarly, looking roughly proportionally _down_market, there is ~Aroosah~ by Al Rehab - there is that distinctive °chamomiley character° again!

It's lovely in all these 'fumes, including this one; but I can imagine how it might well be better if just a few have it in, here & there.

Despite my having focussed on one note to a considerable degree, I would say that this is a _superbly_ integrated 'fume: a true _synergy_ of the elements of its rather long notes-list rather than merely a juxtaposition of them. I would say indeed that it is a really quite exceptionally ^synergistic^ 'fume. I understand that it is considered by many to be one of the °Great Classic° 'fumes, and has a cult following: I can clearly perceive why.

I see fræ the note-list that it is very oakmoss-heavy, and I also perceive it so ( which I think is _not_ a contradiction of what I said about its being well-integrated). I don't think the oakmoss panic has wroughten too deleteriously on it, whether it uses some scientifically selectively-bred or genetically engineered oakmoss or some synthetic aromachemical, or whatever they do these days to render the oakmoss note. I'm getting these whiffs that are so very excruciatingly poised between °under-side-of-decaying-fallen-tree° & °freshly-laundered-linen°.

11/30/2016

5.0 10.0 10.0 10.0/10

Flore
22 Reviews

Flore

Helpful Review 3

Signature scent of my mother!

Aromatics Elixir;
My mom's signature for 30 years. This perfume smells great on her and am jealous of such a beautiful signature fragrance. She always gets tons of compliments and they always ask what scent they on? I wear this scent never when I'm with my mom because it is really her scent. I myself am completely in love with this scent. I spray it sometimes on my scarves or pillowcases. It's really an aromatic smell. A wonderful chypre and there are very few scents that can match her. The only fragrance that I can think of is La Perla La Perla (which unfortunately no longer available, the old version).
I am so glad that there are fragrances are as Aromatics Elixir by Clinique ...

2 Replies

02/07/2016

WildGardener
101 Reviews

WildGardener

Elixir Encounter

Aromatics Elixir grabs your attention like a carmine overcoat.

Its rose - coriander - patchouli profile is unique and instantly recognisable and it still divides opinion today, 45 years after it was created. Many people are confounded by Aromatics Elixir and detest it; others appreciate the challenge wearing it poses; some find its strange beauty almost mystical.

Aromatics is a kind of Herm, a milestone that Parfumista's may encounter on their journey; the experience can be for some, like me, a rite of passage.

It is, without doubt, a perfume of huge significance; an outstanding achievement that's transcended its era to attain canonical status in the history of perfumery. But is it really a masterpiece?

For a work of art to be a masterpiece it should either be an utterly sublime rendition of a perfect (Platonic) form, or it must be a revolutionary tour de force capable of articulating a new type of beauty. Unfortunately Aromatics fails on both of these counts because a) the profile is still perfectible - it lacks a certain refinement, and b) its structure is derived from the chypre - and so it embodies no unique vision.

Consequently, its very good indeed, but not a masterpiece.

11/02/2015

7.5 10.0 10.0 10.0/10

OoohAdonis
6 Reviews

OoohAdonis

The Anointed One

Aromatic Elixir is not only limited for old ladies. It can be worn even by young adults. You only need to be patient to experience its wonderful revelation, that is if you treat AE with utmost respect, care and blend with it perfectly.

AE blooms its goddess character half an hour and only when applied with a couple of spritz to 1 spray. For a woman who will smell like a top executive. For a woman who walks the streets on a cold day and night to turn to her men's attention. For an intimate woman ready for her secret moment with her man. For a daring yet very smart woman, anywhere she goes. For a confident man, with the right skin chemistry to AE. Men who are tired of conventional fresh aquatic/marine fruity synthetic based scents but will be noticed by women. AE grants class, seduction and sophistication. Many will regret, will be dismayed and will fail to bring out the alluring and tempting deity in AE for only a few can trigger its beauty. To those who fail, no matter what you do, your skin will never make it sensually ignite. AE is too picky of it's wearers. So test it on you for some hours before you buy.

AE is often misunderstood until/unless you have been chosen. AE is liquid gold to the anointed.

10/12/2014

Zakaria80
6 Reviews

Zakaria80

Mrs Dora

Allow me to describe the person who always wore this perfume.

1992.
We had just moved back to Greece and I got in the sixth grade of elementary school where ofcourse I didn't know anyone back then. My mother started talking to this big confident lady who assured her she will convince her son Bill to sit next to me. I still remember Bill's disapproval since he had already arranged with who he would sit. (just for the record Bill is still one of my dearest and closest friends)

Mrs Dora.
A wonderful single mother who raised her 2 children all by herself with minimal support from her husband. Fearless in whatever life was throwing at her, absolute and bentless in her opinions, with fair and imposing personal traits and always clean and sharp in appearance. Very organized in all aspects and always using her mind over her heart. (well who can blame her for that)
Everytime we met at Bill's house as a kid to play for the 1000001th time Alex Kidd in master system, I always was catching some whiffs of this heavy powdery flowery smell which I hated at that time. Every time I visited (even today), the whole house smells like Elixir!!

Well don't get me wrong. I still hate it even today only with one exception: I do understand it. Maybe I need another 20 years to like it, I don't know. What I do know is I can't see anyone being able to wear it with less character than the lovely beautifully strong Mrs Dora.

11/13/2013

7.5 8.0/10

Tnahowru
33 Reviews

Tnahowru

Helpful Review 2

Loved, Hated

This was my ultimate favorite 40 years ago. But somewhere along the way I started hating it and still do. This bothers me because I'm worried the ones I love today, I'll hate tomorrow.

10/31/2013

10.0/10

Happygeisha
34 Reviews

Happygeisha

rejected by your odd embrace

why oh WHY have the gods damned my chemistry with this one!? every year i try and try again to be accepted by this cocktail of odd juice and year after year it rejects me. *SOB* i've gone as far as to walk around the department store for hours at a time, cellophane sealed box clutched in hand, credit card at the ready... patiently *sniff sniffing* my wrists in intervals and BLECH... it just WON'T LOVE ME. why elixir??? what have i ever done to you but want your odd embrace! i dejectedly return the box and hope that next year will be the year we fall in love.

10/11/2013

2.5 2.5 2.5 1.0/10

Sorceress
211 Reviews

Sorceress

Dirty Laundry Scent

When I was 19, I became a Clinique fanatic. I delved into their skincare diligently. I even allowed an SA to give me a makeover one evening before a date with my future husband one summer evening. (Oh the horrors of that make-up job she did-I still remember wanting to scrub it off!) I sprayed myself with Aromatics Elixir that night and went off to meet my guy. I remember not particularly enjoying this perfume and I am a hard-core patchouli fan from back-in-the-day. I never wore it again. It was an unpleasant aroma to me.
Fast forward to today. After receiving another sample, I happily put this on, thinking I might recapture a time, a moment, a memory. How wrong of me to think so. This formulation is so weak, so linear on me that I keep wondering where has the glory gone? Certainly there must be something in this perfume that would stick to my chemistry to give me something to extoll its virtues? After all, so many love this. After numerous attempts, nothing has changed. Dirty patchouli, stale perfume odor and gone in an hour (thankfully). It does remind me of one other scent-dirty laundry.
This Elixir doesn't cure my ills. It brings them on. It didn't work back then and it still doesn't now.

07/19/2013

Nwalker
1 Review

Nwalker

Very helpful Review 7

40 years and counting

Great reviews about AE. Lots of insights. I stumbled on this forum to find out what the essences arethat I live so much. My sister loves to get letters or hand me downs from me. When my 40 yr old Green Beret was 4 , he came running into the house, stopped in his tracks, and demanded "what is that smell?!?" I asked if it was a good smell or a bad smell. He said "It's a great smell. I love it!" I said "Darlin' a good smell is a fragrance". He repeated it and off he went. I have women and men ask me what fragrance I wear. Always hear lots of compliments.
What i cannot stand is the hand lotion and other incarnations. I put some zero fragrance lotion in my palm, give it a spritz, mix it up and layer it very subtly. I do not have have to use the fragrance everyday because it works so well with my body chemistry it lingers and never overwhelms.
I have received other fragrances over the years ( but never from my husband - he knows ) and I regift or exchange it. I have tried others that give me headaches, sneezing fits, or reason to reshower.
If Clinique has ever changed the formula it is not obvious to me. I am not aware of produce made in Switzerland vs USA - though I did get the embossed bottle. Also found a bulb sprayer which i like.
Thanks for listening. Happy to find your forum
Speaking of Happy m- it smells like Raid to me. For a while they had one that smelled like fresh mown lawn - did di not care for either.
If there is anything else like AE I am not aware of it. Glad I looked for the 'notes'. This complexity and simplicity are a winning combination

3 Replies

02/09/2013

7.0/10

Peaches
11 Reviews

Peaches

Helpful Review 4

Aquired taste

You're either going to love or hate this fragrance. This is not a safe blind buy at all. The scent has too much going on and reminds me of an old medicine chest of 100 years ago. I think the combination of geranium with corriander is what pushed this over the edge of being tolerable. On the other hand there is an abundance of plesant notes and this is a very rich aromatic and complex fragrance. It could become an aquired taste with some extended wear. It reminds me of Rochas Femme but with bitter herbal green notes

01/26/2013

10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0/10

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Greatly helpful Review 15

Addictive

To my great surprise, I have been won over to the Clinique AROMATICS ELIXIR cult. For years, I scoffed at the very concept of a Clinique perfume--weren't they the company that eschewed all fragrance in their skin line? So what in the world were they doing producing not only a fragrance but an incredibly potent "perfume spray"?! No, I stayed very far away and was further deterred from visiting the Clinique perfume counter (a contradiction in terms!) by my sister's "gift" of about a dozen HAPPY minis which she had received in GWPs. Clearly, I thought, Clinique had no business meddling in perfume.

After reading so many glowing reviews of AROMATICS ELIXIR by so many of my favorite reviewers, and also being intrigued by the naysayers, I finally coughed up the modest sum for a bottle. Initially I was shocked at the chamomile opening: sour and unpleasant, to put it mildly. I compared the scent in my mind to a variety of former classics whose reformulations have been less than felicitous: Balenciaga (now Ted Lapidus) RUMBA, Emmanuel Ungaro DIVA (the eau de toilette), the list goes on and on. I was ready to head for the bath, when it happened.

Suddenly AROMATICS ELIXIR had struck a harmonic chord with my nose. The sour chamomile and bitter grass had managed to blend in with the patchouli and a million other rich floral and chypre notes to produce a gloriously rich cloud of, well, aromatic elixir! So now, believe it or not, after being totally put off by the opening, I have fallen head over heels in love with this stuff!

Anyone who loves patchouli--and one must, to wear this composition--needs to get their nose on AROMATICS ELIXIR. It is the perfect respite from all of the fruitchouli and ANGELESQUE perfumes, offering the patchouli without the caramel or the fruity syrup. AROMATICS ELIXIR is much closer to unreformulated LA PERLA, to give an indication of its integrity. It is strong beyond belief, and I am not sure whether I'll ever wear this creation outside my house, but it is a dream to wear and enjoy in the privacy of my home, especially late at night after a long, hot bath.

I noticed one night before retiring that I must have been experiencing olfactory fatigue, because I considered reapplying right before going to sleep. I opted not to, and when I woke up I discovered that my pajamas were seriously redolent of the scent. This is an advisory caution to those who wear AROMATICS ELIXIR in public venues: the fact that you are not detecting it does not mean that others will not! If you prefer not to be pegged by the naysayers--those poor souls who have yet to see the AROMATICS ELIXIR light--as "an old lady", I'd advise wearing this perfume very sparingly in public, or else reserving it for your private use at home where you can apply with reckless abandon. ;-)

Why is this perfume so beautiful? I do believe that it has a magical effect upon one's mind. AROMATICS ELIXIR epitomizes both luxury and comfort. Wearing it is like being wrapped in piles of cashmere on a frosty winter day. Gorgeous! I love it! In fact I love it so much that this past holiday season I purchased the special edition flower-embossed bottle, which, it turns out, is produced in Switzerland, not the United States. Both formulations smell and wear wonderfully on me, and I believe that this perfume is much better than hundreds of niche offerings at two, three, or even four times the price.

For savory patchouli lovers only!

5 Replies

01/06/2013

10.0 10.0 8.0/10

Cryptic
24 Reviews

Cryptic

Greatly helpful Review 15

The Mouse that Roared

Clinique's Aromatics Elixir has been somewhat of an oddity since its launch in 1971. At the time, perfume houses were splashing out with big ad campaigns that featured either a celebrity or a supermodel. Chanel No.5 had Deneuve, Charlie had Shelley Hack, Ciara had Lauren Hutton, Tigress had Lola Falana and Chantilly had Kim Alexis.

Meanwhile, AE's advertisements consisted of a bare bones photo of the product itself with no slogan, no artwork and no humans to be seen. However, behind the scenes in the Clinique marketing department some genius hit upon the brilliant idea of promoting AE by inclusion of a small bottle as a "Gift with Purchase" when the customer bought Clinique cosmetics. The gesture was bound to generate good will, as few if any of us can resist a freebie. Although Estee Lauder and other houses soon adopted the GWP strategy, they continued to advertise their perfumes in catchy, colorful fashion while AE stubbornly maintained its plain Jane approach. Fast forward 40 years, and Chantilly, Charlie and Ciara are now languishing on the drugstore shelves while AE still enjoys its cult status from behind department store counters.

This improbably successful fragrance is distinctive and unmistakable, characterized by one of the most bizarre openings in fragrant memory. AE's top notes have been compared to everything from nail polish remover to Chinese herbal medicine. The one thing everyone can agree on is that for better of worse, AE grabs your attention straight out of the bottle with its unusual combo of chamomile and sage. Perhaps Mr. Chant was attempting to tap into the early 70s nature vibe that celebrated the likes of macrame and earth shoes when he crafted those herbal top notes.

After the challenging start, AE rewards the wearer's patience with a blissful floral heart in which a dark rose is the standout but jasmine and ylang are also featured. The earthiness has been replaced by sophisticated elegance, only to cleverly revert back to earthiness with the patchouli and oakmoss dry down. Throughout the perfume's development, the sillage is so enormous that sales associates advised the customer to apply AE by spraying it in the air and walking through the mist instead of putting it directly on the skin.

If AE were launched by a mainstream house today, it would probably flop, as most mainstream fragrances cater to the need for instant impulse gratification with lovely but fleeting top notes. On the other hand, as a contemporary niche release, AE would probably flourish at twice its current modest price. In any event, I suspect that forty years from now, AE will still be part of the fragrant landscape. It is one of those unique perfumes that every fragrance lover ought to try at least once.

6 Replies

07/14/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Greatly helpful Review 7

If I were stranded with $50 and the clothes on my back, I'd buy Aromatics Elixir and some water.

I got a lesson in love and hate in fragrance from Aromatics Elixir. There are plenty of fragrances that on the first try I found uninteresting. Maybe I came to this conclusion as the top notes faded, maybe boredom set in by drydown. But I disliked AE. It was bitter chamomile, bitter oakmoss, bitter herbal along with that earthy/sacharrine imbalance that patchouli can have. I just couldn’t stand it. Until, without any feeling of transition, I thought it was one of the greatest perfumes I had ever smelled. Not just appreciation. I loved it.

I can’t really dissect this scent. I don’t have the analytical nose for that. But I don’t even want to. One thing I particularly love about Bernard Chant’s work is that I want to get taken for the ride. I don’t want to hear about the notes and all the stuff that’s in it. These are the moments of synergy that are made smaller by investigation. Let AE drive the car.

01/26/2012

7.5 7.5 4.0/10

Missk
1165 Reviews

Missk

Nail polish remover anyone?

I can't understand this fragrance. I can almost see why people love it, yet at the same time I can see why people dislike it.

The opening is bitter, strong and alcoholic. To me it smelt like nail polish remover complete with hints of acetone. Not a particulary pleasant olfactory experience.

The heart is fierce and powerful. It's like a floral explosion on your skin. I found it confusing and disturbing to say the least.

I get the medicinal and herbaceous quality that other reviewers have described, in the drydown. It was too green and musty for my liking. In fact it was very difficult for me to identify any particular notes. Aromatics Elixir can be quite messy at times.

I wanted to experience a rich, warming and unique fragrance, but what I received was unwelcoming and strange. I still for the life of me, can't understand this scent. Definitely not my cup of tea.

3 Replies

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