D’ORSAY
Les Parfums Du Chevalier d’Orsay

1911

Heliotrope
mandarin
neroli
boysenberry

nutmeg
carnation
coriander
clove
orange blossom
tuberose

sandalwood
incense
suede
benzoin
orris
ambergris
oakmoss
tobacco

Chevalier was first released c. 1910 Chevalier (1910) • D’ORSAY. It was reformulated and re-released in 1995 Chevalier EDT (1995) • D’ORSAY.

‘I have a sealed bottle of vintage 1930s Chevalier by D’Orsay, however, I just checked it and it was a little loose so I moved the stopper a little without breaking the threaded seal, got some drops of perfume onto my skin and oh my goodness, what a heady, erotic, swoon-worthy fragrance.

The fragrance opened up with a quick rush of delightful sweetness like cherry tobacco, mandarins, and boysenberries all dripping with the spices, nutmeg, coriander, and incense-laden carnations. Now, the creamy orange blossom and the tuberose are making love within the perfume and producing a heady, narcotic mix which whirls my brain into the upper stratosphere. As it is drying down, the tuberose and neroli don’t die, they continue to propagate and mix with oak moss, powdery orris and ambergris. I detect a sort of animalic leathery sweet suede note and benzoin, but that isn’t a listed note..

I don’t get the citrusy smells, probably because it is the old formulation and  they have not survived. The juice has turned into a very dark brown, and almost sepia in color. It is a syrupy concoction, like a witch’s dark aphrodisiac. I am enthralled and enslaved. I cannot stop sniffing my wrist, where the fragrance is still blossoming from the warmth of my skin.’ – Dorsayperfumes.blogspot.com