Pop the champagne corks people the prima donna power woman has been promoted to the top.
She enters as always in a graphite pencil skirt sharpened to a point and beautifully tailored jacket tucked at the nearly-not-there waist then angularly out to fill full broad shoulders.
One significant piece of jewellery.
She snaps a greeting to the crowd then an invitation to the few: her office, vintage fizz on ice…
“Now!”
This crazy French rush her only concession to her elevation.
Yes it has been hard work.
There were others in the field.
Too right, they fell by the wayside.
Too bad.
Not the women they used to be.
She’s twice the woman she’s ever been.
The party over before it begins. She throws her Barda bag onto a glass and chrome coffee table where today as every day a fresh bunch of red carnations dressed with green grey moss buys time in a clear cube.
A feeble nod to a futile idea of femininity in a room that is a temple to the tanner’s art.
In the vestibule cringeing would-be colleagues cower on Barcelona chairs awaiting an audience with this new crowned empress of commerce.
Ushered in they sit on couches by le Corbusier, sipping too hot, too strong herb tea from constructivist espresso coffee cups while waiting to explain themselves.
It turns out their copy is, well, just not good enough.
The men leave. They are, if not fired, not hired either.
Appointments continue throughout the day, no let up in her manner no diminution of her power.
She departs in private elevator to chauffeur driven car to private elevator and finally top floor apartment.
Only the cheap take Penthouses, and then only for the articles.
At home and undressed, alone except for powder, she is poise and self possession personified.
An ornament of amber glows warmth across her expansive inner space.
Do they like her?
She laughs.
Does she care?
She doesn’t want love, affection, gratitude, infatuation, respect or even adoration.
She simply demands that they worship and obey her.
Azuree by Estee Lauder is to the power chypre what the Apollo moon rocket is to long haul air travel.
In these days of reductive reformulation she is a monument to ambition, quality of construction, projection and longevity, in every sense of that word.
Opening in a vertical trajectory, fueled by aldehyde and super charged bergamot, this scent is heading for the stars.
The interior of USS Azuree is pure leather, no PVC and hard plastics here.
In order to retain a sense of space age decorum, the more animalic elements are banished by a good strong bunch of synthesized herbs and a modest bouquet of boiled up blooms.
The pace is maintained a million miles or more, then, arriving at it’s destination our spacecraft scent slows almost to a stop, allows the softest of amber landings.
Mission accomplished.
Can a man wear it?
Azuree could be in a crowd of super heavyweight boxing champions and still be the butchest one in the room.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy.
The Perfumed Dandy. 
I wore Azuree the other evening (recent version). It dragged me along in its wake. Why on earth I bought it, I don’t know. I just wanted it. My husband opened all the bedroom windows as soon as he came home. That’s how I know he doesn’t like Azuree. 🙂
Dearest Lily
You bought it because it commanded you too! And when Azuree speaks… we all jump!
What a wonderful image of being ‘dragged… along in its wake’. I know exactly what you mean, it must be the only perfume that can make an entourage of one!
For all it’s imperiousness though I can’t help myself around it. The Dandy goes weak at the knees.
And all credit too to Estee Lauder, for whilst this has been tweaked no doubt it is still one of the most powerful and ‘out there’ perfumes in the mainstream market.
Oh, and I’m sure your husband will get used to it… eventually.
He laughs,
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
I love Azuree, but I love it because it’s one of my husband’s staples. I dare say it’s possibly his signature! He rotates Azuree, Black Orchid, Dior Homme, Dior Vetiver, and Chanel Cuir de Russie. But he wears Azuree the most. It’s fantastic on him, so it has never felt quite feminine enough for me. But I’m not much for leather, I like suede notes better.
Dearest Annina
What excellent taste your husband has!!
I have all of those too, except the Dior Vetiver… I have Carven’s Guerlain’s, Etro’s and several others so it seemed a little excessive even for The Dandy!
I do know what you mean about it’s ‘masculine’ qualities, but then it is from the creator of Cabochard, Aromatics Elixir and…. Aramis!!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Wow.
I could FEEL that building.
And you know what?
I don’t know if I have ever smelled this….
Dearest Ginza
Shame on you!!
Though judging by the general silence in response to this review I fear you may not be alone.
It is the lost miracle of modern perfume, exquisite in an astonishingly powerful almost overpowering way.
Yet, for some reason I find unfathomable even Estee Lauder seem intent to keep it a secret.
Sold only in Harrods and Selfridges in London and ‘selected department stores’ elsewhere I see it described as ‘discontinued’ and ‘rare’ the whole time at certain auction houses.
Yet it lives and breathes and is as full of vigour now as when the great Bernard Chant created it, uncredited, at the end of the 1960s.
Well worth a try if you like overbearing aldehydic leathers with an attitude to put Madonna in her place.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Well anything by Bernard Chant is fine with me. Elixir! Aramis! Cabochard! Essentially all the same perfume (have you tried Aramis 900? Unbelievably similar to Aromatics!
I am practically guaranteed to love it.
Dearest Ginza
I am absolutely the same when it comes to Bernard.
Aramis Devin? Has ever a perfume been so aptly named… and my doesn’t it bear a very decided similarity to another Estee Classic.
I can’t remember if I’ve reviewed Aromatics Elixir… I certainly have my thoughts stored away somewhere…
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
“…overbearing aldehydic leathers with an attitude to put Madonna in her place”? Ha! You’ve got that right – Azuree would tell Madge to sit down and shut up (and she would do it!).
Azuree was the first fragrance that made me realize I love leather notes. However, she became too much for me to handle. I don’t wear chypres well, and this one kept slapping me upside the head. I finally swapped her away, but that doesn’t mean I don’t admire her. Lauder is to be commended for keeping this one in the line, and I’m assuming it’s lasted so long because (like that other powerhouse, Youth Dew) it is still in demand by loyal customers who have worn it for years. If it were released today, it would be considered “niche”. I’m so glad you tried it, because I’ve always thought it would smell wonderful on a man.
Dearest Fleur
Yes, Azuree can become too much to handle… I am loving everyone’s shared experience with this madam… I tend to reserve her, like an eminent and extraordinary great aunt for special occasions where I wish to surprise and set noses out of joint.
I agree that Lauder is to be commended for keeping her in their range and so intact, what puzzles me is that she does not get more outings, staff at those places where she sells tell me she shifts units at a rate outstripping all her younger contemporaries.
Perhaps the secret of her success has been not to make herself too available.
As for for your observation that Azuree would be niche if released today… spot on… but then so would many other classics of yesteryear… Bal a Versailles, Cabochard, Joy even…
How the world turns.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Another scent. Another journey! I love the images. I love your prose. How did I miss Azuree? Back in the day, I was a Private Collection gal. And I guess a loyal one at that. (The “gift with purchase” deal seduced me every time!) I wonder if Azuree is available in a body cream. Perhaps it’s time to give a splash. In the words of Estée Lauder, “You wouldn’t wear the same dress on the tennis court and at a party–so why wear the same perfume?” (Love the elevator doors!)
Dearest Theodora
Private Collection!?! If you were to be anyone’s girl then I’m glad that such a fine fragrance had you.
I would give Azuree a go, I’m sure there will have been a body cream at some point, though whether it’s still in production I wouldn’t be so sure…I’ll have a look.
A to Estee’s comment… well, one couldn’t have put it better oneself.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Oh yes, and those elevator doors…. bliss… in Chicago somewhere I believe.
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy
Azuree + The Fountainhead = the perfect match! Terrific review of a stone-cold boss of a perfume. I really love leather fragrances, but THIS one I don’t wear, I just admire it from a safe distance. Very safe.
Dearest Batkitty
I thought the match was apposite too… so glad you appreciated it!
I can totally understand why this might be a scent best seen from a distance… I only consent to dance with her in public every once in a while!
Yours ever
The Perfumed Dandy