"Climat" for Nadia and another perfume that Soviet women dreamed of

Nowadays it is customary to call Soviet women unspoiled. However, many people still remember perfume brands from that time and note that it is not so easy to find analogues in quality and durability. Perhaps it seems so because we are talking about the times "when the trees were large", or indeed "before everything was natural." Today, authentic bottles of popular Soviet, Bulgarian and Baltic perfumes are very expensive, and it is not easy to find them, but collectors and nostalgic lovers give this money without hesitation, because the smells have an amazing feature of waking up memories of days gone by.

Red Moscow

Even those who were no longer born in the USSR know the name of these perfumes. It is known that this is a “scent with a history”, although there are several versions of these “stories” today: according to one of the options, this perfume composition was created for Empress Maria Feodorovna by the “son of the French soap-maker” August Michel on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. - "The Empress's Favorite Bouquet" is confused with the old aroma "Bouquet of Empress", or it is generally argued that "Krasnaya Moskva" appeared in production much later, in the mid-1920s, with the participation of the wife of the future People's Commissar VM Molotov Polina Zhemchuzhina.

The famous bottle has been filmed more than once. According to one of the legends, Lyubov Orlova was an ardent admirer of Krasnaya Moskva, but old footage cannot convey to us the scent of a Soviet screen star. But in "Girls", on the bedside table in the hostel, we can see the familiar red box, and also see in the "Pokrovskie gates" when "Red Moscow" must be presented to the future mother-in-law, as this is her favorite perfume. The aroma with a telling name has become a real symbol of the era, and today, reconstructing the times of the USSR, not a single director ignores this detail.

Red poppy

In the Soviet Union, it was customary to release new brands of general consumer goods for the anniversary of the celebration of the revolution. In honor of the tenth anniversary of the Great October Revolution, the Novaya Zarya factory created a fragrance that combined the exoticism of the East and the wind of freedom. The idea of ​​the perfume composition and the name were inspired by a ballet production by Reingold Glier. "Red Poppy" on stage told about the fate of the Chinese dancer Tao Hoa, who was in love with the captain of a Soviet ship. At the end of the ballet, the body of a girl who gave her life for her beloved was showered with red poppy petals, and the Chinese poor, freed from the slavery of Europeans, seized the port. The fragrance was created as if based on this work and for several decades remained the favorite perfumery bouquet of Soviet women. The author of "Red Poppy" was David Garber, ten years later he became the technical director (chief perfumer) of "New Dawn".

Manon

Another scent from David Garber differed in mood - in the 1930s, life in the country changed, and the new generation demanded a slightly less ideological perfume. Sports and youth were in vogue, so new perfume compositions were distinguished by fresher notes. Perfume "Manon" is considered the "long-livers" of the Soviet perfume - they were produced until the 1980s, although there was an opinion that later releases could not be compared with the first, original ones.

Gold of the Scythians

Another legendary Soviet fragrance, the history of which is also covered with legends. According to one of the versions, the perfume was created in a difficult post-war period for our country, and the exoticism of ancient treasures became a real breath of fresh air for people tired of the horrors of war. However, according to another version, this fragrance was created much later, in 1988, and gained popularity in the wake of a general shortage. It is interesting that the "Zlato of the Scythians" is still being produced, but it differs from the first samples, because in the Soviet Union, natural ingredients were usually used for production.

Tete-a-tete

The perfume, which appeared in the early 1980s, immediately became a desired luxury thanks to a successful advertising stunt: the inscription "Moscow-Paris" flaunted on the label, which was interpreted as a joint production and collaboration with French perfumers. In fact, this meant the following: the USSR always bought ingredients for the perfumery industry abroad, but since the mid-1970s, they switched from simple fragrant substances to buying complex compositions. At domestic factories, they were taken as a basis and a couple of new notes were added - samples were obtained that were close to European ones, but at the same time individual ones. This is how the fragrance "Tet-a-tête" appeared in 1978, as a result of the joint work of "Soyuzparfumprom" and the Parisian company "Marbel". The bottles were sold out in the very first hours of their appearance on the shelves and for many years this limited edition remained a cherished and unattainable dream of Soviet women. Later, the perfume began to be produced in large quantities.

Silver lily of the valley

Lily of the valley is one of the few flowers whose essential oils cannot be distilled, so all the "lilies of the valley" in world perfumery were created artificially - since the beginning of the 20th century, European fashion houses have tried to reproduce this fragrance, combining notes of bergamot, lilac, ylang-ylang and jasmine … In 1950, Bella Gutsait, the chief perfumer of the Northern Lights factory, created a unique composition with floral and green notes, called Forest Lily of the Valley, and in 1952 scientists helped perfumers - a research group from the All-Union Research Institute of Synthetic and Natural Fragrances received a compound that was named lilialdehyde. A little later, the legendary "Lily of the valley silver" was created on its basis.

- say researchers of Soviet perfumery. "A delicate, cold and slightly moist aroma" won the hearts of Soviet women for many decades. The perfume was so popular that, in addition to the Northern Lights, they later began to be produced at a perfume factory in Nikolaev. It is possible that one of the reasons for its mass production was its low cost, but despite this, "Silver Lily of the Valley" is still remembered with warmth and nostalgia.

Culture to the masses

Highly cultured citizens were brought up in the USSR, so the names of perfume compositions were often references to literature, music, or other forms of art. For the 150th anniversary of Pushkin, Soviet perfumers created a vivid composition in which juicy tints of oak moss were interspersed with tart patchouli and bergamot. Perfume "The Queen of Spades" was loved by older ladies, they were a sign of maturity.

The perfumes “Ballet” and “Recognition” were also popular in the USSR - the latter were dedicated to the theater and theatrical actors. But the original name "Perhaps …" appeared thanks to jazz. In the 1950s, the best European trumpeter Eddie Rosner and his team wrote several songs for Carnival Night, and one of the band's compositions, Maybe, made such a splash in Poland that perfumers created a perfume with a similar name. Later, the popular brand began to be produced in the USSR.

Latvian perfumery

Bulgarian and Polish perfumes were highly valued by Soviet women, only Baltic perfumes could be compared with them.They were considered more refined and elegant than the products of "Novaya Zarya" and "Northern Lights", especially since it was much more difficult to get them. One of the most coveted was considered the "Secret of Riga" brand "Dzintars". The perfume was launched in 1987 and was highly praised at an international competition in Paris. Like many successful perfume compositions from the past, they are still being produced today.

Real French perfume

In the film "Irony of Fate", having received a New Year's gift from Hippolytus, Nadia exclaims: "Real French perfume! They're expensive! " The heroine is holding a white and blue box of the famous "Climat". They were really expensive, even in a store they had to pay from twenty to forty rubles for them, and at the same time it was very difficult to find imported perfume. The exquisite aroma was created by the French perfumer Gerard Gaupy in 1967, they were produced for several decades and were a real happiness for Soviet women.

In addition to the cherished imported perfumery, Soviet women dreamed of many scarce goods, which they had to chase after in the USSR.