Smelled this on a customer at work today. I had no idea what it was, and had to ask this lady, as she wore it quite well. On her it was spicy, but almost herbal and somewhat soapy. Nothing like it smells in the bottle. There was a distinct floral note, that I couldn't put my finger on. Maybe ylang ylang? One wouldn't think that a spicy oriental scent like this would work well in the summer, but it wasn't half bad on her.

Cinnabar, Aromatics Elixir, Opium, and other spice fragrances definately need a light application in warm weather. I love to smell these on those that know how to wear them. On me, I can't without feeling suffocated.

Clay, I'm a fan of Estée Lauder's perfumes. I know that you're in love with Estée cologne, and your posts about it are wonderful. On my side, I love Alliage (which I'm wearing today), Private Collection, Beautiful and Pleasures. From these, in my taste Alliage is the most interesting and uncommon. I don't like to have the same perfumes as everyone, and here in Belgium I think the classics of Estée Lauder are not famous.

Anyway, your passion is contagious! Now you make me want to discover Cinnabar. Could you consider it similar to Coco or Opium? You discribe it as somewhat soapy, that's intersting for an oriental.


For you, two vintage ads: Cinnabar and Estée :)
Have a good day,

Valnum do you like Azuree? I have never tried Alliage but I adore Azuree. I love wearing it in the heat when it smells like sunbaked red earth covered in pine needles. I think the wormwood (thujone) is what gives off that earth scent that I find so appealing. I have never found either Alliage of Azuree for sale in Australia.

I prefer Cinnabar to Opium myself, though that might change at some point.

Hi Teacake, I haven't had yet the opportunity to smell Azurée - this one is not sold in Belgium. I'm thinking to buy it unsniffed on Ebay as I have read it is a chypre.
I love your feelings about Azurée!

Cinnabar is one of my all time favorite scents, for winter and summer. The heart notes are listed as jasmine, ylang ylang, carnation and rose.
I love the citrus in the top of Cinnabar, which seems to lift it a bit higher than Opium...perhaps that's why it seems to work as a summer fragrance (?).
Anyway, I love it.

Sage Tzu, I can wear Aromatics Elixir no problems, it gives me a lift and make me feel strong when wearing it - but Cinnabar and Opium? There is just a little too much of one note in cinnabar that I find overwhelming, and Opium is too strong overall on me - rats.

I used to wear Cinnabar almost exclusively before POL. Its still one of my all time favorites.

Cinnabar is wonderful to wear occasionally in really cold, dry wintry weather.

I have a hard time wearing Cinnabar in warm weather.
I wear almost all of my woody or vanillic Orientals in the Summer, but the spicy ones tend to feel to heavy.
Cinnabar makes me think of the Christmas holiday season, and that's just too hard to break, in my mind.

Click to view attachmentNot a fan of Lauder scents.

Valnum I see you list Miss Balmain as one of your fragrances. I think of this as Azuree Light, lol. They both have wormwood in the drydown and I think if you like Miss Balmain and you like strong fragrances (the Lauders) you would enjoy Azuree.

I have a girlfriend who wears Cinnabar EXCLUSIVELY summer or winter....of course I live in South Florida so it's summer all the time.....

I have worn Cinnabar since Moses sniffed the air on our walk and said: "Excuse me, what is that you're wearing?" Or, it sure seems that way. From the official EL site: Gloss.com

Introduced in 1978, Jasmine, orange flower and clove blend intriguingly into an intense, sensual experience. From the ancient Far Eastern symbol gracing the bottle to the mysteriously exotic scent inside, Cinnabar is spicy and warm

Fragrance Type: Oriental/Spicy
Top Notes: Jasmine, Orange Flower, Tangerine
Middle Notes: Clove, Muguet, Lily
Base Notes: Olibanum, Sandalwood, Patchouli

The way to keep co-workers from keeling over in their cubicles, spritz a little Cinnabar into a blob of Satsuma lotion from the Body shop and apply over summer dry arms and legs. Wonderful. Trust me on this one.

http://www.thebodyshop.com/bodyshop/browse...goryId=cat20067


x cindy

I don't really think Cinnabar and Opium are similar at all. I think Opium is a dryer, spicier scent. Cinnabar isn't as spicy or dark. It's got that herbal, soapy note in the middle that keeps it from becoming too dark. Opium has a big hit of PLUM, and what I think is bay leaf and a large hit of pepper...that I don't get much of in Cinnabar. In the base, I'm sure there is amber and sandalwood, etc. I don't think it's similar to Opium or Youth Dew. Something about Cinnabar reminds me of the Chanel men's fragrance Antaeus.

Yes, Armanis, I think we're all well aware of this.

Cinnabar layered with White Linen is wonderful. Better than either separately. When I wore it, I got compliments all the time. If you have both laying around, try it, you might like it.

Karin you ARE game but you have caught my attention and I think I'm going to give this mix a try. (i think I have a little cinnabar left in a bottle) - plenty of White Linen.

My mother had a bottle of this on her dresser. It was one of my favorite ones to smell!

I used to wear Cinnabar in the 90's and judging from the compliments I got it did work with my chemistry.
I have always thought of it as sweater weather fragrance too so it's interesting that the lady was wearing it in warmer weather.
Cinnabar is one that could easily be strong enough to wear only in the body lotion form. I used to do this and it really packs a fragrant punch!

It was interesting to read this post since I've also been craving Cinnabar lately.

I also want to revisit Azuree which in my more youthful days I thought of as a stinky one! This leads me to think I would now like Azuree. By the way Azuree is available on Perfume Bay!

Karen

Azuree is an interesting fragrance. Definitely has an herbal facet, to it's woodiness. Some citrus, and spearmint that gives it 'lift'. In a way it reminds me of the Lauder men's fragrance Aramis, from the 60's. I believe Bernard Chant created both of these fragrances, as he did many of Lauder's early offerings. Azuree is a 'sunlit' fragrance, and isn't near as bottom heavy as Aramis. I don't really wear chypres often, but I think it's worth a try to those of you who wear these frequently. I love Aliage which is a nice green, soft scent. I actually gave my 16 y/o nephew a new bottle because he liked it so much. He said it smelled very natural to him. Smells very good on him, IMO. Very soft and green, which a unique crispness about it. Like unripened bananas.

Jicky, let me know if you like it. Somehow the two cut each other so they are better together than apart. The WL cuts the heaviness of Cinnabar and Cinnabar gives some pizazz to WL. I wore it year round (it's hot here) and loved it in the summer and spring.

One time the man who ran the snack shop who was legally blind knew it was me because of the fragrance. He said he loved it and wondered what it was.