Perfume Fair : Photos and Experiences

In the city where I live there is a large hall where fairs and conventions are held almost every weekend. There have been paranormal conventions, jewelry fairs, reptilian fairs, culinary fairs, toy fairs, you name it. It never even crossed my mind that there could be such a thing as a perfume fair – after all I’d never seen one advertised where I live – but on a rainy evening filled with boredom a couple of months ago it suddenly struck me: Why shouldn’t there be one? There seemed to be one for just about everything else! This sudden inspiration to look for a perfume fair proved to be fruitful. There wasn’t to be just one, but several perfume fairs all through 2008. None of them were going to be held in my city, but serendipitously, the first one of the year was going to be held in a nearby village, that was really just a few minutes away by car. This was yesterday, and even though the event was rather small, I am still buzzing with excitement! I went there not knowing quite what to expect: Were there going to be any independent hobby perfumers there showcasing their work? Was the focus mainly going to be on miniatures? Did I even dare think that I might find something exceptional and exciting? No, to be honest I couldn’t even bare to contemplate the thought, for fear that my hopes would crash and burn in disappointment once I was actually there. But I needn’t have worried: Even though the fair was (even by the admission of the organizer with whom I had the chance to chat for while) relatively small this time and the turnout not as good as expected, to me it was wonderfully exciting. There were sellers from the Netherlands, from Belgium, from Germany and even from Portugal and not all of them spoke English or Dutch, but somehow we all made do, either with broken French and German or just by simply using our fingers! The focus was on vintage bottles, perfumes and powders as well as commercial modern perfumes and minis but there were also a good number of vintage soaps and large factice display flacons to be had as well as a few vintage boxes. I had the chance to meet a few likeminded, exceptional people who showed me maps of their own collections, filled me in on the ins and outs of perfume fairs and advised me on which is the absolute must-go-to fair this year. I found two sellers with whom I am most definitely going to keep in contact with as I continue my search for some long-lost favorites. Most excitingly...I got me some wonderful deals! I did decide before leaving the house what I was prepared to spend and only had this amount of money with me, a restriction which certainly kept my spending in check while I was there. (A much needed restriction might I add, since my feeling once there can be likened to the mouthwatering delight a kid would experience if let loose in a candy store!) My favorite purchase of the day was definitely a sealed crystal vintage bottle of Mitsouko extrait from the early 50s in the rare rosebud stopper flacon, but I also grabbed Lucien Lelong’s Indiscret and Jolie Bouquet as well as Coty’s Muguet de Bois for unbelievable prices. The rest of my budget was spent on miniatures both old and new for my collection. There were many sinful Sirens singing (a vintage bottle of Liu from the 1920s, a vintage bottle of Nahema extrait, vintage Givenchys and Balenciagas...) but once I had exceeded my limit all I could do was admire them from afar, resisting their Siren call. But it is alright, isn’t it? There’s another perfume fair coming up...and another, and another. I hope you enjoy the few pictures I took! I wish I had taken more now that the day is over, but while there I hardly wanted to lift the camera, all I wanted to do was look and touch and sniff!


My heart skipped a beat when I saw this box of Piver’s Trefle Incarnat, which happens to be number one on my wishlist of vintage perfumes. Unfortunately when I opened the box all that I found inside was the four-leaf clover stopper the bottle was sometimes presented with. Like a sorcerous genie that had magicked itself away leaving only its curly-toed shoes behind, the bottle had vanished. Someday.








Picture of Tabac Blond Powder (full and sweet smelling as though it was new)







Vintage bottle of Crepe de Chine









I love this picture!











Nice presentation for Lancome’s Tresor











Limited Edition Presentation for Caron’s Nuit de Noel (No. 75 of 100)

























My own favorite buy of the day, Mitsouko Extrait
















PS: It is really worth it to right click the pics and open them in a seperate window, especially when it comes to the first picture of the Nuit de Noel LE presentation. It is soooooo beautiful!