Youth Dew

Youth Dew (Lauder 1953) Opium (YSL 1977) Cinnabar (Lauder 1978) Sweet vanilla Emeraude (Coty 1921) Shalimar (Guedain 1925) Exclamation (Coty 1988) Tresor (Lancome 1991)... 

The Oriental Perfumes Shalimar, Must de Cartier, Obsession, Youth Dew, Opium, Coco... 

Youth Dew, originally launched by Estee Lauder in 1952 as a bath additive, is one of the few western fine fragrances not diluted in ethanol. Although as much criticized as admired for its sheer impact and lack of aesthetic subtlety, it remains one of the most original and influential of perfumes. Its enormous success, particularly in the United States and Great Britain, can be seen in retrospect to have opened the way for a demand for the style of perfumery that has now come to dominate the market. 

Although the influence of Youth Dew can be seen in Dioressence (1970), it was not until 1977, with the launch of Opium by Yves St. Laurent, that the oriental theme was further developed in a perfume of major importance, which was in turn to provide the inspiration for the creation of a number of subsequent fragrances within the genre. 

In Opium the two types of oriental, represented by Youth Dew and Shalimar, are brought together by the combination of the mellis and ambreine accords. Again there is an emphasis on castoreum, and on the spicy and balsamic notes, with the rose aspect being more fully developed than in either of its forebears. 

As we would expect in a perfume as distantly related in time as Opium is to both Shalimar and Youth Dew, a number of more modem materials have been introduced. The cis-3-hexenyl salicylate backs up the benzyl salicylate, and Lyral, the hydroxycitronellal. A small amount of Hedione is also included. There have been important developments to the rose aspect of the perfume with the addition of phenylethyl dimethyl carbinol (3%) and Centifolyl. The fresh character of the rose derives from the use of geranyl acetate. Unlike the earlier oriental perfumes there is also an important aldehydic note. 

What Youth deemed crystal. Age finds out was dew. —Robert Browning, Jochanan Hakkadosh, ca. 1840... 

---