Chaldee by Jean Patou c1927

Chaldee Perfume by Jean Patou, created by in house perfumer Henri Almeras was launched in 1927.

This fabulous perfume was directly inspired by one of Jean Patou's famous first innovations: the invention of suntan lotion, named Huile de Chaldee (Oil of Chaldea). Coco Chanel's famous tanning excursions & the dusky skin of Josephine Baker both influenced women of the 1920s and started sunbathing to attain the bronzed glow from the sun, as a result, Patou introduced Huile de Chaldee. Huile de Chaldee was named after the ancient city of Chaldea in Babylonia that was legendary for its beautiful, amber skinned beauties. Huile de Chaldee 'was made with the most expensive oils and perfumed with a warm, sensual mix of narcissus, orange flower and amber' says Jean Patou's house perfumer Jean-Michel Duriez.

Original Fragrance Composition:

Patou's Huile de Chaldee sun oil had become so popular, many customers were buying it purely for its smell, therefore, Chaldee the perfume (a dry musk) was produced to fulfill this need. A sensuous blend of orange blossom, hyacinth, jasmine, daffodil, vanilla, narcissus, opoponax, amber, spices, and lily of the valley.

• Top notes: hyacinth, lily of the valley, daffodil
• Middle notes: orange blossom, jasmine, narcissus
• Base notes: vanilla, opoponax, amber, spices, musk

A 1929 poster for Huile de Chaldee by Leon Bagnini reads "Huile de Chaldee- Prevents sunburn, softens and tans the skin".

Fate of the Fragrance:

Chaldee and Huile de Chaldee remained discontinued for a number of years. Later, in the 1984, Jean Patou launched its Chaldee perfume for the Ma Collection of Patou's best loved perfumes alongside Cocktail, Normandie, Amour Amour, L'Heure Attendue, Que Sais Je?, Adieu Sagesse, Moment Supreme, Divine Folie, Colony, Caline and Vacances. Although some have remained faithful to the initial formula, others have had to be modified because it was difficult to find all the original ingredients during the 1980s. An eau de toilette was developed for each fragrance, something that was non-existent 50 years prior.

So what does it smell like? It is classified as an oriental floral fragrance for women.

• Top notes: orange blossom and hyacinth
• Middle notes: opoponax,  jasmine, lilac and narcissus
• Base notes: amber, spices and vanilla

Also relaunched was the reinvention of Huile de Chaldee, in keeping with the exotic name, this time as an after sun tan enhancer, "L'Originalle Or Rouge".

From a Fragrantica interview with Jean Patou's new perfumer, Thomas Fontaine:

Thomas Fontaine: ..."One day, Jean Patou found out that people at the Riviera spent a lot of time by the sea—they swam, they suntanned, they enjoyed their time by the sea—he even opened his boutique for bathing-dresses in Deauville in 1924. So he asked his perfumer to create a perfumed tanning oil, Huile de Chaldée. Chaldée for Chaldea, the country of Sumer in Babylonia where beautiful golden-skinned women lived. And the perfumer—Henry Almeras—created the perfume around narcissus, orange flower, and vanilla."

Serguey Borisov: "Was it made fragrant to mask the unpleasant smell of its active ingredients?"

Thomas Fontaine: "No, no. There were no sun-protecting or tanning agents—it was simply pure castor oil that was perfumed just to smell nice. And people used it on the beach because of its great smell! After its great success Jean Patou decided to launch a perfume with the same smell, to remind people of summers by the sea."

Serguey Borisov: "In your new, relaunched Chaldée fragrance, you also used only those notes (Narcissus absolute, fleur d'orange and vanilla)? Yes, there seems a huge amount of narcissus absolute here and it's not as sweet as Chaldée1984. Sooo animalic…"

Thomas Fontaine: "Yes, its formula has been changed due to new regulations that have emerged since then—but also what you smell now is not fresh and new Chaldée 1984, but the 30-year-old juice that has undergone almost 30 years of maceration (let's assume that you stored the perfume perfectly and never opened it). And that's crucial for the perfume that has such a large amount of natural oils and absolutes in it—Jean Patou perfumes always have a lot of naturals in their compositions and they evolve over time! It's the same thing as with a fine Bordeaux—if you drink it 15 years later, it'll taste and smell different. And perfume (like wine) is very sensitive to storage conditions. The Bordeaux you should keep in a cellar—no light, in a well-sealed bottle. Fragrances are not kept in such great conditions—light, temperature changes, humidity, etc.—and are they really left unopened for 30 years?"

The new Chaldee bottle, to be released at the end of  May 2013. (photo from Fragrantica)

Chaldee was reformulated by Thomas Fontaine and relaunched in 2013 as part of the Collection Heritage , a line of reformulated and relaunched Jean Patou classic fragrances.

Current Fragrance Composition:

So what does it smell like? It is described as a spicy and powdery floriental formulated with Amber, Flowers, Spice and Opopanax. A rich scent which has been warmed by the sun.

• Top notes: spices
• Middle notes: flowers
• Base notes: amber, opoponax

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