Note: Please understand that this website is not affiliated with the Jean Patou company in any way, it is only a reference page for collectors and those who have enjoyed the Jean Patou fragrances.


The goal of this website is to show the present owners of the Jean Patou company how much we miss the discontinued classics and hopefully, if they see that there is enough interest and demand, they will bring back the perfume!


Please leave a comment below (for example: of why you liked the perfume, describe the scent, time period or age you wore it, who gave it to you or what occasion, any specific memories), who knows, perhaps someone from the company might see it.

Monday, January 13, 2014

Where Should I Apply Perfume?

As a general rule, fragrance should be applied to pulse points. This is where the blood vessels are closest to the skin giving off more heat and acting like mini fragrance pumps.

Pulse points are the wrist, crook of the arm and back of the knee, and the base of the throat. Also, for long lasting fragrance spray at the ankles, it allows the fragrance to blossom up. For a sexy twist, apply perfume to your cleavage or spray perfume on your nude body before dressing. The nape of the neck, is a very romantic area, whenever your hair moves it might swish the perfume around, nice little subtle trail of perfumed loveliness.

Apply perfume right after you take a shower or bath. Your pores are more open then and will more easily soak up the scent. Some people say that rubbing the wrists together will crush the scent, I tried this with different perfumes over the course of two weeks, just to see if its true, it seemed to me that the friction of rubbing the wrists together actually heated up the fragrances and made them seem more potent.

I have read though that the perfume can react not so nicely to the first layer of skin...and give off a smell that isn't pleasant. Others say that to spray the perfume in the air and then walk into it, I have done this before, and it seems that it lets you control the amount of fragrance that is applied to your skin, rather than spraying directly onto the skin, this works best with heavier perfumes.

I spray perfumes on my clothes when I want to make the scent last longer, I won't spray perfume on fragile fabrics like silks or lace. You can spray your coat with perfume. Also an old tip is to apply pure parfum extrait to your furs. Doing this is up to your own discretion.

Do not apply perfume after you put your jewelry on, take it off first, then apply the perfume. The chemicals in perfume can leave stains or have chemical reactions to the metals, Pearls are especially susceptible to damage from perfume since it destroys their lustre.

Coco Chanel always said to apply perfume where you want to be kissed. I read an old perfume guide from the 1930s and it mentioned that you can apply perfume to your fingertips and eyebrows. Also apply perfume to a cotton ball and tuck it into your brassiere. Apply perfume to your hankies or gloves.

Jeanne Lanvin of Lanvin Perfumes suggested that you should apply perfume wherever your clothes cover your body, that way it will seem if it is coming from within and blend with the natural oils of your skin to make a truly individual fragrance. She also says the best time to apply perfume is 15 or 20 minutes before you are about to go out, that way the perfume has time to "set".

A 1924 ad for Ann Haviland perfumes suggests:

#1. to apply perfume to your eyebrows as the short hairs of the eyebrows retain the perfume longer than the skin since evaporation takes place more slowly.Besides, this is an ideal two-some,the girl usually comes up to a man's chin, not far below his nose.

#2. One little known method of applying perfume is to saturate a piece of cotton with your chosen scent, place it under the shoulder strap of your slip. Body heat releases an aura about you.

#3. A glamorous method of using perfume is to spray it on the hem of your evening gown, then as you walk or dance, the fragrance is wafted into the air around you. This is the best way to do it.

#4. Another pointer is to apply perfume to the inside of your gloves, while your gloves are on, the warmth of your hands attract the perfume which will cling to the fingers.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Fake Jean Patou Joy Perfume Bottle c1940s














This Joy bottle is certainly a curious thing. It is not a genuine Jean Patou bottle. It is a clever fake from the 1940s-1950s. During this time, Joy and Chanel No. 5 were the top two most commonly faked perfumes and various bottles were used to deceive. The counterfeiters often put a small amount of genuine, but highly diluted perfume inside of these bottles. I have seen several different bottles used that are fakes.

As it was billed as "the most expensive perfume in the  world", Jean Patou was extremely insistent that Joy be packaged in luxury flacons, hence the reason why he chose Baccarat for the cut crystal flacon, the small black "snuff" bottle for small amounts and the usual crystal flacon which hasn't changed much since the 1930s.

This bottle looks heavy, thick and not of great quality like the usual Patou flacons. It looks like it has some tiny bubbles in the glass? The bottling factory used by Patou would not have used such a substandard bottle in packaging the world's most expensive perfume. It goes against the restraints of luxury and this is not something Patou would have allowed. I have seen other fake bottles of Joy over the years, but not of this shape.

I was even entertaining the idea that perhaps Patou was using a different flacon during a time of bottle shortages, perhaps during WWII, but I just cannot find any evidence to support that theory, nor can I find evidence of this bottle being used by any other company. It is a shame that there are no markings on the bottle.

 

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Joy Flacons Thru The Years

How to Date Joy Perfume Bottles. Most images taken from vintage advertisements.

To open the classic Patou crystal flacon, use the following tip provided by Parfums Jean Patou in 1963:
Cushion stopper with finger, tap top upwards gently with glass object. Never heat this bottle.


1939

1943


1947

1949

1953

1958

1964

1971

1973

1975

1980

1985

Eau de Parfum 1993

1993
2012












Wednesday, July 10, 2013

L'Heure Attendue by Jean Patou c1946

L'Heure Attendue by Jean Patou: launched in 1946. Created by Henri Almeras as an homage to end of the Nazi occupation of Paris during World War II. Patou registered the perfume's name as early as 1940 in anticipation for the war to end. It was recommended to be worn by brunettes.


Monday, July 8, 2013

Jean Patou's Parfum-Colognes

In 1936, Jean Patou introduced their versions of eau de cologne, which they dubbed "Parfum-Cologne". It combined the refreshing quality of eau de cologne with the long lasting tenacity of a parfum.



It was recommended for daytime or evening use during the summer to help refresh and cool the body. Meant to be splashed lavishly after a bath or shower to help keep you smelling great and abandon the heavy perfumes to winter.

Originally it was only a splash on fragrance, but in the late 1960s, it also was expanded into a spray form as well.

Parfum-Cologne was still available in 1983 in the Caline scent.

Over the years, the Parfum-Colognes were available in the following scents:
  • L'Heure Attendue
  • Moment Supreme
  • Cocktail Dry
  • Amour Amour
  • Colony
  • Caline

The oldest bottles, dating from the 1930s-1940s, are columnar in shape with arched shoulders, they are simply marked "Jean Patou" on the base and are fitted with ground glass stoppers. They feature paper labels and a strip like paper label along the bottom. These are packaged in plain white boxes with a single JP logo on the front.

c1949 ad showing glass stoppered bottles


The slightly later columnar bottles, dating from the 1950s -1960s have "Jean Patou Bottle Made in France" and some numbers on the base and are fitted with plastic screw caps. Early bottles (1950s-still being used in 1959) have black screw caps. They feature paper labels and a strip like paper label along the bottom, though the strip label was later discontinued. Some of these may have a small round paper label with the alcohol volume percentage on the lower back side.These are packaged in white boxes with an all over JP logo pattern.

c1961 ad showing black plastic caps


In the 1960s, just before the changeover to a new bottle style, the columnar bottles were fitted with gold plastic screw caps and housed in white boxes with simple lettering in a square frame on the front. These bottles still have a paper label on the front and may have a small round paper label with the alcohol volume percentage on the lower back side. The base of the bottle is molded with "Jean Patou Bottle Made in France".You may find some of these newer bottles in the old JP logo boxes as old stock was used up.

The newest bottles, used from the 1960s-1980, are squat, oval shaped with screw caps or sprays and have the perfume name screen printed on the bottle. These are packaged in white boxes with gold lettering.

Available in 3.4 oz (100ml), 4 oz, 5.1 oz (150ml), 8 oz, 16 oz and 32 ounce sizes.

Tall columnar bottles:


Plastic caps:

  • Ref. No. 128
  • 6.8 oz bottle (Ref. No 130) stands 
  • stands 4" tall
  • 1.6 oz 
  • 4 oz bottle stands 4.5" tall (plastic cap)
  • 5" tall
  •  Ref. (No. 528)
  • 3.5 oz bottle (Ref. No. 529) stands 5.5" tall
  • (Ref. No. 530)
  • Moment Supreme Ref. No 503 stands 6.5" tall (plastic cap)
  • 6.8 oz stands 
  • 7 1/3 oz stands 6.75" tall
  • Cocktail Dry 8 oz stands 5.25" tall (plastic cap)
  • Moment Supreme 8 oz stands 6.75" tall  (plastic cap)
  • No. 4301 
Glass stopper bottles:

  • stands 5.5" tall  (glass stopper)
  • 8 oz stands 7" tall. (glass stopper)
  • One litre bottle stands 11.5" tall.







c1950 Parfum-Cologne, photo by perfumeprojects

c1950-1960, photo by etsy seller ChiChiPerfumes


c1955-1960 Parfum-Cologne, photo by etsy seller eColognes


c1965-1970s Parfum-Cologne, photo by etsy seller thevintageretroshop

Colony by Jean Patou c1937

Colony by Jean Patou: launched in 1933. Created by Henri Almeras as an homage to the French colonies. Colony was available in parfum .



Divine Folie by Jean Patou c1933

Divine Folie by Jean Patou: launched in 1933. Created by Henri Almeras. It is said that Divine Folie was formulated to accessorize the glamorously sleek white satin and silk bias cut evening gowns Jean Patou was designing to counterbalance the little black cocktail dresses of Chanel.


Divine Folie was available in parfum .


Sunday, July 7, 2013

Vacances by Jean Patou c1934

Vacances by Jean Patou: launched in 1934 (though some people say it came out in 1936, but this is when Patou trademarked the name). Created by Henri Almeras. The French word Vacances translates to vacations, and this perfume was created to commemorate the introduction of mandatory paid vacation in France.


Invitation by Jean Patou c1928

Invitation by Jean Patou: launched in 1928 in France and 1932 in USA. Created by Henri Almeras.


Amour Amour by Jean Patou c1925

Original Formula:

Amour Amour by Jean Patou: launched in 1925. Created by Henri Almeras in collaboration with Raymond Barbas, who was Patou's brother-in-law as well as one of his chief perfumers.

Patou introduced three fruit-floral fragrances evoking the three stages of love: Amour Amour (Love, Love), Que Sais-Je? (What Do I Know?),  and Adieu Sagesse (Goodbye Caution/Farewell Wisdom).




Que Sais Je? by Jean Patou c1925

Que Sais Je? by Jean Patou: launched in 1925. Created by Henri Almeras in collaboration with Raymond Barbas, who was Patou's brother-in-law as well as one of his chief perfumers. It was reported by Life magazine in 1933, that Barbas was the one who named the perfume.

Patou introduced three fruit-floral fragrances evoking the three stages of love: Amour Amour (Love, Love), Que Sais-Je? (What Do I Know?),  and Adieu Sagesse (Goodbye Caution/Farewell Wisdom).



Adieu Sagesse by Jean Patou c1925

Adieu Sagesse by Jean Patou: launched in 1925. Created by Henri Almeras in collaboration with Raymond Barbas, who was Patou's brother-in-law as well as one of his chief perfumers.

Patou introduced three fruit-floral fragrances evoking the three stages of love: Amour Amour (Love, Love), Que Sais-Je? (What Do I Know?),  and Adieu Sagesse (Goodbye Caution/Farewell Wisdom), to be worn as an accessory to their ensemble.




Thursday, July 4, 2013