On "Safari"

People often ask me  “How in the world do you think of something to write about perfume, every week?” I just sort of mumble that something comes along. Those of you who also write about perfume are familiar with the question, and the answer: it just does. It is sometimes difficult to discuss a business seemingly so intent on shooting itself in the foot, but sometimes, a fragrance seems to find me, and makes me feel genuinely inspired.

I went to an estate sale, groaning at my own hope-springs-eternal foolishness -- I never find anything but cracked orange crockpots. But here was a bottle,  with about 5 mls left in it, of Ralph Lauren’s Safari for Women EDP.  I’d managed to miss this when it came out about 20 years ago. It cost $2.00, which I balked at paying, as I usually avoid Lauren products. Too much preppie imagery, along with the “Let’s take the Gulfstream to Kenya and bag a rhino” colonial-era-worshipping silliness. Then I took the cap off and sprayed a little on my hand.

If I had to use one word to describe this scent it would be “heady.” I’d never smelled anything like it. That’s aldehydes and galbanum, but there is something else here, too, so grassy and sweet and dry at once that I have to say the name fits, perfectly. Not that I’ve been to Africa or plan to go any time soon. In my own experience, it reminds me of the western hills in dry season -- arid, the color yellow ochre, dotted with black oaks. Dry, dusty grass that sweetens over time, like the California summers of my memory.

I started doing research, and hunting around for another vintage bottle. To my utter astonishment, I snagged a half-ounce of the perfume -- parfum -- on fleabay, for $2.99. Oh, stuff of myth! My best auction score ev-ah! I even felt a little guilty, like I was stealing, but the seller’s store was full of things like used bicycle seat covers, antique playing cards and old hood ornaments, and, like an afterthought, this one bottle of perfume. I was expecting the worst, but the heavy crystal, silver-topped bottle came boxed in its own, faux-crocodile coffin, lined with quilted white satin. (I found a vintage bottle of EDP, too, btw, for a very reasonable price.)

“Safari” was concocted by Dominque Ropion (“Carnal Flower” and many others) and features hyacinth as a floral in the topnotes, and black currant and mandarin along with the galbanum. I think it may be the combination of these that gave me that “gottahaveit” rush. This scent has a life, a clear beginning, middle and end. The midnotes are floral and the base means business, ambers and vetiver, styrax and musk. I would bet that the bottle from the estate sale is the original 1990 formula, because the base is a little richer. I think the other bottle contains a slight remix -- nothing like what is being done to perfumes now, just a little more emphasis on the top notes. The parfum stretches out the black currant and the midlife florals quite a bit, and is sweeter in the drydown, too. All have great longevity. A generous spraying of the EDP lasted all day, unusual for me. Combining these two reminds me of an ensemble you can wear to the office, then to a party, with a simple change of jewelry. Very American, practical but aspirational; easy; perfect.

So, anyway, in preparation for this post I began to check  the availability of “Safari.” I had heard that it was discontinued, discontinued but brought back, permanently discontinued, still in production -- depends on who you ask, I guess. None of that means much, since it’s everywhere online. The department stores, if they have it at all, stock only the men’s version, apparently a fougere. Sephora doesn’t have “Safari for Women.” Perfumania does. One version of Lauren’s website doesn’t show it, another does (in listings only), and gives a $60 price for 2.5 oz, which isn’t too bad. Vintage bottles on fleabay are priced from reasonable to ridiculous. I’ve seen soap and body products and even a 32-oz “refill” size on discount sites. And so on. This seems to be the end-of-life trajectory of fragrances now. As confusing as anything -- make that everything -- else. 

I have a few other green floral fragrances. Compared to classics like “Private Collection” and sleepers like “Silences,” this is sweeter, more haylike, more floral. But it is accessible, in keeping with the Lauren marketing imagery, as much as it pains me to admit that. I think it may have been an anomaly in its time, a kind of bridge fragrance, coming off the power-hitter 80’s as they shrank back into the timid, watery 90‘s. Whatever the intent, “Safari” is unique.

Photo © Keith M. Borow, all rights reserved.

Perfumer Dominique Ropion’s creations include “Amariage,” “Carnal Flower,” “Une Fleur de Cassie,” “Ysatis,” “Dune” (with Jean-Louis Sieuzac), and the new "Portrait of a Lady." 

Notes for “Safari For Women” include galbanum, “green notes,” mandarin, aldehydes, hyacinth, orange, daffodil, black currant (top); mugnet, rose, narcissus, carnation, orchid, honey, jasmine (middle); and cedar, musk, vetiver, styrax, vanilla, amber, tonka and patchouli (bottom).