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


The goal of this website is to show the present owners of the Houbigant 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.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Chantilly by Houbigant/Dana c1940

Chantilly by Houbigant: launched in 1940. The fragrance was created by "nose" Marcel Billot and named after the famous Chantilly laces.



Chantilly was available in the following:
  • Parfum
  • Eau de Toilette
  • Eau de Cologne
  • Liquid Skin Sachet
  • Dusting Powder
  • Face Powder
  • Bath Softener
  • Bath Tablets
  • Talcum Powder
  • Stick Perfume


Original Fragrance Composition:


So what does it smell like? The original Chantilly is classified as a chypre (woody, mossy, spicy type). It starts with a fresh top, followed by a spicy floral heart layered over a sweet, balsamic and powdery base.

Composed of more than 50 ingredients from all parts of the world, Chantilly is a chypre perfume whose basic note comes from the bark of a tree on the island of Cyprus, which accounts for its mysterious, rather Oriental accent. Natural rose and precious jasmine give it femininity and a medley of spice adds zing. Warm peonies, cloves, sweet peas and wisteria supported by a very slightly musky chypre, and dusted with a touch of iris. Laden with such fixatives as oakmoss, musk and ambergris, Chantilly is an exceptionally lasting fragrance.

  • Top notes: bergamot, lemon, neroli, orange blossom, peony, fruit note and spices
  • Middle notes: orris, rose, clove, ylang ylang, carnation, heliotrope, sweet pea, wallflower, wisteria and jasmine
  • Base notes: leather, tonka bean, Indian sandalwood, musk, incense, benzoin, vetiver, French oak moss, patchouli, vanilla and amber


Combat, 1954"
"Eau de Chantilly d'Houbigant" It's at caillettes evolving, in long lace dresses, by paths incensed with heliotropes and bordered by flowerbeds where sweet peas, suave peonies and the naive rosettes of wallflowers pass by, in a park haunted by invisible violins, under the spangled canopy of the night sky, what would suit best is this aroma powdered with iris and delicate chypre. Summer perfume refreshed by its eau de cologne wetting, it would be that of 'La Finette' if Watteau's canvases had a smell."

Combat, 1955:
"Chantilly (perfumed cologne) by Houbigant. A slightly musky chypre, powdered with a touch of iris, intensifies the subtly measured exhalations of peonies, sweet peas and wallflowers, with a tender hint of wisteria, for a young woman in a flowered dress, having dinner at the Chantilly weighing hall, in the crumpled evening of spring in Ile-de-France."



LIFE, 1955:
"Chantilly Eau de Toilette with silk net atomizer in glamorous "Giftorama.". $5.00 Chantilly "Giftorama" with Liquid Skin Sachet and Eau de Toilette. $3.50 Chantilly Perfume in magnificent "Giftorama" setting. $5.00."


Vintage Chantilly Bottles & Products:


Chantilly was housed in various bottles over the years. The 1950 ad below shows how the original Parfum flacon looked with its disk shaped glass stopper.






Other Parfum bottles were adopted over the years including the amphora shaped flacon shown below. The amphora shape was first used in 1960 and continued to be used into the 1980s. It was also used for the Eau de Toilettes and Skin Sachets. This bottle was available in four sizes:
  • 1 oz
  • 1/2 oz
  • 1/4 oz
  • Miniature








Parfum de Toilette and Eau de Toilette:

Chantilly was presented in various bottles for their Eau de Toilettes and Parfum de Toilettes (Essence de Chantilly). The Parfum de Toilette was a concentration equal to today's Eau de Parfums, stronger than Eau de Toilette but weaker than Parfum. It was introduced in 1968. The shape of the bottle reflected a new packaging style that Houbigant introduced in 1968 expressly for the Chantilly line. Houbigant was looking back into its early history as a perfumer to the French court. The sun-shaped design was a lovely tribute to Louis IV, known as the “Sun King.” The presentation was still in use in 1975.










Colognes:




Dusting Powders:


Chantilly Dusting Powder was presented in various plastic boxes over the years, these usually were complete with a woolen powder puff.





Solid Perfumes:


In 1970 a trio of Chantilly based solid perfume compacts was released. These are the "Golden Gator", "Balle d'Or" and the "Imperial Jewel."



Limited Editions:


For Christmas 1969, the limited edition "Chantilly Collection Royale" line of luxury bottles and packaging was introduced to elevate the status of Chantilly perfume. It was dedicated to Louis and Marie Antoinette and was meant to recapture Houbigant's former glory by using historical bottles such as the Baccarat crystal one used for Parfum d'Argeville (Le Flacon Louis XVI) and the multifaceted one originally used for Essence Rare (Le Flacon de Versailles) plus a gilded powder box called "Le Boite d'Or Heritage Dusting Powder" as shown in the advertisement above. Reflecting the 18th century of love of elegance, these Chantilly delights are encased in amber toned coffrets with the posh look of the softest velvet. Old stock of this collection was still sold in 1974.

  • 6.5 oz Le Flacon Louis XVI Eau de Parfum retailed for $20.00 and features the scene of two lovers in a garden, delicately etched in gold,  the flacon is topped by a gold sphere. How to tell this from the more expensive Baccarat crystal version? The Chantilly bottle has plastic on the end of the stopper and is made up of molded glass which is decorated with silk screened decoration, bottle made i France by Pochet et du Courval, bottle stands 7.75" tall. The original Baccarat bottle is made up of crystal with hand stenciled gild decor, and features a ground glass stopper.
  • 4 oz Le Flacon de Versailles Eau de Parfum retailed for $15.00 is a multifaceted glass bottle marked Bottle Made in Japan on the base. The screw cap has a crown image on the top. The original Essence Rare bottle was cut crystal, by Baccarat and has a inner glass stopper and a fluted gilt brass overcap.
  • Le Boite d'Or Heritage Dusting Powder retailed for $7.50, this gold tone box contains super soothing powder to apply with the softest of velour puffs.





In 1971, a collection of miniature bottles known as "The Magnificent Four" was released and included tiny bottles of the Flacon de Versailles and the Flacon Louis XVI for Chantilly, and two bottles for Quelques Fleurs.
  • A small 0.13 oz size of Chantilly Parfum was also available in the Flacon de Versailles shape
  • A small 0.13 oz size of Chantilly Parfum was also available in the Flacon Louis XVI shape






Fate of the Fragrance:


In 1989, Parfums Parquet released Chantilly under their own name. 






Long and complicated ownership, Houbigant filed for bankruptcy in 1993, was acquired (along with Dana) by Renaissance Cosmetics in 1994. Renaissance filed for Chapter 11 in 1999; its brands were acquired by New Dana Perfumes, later renamed Dana Classic Fragrances.

During the years of 1994-96, Chantilly was sold to Dana, but was able to retain the name of Houbigant. A lawsuit followed where Houbigant accused Dana of selling a watered down version of Chantilly. The lawsuit also accused Dana of selling the formula to unlicensed manufacturers.

 In 2000, a reformulated version of Chantilly came back on the market.  This newer version is classified as a refined, oriental fragrance, a soft amber parfum.

  • Top notes:  fruity notes, neroli, bergamot and lemon
  • Middle notes: spices, carnation, jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose and orange blossom
  • Base notes: leather, tonka bean, musk, benzoin, oakmoss, vanilla and sandalwood



The Houbigant fragrances are now being manufactured under the original specifications by LOFT Fashion and Beauty Diffusion of Monaco and marketed in the United States by Exclusive Fragrances and Cosmetics.

1 comment:

  1. Chantilly was created by Marcele Billot, he may have been inspired by some of Paul Parquet's Houbigant's perfumes but by 1940 Paul Parquet had long since passed many decades earlier.

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