Molinard Vintge Habanita EDT Review

I have finally found a spare moment to blog. It's just been a little strange around here. I have been having a little trouble trying to find the time and even more trouble getting to have more than 30 seconds on the computer without someone needing to use it.

It has been years since I have worn Molinard's Habanita. Almost 10 years and it was in the beginning of being a perfume fiend. After being a perfume fiend for around 10 years, my nose and tastes have changed and will keep changing. I remember liking Habanita and have a small decant of the vintage EDT. I am not going to yap about the history of Habanita, well not really. I don't know how old my vintage decant is but it probably is a fairly new vintage, if that makes any sense.

I get a slightly fruity type of oriental. I am not talking the fresh type of fruity smell, more like a cooked type of fruit. My nose can't pick out any one kind of flower but it does have a floral aspect to it. I think the flowers keep Habanita from going straight up Shalimar. What bothers me the most is that distinct plastic, powdery doll smell. I keep wanting to say Barbie but my nose leads me into the baby doll type of deal that I probably played with when I was really little.

Vintage Habanita was a bit of a let down for me. I wanted something maybe a little more on the skanky side, a little smokier, just a little different and maybe a little more complex. Maybe I am so used to my older perfumes being more complex and having more working parts. Maybe it's because smoking doesn't shock anybody anymore, especially a woman smoking in public. Women smoking led to the development of Habanita and I think that Molinard dropped the ball a little bit when creating something for skin.

Molinard Habanita EDT Review

Habanita, according to Now Smell This, is a perfume that started out as a packet that flappers used to scent cigarettes. But Habanita has morphed from scenting cigarettes in the 1920's to a perfume. The Perfumed Court had and still has a large decant special on Habanita and that is how I have come to acquire a large decant. I find Habanita to be a cross of many classifications of perfume. I can see where it can come across as an oriental or as a gourmand. But I mainly associate Habanita with being a oriental. I find Habanita to be smokey and similar to two other perfumes that I have in my collection. Habinita shares many traits with Serge Lutens' Chergui and L'Artisian Havana Vanille. I get a huge dose of tobacco and vanilla plays a supporting roll. What makes Habanita different is the powder note. For an EDT, Habanita does have pretty good lasting power on my dry skin. It's nice but I don't find myself reaching for Habanita very often let alone get a full bottle.