Youth-Dew

Youth-Dew carries the date of 1953 and the name of Estée Lauder. It comes as an Eau de Parfum, a form in which the odorant materials are dissolved in a sustained proportion in alcohol, and it is available in a 65 ml bottle.

Spicy and citrus opening

Clove immediately gives a tone of mulled wine and gingerbread. Lavender brings flower and camphor, aldehydes evoke candle wax and a hot iron. Narcissus plays on greenness with an animalic tint, while orange, sweet and tangy, and fruity bergamot add their freshness.

Flowers and barks

The rose in the heart tier has accents of honey and wax, the jasmine a sweet and wild warmth. Cinnamon recalls bark and wood. Lily of the valley keeps some greenness, ylang-ylang evokes powder, fruit and nail polish, orchid vanilla, anise and hawthorn. Cassia is added to this.

A base of balsams and earth

Patchouli and oakmoss pull toward an earthy dampness, almost musty for the oakmoss. Vetiver smokes, incense combines camphor, wax and spices. The musk remains woody and animalic. Tolu balsam and Peru balsam bring caramel and vanilla, and vanilla itself, sweet and spicy, warms the whole.

An oriental reading

The oriental family is usually defined by the meeting of spices, resins and vanilla notes. Here, clove, cinnamon and cassia form its warm facet, while incense, Tolu and Peru balsams and vanilla give it its amber and resinous substance.