Bill Blass
Bill Blass (1978)

Vintage Bill Blass perfume is a winner! It starts out smelling exactly like Nina Ricci L'Air du Temps, then 20 minutes later changes into a pineapple, green floral with oakmoss and sandalwood at the base. Perfume magic! Absolutely gorgeous, Bill Blass perfume is a forgotten gem. Performance is very ladylike (meaning low sillage) but extremely persistent. The bottle is very simple and minimalist, yet doesn't seem "cheap". Bill Blass perfume is quite sporty, but still very elegant. This exact scent was copied later for Vanderbilt by Gloria Vanderbilt, except the strength and projection was turned up to LOUD.

Way up my Valley. Big, Floral, Fruity,Feminine Chypre. Wack me in the face Oakmoss, supporting a healthy dose of Indolic Jasmine, Waxy vegetal of Iris, Pinch of Spicy Carnation, just enough Tuberose to provide some, come hither. Sugar is balanced with a Citric Pineapple.
The Trail off, is, well, an accord, that is a bouquet of Feminine delicious-ness.

Vintage Sample from the most gracious and hilarious,
HouseOfPhlegethon Girl.

I've got a couple bottles from the 80's - new old stock. These were released / made by Prestige Fragrances. They were stored carefully because they smell terrific! The perfume natural spray and cologne natural spray smell fairly similar. A delightful floral green fragrance, this is. A well-blended garden of cinnamon, green notes, iris, galbanum, hiacynth, geranium, carnation, tuberose, orris root, jasmine, muguet, touches of amber, musk, benzoin, oakmoss, and vetiver. Nothing seems to overpower anything else. It is well done. If you can get your hands on the vintage stuff, give it a try. It's a floral that can be worn year round.

Barbara Herman labels this a "floral chypre with pineapple." She found it "fresh, happy, with an approachable warmth - a floral with personality."

I agree, with reservations. This is a typical light fruity floral of the 1970s and it does have more personality than most others of its drugstore distribution variety. The pineapple and hyacinth give it a bright, not overly sweet, glow, while the oak moss and amber give it a warmth, which grounds it.

It is nice, distinctive from its competitors, but still lacks anything in the "special" or "unique" category that would put it in my thumbs up slot. You can still find this inexpensively on Ebay.

Top notes: Galbanum, Pineapple, Hyacinth, Bergamot
Heart notes: Tuberose, Jasmine, Ylang, Carnation, Orris
Base notes: Musk, Sandalwood, Cedar, Amber, Oakmoss

A discrete and sunny floral, very soft and warm. As with other "flowerbomb" perfumes of the era, I find it difficult to pick out individual floral notes except jasmine and something creamy and slightly tropical that I'm telling myself is yling ylang. Pineapple is listed in the top notes and though I don't seem to smell it overtly, there is general impression of rounded fruity notes. Unlike some contemporaries, this stays close to the skin. Overall impression is pleasant and open, like a friendly smile. My only complain is that the very final stages of the drydown do take on a slight whiff of stale urine, but the whole thing is so faint by then, I doubt anyone else would notice.

Good buy for the money! One of my baby sister's long-time signatures, BB is soft yet confident and feminine yet not cloying. In the same family as Sung for Women and Jessica McClintock. Nice stuff, especially for the price.