Secret De Venus Weil for women

I received an bottle some ten years old from an aunt. I opened it, I could not smell much at first but then I put a little spritz on my wrist... Wow! Holy Moses and Mother of Christ! A blast of sumptous, opulent, really 'rich', sensual, lush, luxurious, deep, spicy flowers... that transported me in no time in perfume heaven! They don't make 'em like that anymore. People who love 'Fantasy' and all modern sugar waters, 'eaus' and weak fruity florals will call this 'old lady'. Well, if this is 'old lady', bring the 'old lady' ones on! This is a whole other level than most 'modern' fragrances. This can be compared in quality to Chanel 5, the pre-reformulated Opium, the original Must, Baiser du Dragon, Obsession... It has personality, sillage, longevity... A little goes a long way. It was launched in 1933 but it is as alive as Britney on speed and Celine Dion on caffeine. I mean this oozes effortlessly timeless quality and class. How to describe the actual fragrance? I like Serge Lutens and I never thought I would say this, but this Weil has a Lutenesque quality and 'feel'. It is very complex, dense, unique. You can't really discern seperate notes but all the notes combine into an ever changing impressive symphony on the skin. You have freshness of the bergamot and citrus combined with the lavender first. But after a few minutes all heaven of flowers breaks loose! A divine cauldron of breathtaking spices and flowers. Gardenia, honeysuckle, iris, jasmine, freesia... I detect peach, cassis, cinnamon, cedar, vanilla, sandalwood, candied fruit, a nutty note... I can compare the 'feel' of it it best with Tom Fords 'Black Orchid', combined with Chanel 5, Hermes 24 Faubourg and Paloma Picasso. Not for the faint of heart and nose. But for the lovers of old school, unabashedly opulent, classy, rich, dense juices. When fragrances were still 'perfumes'. You can find this unknown gem at very reasonable prices online. Of course you won't get a pic of a highly paid celeb on the box and bottle. You can't have it all. But his perfume is sold as 'Eau de Cologne' but the strength of an edp. It will knock your socks off and you'll go to heaven.

Can any of you please say whether the notes listed above are supposed to reflect those in the current reformulated version or those of the original? I'm mainly surprised to see notes of freesia and grapefruit in a vintage formulation- those seem to be much more prevalent in contemporary formulas, but I realize it's possible they are in the original. If you are familiar with the vintage formula, do you find either of those notes to be noticeable or prominent? I ask because i'm considering investing in a vintage bottle but often those notes do not agree with my sinuses so I'd much appreciate any observations by knowledgeable Fragranticans!

I read where the singer Tom Jones wears - or wore - this! Go figure.

When I used this perfume, some 10 years ago, I bought a bottle of this which totally different picture is shown. I found the image I used, and sent to the forum, I hope you also put it on the site. And the scent was very good, really deep, sensual and mysterious. I was sad to know that the smell has changed ... =/

The House of Weil is my shrine in the world of fine fragrances and since the 70's its been my designer of choice. This Parisian house although not as celebrated as the other greats, introduced some of the most sumptuous scents of all time. The original Secret De Venus is a warm, oily, fur enhanced animalic potion that is dangerously compelling. It's an explosion of sexiness like no other and although there is a strange dichotomy to it's sister partners Zibiline and Antilope, Secret de Venus ranks in a world of it's own. Yes, there are others of this kind, with the same notes and similar combinations but none that compare to this "Secret" result.

The re-release of Secret De Venus was and is disappointing to say the least. When I first sprayed it on, my initial thought was "What happened here"? " Is this some kind of bad joke"? This mishmash of mystery notes bares zero resemblance to the original. It's displeasing on all accounts. People, please, avoid this one like the plague if you know whats good for you. The Weil Brothers must be turning over in their graves to have their name associated with this altered version. Apparently the original was a well kept "Secret" as this inferior attempt to redo what once was, failed miserably, a chemical train wreck! This is definitely a case of "never tamper with perfection"!

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Hello everyone, I think I found a good match to the original Secret De Venus. I tried Bijan for woman and it seems an exact match to me to the original version of Secret from many years ago. If you don't want an exact match, but sort of similar, more powdery and a bit different, try Samsara.

Hi everyone, Fragrantica kindly added this for me. I purchased the original secret de venus on Ebay for my friends mother. It was around 10 or 20 years old. Just got it today from Germany. And it still smells fantastic. It has not gone rancid after so many years. It is a deep rich perfume. If anyone can make suggestions. I would Fragrantica members to come up with suggestions of comparable perfumes to the original Secret de Venus. I purchased a tiny bottle for her for 150.00. I saw it listed as well up to 900.00. Please do consider submitting any opinions as to comparibles to the original, rich and seductive, Secret de Venus. I am trying to find her a comparable. As I do not know how long the old version will remain in existence. It seems to improve with age.

First of all, I'm a huge fan of Weil house; I've been lucky to get samples of almost all vintage perfumes, and the only thing I can say about this one is - stay away from it!!! It isn't even a reformulated version of the original, it's a completely different fragrance - pale, common floral which lacks any character. I think it's a crime to release it under the Weil name:(