Tabu by Dana Eau De Cologne Review

 I asked for this perfume for Christmas, it's been on the wishlist for forever. Ever since I read that it was a favorite of  the beautiful Dorothy Dandridge. I loved Dorothy in Carmen, and it got me wondering about the beauty products she used. 

Look how cute and glamorous she was! 

So I finally got my hands on Tabu. It was a Christmas gift from my parents. My bottle seems to be a bit different from the ones you typically see- I wish I had gotten the original shape bottle for collecting purposes though. 

Tabu is an older perfume- said to be one of the first orientals- which is one of my favorite perfume types. It came out in 1932. (Guerlain Shalimar is an oriental that came out a few years before this)

Tabu:

Tabu by Dana is a Amber Floral fragrance for women. Tabu was launched in 1932. The nose behind this fragrance is Jean Carles. Top notes are Spices, Orange, Coriander, Neroli and Bergamot; middle notes are Cloves, Ylang-Ylang, Rose, Jasmine and Narcissus; base notes are Amber, Civet, Benzoin, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Musk, Oakmoss, Vetiver and Cedar.

Supposedly Dana told Carles to "make a perfume a prostitute would wear". It was one of the first "oriental" scents created in the perfume world and one of the heaviest. It was the inspiration for the later orientals Tuvara (1948) and Youth Dew (1951)

I found the most interesting bit was that it was created to smell of streetwalkers/prostitutes. I definitely don't associate it that way though. It smells a little powdery, a little spicy, and a bit like Root Beer. Actually a lot like Root Beer. For the most part I really like it. There is only one note that I pick up that I'm not a fan of. I think it's the Jasmine- which smells like a cheap Jasmine. It's a similar Jasmine note to the White Diamonds fragrance. I hated that perfume though. It's more tolerable in this, although I do think it makes this scent smell a bit "cheap"

It's not very strong, not a lot of sillage. And it also doesn't last very long so you will have to respray and you might need to respray a lot. Really layer it to make it stick. Even then I think it last 2-4 hours and that's it. Because of that I tend to love it as a "room spray".  I don't get as much of that weird Jasmine note either when I use it as a room spray, it just smells amazing. Especially when I spray- leave the room and come back. I need this in candle form. 

I wish I could find more comparisons to the old/original formula as I am sure like almost all of the older perfumes that it has been reformulated and doesn't smell the same as the 1932 version.

Overall, I do really like it. But it kind of reminds me of Guerlain Shalimar. I LOVE Shalimar and I would repurchase it but not this one, although I am glad I got to experience it. This is mostly good, except for the Jasmine note and the lasting power.