Under-$50 Friday: Aromatics Elixir

Our Under-$50 Friday special feature aims to showcase value-minded fragrance indulgences. And because The Whale & The Rose takes an all-inclusive approach to fragrance, we focus both on the latest and the greatest in the world of scent.

So today, we turn to a classic. For $42, you can sample a perfume that’s been a sleeper hit for 40 years.

Aromatics Elixir, the floral chypre from Clinique originally launched in 1971, also suits our sweater-weather season with its rich rose-jasmine-and-ylang-ylang heart and smoky vetiver, patchouli, benzoin and orris base.

The toilette, in fact, set itself apart from the flower-power-loving Seventies crowd right from the beginning. Perfumer Bernard Chant collected ingredients from the world’s markets—raw materials from Haiti, Bulgaria, India, France and Spain. The resulting blooms-meet-patchouli perfume hit the mark and proved to be a bellwether to the changing times. Fragrance geeks take note: It was a full five years before Yves Saint Laurent’s heady Opium landed on shelves and shocked the scent establishment.

Aromatics seems right again. As we collectively renew our love affair with rich, moody and resinous fragrances, why not indulge in a bottle of a true original?

Clinique Aromatics Elixir, $42 (25 ml), www.clinique.com