One of the most daring and seductive floral spicy creations of the 30's, "Cocaina en flor" created by Parera, disappeared with WWII and the sudden decline of the Spanish perfume industry. "Cocaina en flor" was sold for several years but not with the same luxury touch as in 1933. With a brilliant start after 1910's and several exquisite examples of design and creative thinking in perfumery, as seen through the creations of Myrurgia and Dana, this fragile Spanish universe was brutally affected by the Civil War but most important, by the changes in global economy in the 50's.
"Cocaina en flor" was the Opium of the 30's and its fame went worldwide. It was sold everywhere, from Spain to Central and South America and even in Asia and Pacific Islands. We do not see many pictures today because its market was not France, nor USA and those magazines from South America are not easy to get. But "Cocaina en flor" advertised heavily on radio and through ... tango. 40 years after, Opium (YSL) had the TV.
In the few Spanish ads, the perfume was described as the ultimate seduction ingredient, it was almost always a hand written text that looked like a feminine confession. It was presented as a "superperfume", an expression used also 30 years after by Estée Lauder to describe a new type of concentration or her Estée fragrance.
Here you have 2 examples from 1933 and 1934 and 2 beautiful tangos where Carmelita Aubert sings about "Cocaina en flor - perfume di amor". Another "tango publicitario" from Parera was "Canto de luna" for the same perfume. The perfume was floral spicy, quite Caronesque in style, with a famous sweet floral base that was used in many perfumes from the 30's to the 60's.
"El perfume misterioso, exquisito aroma desconocido aún por lo moderno, suave y malicioso, que proporcionaba un goce nuevo y extraño, que subyuga, que atrae, que hechiza".
"Seducida - El Moderno D. Juan tiene en el novísimo Superpefume COCAÍNA EN FLOR el amuleto que la gana la simpatía y con el cual hace palpitar los corazones femeninos."
Carmelita Aubert - Cocaína en flor (1933)
Carmelita Aubert - "Mi Vida" - Tango by Jaime Mestres (1935)
Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.
Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
