Dana 20 Carats Eau de Cologne is a fruity chypre fragrance that was marketed as a female fougere. It is a beautiful fragrance for tobacco lovers. The fragrance originally contained flakes of real gold leaf but at some point the gold leaf was removed from the fragrance. 20 Carats was sold in Spanish-speaking countries under the name 20 Quilates.
Fragrantica: "This is...heavenly. It's spicy, fruity, and extremely...modern for the era."
An excerpt from The Vintage Perfume Vault
Dana's 20 Carats came out in 1933. But in this time perfumes were produced and sold in perhaps only one shop and for Dana that was in Paris. So American women did not even know about these perfumes until they received them from boyfriends and husbands stationed in France during the War. In the late 1940s Dana began to export a select number of its perfumes, including 20 Carats, to America. It surprised me to learn that 20 Carats continued to be a best selling luxury scent in high-end department stores here in the US until the 1980s when it was discontinued!
The first notes to fill my nose are sweet orange, cherry, whisky and tobacco, followed immediately by the spicy-powdery, almost rubbery nutmeg that brought to mind images from an upscale 1920's speakeasy - sipping on a Manhattan cocktail, the muted horns, the smoky room. The scent releases a relaxed, warm glow that says the party has been on a while. Myrrh and fennel (or anise), and tagetes or another herbaceous flower adds some depth to the impression of rich spice. But the heart of this fragrance opens up to reveal fully a carnation theme with cinnamon, precious balsamic and root beer notes, accompanied by powdery sweet heliotrope and patchouli. The dry down has a nice touch of woody, rooty vetiver to accompany the sweet balsams, tonka and patchouli.
20 Carats was discontinued some time in the later 1980s. We are decanting from an unopened original EDC with gold flakes.
| Manufacturer: | Dana |
| Fragrance Name: | 20 Carats |
| Year Introduced: | 1933 |
| Gender: | Feminine |
| Strength: | Eau de Cologne |
| Notes: | Top notes of bergamot, cherry, orange, cinnamon, whiskey, nutmeg, clove and aldehydes; middle notes of heliotrope, carnation, rose, jasmine, lavender, anise, myrrh and frankincense; and base notes of sandalwood, ambergris, oakmoss, tonka, musk, balsam, tobacco, patchouli, vanilla, benzoin and vetiver |
