Sometimes, no matter how well prepared you think you are for an experience, you are surprised. Well aware of the cult-like following this scent has among dyed-in-the-wool perfumistas, Anné Pliska EDP still came as a shock to me.
It’s amazingly good, and it’s cheap—even by department store standards.
As I join the clamor, declaring “Uncle Serge” the new “affordable” niche fragrance (at around $120 for 50mL, for most of his exports scents), I’m taken aback with back-wards-sticker-shock: AP is practically free at $55 for 60mL.
Yes, the bottle is hideous. But it came out in 1987, and there was a epidemic of weird/bad/tacky/awful design stuff happening in 1987 (remember denim skirts with cotton-frills?), and I’m guessing that AP hasn’t undergone any major renovations since it’s release. And thank goodness! I really don’t have any desire to justify another $150+ dollar bottle purchase, so I’m embracing this shock with glee.
This past Sunday, I met with Olga and Marjorie for a meet & sniff (or a sniff & greet), and we must have smelled at least 30 fragrances. One stood out to me then, and continues to stand out: Anne Pliska. There were several occasions when I almost bought this one unsniffed, and a bottle lived in my Luckyscent shopping-cart for months at a time, intermittently vacationing in my wishlist. “It’s a classic,” I thought to myself, yet never clicked the Checkout button.
When Olga pulled out the sample vial, I was thrilled to finally have a chance to smell it. And, oh, what a moment. The universe began moving in slow-motion, my wrist glued to my face, inhaling deeply— the girls laughing. I guess I must have made quite a spectacle of myself, but I don’t remember that part. I remember the dreamy, intoxicating, crystallized orange, the sensual vanilla, the wisps of incense wrapping potent tendrils around my willpower. Olga’s husband declares, “cheese-cake,” and I awake from the dream*.
Interestingly (or maybe not), AP smells different sprayed from my newly arrived bottle than it did dabbed from the sample vial. This isn’t really ground-breaking news, since I often experience differences between different application methods. It’s still beautiful, but I think that I will decant some into a small flacon for dabbing purposes. Many reviewers on MUA refer to AP as a “cold” amber, but I disagree. There is a powdery aspect to it that I think could read cold, but I find it plush and warm. Though it came out in the late ‘8os, when I sprayed it on, the image that came to mind was of pin-up girls and classic cars. It’s retro, yet edgy, and feels fresh and new even 24 years after it’s release.
Classic!
*this is how I remember it, and I’m probably leaving out important details. No doubt Olga or Shawn can clarify later
beauty on the outside 
I L O V E Anné Pliska! I’m happy you finally got to smell it and then fell in love.
I don’t find it cold at all. This winter, I wore it to bed for extra coziness.
I keep a tissue scented with it in my makeup bag so I can sneak sniffs at work. When I’m feeling cold and crabby, Anné Pliska gives me a lift!
I love that you love it! It’s quite cold here today, despite being sunny, and AP feels like a perfect cozy addition to my wool sweater.
It has an addictive quality, which hardly makes sense, since it lasts SO long, and has voluminous sillage—but I keep wanting to spray more on! I’ve applied twice already today, and am having a hard time resisting just one more spritz…
My need for another fix will hopefully be satisfied when I decant some into a little flacon later 🙂
Oh, man, now I DO feel deprived! I think you had me somewhere around the ‘Orange’. Or was it ‘cheap’? I can’t decide. If anyone has seen this anywhere in Europe, let me know, but I rather doubt it.
Sigh.
I think somewhere I commented that if there was a Shalimar d’Orange, this would be it! It’s wonderful, and it looks like you won’t have to wait long to try it for yourself—Doc Elly’s got you covered! 🙂
Tarleisio,
I have a bottle of Anne Pliska, so can send you a decant when I send your next package full of Devil stuff. Just e-mail me and remind me.
Doc Elly
I love how generous perfumista’s are! Ellen, you are awesome 🙂
Anne Pliska is one of my favorites, it’s a go-to bedtime scent for me. I wore it a lot in the winter. It’s been lurking in the shadows for decades, and I’m glad it finally seems to be getting more attention from other bloggers!
After that first sniff, I was a little bit astounded that I haven’t heard more buzz about it, because it really is fantastic (and genuinely affordable).
It seems like Shalimar always has some buzz around it (flankers help keep the dialogue open, to a degree), as does L’Heure Bleue, and other oldie-but-goodies—what is it about AP that keeps it under the “radar”?
Carrie sent me my sample of Anne Pliska! Thanks for sending me one of my big perfume loves, sweetie!
I’ve also heard AP compared to Calvin Kein Obsession. I can barely remember Obsession, so can’t say if they are similar. I don’t remember Obsession being “orange-y”.
Honestly, like you, I don’t remember Obsession! It’s been about a decade since I last purposefully sniffed it, but I also don’t remember orange. However, if Obsession does smell like AP, then it must smell good! 😉
Oh and Joanne, I was psyched that you loved AP so much! 🙂
There is a total lack of marketing and advertising, nothing else in the line except a couple bath & body products, and as much as I do love it, it’s not so unique that it would make real waves within the perfume-loving community. All these things spell “under the radar”, I do believe. This is a scent that requires no flankers or anything like that, but better distribution and a little bit of marketing might go a long way!
It isn’t a mind-blowing kind of scent, that’s for sure… but I would like to smell more of it around!
My mother-in-law got Miller Harris Fleur Oriental from us this past christmas, and this is what we’re going to give her this coming christmas—I’ll do what I can to smell more AP around me! 🙂
Lol!
I’m afraid it was me asking Shawn, “Still think that it’s cheescake?” So it must have been me who woke you from the dream…
I’m so glad that during that smelling session I introduced you to the fragrance that you fell in love with. Please, please, please let me know whether you found it similar to the sample you smelled after you decanted it!
Hahha, all I remember is “cheesecake” coming from the other side of the table, LOL!
I decanted it, and will wear it again this evening after my run—I’ll let you know how it goes! I think that the main difference that I experienced was that it’s such a potent fragrance, that some of the subtleties were lost when spraying it. For example, I had to look harder for the note that I think you described as “the bottom crust of the cheesecake”! hahah. I hope it reappears!
Just to follow up: I applied it post-shower from the decant (dabbing action!), and it smells like the sample I fell in love with!
It’s just amazing to me how different is smells one way or the other. It’s less powdered, and more orange when I dab.
An interesting topic, for another day maybe?
That sounds fascinating. I must say, like Tarleisio, I never ever encountered Anné Pliska over here in Europe (i am afraid I also have no idea who Anné Pliska might be). But thi ssounds perfect. and anything Dee falls for so hard, must be absolutely sniffworthy. Be still, my sweet lemming…
Anné Pliska is a mystery! I’m not sure if anyone knows anything about her—I certainly can’t find anything. It seems that aside from the EDP, Parfum, and Body Cream, she hasn’t done anything else (someone please correct me if this is wrong!).
It really is a lovely fragrance, and I’ll send some with your birthday package so you can try it first hand! 🙂
http://articles.latimes.com/1989-09-08/news/li-2036_1_santa-ana
I’ve never even heard of this perfume before! Now I’ll have to find it and try… I hope it’s not discontinued yet…
Nope, not discontinued! Which in itself almost seems odd—since it’s not hugely popular (that I can tell), and there isn’t much else in the line… maybe the real Anné Pliska is independently wealthy, and doesn’t need huge sales to keep going! 🙂
I bought mine at luckyscent (they have samples), and it seems to be available directly from AP, and have a few other boutiques listed on their webpage:
http://annepliska.com/
Really great post Dee, your description of AP is just how I hoped it would smell. I read so many conflicting reviews that was put off making an unsniffed purchase in the end, but will now see what availability is like in the UK. Maybe part of the reason it’s under the radar is because of that 80s power-scent stigma?
I’d be interested to hear what you think of the Theorema sample I’ve sent you because that’s another orange oriental. You may not thank me if you love it though, considering it’s discontinued!
Thank you Tara! I suppose if you look at the release date, and knowing that it’s an oriental, it might put a person off for fear of the giant 80’s stigma, as you point out.
The bottle, too, really is awful to behold. Pictures don’t capture how bad it truly is. It looks like something that you would find covered in dust in a rummage bin during a going out of business sale for a defunct pharmacy chain. Hahha, yeah, it’s BAD!
(But really, who cares, when the juice is so good?)
Oh, you read me right—I have a small sample of Theorema that I’ve been carefully hoarding, because I love it! I haven’t hunted down an over-priced bottle on the ‘bay, because the lasting power isn’t good on me—thankfully! But there is a kinship between the two fragrances for sure.
🙂
I’m askeered of this. I liked Theorema except for that dusty cocoa note (bleargh – traded away my mini and haven’t missed it at ALL), but hatedhatedhated Obsession and would rather chew aluminum foil than ever smell it again. Ever.
Funny… orientals can go one of two ways on me: love (vtg Emeraude! Shalimar Light! Bal a Versailles! Alahine! LM Nuits Enchantees! Hanae Mori!) or utter detestation (Opium, Cinnabar, Youth Dew, Coco, PG L’Oiseau de Nuit). I’m still not sure what it is, exactly, that those last five and their ilk have in common, but BOY do I hate it.
So… which team would you put Anne Pliska on, if you don’t mind taking a stab at the question?
Mals, that’s a hilarious question, because you’ve listed favorites of mine in both groups! 🙂 LOL, though if I did have to pick a group, I’d say it’s closer to the first, simply because AP isn’t as dense as Opium or Youth Dew and their ilk.
If you take away the cocoa and sparkle-up the orange from Theorema, then add a larger pinch of Shalimar, BAM, you have it! It smells like a lot of things, probably, but however it gets there, when it does it is really something wonderful!
If you do end up testing it, I’d love to hear what you think of it!
Yes, I would say the first group too, but it’s not a very sophisticated scent, it’s a cashmere sweater scent, but not for your Mom. Does that make sense?
AP is an all time favorite of mine, too! It actually made me moan with pleasure when I first smelled it! I wear it year round… it is one of the few amber/vanillas that I like in the heat. (Maybe because someone described the orange as a “creamsicle”? YUM 🙂
My sister thinks it smells like Obsession which I haven’t smelled for years. I remember it being so heavy. I’ll have to pick some up for comparison…
amybella, that’s pretty much the reaction I had to it that first day! And again after I got my bottle… I’m hoping it will work for summer, because I love to wear dense scents year-round, and like you said, the “creamsicle” element seems like a hot weather delight! 🙂
I smelled this on paper a couple of weeks back at the scent bar. Need to sniff this again on my skin. That is so true about dabbing vs spraying- I loved Carnal Flower much better dabbed from my sample vial than lightly sprayed from the bottle in the store..I thought I was crazy for thinking that – it seemed to me that the subtle minerally loveliness wasn’t as apparent while spraying. Glad to hear that that is a well documented phenomena..:)
I love the flacon that you have decanted the juice into – where can i buy those kind of bottles – pilotvials.com?
Hi Lavanya!
It doesn’t totally make sense, but I genuinely believe that some things are better one way or the other, either sprayed or dabbed. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to make any difference, but with the ones it does- occationally the difference is so great it is almost shocking—Anne Pliska is a great example! I get so much more orange when I dab… You are not crazy at all! 🙂
I like that little flacon too; I get my bottles from Best Bottles—I’ve have good luck with them, but they only sell in bulk (it’s a $50 minimum order, and that flacon is about a dollar 😉 ). If you plan of doing a lot of decanting, they’re a great option.
Hi, I just wanted to comment that this has been my signature scent since it’s release in 1987. The reason the scent is different when dabbed vs. sprayed is because it is an aldehyde fragrance. Because of the aldehydes, it is meant to be sprayed to experience its fullness. Now it comes in new packaging, a vibrant pink metal atomizer. I haven’t got mine yet, but any day now!
What a wonderful signature scent! That’s great info on the dabbing vs. spraying… I guess I don’t like the aldehydes as much! 🙂
I haven’t seen the new atomizer, but can’t wait; AP is such a beautiful fragrance, it deserves a beautiful casing.
Thanks so much for your comment Victoria!
I first heard about Anne Pliska through Victoria’s (of Victoria’s Own) blog, years ago..Only recently sampled it though.
Yes!!! That’s right! I didn’t even notice that it was the same Victoria! LOL, I need to pay more attention 😉
Yep it’s moi. :o) I have the new atomizer now.
It really is nice in person.
A very upscale metal atomizer.
:o)
I’m glad you stopped by! I saw the notice on FB, about the new atomizer, but I still haven’t seen it yet… I need to make my way over to the website and check it out! 🙂