Great perfume expertise on this thread! Keep it coming!
The watery perfumes seemed revolutionary when they came out - minimalistic and pure after loud headache-inducing 1980s. The discovery of new synthetic materials (Calone for example) allowed perfumers to create olfactory landscapes that were not possible before and people loved them. But we got too much of them and got bored.
HyvaPaiva, really many mass market perfumes go for the lowest common denominator - watery, sugary, berry-like, candy-like. They are made to be smelled on the strip - often the first minutes are the best of it (if you do not believe me, smell the Jimmy Choo perfume). This style is called linear - the perfumes so not evolve, what you smell at first is what you get until the end.
Older perfumes are often built differently. The perfume goes through different stages that can be quite distinct. Take First by Van Cleef & Arpels (made by JC Ellena in classical style). Opening: hairspray and soap. Middle: a radiant huge bouquet of flowers Final stage: voluptuous, sensual skin scent. In a nutshell, First takes you from monastery to bordello via the flower shop. It tells a story, it takes you on a journey.
Linear is not necessarily better or worse than the traditional pyramid- shaped perfume structure. There are great and lovely linear fragrances. For example the modern scent L'Amendiere by Heeley captures to moment of biting into a black cherry and makes it last several hours - a miracle! Philosykos is also a linear fragrance - many of you would say a great one.
Tabac Blond has been on my wrist for four or five hours. It seems stronger and more sensual now and. Perfumes that are heavy and dense stay much longer on skin - very heavy molecules cannot fly away quickly. Light and fresh scents, particularly citruses, evaporate very quickly and are fleeting (there are tricks to make them last longer, but their nature is to evaporate very fast).