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Friday, April 3, 2015

Cie by Jacqueline Cochran/Shulton c1976

Cie by Jacqueline Cochran: launched in 1976. The Jacqueline Cochran company was acquired by Shulton, a division of American Cyanamid, soon after the fragrance was released and by 1977, CIE was the first new product out of Shulton's new Contemporary Fragrance Group.


In 1977, Shulton hired actress/journalist Candice Bergen to appear in it's television commercials and print ads as a spokeswoman to promote the CIE perfume in much the same way as Faberge did with Margaux Hemingway.

Cie's marketing director, Carol Shainswit stated that "We found that Candice, whom we consider to be the embodiment of the Cie woman, is admired by women and men for her spirit, beauty, confidence, talent, sincerity and warmth." She also said that Candice was "involved in the concept. A lot of the words are hers, and she promotes the line in other ways."

At Regine's, the Park Avenue swanky nightclub in New York, a launch party was held in 1977 to introduce "Cie" and was attended by the star Candice Bergen, spokeswoman for Shulton's first product from its Contemporary Fragrance Group.

The campaign was to capture the interest of 18-34 year old working women.

Candice Bergen's personality changes with the expressions on her face: “I can wear it when I'm Miss Bergen. . .I can wear it when I'm Candice...or when I'm just plain Candy. "CIE goes with all the things I love to do.  CIE is soft. CIE is playful. CIE is unpredictable. CIE is me."

The successful campaign lasted well into the 1980s.


During the four weeks prior to Christmas, an "intensive" television ad schedule featuring Candice Bergen was used.

The prepack counter display units and a counter tester were available to retailers. A photograph of Cie's spokeswoman Candice Bergen adorned the riser cards and tester unit for instant star recognition by consumers who may have forgotten the name of the perfume, but not it's spokeswoman.The Cie products were packaged for stocking stuffers for holiday giftgiving in many forms including solid perfume stick, perfumed body lotion, touch tip perfume and perfumed guest soap. These products were packaged in see-through and closed sets. Single items were also presented in holiday packages and retailed from $4 to $12.75."

Fragrance Composition:


So what does it smell like? It was classified as an aldehydic floral chypre fragrance for women. An unusual concentrated blend of sparkling florals: rose, jasmine, ylang-ylang, subtly accented with notes of crisp greens, precious woods: patchouli, vetiver and sandalwood and warm spices. Delicate, yet long lasting. It's quite classy.

It begins with an aldehydic top, followed by a soft floral heart, resting on a powdery, woody base. 
  • Top notes: aldehydes, raspberry, citrus, green accents
  • Middle notes: jasmine, Bulgarian rose, ylang ylang, lily of the valley, carnation, orris
  • Base notes: incense, cedar, Yugoslavian oakmoss, Mysore sandalwood, Haitian vetiver, musk, vanilla, patchouli

It was available in the following products:
  • Perfume
  • Purse Perfume Atomizer
  • Touch Tip Perfume
  • Lavish Cologne
  • Concentrated Cologne
  • Solid Perfume Stick
  • Perfumed Dusting Powder
  • Perfumed Body Powder
  • Perfumed Lotion
  • Perfumed Bath Soap




Fate of the Fragrance:


Discontinued around 1985. When she signed the contract, the perfumers never bothered to check in with Candice Bergen for her final approval of the scent. At a press conference, she ended up admitting she actually loathed the fragrance she was hawking. In her book, A Fine Romance, Bergen states that indeed she "was not a fan of the scent. They had to put a rider into my contract that I was no longer allowed to refer to the perfume as 'Lyson'."

Since 2007, a "version: of the Cie Shulton®  fragrance is made by the new incarnation of Evyan Perfumes.



2 comments:

  1. My name is Cie Johnson and I found out I was named after the Cie fragrance. I would really love to see what it smells like. I have been trying to find out about it. Could someone email me at ciemo24@yahoo.com to talk about how I could get a sample

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  2. Cie was my favorite perfume for about 5 years. I still love it today but can't find it anywhere.

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