Happy Halloween
Many wishes to those who celebrate it! Be sure to wear something yummy and spicy!
Pic originally uploaded by clevercrow.
Fragrant news: from the spawn of Ricci, a new line
The One? Or another one?
Their lyrics for their song "One" however seem very a propos to our subject today, Dolce & Gabbana’s The One.
“Is it getting better?
Or do you feel the same?
Will it make it easier on you,
now you got someone to blame?”
No, no, I don’t blame anyone. It’s all good anyway.
Dolce & Gabbana have just come out with The One. A floral-oriental that they told us aimed to appeal to a “real diva, an object of desire, like the woman represented by Brazilian ... (more)
Time for a momentary pause
Tomorrow, the 28th, is a national holiday, related to WWII. Time to pause and think how lucky we are to live in relative peace and indulgence, perfume being such a big part of the latter.
Pic is a map by Jan Jannson in 1650 courtesy of eikastikon.gr
Mandarins and dragons
The newest fragrance created by perfumer Christopher Sheldrake for Les Palais Royal de Shiseido and Serge Lutens,Mandarine Mandarin, has its place in the line-up of usual suspects for things weirdly appealing. A tradition that Lutens is keeping with religious zeal injecting a little je ne sais quoi in his compositions that keeps everyone guessing if this is an inside joke of a man of humble beginnings playing a nasty one on the bourgeois who flock in Palais Royal or the jarring string note of a genius quartet that is knowingly swayed by fervent feeling and not impeccable technique.
From the alarming menthol opening of Tubereuse Criminelle to the strangely pleasant unwashed intimates of Muscs Koublaο Khδn, making a stop at the rough bitterness of dark chocolate and patchouli of Borneo 1834, his ... (more)
Oakmoss and chypre: you've come a long way baby!
Oakmoss has got to be the most controversial ingredient in perfume in recent history. For years used for its mossy, sensual quality and an integral constituent of chypre compositions married to a citrusy top note, traditionally bergamot, it has gone under the strict scrutiny of European regulations and IFRA -the regulatory body for scent materials. And it became the controversial issue in relation to the alleged reformulation of classic Guerlain perfumes, resulting in brouhaha of gigantic proportions. Let's try to sort the mess out a bit.
Basically oakmoss is a type of light green to green black lichen, a fungus growing on trees found in many mountainous temperate forests throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including parts of France, Portugal, ... (more)
Perfume Shrine Blog Index: links to content
It has been kindly brought to my attention that up till now navigating my blog has been a bit difficult. To make things easier I have compiled an Index Page which you can access by clicking here.
The link above will be reguraly updated and will be always shown somewhere on the Home page so it will be visible at all times. If there is any trouble accessing any part of the info, please let me know. Thanks!
Givenchy: time for classics again?
According to industry rumours, Parfums Givenchy are scheduling the relaunch of many of their classic fragrances in limited editions to celebrate the house's 50th anniversary in 2007. Ultra elegant Hubert de Givenchy is no longer head of the house to rejoice, but I bet this would be good news all the same. In the last decade due to dubious launches, especially since the company was acquired by the LVMH Group, parfums ... (more)
Fragrant news: Billet doux and F! for men by Fragonard
Fragonard, french house in Grasse, the capital of fragrance in Provence, is issuing Billet Doux, a new women's fragrance to celebrate their 80th anniversary in the perfume business. Billet Doux -which means "love letter" in english- revisits a classic Fragonard perfume which was discontinued, so this is a re-creation actually.
The scent is "a homage to the most stunningly scented blossoms of the French Riviera" while the beautiful flacon "is nestled inside a luxurious, golden envelope"(according to Osmoz). The bottle is indeed all curves and golden opulence, a nod to old-fashioned retro style. ... (more)
Sleeper in the valley
L’artisan’s new Fleur de Narcisse brought to my mind something I had read a long time ago. Joan Julliet Buck, editor of French Vogue, was for years addicted to wearing a narcissus poeticus absolute. She used to wear one drop on each wrist, it being so concentrated that it was all she ever needed. “Two in the bath were enough to send silver running down the walls; it ... (more)
Fragrant news: even more to come....
Other new releases have us left if not in such rapt attention, at least with an eye for a pleasant surprise at least.
Lalique Encre Noire (black ink) is the fourth masculine fragrance by the venerable crystal house and looks to be very woody. The nose behind it is Nathalie Lorson of Firmenich and the composition will pair 2 varieties of a rich undergrowth that surely is every construction engineer’s dream and nightmare, vetiver. The Bourbon vetiver variety with its warm, velvety , leathery ambience is married to Haitian vetiver which is more mysterious and smokier to the point of dirty. Sounds promising…
The same company is also releasing a new limited edition of crystal bottle for their eponymous original scent, as is customary in recent years. Collectors take note.
Miller & Bertaux have created Bois de Gaïac et Poire, a composition of gaiacwood and pear. ... (more)
Fragrant news: things to anticipate with desire
Many new releases have been scheduled by prestige and respected houses for the delectation of perfume lovers everywhere, the results being of course unforeseeable yet.
First of all there is L’astrolabe by Caron, following Eau de réglisse, an offering that was different enough from their standard fare in an effort to modernize the line with their first gourmand. Perhaps L’astrolabe will be along the same thinking, or perhaps not. There is no conclusive data just yet, however since Caron claimed the wonderful name since December 2004 we can expect something that has been thought out and worked upon for quite some time. The name is imaginative enough, to say the least, as it excites the mind with fantasies of far away travel, adventure and peril at the ends of the world, perhaps ... (more)
Smolder, baby, do!
Men’s scents, much like men themselves, face the hard task of convincing us that they are sensitive enough while still being virile. Too much brutishness and they seem like villains in a B-movie, too much sensitivity and they appear wimpy and lame. It’s unfair granted, but there you have it. Recent worthwhile olfactory offerings in this domain have either blundered by being too innovative and butch for their own good (the mediocre sales of Yves Saint Laurent’s M7) or taken the path of least resistance becoming scents to be adored by women to put on rather than something men actually choose for themselves (the difficult iris of Dior Homme). I won’t go into the neighbourhood of the bland, because it is so thickly populated, one is sure to stumble upon a bestseller or two. ... (more)
Fragrant news: Belle en Rykiel
Good news for Rykiel fans! Sonia Rykiel, la madame de tricot (knitwear queen) has come up with a new feminine thoroughbred for her admirable stable, Belle en Rykiel. With a name that rhymes and has a pleasant ring to the ear, only good things could follow. Conceived by Sonia's daughter Nathalie, who has come up with quite a few naughty and delicious ideas, it breaks the trend for fruity florals or foody fragrances with a return to more womanly scents of an orientalised nature. The motto is set to be "charm, elegance and sensuality in Rykielly chic perfume!" and all this is intriguing me no end, being a huge fan of her Rykiel Woman, not for men scent which was equally promising and proved to feature in my top 10. ... (more)
Aucun hussard sur le toit
The title of today’s post ironically alludes to the very good homonymous French film, based on Jean Giono’s novel “Horseman on the roof”, in which Olivier Martinez as an Italian revolutionary soldier flees into ... (more)
Fragrant news: but yes, Darling!
What happens if you have battled with cancer, had to go through chemotherapy hiding your head from people all the while under a silk scarf and thankfully came out triumphantly? Why, you launch a scent with your name on it, of course, darling! Well, that's what happens if you're a celebrity, not a mere mortal... Or perhaps celebrities have mega-bills to pay after such an ordeal as well, especially if the career has taken some slack due to unforseen circumstances. Here at Perfume Shrine we wish a swift recovery to everyone in need of one.
So Kylie Minogue, bless her health, is launching Darling, a new scent in November that will feature notes of starfruit, freesia, boronia (which is a rare and beautiful blossom that thrives on australian soil) and australian sandalwood (which is a little ... (more)
Rainy weather: Mitsouko time
What can one possibly say about this iconic perfume? What can one add to the tome upon tome of literature on the subject?
Everything has been analyzed over and over : how it was inspired by a literary Japanese heroine in 1919; how the bottle was the same as the one for L’heure bleue; how the aldehyde C14 in there replicates peach skin; how it is a scent implicated in sex under a different perspective than the one in the West; how it is mixed in tragedy, greatness and cinematic art; how the name doesn’t mean what Guerlain has been telling us after all…(you can see all that on my Mitsouko entry on my personal site Perfume Shrine, section "Perfume in literature and film", linked at the bottom)
Sometimes great works of art ultimately lose if one describes them too extensively. They ... (more)
Eating asphalt
The car analogy on my previous post and today’s pic had been lurking in my mind allied to a particular scent and what with mr.Duirez doing a commercial for Lexus (Duriez is nose in Patou house), brought to my attention by Karol, one of my readers, and everything, this is as good a time as any to bring it up. I had referred to this perfume as a Mercedes S-class its rubber tires eating asphalt in a metropolis setting in my Scent of a Man list a few days ago and the comparison now seems anachronistic somehow, but scripta manent, therefore I am to remain blameless. ... (more)
What make of car do *you* drive?
The latest Luca Turin article in NZZ Folio focused on this latest Guerlain offering. In a car analogy that is very entertaining, you can read how Insolence isn't the stuff of the devil after all, despite the cries of several pseudo-cultured perfume lovers who shot it down before even getting the chance to smell it. ... (more)
An interview with a perfumer: Anya McCoy from Anya's Garden
It's always gratifying to hear the story behind an artwork's creation, especially when one has already formed an opinion. Like wanting to catch a glimpse of an artist's studio, paintbrushes still wet from turpentine, charcoal pieces on the floor, preliminary sketches for you to see....It is an enriching experience.
So after reviewing Anya's perfumes (Fairchild,Pan and Riverside) recently, it was only natural to want to interview her to get to know more. Here is what she has to say.
*You used to be a landscape architect and urban designer. When did you become involved in perfumery and what brought this about? Was there a specific incentive that sparked your interest in it?
I was obsessively interested in perfumes, plants and design from childhood. I played with ... (more)