Christmas Lists: my thoughts

The other day I came across an article on what to include in a perfume shopping Christmas list in the UK edition of Style supplement for The Times. I never want to plunge in rushed decisions and on top of that I have a penchant for introspection and some would say procastrination (those people would be right!). Christmas shopping, even if you do not celebrate the holiday per se, is a consumerism trait of our overindulged society and surely a quantitative measure of the market's dynamic. It's no accident that the majority of launches of mostly anything commercial happen in the autumn hoping to capitalize on the Christmas shoppers, neither the beginning of the holidays shopping sprees being increasingly put further back the calendar into November is any more haphazard. In a world where businesses depend on those holidays shoppers to up their revenue it's to be expected. ... (more)

Fragrant news and reviews: new scents by The Different Company

"A Contemporary Vision for New Luxury" is the credo of of this young company with master french perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena at the helm. Without restraints regarding materials and artistic vision or briefs for a specific target audience, the company has produced such iconoclastic and unsurpassed in their uniqueness perfumes as Sel de Vetiver, Rose Poivrée, Bois d'Iris, Divine Bergamote, Osmanthus or Jasmine de Nuit. The cosmopolitan vibe of the audience towards whom those offerings are geared is testament to their artistic vision.
And now three new offerings that promise the world and then some. The new lineup called ‘Explorations sensorielles’ (=sensory explorations) is inspired by the original trio of fragrances composed by Jean Claude himself.
The line, visualised and mastered by his daughter Céline, alludes to a series of scents ... (more)

A re-orchestration

Reformulation seems to be the new name du jour for perfume companies. They sometimes miss terribly (Dioressence) while sometimes they invent something amazing (Femme). Baghari by Piguet seems to stand at the middle, being neither atrocious or disloyal to the original, nor the innovative masterpiece that could be the be all and end all. Taking that into account however it stands as a perfectly lovely little aldehydic floral that is sure to be enjoyed by lots of people. Not what one expects from the house of Piguet, who has churned out such controversial fumes as ... (more)

Beautiful bottles in time for Christmas

Just in time for Christmas, perfume companies have issued or re-issued beautiful bottles for their precious fragrances to entice us to buy perfume for ourselves and others. The packaging of perfume does play a part in our choosing a particular fragrance and although I for one would go for my holy grail even if it were packaged in a milk carton, I have to admit that pretty bottles and evocative design does make me daydream. Sometimes the bottle proves to better than the scent, which seems like a disappointment but at least you are left with a beautiful bottle on your dresser, which is better than being left with a bad one (and aren't there lots of those?) That's some sort of consolation for the visual part at least.
Some of the bottles that have caught my eye recently are the following. I amassed them here for your delectation.

First comes the limited ... (more)

Maquillage: the sweet scent of makeup

It’s always so gratifying to get samples from less known perfumers who put their heart into their perfume instead of marketing analysis and assorted research and development findings. Such is the case with Maquillage, the very likeable scent by amateur perfumer Armando Martinez. Over the few months I have been writing my blog, people have been asking me to review perfumes for their reading enjoyment, reviews that maybe they wouldn't see in any other perfume blog in some cases as the perfumes were not known and the sources were obscure and did not list notes. It has been my joy and pride to do so for them. This however is not such a case. In fact I was the one who asked tentatively if I could sample this perfume when I heard about it and Armando obligingly sent a sample along. ... (more)

Black Orchid: new baroque?

Intriguing as the "article" at the very back of the latest catalog of the luxury store of Neimans is, it entices the reader with a little story that is supposedly recounting the writer's experience with Tom Ford's Black Orchid. After having put this on, the author's husband glances up sharply at her as she enters the room. She smells "like another woman, but in a good way", he proclaims. She quips "goodness has nothing to do with it". We read her inward monologue questioning what woman would dare wear something with vanilla, incense and tonka in the daytime. As though the notes in Black Orchid are suppossed to be trully forbidden, behind wraps, stricly for special occassions only. The story reads like a documented real-life experience which is lovely and misleading at the same time. ... (more)

Film noir: a perfume to be wary of

What perfume does a film noir heroine wear? More importantly: what perfume does a film noir cinephile wear? If the twists of plot found in a good noir are you cup of tea (or, in this case, coffee), then Film Noir by Ayala Moriel perfumes might be your hot ticket to a ride of pleasure for the evening. And many more evenings to come, if you are lucky and smart. But let's concentrate on your smarts, pal.

Ayala Moriel is dedicated to the art of natural perfumery, a niche that is witnessing a renaissance lately. Perfume Designer Ayala Moriel creates handcrafted perfumes from 100% precious botanical essences. On her site, she describes Film Noir thus: "This perfume is as dark as a Film Noir plot; as dark as a dim-lit alley in Chinatown and musty as the sewer in The Third Man where the ambivalent heroes and heroines find their ... (more)

Perfume advertising 5: the hilarious side! (multimedia clips)

If serious advertising were not enough, sometimes marketing teams play up on our conceptions about perfume in parody-style, satirizing our wishes for perfume to make us powerful, mysterious, indomitable and just plain old attractive and irresistible to the object of our interest. If only things were that easy. And yet, how many times have the same questions have been asked: what to wear to get attention? What would make the opposite sex melt? What would make us look younger and thinner and 5 inches taller with a mane like a supermodel’s and legs that go for miles? Personally if a perfume were that powerful, I’d just as likely prefer it to vacuum my house and do a good hard rubbing at all those difficult corners, thank you very much. That would greatly put me in a sexy mood, all right.
But it’s fun to contemplate what people would put themselves in denial ... (more)

Perfume advertising 4: discrepancies? (multimedia clips)

Exploring the avenues of perfume advertising, especially in commercials to be viewed on TV, one shapes a particular assumption of how something would smell, coaxed by the imagery and setting of the commercial. Often there is some discrepancy witnessed between what is expected and the actual olfactory experience. Especially so when there are famous faces or egeries involved fronting the perfume.

On a nostalgic trip down memory line, Soir de Paris in a very old commercial, from 1958 to be exact, shows us the rapport between jus and image that existed initially. Soir de Paris by Bourjois is known as Evening in Paris in Anglophone cultures and the olfactory profile is a very refined aldehydic floral that has a touch of the Parisian melancholy and sense of glamour. In its vintage form it stood as a very elegant and lovely representation of everything that joyful Paris evoked in the imagination of countless American women, especially after having seen the classic film "An ... (more)

Perfume advertising 3: gender play (multimedia clips)

The issue of what differentiates female from male idiosyncrasies in general is complicated enough. In perfume terms the composition of different formulas for the two sexes (roughly floral and oriental for the ladies, woody and citrus for the gentlemen) is a fairly recent phenomenon, dating from the dawn of modern perfumery in the end of the 19th century. Up till then, there was pretty much lots of leeway for men to delve in floral waters of the Victorian era or even the rich civet and musk laden compositions of the 18th century decadence. The issue of how male and female attributes translate in the iconography of perfume though is worth investigating for its many surprising facets.

Here today I decided to delve in some perfume commercials that redefine the role of gender as we know it. ... (more)

Perfume advertising 2: the boundaries of fantasy (multimedia clips)

In my previous entry I got the ball rolling and discussed the merits and progression of Chanel #5 commercials in an effort to elucidate what fantasy can do for advertising purposes when done stylishly. Perfume advertising’s power lies in its ability to make us dream, to yield in escapism bringing into play an array of male and female types from mythologies which meld standard notions of what man and woman stand for. Those types address the natural and essential aspiration of consumers to partake of a desired personality. This takes either one of two possible ways: to be different, that is ... (more)

Perfume advertising: multimedia technology to our benefit

The issue of perfume advertisements arises from time to time, with mixed results. Usually it has to do with the shock value of something or the sheer ingenuity of advertisers who come up with catchy phrases and images to embed an idea in our minds for ever. Although print ads have their merits and I will devote entries on them in the future, I think it has been already done so I have been trying to expand into the multimedia world of TV and theater commercials. In the interest of accomplishing that I have compiled a great annex of commercials on my main info site, Perfume Shrine, and it will appear soon on-line (patience!). ... (more)

The wonders of amber

Amber is a fit subject to tackle in the colder weather. There are many misunderstandings about amber and hopefully we will dispel some of them here. Amber is a difficult term to describe in perfumery, simply because it has so many meanings. Amber has additionally become a generic term, resulting in us being able to find all types of oils sold as amber oil, when in fact they have no relation to the aroma of amber.

Essentially, there is no such thing as an amber essential oil. Essential oils are oils from plants in their purest form, distilled or otherwise extracted from a single plant species. Fragrant amber is a combination of several different botanical sources (or in ambergris’s case a product of animal origin, more on which later). There is no one plant from which amber comes from, although some claim it comes from a special tree growing in the Himalayas. Fir tree resin, in its regular, non-fossilised form is in fact used in perfumery and offers a rather sweet , warm and deep , ... (more)

Un Lys: surrendering to fate

Lily is an unabashedly feminine blossom; lush, plush, deeply odorous, decadent, inducing a state of surrender.
The shape alone entices you to lean in your nose and inhale deeply closing your eyes.
It would be better to open them, however. Because past the loaded stamens of burgundy red, there is the waxy sight and smooth touch of the petals that is redolent of a woman’s skin.

Isabelle Adjani has such a skin, in the best possible sense. Alabaster or mother of pearl doesn’t begin to describe it. Flawless, pale and surrounded by the darkest frieze of ebony hair, she is a living Poe literary heroine. The romantic ideal exalted.
It is of gorgeous Isabelle that I think upon smelling Un Lys (=a lily) by Serge Lutens of Palais Royal Shiseido in Paris. ... (more)