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 The new Nina by Nina Ricci was released in France in July 2006 and will start rolling out internationally in September. It will be introduced in the USA in a third stage, in 2007. The perfume was created by Olivier Cresp and Jacques Cavallier of Firmenich. -- Whereby it is once more demonstrated that perfumery needs mythology otherwise it cannot operate --
Nina is an allusion to an "apple of love", as the story line goes, suggesting to "Give way to temptation..." thus conflating ancient stories or beliefs about Eve in the Garden of Eden as well as The Judgement of Paris. The latter, as you may recall or not, chose Aphrodite as being the fairest over Hera and Athena by giving her a golden apple marked with the words, "to the fairest" because the goddess of love had promised him he would be granted the most beautiful woman in the world, i.e., Helen, wife of Menelaus. As we know, in both cases, consequences were dire. In the first case, we had the fall of Eve and Adam, that is of mankind, and the archtypification of women as sinners. In the second case, we had the Trojan War. All these ideas are hinted at with a pretty figurative flacon of a red-pink apple adorned with silver leaves...
Continue reading "Perfume Review: Nina (The New Version) by Nina Ricci" »
The much awaited Black Orchid by Tom Ford that will come out this fall has been unveiled for WWD. It is an opportunity for Ford to express some of his ideas about the contemporary fragrance scene. As he states,"For the last decade, I think we've launched fragrances which, like everything, have become so stripped-down, so transparent in terms of color and often in terms of scent. They often become quite watered-down…everything is tested and retested, and while you might end up with a lot of fragrances which smell good, it's not fragrance development in the old-fashioned sense. I really wanted to create old-fashioned, but in a new sense."...
Continue reading "New Perfume & Fragrance News: Black Orchid by Tom Ford & A New Line of Unisex Fragrances" »
Following the success of the launch in April of their retro-looking Splash line bottled in 10 oz flacons, Rain, Grass, and Cotton, Marc Jacobs is going to release a new trio of fragrances this fall that will include Ivy, Violet, and Amber. As stated by Marc Jacobs at the time of the introduction of the first Splash line, "I always liked the concept of a fragrance someone could wear without it being too precious. I was trying to move away from the concept that fragrance is only meant to sit on a shelf and be dotted on the wrist, sparingly, for special occasions. Everything about Splash is meant to be more casual or lighthearted: the scents, the colors, the big bottle with its oversize proportions. All three scents are things that always smell good to me. They aren't ‘occasion' scents — they are meant to invite you to use as much as possible, whenever you like." ...
Continue reading "New Perfumes: Ivy, Violet, & Amber by Marc Jacobs" »
 Teen Star Hilary Duff is launching her first fragrance called With Love. It targets women aged from 15 to 24 although Duff thinks it will appeal to a broader audience due to the sophistication of the scent. The star closely monitored the creation of the fragrance saying it took 115 different versions to perfect it. The juice was created by Quest perfumers Stephen Nilsen and Rodrigo Flores-Roux. "In terms of ingredients, effervescent mangosteen and Champagne represent the “fun and bubbly” side of Duff’s personality, while her “complex, sensual side” is highlighted by an accord of textured cocobolo woods." Updated: there is now a website showcasing With Love, please see my latest post about Duff's perfume.
Sources: The Moodie Report, Women's Wear Daily
 Dutch designers Viktor Horting & Rolf Snoeren are launching their first men's fragrance called Antidote following the success of the release of Flowerbomb in 2005. They see the new perfume as being an olfactory extension of their menswear line. The juice was created by Alienor Massenet and Pierre Wargnye of IFF. The flacon was designed by Fabien Baron.
The scent is described as a woody oriental; it "(...) has opening notes of mint leaves, Italian bergamot, mandarin orange, essence of grapefruit and essence of Guatemalan cardamon. At the heart is sambac jasmine absolute. The primary base notes are amber, guaiacum wood, sandalwood, cedar, moss and musk." Two sizes will be available, $65 for 1.7 oz. and $90 for 4.2 oz. Antidote EdP will launch in September at Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom. A 3.4-oz. aftershave balm for $45 and a 4.2-oz. aftershave spray for $55 will also be released in October. It will roll out worldwide in spring 2007. Source: Cosmetic News
 Guerlain is issuing a reedition of Mahora (2000) called Mayotte which is part of the collection "Les Parisiennes". The new flacon, a classic Guerlain bee bottle, is different from the original but the juice remains the same. These reeditions usually retail around 140 Euros so grab a discounted bottle of Mahora if you want to smell expensive for less!...
Continue reading "Fragrance News & Shopping Tip: Mayotte by Guerlain " »
YSL will release a new men's fragrance called L'Homme in September 2006. The perfume was created by noses Anne Flipo, Pierre Wargnye and Dominique Ropion. "It features fresh top notes of lemon cedrat and bergamot, blended with ginger of China. The heart is a mix of florals and spice, courtesy of violet leaves, basil flowers and white pepper. The dry-down combines Haitian vetiver, cedar wood and Tonka bean." The bottle's design was inspired by Bauhaus architecture. The face of the fragrance will be sexy French actor Olivier Martinez (I'm always glad to post his picture.) Source: The Moodie Report
 
 The draw, as usual, was performed by my 3-year old's innocent hand. Papers were folded in four so that my son would not be tempted to recognize his favorite letters of the alphabet:) And the winners are....Rachel and....Anya. Congratulations!
Ladies, please send me your addresses. Poster is from art.com
 The British fashion label Agent Provocateur specializing in sexy, provocative lingerie has unveiled their new upcoming fragrance, Maîtresse ( Mistress). The flacon recalls their previous signature fragrance, Agent Provocateur, except that it is now made of gold-lacquered glass instead of an opaque pink glass. The bottle was designed by Agent Provocateur. "The modern aldehydic floral scent is by Azzi Glasser of CPL Aromas. Ingredients feature white ylang ylang flower, lotus petals, osmanthus, jasmine sambac, rose absolute and violet leaves with a pheromonal composition of musk, iso E super and hot amber.(...) In line with the signature scent, the new EdP line is positioned at the top end, from €54 the 30ml and €110 the 100ml." It will launch first in September in the UK, Russia, and Asia before coming to France, Spain, Portugal, the US, and the Middle East in 2007. Rectification: Azzi Glasser is the marketing director for the fragrance and Christian Provenzano is the author of the perfume. (source: Christian Provenzano).
Source: Cosmetic News
 • The house of Hermes has announced that it will launch a 6th perfume in the collection Hermessence called Paprika Brasil. Jean-Claude Ellena, the in-house perfumer was inspired by anthropologist Levi-Strauss' description in Tristes Tropiques of the impact made on European culture by the introduction of the "bois de braise" indigenous to South America.
In the 15th and 16th centuries this wood was massively imported to Europe to serve as a natural red dye. The name of the country Brazil derives from the Portuguese, "pau-brasil" meaning ember-wood due to its orange-red color as it was "discovered" by the former. It is also called brazilwood or pernambuco. The wood is considered uniquely suited to making violin bows. Paprika Brasil will retail for 135 Euros for a bottle of 100 ml or 350 Euros with a special red leather sheath.
• Hermes will also also introduce Elixir des Merveilles, a variation on Eau des Merveilles, in the fall. They consider it to be a major event. Notes include sandalwood, ambergris, chocolate, and orange. The edp will be priced 60 and 95 Euros for the 50 ml and 100 ml bottles. "In parallel, a luxury limited edition (450 bottles priced at €1,100) of Parfum des Merveilles will be offered in a blue Saint Louis crystal bottle by French designer Serge Mansau." Source: Cosmetic News
 Following the launch of their first eponymous fragrance, Miss Sixty, the Italian fashion label will introduce at the end of August in Europe a new women's perfume called Miss Sixty Elixir. It is described as an ultra-modern, unconventional, and incredibly sexy fruity oriental, destined to women who are ready to play the game of seduction. It was created by nose Marie Salamagne of Firmenich. The face for the perfume is artist Asia Argento. It targets women aged between 18 and 25 years old, a group seen as being highly fashion conscious.
Top notes are star anise and grapefruit. Heart notes are lotus flower and borrachero, a rare tropical flower originating from Colombia and Ecuador. Base notes are vanilla and sandalwood. The eau de toilette version will retail for 15.50, 26, and 34 Euros for 15 ml, 30 ml, and 50 ml flacons. The eau de parfum in a 50 ml flacon will retail for 39 Euros. The interesting-looking perfume bottle was designed by Cent Degrés. Source: Cosmoty.de
 Perles de Lalique (Pearls of Lalique) is the most recent women's perfume edition by the house of Lalique. It was released in May in Europe and will be introduced in the USA in September. This modern take on a chypre was composed by nose Nathalie Lorson of Firmenich. Ideas behind the perfume were both a desire to tip one's hat to the Roaring Twenties as well as herald a revival of the chypres in modern perfumery. The flacon for the perfume is designed after the famous boîte à cactus created by founder and glass artist René Lalique (1860-1945.) The rectangular flacons for the edp are also inspired by it but in a more indirect fashion only keeping the opalescent white coloring dotted with onyx but still referring themselves to an art deco style...
Continue reading "Lalique Perles de Lalique (2006) {Perfume Review}" »
 Red Chypre is an unusual olfactory construction, a chypre reinterpreted to the point of nearly losing its identity as a chypre and being recognized only with hesitation, seemingly serving essentially as a symbolic crossroads for Serge Lutens' memories and impressions. The perfume here is biography and quest speaking of soul-searching and soul-finding tracing a path leading us from the present to the past or, perhaps it would be more correct to state, from the author's days as an adult to the chapter of his childhood. It also reflects his life journey from West to East. How significant are these elements in his creation of perfumes is made explicit by Lutens, "A perfume can only emanate from a memory, from something you have known earlier on, or from a cultural path."
Serge Lutens offers us clues that reinforce the mystery and secrecy of Chypre Rouge. It is a perfume that will offer its wearer the charm of strangeness; it exudes it. 
The scent refers to a red oakmoss that is half-dreamed, half-remembered and that we are not sure is really present as a significant chypre ingredient...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Chypre Rouge by Serge Lutens & Sample Giveaway" »
If you don't have enough time to read through The Scented Salamander's archives, I would recommend that you read the following articles as being two of the most popular. The first one, My National Parfum deals with nationalism, politics, and perfume, the other is a review of the latest perfume by Bond no 9, Fire Island. Both articles by Mimi Froufrou have been recenty featured on the online fashion community's blog Coutorture. Anya from Anya's Garden of Natural Perfumery also featured the article on nationalism and perfume on Perfume of Life. The beauty blog, Are You A Beauty?, is also featuring the Fire Island Review which Ivy enjoyed very much. You can read her presentation and visit her blog as well here.
Finally, this has already been said but it doesn't hurt to restate it, fashion journalist Kristopher Dukes "ooh la loved" the review of Fire Island as well and featured it on This Next Blog. All these sites are great resources for your beauty and perfume needs by the way. Photo of cheering Steelers' fans from the LA Times from a suggestion by Mr. Froufrou.
 Exclusive! The newly released Sensuelle Russie (Sensual Russia) by Esteban in their Le Bain collection does not disappoint. It is a delectable and rich gourmand Oriental blend that will be perfect for this coming fall and winter. Imagine a pot of succulent, idealized honey (let me specify that I do not like honey as a note in general but here it is a wonderful dark honey) a nectar fit only for the gods which would have accidentally or by design spilled onto a giant rough-hewn table made of fragrant cedarwood and as it slowly spread out would have mixed with tobacco and strange spices laid out there for no practical reason. Fate. The concoction thus created would have then macerated for a long, long time forgotten in the kitchen of the gods to reach, enfin, the perfect stage of aging at which point an enterprising human being would have come in and copied the molecules released by the mix and made it into a perfume...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Sensuelle Russie by Esteban & Sample Giveaway (Updated)" »
Please tune in again this coming Monday as I will post a review of the latest Serge Lutens, Chypre Rouge.
 "I've learned, that when you turn out the lights, you don't see a woman's dress, or her jewels, or the hairstyle she's worked so hard to achieve. You smell her scent, which is the most intense form of memory. And my secret is that love has been related to every fragrance I've created. As my grandfather told me when I was 16, we should always create perfumes for the women whom we love."
 Benetton following the current marketing fashion for "scent triplettes" is releasing a new trio of fragrances for men, women, as well as one that is unisex. A common note shared by all three perfumes is a cotton note. Nose Alain Astori of IFF composed Woman (orange flacon) while Alberto Morillas created Man (in blue) and Unisex (in green). The Italian brand views these fragrances as being both selective and accessible (25-45 Euros). Thierry de Baschmakoff designed the three bottles. It will launch in 2 phases, first at the end of September 2006 and in a second stage in the first half of 2007 in remaining parts of the world, including the USA. Source: Cosmetic News
 Lonestar Memories is the latest creation by Andy Tauer. People who are familiar with his first two perfumes, both introduced in 2005, Le Maroc pour Elle and L'Air du Désert Marocain, will find that it departs from the previous two in that it is not a perfume with Oriental references but rather an ode sung to the naturalness and freedom expressed by the myth of the American West. I will add that it is also, to me, a perfume that contributes to defining without any ambiguity or restrictions a classic ideal of rugged masculinity as conveyed by a fragrance; it is rather efficient. In case we had forgotten, Tauer reminds us that certain perfumes just might smell more erotic on a man's skin than on a woman's if we are to recognize that to be able to provoke "trouble" (in French) could be a perfume's ultimate mission...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Lonestar Memories by Andy Tauer" »
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