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 Balahé by Léonard was created by nose Daniel Molière during the attention-craving, power-hungry 1980s showcasing, fashionwise, the big threes: Big hair, Big shoulderpads, and Big sillage. Dynasty was shown everywhere in the world and more importantly watched everywhere. Today, or at least until recently, SUVs were the new Big seeing the transformation of women dressed in armor-like dresses and helmet hairdoes into creatures more casually dressed but well protected by the shield-like accessory that the SUV came to be.
The flacon of Balahé retains some of the elemental forces at play in our lives in its design. The black glass bottle designed by Serge Mansau is like a shape half-bottle, half-rock calling us back to yet a further point in the past, probing our unconscious memories of cave dwellings and fights for survival. It is speaking, hissing to our reptilian brain. Has the story changed much? Apparently not. The global success of Angel by Thierry Mugler is a constant reminder that an important part of perfume-wearing has still to do with the art of war and impress/fear tactics. Many women wearing Angel claim that they feel protected by it. Psychologists speculate that strong perfumes might help cover up insecurities and create a strong persona where vulnerabilities lie. You are saying in other words "don't mess with me" more or less politely, with your perfume, thus expressing, thanks to the symbolism of aromas, your inner agressivity that is successfully projected outwards without having to put it in so many words. Perfume critics often use the term "projection" to speak of a perfume and to define its aromatic impact on the immediate environment...
Continue reading "Balahé by Léonard {Scented Thoughts & Perfume Review & Musings}" »
....Steve H! Congratulations! Fate through the hand of a 3 year-old picked you.
Thanks to all for participating and remember, there will be other opportunities to win more samples on The Scented Salamander.
 Romano Ricci, the grandson of the founder of the Nina Ricci brand has created a new fragrance line called Juliette Has A Gun. The first two scents, Lady Vengeance and Miss Charming will bow in December 2006 and will be available for purchase in the high-end concept Parisian store Colette...
Continue reading "Lady Vengeance & Miss Charming by Juliette Has A Gun {New Perfumes}" »
Fragrance supplier Michael Mane is issuing a very select number of copies of his new perfume called Yu, 500 total, to be priced at $5000 each. It will be sold privately. The scent is said to capture the aromas of the South of France in July. Mane is following in the footsteps of Thierry Mugler who recently engaged in a non-commercial perfume venture with the creation of the Das Parfum set.
"Called Yu (or special raindrop, in Chinese), the flacon is an extremely artistic interpretation of a raindrop. And the juice is composed of natural, sustainable elements, with champaca, a member of the magnolia family from Southeast Asia, as the heart of the fragrance. Cecilia Krakower, perfumer at Mane USA, spent eight months working on it"...
Continue reading "A Slew of New Fragrances {Fragrance News}" »
 Fashion brand Lulu Castagnette has released a new perfume at the end of September 2006 called Lulu. It is described as a floral and woodsy Oriental and was composed by noses Antoine Lie and Guillaume Flavigny of Givaudan. The fragrance primarily aims at reaching young women...
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For those car lovers, here comes a men's cologne called Corvette Red. It is an official licensed product made in Italy. The eau de toilette features notes of tangerine, pear, lavender, violet, rosemary, patchouli, amber, and musk. "Translucent and tinted red, the container was designed to replicate the look of the Corvette design, revealing the precision detailing and superb craftsmanship of the remarkable sports machine. Topped with a shiny metal pump, the bottle's removable cap is a nod to the chrome detailing that accents the wheels of the iconic vehicle". Source: Press release.
 Derek Jeter from the New York Yankees is launching his first fragrance called Driven by Avon. The new perfume includes notes of grapefruit, oakmoss, and spice. It will be on sale at the end of November 2006. Jeter says that "When I was approached and decided to do it, I decided to be involved in everything -- the scent, the packaging, the logo, the bottle. I knew what I wanted. I didn't want it to overtake a room. I wanted it to be clean and sophisticated". He also thinks that "A good fragrance can give you confidence". You can read more of his interview here. Source: MyWestTexas.com
 As far as one can tell, the Lobogal perfume brand is still very little known in the US and even in Europe it seems despite its quality. I was fortunate enough to be able to test the fragrances from the line and will review them starting with the men's eau de toilette today. As previously reported and quoting myself, Lobogal Pour Lui (Logogal For Him) is part of a trio of luxury perfumes by Lobogal, the two others fragrances being Lobogal Pour Elle and Lobogal Gold. The brand is relatively recent having been established in 2004 in Paris by the French company BGL-Beauté. The perfumes were created by noses Pierre Bourdon and Valérie Garnuch and the bottles designed by Thierry Lecoule. Pierre Bourdon is also the author, amongst others, of YSL Kouros (1981), Davidoff Cool Water (1988), Dior Dolce Vita (1995), Frédéric Malle Iris Poudre (2000), Escada Magnetism (2003), and Franchesco Smalto Fullchoke (2005)...
Continue reading "Lobogal Pour Lui by Lobogal + Free Samples Giveaway {Perfume Review & Musings} {Men's Cologne of the Week} " »
 Kylie Minogue's first fragrance will debut next month. It is called Darling, a term the Australian actress says she personally likes to use, is popular in her family, and on top of these, has a show-bizz connotation to it. The perfume was created by Thierry Wasser of Firmenich and is described as a chypre-floriental scent...
Continue reading "Darling by Kylie Minogue {New Celebrity Perfume}" »
 Yes, that's right; hard to believe but someone at Calgon thought there were not enough fruity fragrances in the world. They are launching a line evocatively called Get Juic'd whose driving concept and purpose seem to be that ever more fruits in fragrances can only help satisfy the world's massive cravings for these. It's called a trend or it's called conformism, you decide. Well, I guess that the only way a trend will die is when it's run its full course unimpeded...
Continue reading "New Fragrance Line, Get Juic'd by Calgon {Fragrance News}" »
 Bobbi Brown launched her fourth perfume this month. It is called Bath as it is redolent of what is described as a "fresh-out-of-the-shower" scent. Interestingly enough, Bobbi Brown wanted to have a perfume that would smell of cleanliness but without containing any musk in it. She offers to make the distinction between smell lovers and perfume lovers...
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 Billet Doux (Love Letter/Note) is the latest release by Fragonard, to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the perfume house. It is a re-edition and an adaptation of an original fragrance from the 1950s from the house's catalogue. The name of the perfume itself was inspired by a painting bearing the same name by Jean-Honoré Fragonard; the house was named after the painter. According to Fragonard, Billet Doux "... pays homage to the most beautiful flowers of the French Riviera: Sweet William carnation, peony and frangipani with accords of bergamot, lemon and mandarin all on a soft background of cedar, vanilla and musk".  Billet Doux is a priori a soft carnation fragrance offering discreet but unexpected developments thanks to the significant additions of frangipani and orris. It evolves from being soft, powdery, and gently spicy to being creamy, mellow, and discreetly lush, then rootey.The contrast between these different stages of the development gives it its character. The drydown is a light combination of deliciously understated vanilla and faintly smokey cedar wood with rootey overtones with the orris peaking through much later in the drydown...
Continue reading "Billet Doux by Fragonard {Perfume Review & Musings}" »
 Lithuanian designer Juozas Statkevicius has an eponymous fragrance called Juozas Statkevicius. You can find more information (in Lithuanian) on their website. The perfume was created by perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin who is also the author of Eruption (with Gerit Van Logchen) and Hermès L'Eau Délicate Calèche. You can read his interview here (in French).  Here are a few highlights; We learn that Pellegrin loves Oriental perfumes (Féminité du Bois, Opium, Must) and is especially appreciative of Serge Lutens' very personal creations, in particular, of Ambre Sultan and Vetiver Oriental. He confesses that he wished he had created M7 by YSL. Pellegrin also points out that he was most influenced in his work by the olfactory style and creations of Michel Almairac (one of our very own favorite perfumers here at The Scented Salamander as you may have already guessed)...
Continue reading "Juozas Statkevicius Perfume {Fragrance News, Lithuania}" »
Barcelona-based Spanish women's fashion chain Mango, has introduced a new fragrance called Mango Delirium. The perfume is described as a "floral elixir" created by Puig perfumers Rosendo Mateu and Elizabeth Vidal, and Pierre Wargenye of IFF. It is packaged in a diamond-shaped bottle resembling a flower bud about to burst. "...
Continue reading "Mango Delirium by Mango {New Perfume}" »
 A large selection of fragrances from the French line Parfumerie Générale are now available at Luckyscent. You will be able to purchase: Aomassaï, Coze, Cuir Venenum, Harmatan Noir, Hyperessence Matale, Ilang Ivohibe, Intrigant Patchouli, Iris Taizo, L'Eau Rare Matale, and Yuzu Ab Irato. A 50 ml flacon retails for $80. Samples are available for $3 each or alternatively you can try the whole selection of scents as a sampler pack for $30, including two other new scents, Aroma M Geisha Marron and Susanne Lang Tambotti Wood. Source: Luckyscent
 West Side is the latest perfume launch by Bond no 9, an upscale niche perfume house dedicated to interpreting in fragrances the different neighborhoods of New York City. This time it is the West Side, home to Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Birdland and the Copacabana, that is honored in relation to its musical heritage. West Side is the house's 27th fragrance. The fragrance was composed by nose Michel Almairac who previously created for the same house The Scent of Peace and Fire Island. Some of his other works include the wonderful Burberry Burberry for Women, L'Artisan Voleur de Roses, Grès Cabaret, and my personal favorite hands down Gucci Pour Homme, a truly exceptional jus. West Side features top notes of rose, ylang-ylang, and peony; heart notes of sandalwood and amber; the drydown is redolent of vanilla and musk.
As West Side is meant to embody the musical beat of New York City it is described by Bond no 9 as "...an ultra-melodious eau de parfum that finds the scent equivalent for the sounds of music in its full-bodied, mellow composition, its undulating rhythms, its harmonies, its pitch—and yes, its notes. Whether they’re high or low, dark or light, sweet or sharp—notes are what music and fragrance are both about". Perfume and music are made to be even more consciously associated than is usual in perfumery with the evocation of an explicit musical imagery to guide the interpretation of the fragrance. The bold treble keys drawn on the flacons with vivid colors illustrate this artistic theme. All listening are invited to offer their own interpretations as "Fragrance, like music, is open to interpretation. Everyone who sniffs it will hear—and smell—a different melody of their own". So what is the sound of West Side on this day and as heard by this listener?...
Continue reading "West Side by Bond no 9 {Perfume Review & Musings}" »
 Sephora Champs-Elysées will host a Serge Lutens perfume event this Thursday October 28 2006 at 18 h. It is dedicated to the promotions of Chypre Rouge and Fumerie Turque, the latter in a limited edition for the export line. Please note that Serge Lutens will NOT attend the event...
Continue reading "Serge Lutens Perfume Event at Sephora Champs-Elysées October 28 2006 {Scented Paths & Fragrant Addresses, France}" »
 Cosmetic News is now relaying the news regarding the verdict given on the Guerlain Insolence case last Friday October 20 2006: "French beauty brand Guerlain (LVMH) has been ordered by a Paris court to cease selling its latest fragrance, Insolence, in its current bottle. Judge Claude Vallet, who deals with urgent cases at Paris's Court of First Instance, found that the packaging by Serge Mansau, composed of three half-spheres atop each other, was too similar to a design registered by Jean-Claude Cardiet of Paris firm Cardiet Design....
Continue reading "More on the Guerlain Insolence Court Case {Fragrance News}" »
The French justice system has now forbidden the commercialization of the latest perfume release by Guerlain, Insolence, which was launched not long ago, in August 2006. Hillary Swank is the face for the fragrance...
Continue reading "Guerlain Has Been Ordered to Stop Commercializing Insolence {Fragrance News}" »
The famous Cognac brand Courvoisier is following the examples of other alcohol brands who have created liquor-inspired perfumes based on their own specialties, like Frapin 1270, Infusion, Botrytis or Le Boisé. It will introduce a fragrance called Courvoisier L'Edition Impériale in the spring of 2007. The fragrance will be marketed as a men's cologne and will aim the 25 to 35 age group...
Continue reading "Courvoisier L'Edition Impériale {New Men's Perfume}" »
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