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October 2006 Archive
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"I have smelt Corruption in the dish, incense in the latrine, the Sewer in the incense, the smell of the sweet soap in the woodpath, a hellish sweet scent in the woodpath... while the ground heaved." Murder in the Cathedral Photo is of a 14th century boss from the navel of Exeter Cathedral ca. 1350 and depicts the murder of Thomas Beckett. finestoneminiatures.com
The first perfume by best-selling author, Danielle by Danielle Steel has now hit the perfume counters. It is described as a lush floral oriental and is meant to convey qualities embodied by the prolific writer and mother of nine children, that is, femininity and strength.
The juice, by Loc Dong of International Flavors and Fragrances, has top notes of lush green notes and Mediterranean mandarin; a heart of butterfly jasmine, sunset orchid and hydroponic rose, and a drydown of blue vetiver, white amber and cashmere musks.
The collection includes eaux de parfum in two sizes, 1.7 oz. for $49.50 and 3.3 oz. for $65, as well as a 0.5-oz. parfum, $125, and a 6.8-oz. body lotion for $35.
The eau de parfum bottles are faceted heavy glass rectangles, intended to be reminiscent of pieces in Steel’s large fine crystal collection. The juice inside is tinted a pale yellow. The perfume bottle is a weighty glass rectangle with a glass dabber and faceted top. Glass for both was fabricated by Pochet...
Continue reading "New Perfume & Perfume Short: Danielle by Danielle Steel" »
 The historic Santa Maria Novella store in Florence called in Italian L'officina Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Firenze opened a new museum wing on September 15 2006. "The collection covers eight centuries and includes medieval flacons, hand-painted vases and urns and marble pestles and mortars. [...] It showcases earthenware used to create elixirs and perfumes by the Dominican monks who started the pharmacy in 1221". According to the director of the historic pharmacy, Eugenio Alphandery, these ceramics from the 1600s come from two boxes found in a disused well. Old distillery machinery will be added later on. Santa Maria Novella plans to open new stores in Sydney, Bangkok, Switzerland, and Japan by the end of next year. The address of the store in Florence is: 16 Via della Scala. You can read more about the history of the pharmacy here. Sources: Women's Wear Daily and Santa Maria Novella
 L'Artisan Parfumeur Dzongkha is now available at Aedes, Luckyscent, and Beauty Cafe.
Bond no 9 West Side is available for pre-orders at Beauty Cafe. The new Tocca fragrance line including Florence, Stella, and Touch, is available at Luckyscent. You get a free full-size Stella lotion with any purchase of a Tocca scent. Luckyscent has also two new chocolate fragrances, Eau de Cacao by Coppeneur, a famed chocolate confiserie boutique in Germany and Chocolat Frais by Il Profumo. Two masculine scents from Il Profumo, G11 and Aventure, are now also in store.
I will not go over the artificiality of the distinction between men's and women's perfumes here, except to say that my position is that, although the distinction should not be taken too seriously, one cannot deny nevertheless the fact that certain accords are traditionally coded as being masculine and hence may feel that way to a person brought up in a culture and era that mark those scents as such. I personally cannot wear a perfume that makes me feel like I am wearing an after-shave.......
Continue reading "Salvador Dali Pour Homme (1987) {Perfume Review & Musings} {Men's Cologne}" »
 The latest release by the French niche perfume house Estéban is an olfactory pean sung to Africa and is called Secrète Afrique (Secret Africa). The perfume is available in eau de toilette concentration only together with ancillary products devoted to the ritual of bathing. Secrète Afrique is part of the collection called Le Bain (The Bath) which already includes Fraîcheur Anadalouse, Douceur Balinaise, and Sensuelle Russie and which adheres to a travel theme. Notes are very succintly described as including hesperidic notes, ginger, cedar, and patchouli. In France, the perfume retails for 30 Euros.
At first sniff, the perfume does not evoke to me Africa at all except through this purely nominal reference. My puzzlement leads me to playfully suggest that perhaps what Estéban had in mind was a colonial reference to a French bakery located somewhere in Northern Africa. There does not seem to have anything secret about it either (notwithstanding the fact that the secret is partially given out with the name of the scent). If a term comes to mind to describe the perfume, it is "cute". On closer scrutiny (upon a third application), I realize that the perfume reveals an underlying spicy and exotic character that is more deeply set in its heart...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Secrète Afrique by Estéban" »
After Pivoine, Tonka, and Cèdre, Estéban has just released a fourth perfume in the same series called Collection Parfums; the new scent bears the name of Ambre. It is described as a vanillic amberey fragrance with gourmand accents and light touches of pink pepper....
Continue reading "New Perfume: Ambre by Esteban (2006)" »
 "Coty Prestige has unveiled Jennifer Lopez's seventh scent in 5 years. Called Glow After Dark, Charlotta Perlangeli stresses its difference with Glow, saying “The original Glow is angelic and personal but, by contrast, Glow After Dark is mischievous, charismatic and sexy.” ...
Continue reading "Fragrance News: Glow After Dark by Jennifer Lopez" »
 The house of Guerlain is bringing back into fashion a refined means to help us go to sleep and invite sweet scented dreams. The newly released Eau de Lit ("Lit" means "bed" in French) by Guerlain rekindles the tradition of scenting non-bodily surfaces such as handkerchiefs, clothes, and pillows. Eau de Lit is meant to be sprayed onto the bedding. Its aroma is described as being reminscent of that of our grand-mothers' antique cupboards. The scent includes notes of bergamot, neroli, and star anise. The lovely opaque bottle will allow you to keep it on your night stand by the lamp without any problem. Eau de Lit retails for 50 Euros for a 125 ml flacon. Source: Absolu Féminin
 The historic perfume house of Rancé 1795 has released a re-edition of a perfume that was initially blended for Empress Eugénie of France (1826-1920), also known as Eugénie de Montijo. The eau de parfum is simply called Eugénie...
Continue reading "Fragrance News: Eugénie by Rancé 1795" »
 Alert to perfume collectors: perfumer Francis Kurkdjian has now come up with a new scent for the Papier d'Arménie. After Guerlain Bois d'Arménie was issued recently this year, based on the subtle aroma of the traditional papier d'Arménie created in 1855 we have another homage paid to it...
Continue reading "Fragrance News: Limited Edition of Papier d'Arménie by Francis Kurkdjian" »
 Canadian natural perfumer Ayala Sender, owner of, and nose for Ayala Moriel Parfums, is launching a new fragrance this fall called Kinmokusei to celebrate the season of the osmanthus harvest. The name of the perfume designates the osmanthus flower in Japanese. According to the press release, "Osmanthus is a unique Asian flower, with a smooth and rich scent of green tea, apricot and leather...
Continue reading "New Perfumes: Kinmokusei by Ayala Moriel Parfums" »
 Nuit d'Amour is the latest creation by Jean Paul Guerlain. The perfume was inspired by the nose's fascination for a painting by Gustav Klimt called "Woman With Hat and Feather Boa". The conjoining of artistic forces also characterize Mitsouko, which was inspired by Turandot, just like Vol de Nuit was by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and Chamade by Françoise Sagan...
Continue reading "New Perfume: Nuit d'Amour by Guerlain" »
 The Night Porter (1973/74) was a very controversial movie at the time of its introduction and remains to this day. It is the story of the destructive and sado-masochistic relationship uniting a concentration camp survivor and her former Nazi torturer. The movie was based in part on interviews done by Liliana Cavani with concentration camp survivors.
As the characters, played superbly by Charlotte Rampling and Dirk Bogarde, Lucia and Max, meet again in post-war Vienna 13 years later in 1957, the intensity of their relationship, to say the least, fully resurfaces, this time to demonstrate the impossibility of its continued existence and its doom. Lucia was 15 when she became Max's victim and lover and she seems to be irremediably marked by the experience.What had been limited to a game, paradoxically, when millions of people were being killed, notwithstanding the fact that it had been a dangerous and sickening one during the Nazi period, becomes suddenly something much more threatening. Max, who is trying to preserve himself from the new historical context by living like a "church mouse" in a hotel patronized by covert former Nazis, will not be able to fulfill his modest plan upon reconnecting with Lucia.The re-established rules of normal society now fail to be able to preserve their deviant behaviors and will even call for their condemnation by former Nazis who fear Lucia could stand as a witness against their crimes. It is easy for someone external, like a spectator, to decide that Max is a deeply deranged individual whose pathology found expression and nourishment in the Nazi period and, were it real life, would have to be avoided at all costs. The problem of course is that looking at Max through the eyes of Lucia makes the situation much more ambiguous as it becomes quite evident that the former Nazi officer is able to have her experience an almost animalic joy and happiness that is best expressed by her strange, deep, and happy laughter punctuating her descent into oblivion. Undeniably, Lucia is happy, much more than she ever was with her conventionally handsome American husband who represents by contrast urbanity, culture, civilization and who happens to be a renowned music conductor. She may be, we suspect, at the center of Max's life in a way that she never was at the center of her husband's life...
Continue reading "Scented Thoughts: Perfume Symbolism in Liliana Cavani's The Night Porter" »
Maria Sharapova by Maria Sharapova was launched in 2005 and was created by nose Carlos Vinals. The tennis player reportedly actively participated in the design of the fragrance. She follows the examples of other tennis players who launched celebrity fragrances and which include Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert.
Maria Sharapova includes notes of sweet mandarin, bergamot, pomegranate leaf, cassis berries, lemongrass, gardenia, jasmine, magnolia, dewy English rose petals, Wimbledon grass, Cashmere musk, white amber crystals and a dash of vanilla.....
Continue reading "Perfume Short & Celebrity Scent: Maria Sharapova by Maria Sharapova" »
October 2006 Archive
Page 2 of 5 • 1 2 3 4 5
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