The Scented Salamander: Perfume & Beauty Blog & Webzine: December 2006

December 2006 Archive

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December 2, 2006

Parfums de Rosine in Paris & Ambre by Les Ecuadors, Where to Find Them? {Ask Marie-Helene}

Hi-

I really enjoy your blog--I think you are doing something unique and interesting. A real pleasure to read.

I have two questions for you that may be easy for you to answer.

First, where is the Parfums de Rosine boutique in Paris; I have been told that it's in the Palais Royal, but never found it. And I have never seen the Rosines anywhere in Paris except at a Foire in the Tuileries last year, of Saveurs et Senteurs. But no one there knew where to find the Rosines in Paris either.

Also, I have been reading some of the French perfume boards, and keep seeing mention of an Amber fragrance "de chez Ecuador" and I absolutely cannot figure out what this is. Can you help?

Many many thanks,
All best
Camille

Camille, many thanks for your letter, here is my answer to your query:.....

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December 4, 2006

Movie Review of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006) by Tom Tykwer, Part I {Perfume/Film Review & Musings}

This is part I of my review of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer. I will devote a second part to the perfumista's point of view when watching the movie. In this first part, I offer a more general analysis of the movie.

The movie Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is both a hyper-realistic and flamboyant adaptation of the novel by Patrick Süskind initially published in 1985, a story that for a long time was famously deemed impossible to adapt by the likes of Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorcese. After years of tribulations, German producer Bernd Eichinger (In the Name of The Rose) succeeded in securing the rights from reclusive author Süskind, apparently convincing him that his own vision would be up to the challenge. It is reported that the German writer would have ideally liked to see Stanley Kubrick do the adaptation.

Director Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run, a must-see) who was brought in later then had to overcome two main obstacles. First a classic one, the challenge of adapting a suspenseful thriller that had been translated in this case in 45 languages and read by millions worldwide. The second one, more daunting, more original, more creative, and more historic, that of adapting an "olfactory novel" on-screen....

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December 5, 2006

Violette Précieuse by Caron {New Perfume}

The house of Caron has released a reformulation of its mythical Violette Précieuse (Precious Violet) exclusively for Sephora in France....

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A Christmas Olfactory Tale by Jean Claude Ellena {Fragrant Reading}

Jean Claude Ellena wrote a short olfactory tale some years ago describing his impressions at Christmas. Au Féminin has reprinted it....

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Habit Rouge by Guerlain in a Giant White Bee Bottle {Fragrance News}

Guerlain is issuing Habit Rouge (Red Coat) in a beautiful refined giant white bee bottle, one of their trademark flacon designs since the days of the French Second Empire.

The name of the perfume is an allusion to the red coats worn by hunters....

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Interview of Tom Tykwer by Michael Guillen {Fragrant Reading}

There is a GREAT interview of Tom Tykwer by film critic Michael Guillen that was published both on his blog, The Evening Class, and on Twitch.

To stay on topic (just kidding), here's an excerpt from the interview (translated from the German) where Tykwer offers his reaction on the Thierry Mugler coffret:

"MG: Do they [the perfumes from the Thierry Mugler coffret] remind you of your film?

Tykwer: It's amazing. It's amazing stuff. It's really very daring. It's completely confusing and actually quite disturbing because it goes through 15 individual scents that relate to, whatever, like Paris streets 1738, fish markets, "Orgy" one's called, and they're not nice. That's an important thing, you know. If you smell Paris street in 1738, it's a nightmare. But what's amazing about it is it's really multifaceted and very complex smells of rotten elements, sweat, I don't know what, really disturbing. And for instance "Orgy" really smells quite strange, but it definitely smells sexual, and it definitely smells like human bodies and sexual hormones and I don't know how they captured it. They're very experimental about it. They've done some really new experiments [in] how to capture scent. Some are beautiful of course but most of them are more disturbing.

You can read the rest of the interview on The Evening Class.

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Movie Review of Perfume by The Scented Salamander on Movies Online

The Scented Salamander's movie review of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer was published on Movies Online

I had to give it stars and decided on an 8 out of 10. A 10 for me would be for a movie like Casque d'Or by Jacques Becker which is a masterpiece and in which every pieces of the work feel exactly right to the point where you have to exclaim, no make that, shout at the end: C'est un chef-d'oeuvre! Tout est juste dans ce film. (quoting my spontaneous French).

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J'Adore by Dior in a Mega Giant Bottle {Fragrance News}

We were discussing earlier how come people would want to buy giant perfume bottles. Well, now we have Dior J'Adore that's even bigger and more intriguing than Habit Rouge. Indeed you would have to adore this stuff to be thinking of buying a 1.3 L flacon or 43.9 oz of the jus.

It retails for 564.30 Euros or 752.043 USD.

Are perfume bottles trying to compete with expensive wine bottles around Christmas?

Source: Sephora.fr

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December 6, 2006

Rock 'n Rose by Valentino {New Perfume}

Valentino is going to launch a new women's fragrance called Rock 'n Rose aimed at the younger demographic group. In a nutshell, the perfume is meant to be “for the Rock Princess [for whom] the shopping mall is her Mecca and the style pages of Vogue are her Bible”. The perfume was developed by Will Andrews in collaboration with Quest.....

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Special Offer on the Signature Collection by Zz's Petals, Parfume Moderne {Shopping Tip} {Holiday Gift Idea}

Niche perfumery Zz's Petals, Parfume Moderne has a buy-one-get-one-free offer good through Dec 15 2006. If you buy one bottle of 4 ml extrait in the Signature Collection, you will get a free 1/4 oz of eau de parfum (your choice).

There is also the possibility of purchasing a Mix & Match Sampler. You can choose up to 5, 1 ml vials of eau de parfum for $40 and they will be wrapped in a gift box for you.

All creations by perfumer Zz Zorn are hand-crafted, all-natural fragrances. The Signature Collection comprises 7 perfumes: Grand Canyon, Jazz Trio #1, Jo Jo, Misetu, Sinti, Pink Praline, and Marcco....

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