The Scented Salamander: Perfume & Beauty Blog & Webzine: February 2008

February 2008 Archive

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February 5, 2008

Monocle Scent One: Hinoki (2008) {New Perfume}

As announced previously, Comme Des Garçons have started a movement of double-branding their perfumes by creating customized fragrances for celebrities and sometimes, alternative cultural institutions. This trend is mirroring the popularity of celebrity fragrances trend in the mass market without being exactly the same. Obviously the image references are going to be different to give coherence to the values of edginess, avant-garde, and cultural refinement that they represent.

Hinoki by Monocle Magazine is one of these projects. It was created by perfumer Antoine Maisondieu, who is also very much a part of the creative team at the counter-cultural perfume house Etat Libre d'Orange.....

Continue reading "Monocle Scent One: Hinoki (2008) {New Perfume}" »

Previous Posts in New Perfumes:

Romea D'Ameor Collection - 7 Perfumes For 7 Legendary Women Types (2007)

Lancôme Cyclades (2008)

Hilary Duff Wrapped With Love (2008)

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Yvonna K Possessive Now in the US {Fragrance News}

Possessive by Yvonna K is now available at Aedes for the sampling and buying pleasures of US-based customers. A little known fragrance that is exclusively distributed by the Ritz Hotel in Paris, like Ambre et Diamant Noir by Ambregris, it includes notes of Bitter Orange Blossom from Andalusia, Roses from Anatolia, Tuberose and Jasmin Sambac from India, Patchouli and Sandalwood.

"Possessive is available in three distinctive bottle coverings; gold-flecked cork, bronze leatherette and beige animalic leatherette." Each bottle is embossed with the word Possessive and retails for $95. Aedes offers a sample program, 7 samples for $15 including shipping.

Previous Posts in Fragrance News:

Duftstars 2008 Perfume Finalists

Perfume News in Brief - 02/1/2008

Fabbies Awards Nomination For The Scented Salamander Fragrance Blog & Daily Webzine

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Caron Perfume Sample Program {Shopping Tip}

We recently discovered that The house of Caron offers a very convenient perfume sampling program for those who cannot make it to their boutiques in New York City or Paris or prefer to sample at leisure at home. You can order any number of samples you wish for $5 each. They come packaged in adorable little individual cardboard boxes stamped with Caron's trademark gold dots and reading Caron Paris. As I ordered, amongst others, a sample of Lady Caron (a stupendous tuberose-gardenia scent by André Fraysse, review forthcoming), they also sent a lovely luxury miniature booklet telling the story of this special perfume. It is a collector's item.

Just call (212) 319-4888 to order the samples of your choice.

Previous Posts in Perfume Shopping Tips:

Givenchy Les Mythiques Now at Sephora

Clean Slate '08 Sale at Lush

Thierry Mugler La Part des Anges Shopping Tip

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It's All In The Grain Of The Ribbon {The Fifth Sense in the News}

Here is an article that will make you appreciate the efforts that go into marketing a luxury fragrance, the new Chloé in this case. In the best tradition inaugurated by François Coty, the container is seen to be as crucial as the contents of the perfume bottle. Every detail counts in order to convey the right message about a particular perfume and more importantly, the brand behind it that sends it out as an ambassador of its image. Guess how long it took to find the perfect ribbon?....

Continue reading "It's All In The Grain Of The Ribbon {The Fifth Sense in the News}" »

Previous Posts in The Fifth Sense in the News:

Perfume & Mores in America Through The Lens of Ugly Betty

Samsung Perfume Cellphones For Women

The Politics of Perfume at Davos & Elsewhere In The World

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Of Gabrielle Coco Chanel & Roses: Chanel No. 5 As The Anti-Rose Scent {Scented Thoughts} {Smell-The-Roses-Till-Valentine's Day Challenge - Day 20}

If one is to attempt to diagnose the causes behind rose perfumes going officially out of fashion in the course of the 20th century, notwithstanding exceptions such as Tea Rose by Perfumer's Workshop, Trésor by Lancôme, YSL Paris, (Guerlain Nahéma was not a success), one is tempted to turn one's gaze in the direction of Gabrielle Coco Chanel as one possible culprit. Chanel had an enormous influence on the redefining of the woman's silhouette and her self-perception as being modern, updated, dans le vent. Rose as fashion may have well ceased to exist with one of the utterances of Coco Chanel who never felt shy about pronouncing aesthetic diktats.

She claimed to hate natural flowers and instead pushed flowers cut out of material. She also pronounced real jewelry to be grotesque and pushed bold, fake costume jewelry. Would you wear real flowers? Ridiculous, so same thing for jewelry, she would snap.

If you walk in the streets of Paris today, you can still feel this principle at work. Very few Parisian women wear real jewelry, it is almost considered impolite it seems. It may be both tastefully Republican (egalitarian) and Chanel-esque not to give in to any nouveau-riche foibles. Of course, never mind that a Chanel costume jewelry piece today may cost more than gold jewelry. Never mind.The subtext seems to be that it is much more stylish to wear fake pieces, affirm style rather than money, and hide your heirloom jewelry where it belongs, in the recesses of your jewelry box and your consciousness (you will wear them internally or know that you can).

Real flowers in hair or in buttonholes are even more of a rarity as if people might be afraid to suddenly hear the sardonic laughter of Coco Chanel coming out of mouthpieces hidden in some street corners. How ridiculous! Real flowers! Ha, ha, ha! The Chanel police, somehow, has left its imprint and the violet vendors are only occasionally spotted in My Fair Lady.

Roses to her connoted of naturalness, too much so probably to merit her admiration. If you cannot improve on the perfection of the rose, is it really interesting to a creative mind? Chanel No. 5 may well rely on the magic of a superlative Rosa Centifolia cultivated in Grasse in fields reserved for the fashion house, this does not mean that it had not to be fully domesticated and stylized before being deemed suitable and couture.....

Emilienne d'Alençon, one of the inspirations behind Chanel No. 5

Continue reading "Of Gabrielle Coco Chanel & Roses: Chanel No. 5 As The Anti-Rose Scent {Scented Thoughts} {Smell-The-Roses-Till-Valentine's Day Challenge - Day 20}" »

Previous Posts in Scented Thoughts:

'Round Midnight Poison by Dior

Fleur d'Oranger 2007 by L'Artisan Parfumeur: On Agricultural Values in Perfumery

Chypre, Oriental, Poudré by Jovoy & Chypre by Coty: On Perfume Names

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February 6, 2008

The Green Spirit of The Hammam - Part 1: Tadé {Beauty Notes & Reviews}

"The Green Spirit of The Hammam" by Guest Contributor Pauline

The professional trade show Maison & Objet was on last week in Paris. I decided to pay a visit to the exhibition in order to discover the latest trends in that section of the fair devoted to "Fragrances, Bath & Cosmetics." Before being completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of stands in that section, I decided to focus on beauty products that are connected to the enticing world of the hammam and in particular, the natural cosmetic oil that is the most talked about in town these days, argan oil from Morocco.

Two beauty brands caught my attention as I liked the range of their products and their air of authenticity. They are both harnessing the all-natural, green ecological trend that the beauty market is developing more and more in response to consumers' demands while drawing on a very ancient heritage from the Middle East. I bought several products I wanted to try and today, I will talk about Tadé.

TADÉ, Pays du Levant (Country of the Levant) is a 100% natural line of cosmetics that draws on an original historical concept, the universe of the hammam, and proposes products for both men and women.....

Continue reading "The Green Spirit of The Hammam - Part 1: Tadé {Beauty Notes & Reviews}" »

Previous Posts in BEAUTY NOTES:

New M.A.C. Chick-A-Boom Collection by Fafi

Ban on Shark-Derived Squalene

Caswell-Massey Dr. Hunter's Rosewater & Glycerine Hand Creme

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Tocca Laundry Delicate Florence, Orris Rose Fine Fabric Wash {Perfume Review} {Smell-The-Roses-Till-Valentine's Day Challenge - Day 21}

Tocca offers a line of more sophisticated scented detergents mirroring their collection of perfumes that is called Laundry Delicate. They are meant to be used for your lingerie, hosiery, cashmeres,... anything delicate really. Florence in particular rests on an accord of rose and orris root.

According to the press fact sheet, it is about,

"The sophisticated essence of the old European Garden rose known as Centifolias combined with iris root anchoring the scent." ......

Continue reading "Tocca Laundry Delicate Florence, Orris Rose Fine Fabric Wash {Perfume Review} {Smell-The-Roses-Till-Valentine's Day Challenge - Day 21}" »

Previous Posts in Perfume Shorts:

Torrente L'Or (2001): Coffee & Roses?

S-Perfume 100 % Love (2003, 05, & 07), 100 % Love (More)

Les Parfums de Rosine Rose Kashmirie - A Wintry Rose

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February 7, 2008

Mona Di Orio Amyitis (2008) {New Fragrance}

Mona Di Orio has released her fifth creation called Amyitis. It comes after Lux, Carnation, Nuit Noire, and Oiro and is said to have been inspired by the hanging gardens of Babylon. It is somewhat of a departure from her other fragrances as this time it proposes to explore fully the feeling of freshness,.....

Continue reading "Mona Di Orio Amyitis (2008) {New Fragrance}" »

Previous Posts in New Perfumes:

Monocle Scent One: Hinoki (2008)

Romea D'Ameor Collection - 7 Perfumes For 7 Legendary Women Types (2007)

Lancôme Cyclades (2008)

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Maître Parfumeur & Gantier La Reine Margot (2007) {Perfume Review & Musings} {Historical Fragrance}

La Reine Margot (Queen Margot) by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier is a beautiful, even stupendous jasmine fragrance with a strong personality. The scent strikingly develops both a sophisticated and frank animalic character softened down and made to feel like warm embers on the skin thanks to rich amber-y and soft honeyed nuances.

The jasmine is narcotic, a bit leathery, never conjuring up the flower itself, but rather its quintessence. It is like the secret aphrodisiac weapon of a free-spirited woman, Marguerite de Valois (1553 - 1615), nicknamed la reine Margot, who was only too infamous for her unbridled sensuality and lack of conformism in her sexual life.

The historian Tallemant des Réaux (1619-1692) posthumously wrote in his Historiettes that apart from her amorous excesses, she was known to be a reasonable and very witty person. But he could not but fail to transmit to posterity her extravagant quirks (he is generally thought to be correct), the fact that she was for example in the habit of carrying the embalmed hearts of her dead lovers all around herself under her vertugadin in little boxes slipped into sewn pockets. She is also reported to have regularly shaved the heads of blond male lackeys kept for that purpose, to give her the hair she lacked since she had gone bald early in her life. Her less than saintly brother king Henri III could not take it anymore at one point and threw her out of the royal court on account of her promiscuous habits (she apparently was nevertheless selective) and eccentricities. The 1994 movie La Reine Margot by Patrice Chéreau amply elaborates upon this trait of hers. Prior to that she was popularized by Alexandre Dumas' novel La Reine Margot (1845), where she is portrayed as a femme fatale.

One of the first sentences in her Memoirs published in 1658 reveals her wit,

"I shall begin these Memoirs in the reign of Charles IX., and set out with the first remarkable event of my life which fell within my remembrance. Herein I follow the example of geographical writers, who, having described the places within their knowledge, tell you that all beyond them are sandy deserts, countries without inhabitants, or seas never navigated."

(you can download an English translation of her memoirs at Project Gutenberg)....

Continue reading "Maître Parfumeur & Gantier La Reine Margot (2007) {Perfume Review & Musings} {Historical Fragrance}" »

Previous Posts in Perfume Review & Musings:

Intimately Beckham Night Men & Intimately Beckham Night Women (2007-2008)

Calvin Klein Man (2007)

Christian Dior Midnight Poison (2007)

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Rochas La Rose Eau de Jeunesse (1949) {Perfume Review} {Smell-The-Roses-Till-Valentine's Day Challenge - Day 22}

A 1954 ad for "La Rose de Rochas"

This review ought perhaps to go under the heading of "antiquing" as we have only sparse information available at this point on this relatively little known fragrance by Marcel Rochas called Eau de Jeunesse La Rose (Youth Water, The Rose, in that order). It was a find and we decided to include it in our Smell-The-Roses-Till-Valentine's Day Challenge Series.

What we know is that La Rose was created by perfumer-composer Edmond Roudnitska and launched in 1949, the same year Caron released Or et Noir and Rose. The perfumer himself recounts in a 1993 interview published on the site Art et Parfum owned by his son Michel Roudnitska, who is also a perfumer, that it was then the pretext to - we can imagine at least - a lavish launch party that took place at the rose garden of L'Hay-Les-Roses, near Paris.

This rose garden was bought in 1894 by Jules Gravereaux and landscaped in 1899 by Edouard André. They claim that it was the first rose garden ever to see the light of day in the Western world, but this is somewhat of an exaggerated claim as Joséphine de Beauharnais is known to have helped found a roseraie or rose garden at the Jardin des Plants in 1805 and was herself the founder of an important rose conservatory at Malmaison. Rose gardens have existed since times ancient. L'Hay-Les-Roses is more prudently characterized sometimes as the first modern rose garden.

A view of the rose or greenery theater

In 1905, a Théâtre de la Rose or Theater of the Rose was added to the garden that allowed for performances to take place, which contributed to the popularity of this elegant site during the Belle Epoque. The Rose Theater no longer stands as it was demolished in 1970.

Edmond Roudnitska recounts that the launch party was accompanied by a music by Henri Sauguet.

The bottle is the trademark voluptuous feminine form reported to replicate Mae West's curves. The cap of our bottle appears to be an early plastic, maybe bakelite, with the words Marcel Rochas Paris forming a circle on a pink painted background. The cap is black. The outer packaging was at some point made of a minimalist pink cardboard and at another featured the Rochas lace on a pink background....