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July 20, 2010

Chloé Eau de Parfum Intense (2009) {Hasty Fragrance Review}

In 2009, Chloé released a new iteration of their revamped Chloé - the one which is rose-based and not tuberose-based like the fragrance created under Karl Lagerfeld's tenure. The new flacon sports a gros-grain ribbon in charcoal gray (see ad) instead of beige and we know what painstaking efforts the house went through to find just the right piece of ribbon (just in case you were thinking that marketing fragrance teams are slackening and just pouring industry leftovers and bits in new launches while taking time off at the beach laughing their hearts out at people's naïveté. They, apparently, are naïve and believe in perfection)

I finally gathered some thoughts about the new Intense version comparing it with its predecessor in Eau de Parfum concentration...

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April 23, 2010

Notes on Marc Jacobs Daisy in the Air or Garland Edition: Different Color, Same EDT {Hasty Review}

I have seen some ambiguity arise in discussions around the new 2010 spring "Daisy in the Air" packaging, per Sephora, officially called the Garland - Guirlande Edition on the box which is color-coded blue and comes with a garland to be used as a home fragrance device: you spray your Daisy onto it and it will fill a room with the scent.

Some people think it smells different and others say it smells the same. Since there is quite a bit of (sometimes justified) paranoia regarding covert reformulations of scents, I made sure to go check it out myself and clarify my impressions about it...

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December 11, 2009

Zara Winter (2009): Uncanny Resemblance {New Perfume} {Hasty Review}

Zara has launched a series of new fragrances which are almost all featured on their website, except for a few like Winter and Silver Musk as far as I can tell.

I am trying to contain a nascent laughter as I use the expression "uncanny resemblance" once more today as I applied it recently to Renato Balestra's "new" scent Diamante Nero because it might very well become a tag set-phrase for identifying replica scents.

In this case, I am able to be more affirmative because while I do not know the notes that make up Winter, I was able to smell the fragrance...

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February 20, 2009

Nina Ricci Love by Nina (2009): Oooh, I Love That Little Green Dress! - Hasty-Review

When people say that the perception of a perfume is entirely subjective, they ought to turn to the phenomenon of copycat scents that seems to contradict their claim and get back to me. Well, one supposes they could pull out a single note and declare the composition to smell entirely different. Or that it reminds them of their aunt Irma who smelled of leeks and therefore the perfume must smell of leeks...

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December 25, 2008

Miller Harris Note de Peau (2008) {Hasty-Review}

Miller Harris Note de Peau - Hasty-Review*

Official notes:

Top notes: lemon, bergamot, tangerine; heart notes: lavender,nutmeg, incense, myrrh; base notes: heliotrope, tonka bean, musk, vanilla.

What they say:

Note de Peau is a homage paid to the Bon Marché Rive Gauche; it is inspired by and for Le Bon Marché; Miller Harris becomes the interpreter of French refinement; Miller Harris signs a new vision of the classical oriental (source: LBM website).

Created as an exclusive and pricey limited-edition scent for Le Bon Marché, Miller Harris Note de Peau (Skin Note) comes enshrouded with an aura of mystery and anticipation. After all you are expected to scurry to a unique location to acquaint yourself with something that ought, no doubt, to smell flattering both to the Londonian perfume house and the Parisian department store. Showcased in an oasis of bon goût, the perfume's main concern will probably be to make it worth your while to have jetted to Paris or sought it desperately through intermediaries. You suspect this could not be a Mac-Donald scent created in jest and just for the sake of sound bites publicity while incorporating a signature accord of chicken-nuggets (hope everyone is catching the allusion), unless the instigators of the project are feeling suicidal. So the question you ask yourself before inhaling the perfume is: what special formula will have perfumer Lyn Harris concocted for the discerning clientele of the Théâtre de la Beauté, the denizens of the rive gauche who walk past the Guerlain boutique and go to find refinements for their palates at the Grande Epicerie?...

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December 13, 2008

Versace Gianni Versace - Ulric de Varens Varensia {Perfumista on a Shoestring - Twin Frags} {Hasty-Reviews}

The world of fragrance - and this has to do with its artisan side - abounds with more or less derivative works.

This time we mention one that is more than an inspired copy, a faithful copy but made with cheaper ingredients and available at a bargain price: the distinctive signature of the original Gianni Versace the debut scent of the flamboyant Italian fashion brand heralded by the Medusa head was recreated with Varensia by Ulric de Varens, the latter a down-market label that has decided to go slightly more upscale lately...

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December 12, 2008

CB I Hate Perfume November, Gingerbread, Walking in the Air (2009): Smells of Fall & Winter {New Perfumes} - Mango, Outside {Hasty-Reviews}

CB I Hate Perfume, a Brooklyn-based perfume house, has introduced three new scents: November, Gingerbread, a December-only limited edition that appears annually and Walking in the Air, a home fragrance which recreates the pure scent of snow soon to be turned into an absolute by the perfumer who started wearing it himself.

About November, a composition mingling the typical smells of an American autumn, from pumpkin pie to hickory woods to fallen leaves to golden apples, its creator Christopher Brosius writes in his blog,

"I think my November perfume is finished. I made a few small adjustments to it this afternoon so will know tomorrow for certain. It wound up being a much more complex perfume than I had intended but that is often the way. The scent is also rather unusual for me - it's sweet. Still, it's a very delicate sweetness that speaks more of autumn leaves, hickory smoke, golden apples and the spices of a pumpkin pie than anything heavy or cloying. I can't really make a cloying perfume...
As i said, November is a very complex scent. It's main note is Pumpkin Pie blended with the scents of the autumn woods, fallen leaves, bonfires and delicious apples - all of these scents are quite complex in themselves. November has a lovely soft lush quality on the skin which to my surprise I greatly enjoy - normally I myself am drawn to greener things. But since I wear every scent I make while I'm working on it, I've been wearing a lot of November lately and am very pleased with its effect."...

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