The Buzz

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My 2009 Halloween Shopping List

Marilyn Miglin Fo-Ti-Tieng

The Body Shop Love Etc.

Fall Fragrances: Cornucopia of Dark Fruits

L'Occitane Labdanum de Séville, Mimosa de l'Estérel

Robert Piguet Futur

Kate Moss Vintage

Frapin L'Humaniste

Patriotic Bestseller Perfumes: Discuss

Faguenat, Faganat...Fug?

Sniffing Rich Orientals in Paris

L'Artisan Parfumeur Havana Vanille

Dolce & Gabbana Rose The One

Guerlain Idylle - Part 1

Guerlain Idylle - Part 2

Kat Von D Saint & Sinner

Calvin Klein CK Free for Men

Mariah Carey Forever

WienerBlut Klubwasser

Prada L'Eau Ambrée

Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles

Britney Spears Circus Fantasy

Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne

Idole d'Armani

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Tiaré-Blossom, Cherry Blossom

Hermès Eau d'Orange Verte, Eau de Pamplemousse Rose, Eau de Gentiane Blanche

Parfums de Nicolaï Weekend à Deauville

Serge Lutens Fourreau Noir

Essential Faith

Penhaligon's Anthology: Eau de Verveine, Extract of Limes, Gardenia, Night Scented Stock

Mac Naked Honey & Africanimal

Chopard Cascade

Lancôme Hypnôse Senses

Juliette Has a Gun Midnight Oud

Narciso Rodriguez Essence

Queen Latifah Queen

Benefit Laugh With Me LeeLee, There's Something About Sofia, My Place Or Yours Gina

The Body Shop White Musk White Hot Summer

Rochas Eau Sensuelle

L'Artisan Parfumeur Côte d'Amour

Chloe Eau de Parfum

Guerlain Les Fleurs du Guildo: An Early 19th Century Precursor of Marine Scents

Lush Vanillary

Byredo Bal d'Afrique

Zadig & Voltaire Tome 1 La Pureté - Part 1

Zadig & Voltaire Tome 1 La Pureté - Part 2

Guerlain Muguet

Guerlain Muguet (en français)

Spring Notes: Lily of the Valley & Dior

Chanel Cristalle Eau Verte

Christian Dior Escale à Pondichéry

Frédéric Malle Géranium pour Monsieur

Gobin-Daudé Sous Le Buis

Roger et Gallet Bois d'Orange

Montale Patchouli Leaves

Stetson All American

Stephen Jones by Comme des Garçons

Givenchy Harvest 2008: Ange ou Démon Jasmin Sambac, Amarige Ylang Ylang, Very Irresistible Rose Damascena, Organza Fleur d'Oranger

Yves Saint Laurent La Nuit de l'Homme

Yves Saint Laurent l'Homme

The Sex Factor in Men's Fragrances

Nina Ricci Love by Nina

Hermès Kelly Calèche EDP

Annick Goutal Un Matin d'Orage

Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire

Serge Lutens Nuit de Cellophane

Parfums MDCI Péché Cardinal

Hermès Vanille Galante - Part 1

Hermès Vanille Galante - Part 2


August 5, 2009

Two Cleopatra Perfumes by Kanebo


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Claudette Colbert in Cleopatra (1934) by Cecil B. DeMille: What to wear this morning? I can't concentrate with all these ladies in waiting swarming about me.

Perfume history buffs will appreciate the effort put out by Japanese company Kanebo and in particular its chief perfumer Ryoichi Komaki in attempting to recreate two fragrances that Cleopatra would have loved to wear in her days. This historical-reconstitution project was undertaken to add a layer of sensory depth to the touring exhibition Egypt Sunken Treasures, now in Yokohama...

Continue reading "Two Cleopatra Perfumes by Kanebo" »

May 30, 2009

What Summer Perfumes Women in New York Wear {Historical Fragrances}


Perfume-Streetwear-NYC.jpgElle.com has a feature on perfume streetwear conducted in the streets of New York City.

LOL at the nod of approval for Princess by Vera Wang from the beauty editor "It's an oldie but a goodie": it was launched in 2006!

Or that other woman saying that she has been wearing Betsey Johnson "for ever" and that she is trying to "outgrow it" (it was launched in 2006 as well!)

Interesting nevertheless regarding the perceived fast pace of perfume fashion.

Beauty on the Street Summer Fragrance

May 17, 2009

HSH Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi L'Aurora & Giove Nettuno Plutone (2009): Art, Love & Italy {New Perfumes} {Historic Fragrances}


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Aurora-Guercino-fresco.jpg HSH Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi have released two debut perfumes which can be called new and ancient at the same time. The multi-secular family archives as well as the art of Villa Aurora in Rome the ancestral home of HSH Prince Nicolò Boncompagni Ludovisi, have been put to contribution. The feminine fragrance is called L'Aurora and is named after a ceiling fresco by Guercino depicting the chariot of Aurora making its way in the sky. The masculine perfume is titled Giove Nettuno Plutone after the only known fresco of Caravaggio which was painted in the Alchemy Room of the Villa Aurora.

L'Aurora is a reenactment of a feminine floral from the Renaissance and Giove Nettuno Plutone, that of a masculine perfume which used to be a signature scent of the first Prince of Piombino. They are the first in a series of fragrances that will be co-created and endorsed by the Prince and his bride to be, an American woman whom we only know by the name of Rita...

 

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Continue reading "HSH Prince Nicolo Boncompagni Ludovisi L'Aurora & Giove Nettuno Plutone (2009): Art, Love & Italy {New Perfumes} {Historic Fragrances}" »

November 12, 2008

Maître Parfumeur et Gantier Louis XV, Marquise de Pompadour (2008) {New Perfumes} {Historical Fragrances}

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Maître Parfumeur et Gantier have released two new compositions in their Parfums Historiques series. This time it is the era and glamor of La Cour Parfumée (The Perfumed Court) which is being paid homage to by perfumer Nicolas de Barry. Louis XV's court became famous under this nickname for its perfumed extravagances; even the glue used for wallpapers would be scented. Madame de Pompadour has also come down in history as a profligate perfume lover.

Previous historical interpretations by de Barry in the same collection include George Sand and La Reine Margot....

Continue reading "Maître Parfumeur et Gantier Louis XV, Marquise de Pompadour (2008) {New Perfumes} {Historical Fragrances}" »

February 7, 2008

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

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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)....

 

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

January 31, 2008

Romea D'Ameor Collection - 7 Perfumes For 7 Legendary Women Types (2007) {New Fragrances} {Historical Perfumes}

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Les Espionnes Du Tsar - (Lit. The Female Spies Of The Tsar )


December 1st of 2007 saw the release at the Galeries Lafayette of a collection of 7 perfumes inspired by legendary feminine types rather than famous personalities by a new French perfume brand called Roméa D'Améor (website currently under construction -- update: the website is now functional).

The label was founded by Annie Vannier and the seven fragrances created by perfumer Pierre Bourdon. The idea behind the brand is to take inspiration from history as well as aiming to encourage an identity play on the part of women by asking the question, "which woman are you?" As the tag line goes, "Travel through time, cross the world to discover the secret perfumes of the great women of history....

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Continue reading "Romea D'Ameor Collection - 7 Perfumes For 7 Legendary Women Types (2007) {New Fragrances} {Historical Perfumes}" »

January 17, 2008

Penhaligon's Hammam Bouquet (1872): The Gentleman With A Rose {Perfume Review} {Historical Fragrance} {Smell-The-Roses-Till-Valentine's Day Challenge - Day 2}

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Hammam Bouquet by Penhaligon's is a beautiful intense rose perfume for men, which offers a primitivist charm mainly due to the sheer energy unleashed by the otto of rose used in the scent, while being undeniably elegant at the same time. As the rose blooms and then lightens, freshening with the lavender and some other aromatic herbs, the composition starts feeling like an unusual rose fougère.

The perfume retains a somewhat ancient exotic-in-time cachet; it was, in 1872, the first fragrance created by the founder of Penhaligon's (Est. 1870), William Henry Penhaligon, a barber to the chic London establishment who debuted his career by working in the fashionable Turkish Baths in Jermyn Street after which the scent is named. Another story that circulates is that it was created for or inspired by a Turkish sultan. The scent is said to have been inspired by the characteristic smells of "sweat and sulphur of the Hammam". It remained W.H. Penhaligon's favorite. Hammam Bouquet was more recently re-released in 2003 as the masculine counterpart to a then newly launched feminine perfume, Malabah......

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The Turkish baths on Jermyn Street in St James, 1862,  at the time when W.H. Penhaligon was working there, Illustrated London News.

Continue reading "Penhaligon's Hammam Bouquet (1872): The Gentleman With A Rose {Perfume Review} {Historical Fragrance} {Smell-The-Roses-Till-Valentine's Day Challenge - Day 2}" »

January 8, 2008

Parfums 137 Nara 1869: New House, Unique Old Stories (2008) {New Fragrances} {Historical Perfumes}

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Parfums 137 subtitled Jeux de Parfums (Perfume Games) is a new French perfume brand that proposes an interesting, both learned and playful serialized concept, that of introducing each semester a new range of three perfumes meant to be layered in 7 possible combinations, which each time will be inspired by a unique, extraordinary story. 1 is for a story, 3 for the already mixed essences, and 7 for playfulness (they indicate in advance how the layerings smell). The idea is to progressively build a library of perfumes, one can assume in the tradition of popular serialized encyclopedia.

The first coffret offered by the house is called Nara 1869 and is based on a true olfactory historical event, one exhumed from a very little known discreet chapter of the history of perfumes.......

Continue reading "Parfums 137 Nara 1869: New House, Unique Old Stories (2008) {New Fragrances} {Historical Perfumes}" »

December 21, 2007

Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène: L'Authentique Eau de Cologne de l'Empereur by Cosmalia {Historical Fragrance}

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Napoléon 1er is famously known for having been an Eau-de-Cologne junkie of the first magnitude. He would pour 60 bottles a month of the cologne introduced in France by Jean-Marie Farina on his shoulders and proceed with invigorating frictions, this to counteract the relaxing effects of his beloved extra hot baths.... a sort of Scottish shower, Bonaparte-style. So addicted was Napoléon 1er that he even had bottles of cologne designed in the shape of slim parchment rolls so that he could slip them into his boots during his military campaigns........
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Napoleon in Saint-Helena 

Continue reading "Napoléon à Sainte-Hélène: L'Authentique Eau de Cologne de l'Empereur by Cosmalia {Historical Fragrance}" »

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