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The Scented Salamander Blog A Culture & Beauty Blog: from Olfaction to Imagination in Perfumes, Movies, Beauty Products, Food, Literature, & Fashion, Mostly. "Perfumes' & movies' common point: you smell and watch them better in the dark" Latest Fragrance Reviews Dior Escale à Parati Prada Infusion d'Iris EDP Absolue Ferragamo Signorina Thierry Mugler Miroir des Majestés Jo Malone Plum Blossom Madonna Truth or Dare Roberto Cavalli Eau de Parfum
Carolina Herrera 212 Sexy 8 Best Perfumes to Herald Spring Stella McCartney L.I.L.Y. Guerlain Parfum Initial L'Eau: Going Back to the Purer Language of Perfumery Guerlain Parfum Initial L'Eau: Un Langage Plus Pur pour la Parfumerie Fragrance Essays Perfumes & Candies are Kissing Cousins: Anis de Flavigny & Guerlain Anisia Bella Jicky, The Ultimate Aphrodisiac for Both Sexes? Jicky, L'aphrodisiaque ultime pour les deux sexes? Best Rose Fragrances for Valentine's Day: The 2012 Edition How I Think about Perfume when I Review Them: a Practical-Theoretical Outlook on the Perfume Shopping Culture Bint el Sudan, The Other, African Chanel No.5 - Interview with Nick Evans of IFF Smelling Tommy Girl Now: When the 1990s Smell Like The 1940s White Accords in Perfumery: So Long The 70s Liberace Wore Perfume, So What? Homosexuality as Given Away by an Indiscreet Fragrance Trail in the 50s
Reviews of New Perfumes Diptyque Eau Rose Isabel Derroisné Eclat Eternel Sisley Eau d'Ikar Mary Greenwell Plum Parfum d'Empire Azemour Les Orangers L'Artisan Parfumeur Batucada Les Parfums de Rosine Glam Rose Clinique Aromatics Elixir Perfumer's Reserve Prada No.11 Cuir Styrax 6 New Celebrity Fragrances to Try Out this Fall The Body Shop White Musk Libertine Cartier L'Heure Convoitée (English Version) Cartier L'Heure Convoitée (French Version) Karl Lagerfeld Karleidoscope Maître Parfumeur et Gantier Cuir Fétiche Estée Lauder Wood Mystique Thierry Mugler Angel with Bitter Cocoa Powder Diane Von Furstenberg Diane Bottega Veneta EDP From the Archives Bath & Body Works Warm Vanilla Sugar: An Euro-American Curio Reviews of Past Fragrance Launches First Impressions on the Thierry Mugler Coffret Based on the Novel by Süskind.
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Perfume Lists Archive
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 To be honest, you can herald spring any which way you choose to, of course. There are no diktats that one should follow, naturally. If however, you are looking for perfumes that can bring to you something to replace the sometimes elusive feeling of spring, then we are talking about an entirely different matter. Just like when you look at Botticelli's iconic painting Primavera you cannot doubt that the painter was entirely focused on conveying the idea of spring in allegorical form, so there are elixirs that distill the essence of spring, its feeling of renewal and young nature more clearly than others. So, just before summer sets in with all its ripe, juicy notes, its hot, dry nuances, this is the season for fresh, green, meadowy perfumes evoking cool, innocent flowers and grassy accents.
The way I view the possible moods for spring is in terms of transitions and slow, possibly erratic, progress. Spring is spring, but still, there are shades of it. Winter-Spring I will start with a rather unconventional choice, Jicky by Guerlain. It goes back to my realization in my teens that wearing Jicky in the spring is like stressing the fact that winter is transitioning into spring. The warm animalic base is contrasted with lavender and the cool and airy aspects of the perfume. It feels like starting to discard your wools and down and moving into breezier clothing susceptible to be slightly lifted by the softest, most caressing of air. The briskness of the fragrance is also indicative of new energy. I must really appreciate Jicky, without necessarily wearing it, because I realize I already wrote several articles about it...
Continue reading "8 Best Perfumes to Herald Spring {Fragrance List}" »
 We explained previously how we think in terms of cultural-shopping categories when it comes to reviewing personal fragrances. We still need to explain fully why (article forthcoming), but here is a practical example, as applied to a diagonal vision of rose perfumes as they smell today in the beginning of 2012 (reformulations must be evaluated regularly).
Haute Parfumerie
Creed Fleurs de Bulgarie The natural beauty of roses blooms in this composition dedicated to showcasing high-quality materials. The house of Creed will tell you that each batch of their fragrances is a like a vintage, so there is not telling whether you will get exactly the one I smelled. But let's say that it can be ravishing at its peak. Frédéric Malle Une Rose This is a composition which thinks that more is better. It rests on an overdose of rose and it screams quality. A spectacular, lavish Hollywoodian rose - save for the old-world European feel - filmed in cinemascope to suit its breathless epic style. The house is so conscious it is dangerously dosed - their fragrance with the highest concentration of oils - that they request of their customers to be careful when applying it.They could make a pure extract of it and I would still wear it. Guerlain Rose Barbare One of the most satisfying rose compositions to be had. It is beautiful, with a balanced, classical, round feel thanks to the honeyed chypre structure, without being unimaginative. A touch of Indian spice - fenugreek -, and other things, make sure there is enough hidden complexity. An old-school feel with a more light-hearted mind and more modern style. Niche, Authorial, Art-et-Essai Perfumes A Lab on Fire Rose Rebelle This composition succeeds in conveying an anticonformist streak, projecting the image of a rock'n roll rose perfume by just playing with a few fragrance notes - they only admit to rose and cocoa - and a minimalist lab bottle which won't help you read it as being counter-cultural. Yet it does smell like something like a short riff on an electric guitar made of roses. It's not caressing, it's a bit brusque. You do remember its swimming-upstream quality...
Continue reading "Best Rose Fragrances for Valentine's Day: The 2012 Edition {Perfume Reviews & List}" »
 Here is our Top 12 Best Fragrances picks amongst the new, recently-introduced department store fragrances for a last minute shopping spree. They are all worthy of being on your shopping list and can be offered in all confidence as being the most interesting and/or qualitative of the crop. We think that for a scent to be just-out-of-the-gates adds a festive, fashionable character to a perfume gift. You can say "It's the latest..."
We kept to the department-store counter selection for purposes of practical convenience. They would make it even on a list including confidential, niche brands.  Annick Goutal Mon Parfum Chéri par Camille
For an old-school, qualitative feel, especially in the Eau de Parfum version. Dark, plummy, velvety and iris-y (see review)...
Continue reading "Top 12 Best New Department Store Fragrances of 2011 for the Holidays {Perfume List}" »
The new Shine Get It Guide from Yahoo! asked us to collaborate on their Insiders' posts. This week's topic is Celebrity Fragrances and here's the list we came up with to complement their own selection which is based on the most popular queries appearing in Yahoo search engine. We already reviewed two of those in the past: Jennifer Aniston and Beyoncé Heat. For this article, I picked three perfumes from the recent crop of celebrity perfumes that I think people will enjoy wearing and three that I'm particularly looking forward to checking out. Heidi Klum Shine Supermodel Heidi Klum, whose father worked in the beauty and fragrance industry in Germany, must have kept some great connections because her debut perfume is super professionally made. Co-created by perfumers Jean Guichard, son Aurélien Guichard and Olivier Pescheux of Givandan, this is an all-woman perfume which wafts on and on to surprise you with its different facets throughout the day. I would recommend it both for married women and single women. It's sexy, joyful, with a warm personality and offers an enduring charm. Notes: mandarin, OrPur, pear williams, pink peppercorn, mimosa abs, muguet, sunflower, vanilla, tonka bean and Cosmone musk....
Continue reading "Six New Celebrity Fragrances to Try Out this Fall 2011 {Perfume List - Short Reviews - Celebrity Scents} " »
 Since 2009 - when we first proposed to gauge the new, emerging fashion and even admittedly craze for oud perfumes - the trend has not abated but on the contrary taken on the proportions of a small olfactory tsunami. One by one, it seems, perfume houses have each and everyone of them added an oud fragrance to their catalogs. Hermès' Hermessence collection has yet to follow suit, as does Les Exclusifs de Chanel or Serge Lutens, but most of the major and reference perfume houses that you can think of, now have an oud perfume to offer...
Continue reading "The Oud Aromania is Here to Stay (2010-2011) - Part II {Trend Alert} {Perfume List}" »
Eating baked Canada Gris apples with herbs today set my ideas in motion about apple scents that are just right for fall. Not the crisp variety but the warm, mellow type. The perfumes that might smell in the olfactive range of a Tarte Tatin with its notes of softened hot apple, caramel and butter. Add to that a dollop of fresh cream. In a crisper interpretation, apple scents for fall should suggest mossy earth, ozone, apple cider and apple picking in the cold. Mmm, that's lots of gourmand notes. As it turns out there are two new fragrances out based on an accord of Golden Delicious. Then I thought I would add two others that were released in the past to capture that warm apple-y sensation in case you are craving that sort of things right now...
Continue reading "4 Apple Scents for Fall {Perfume List}" »
 Who were the mega global fragrance bestsellers of 2010? You could say the earth wafts of three major compositons. The first one was launched in 1999, the second one in 1921 and the third one in 1992. They are probably all familiar to you, if only in appearance, but the news in the Olympe of fragrance sales are that...
Continue reading "The Top Three Best-Selling Fragrances in the World in 2010 Were... {Fragrance News} {Perfume List}" »
 Business magazine Forbes says that celebrity fragrance still makes for good-business sense these days. Here is a list of the top ten best-selling charismatic juices of last year, with a few ties. White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor remains on the Mount Everest of sales while some newcomers surprise. Although I reviewed NYC by Sarah Jessica Parker, I did not expect it to come fourth place. Who knew strawberry could be so attractive? At least the olfactory message is easy to remember...
Continue reading "Top Ten Best-Selling Celebrity Fragrances in 2010 {Perfume List} {Celebrity Perfumes} {Fragrance News}" »
The upcoming wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William has already had an impact on the art of perfumery. While no official perfume seems to have been commissioned by the royal house, fragrant homages have been offered to celebrate the rare occasion to take place on April 29th, 2011 while garnering a little publicity in so doing. Here is a run-down of perfumes dedicated to the royal wedding. Roja Dove of Harrods Haute Parfumerie has commissioned Clive Christian to create a special luxurious set engraved with the initials of the betrothed. The crystal bottles are adorned with diamond solitaires and house an already existing perfume often advertized as being the most expensive one in the world, The No.1 Perfume..
Continue reading "The Wedding of Kate Middleton & Prince William Encourages the Art of Perfumery {Fragrance List} {Celebrity Perfumes}" »
Did you know that apart from blooming jasmine of Grasse and Boronia of Australia, sandalwood from Mysore and agarwood from Malaysia, fragrances could be inspired by your favorite pre-packaged beauty products? Some beauty items are so tantalizingly scented that they had to be turned into fine fragrance compositions....
Continue reading "Perfumes Inspired by Beauty Products: The Cosmetics Fiend Edition {Fragrance List}" »
The fashion for soliflores is seeing a reawakening in the spring of 2011. Soliflores or single-note floral fragrances were famously all the rage during the 19th century. It was so much so the default genre for floral fragrances for the longest time that in fact the term is not even used as a perfumery term until a much more recent date. A "soliflore" is originally a bud vase destined to contain a single flower. Both the historical and contemporary language dictionaries I consulted ignore its meaning as a perfumery genre. Today, soliflores continue to have a certain traction especially in British perfume culture where the Penhaligon'ses, Florises and even Marks & Spencers make sure that your vanity is plied with seemingly unassuming recreations of the scents of garden flowers; it must have something to do with the gardening passion found in the Isles. An American brand like Demeter Fragrance Library specializes in part in capturing the scent of single flowers but they do not represent the mainstream of their culture as much....
Continue reading "Your Guide to the New Soliflores of Spring 2011 and What Their Comeback Might Mean {Scented Thoughts} {Perfume List}" »
 This is the Index to the 2011 Limited Edition Fragrances organized in alphabetical order by brand name. Some of these perfumes were launched towards the end of 2010. We will update this page regularly all year long.
 • Cacharel Le Jardin de Cacharel
 • Calvin Klein CK One Summer 2011
Continue reading "2011 Limited Editions {Perfume Index}" »
 Chiming in 2011 can be best enjoyed with a perfume which will help you save the memories of this once-in-a-lifetime night as well as add sparkle or intrigue to your reveller's attitude.
I am proposing a list of fragrances that illustrate well 4 themes and states of mind that can be seen as symbolic of the last night of the year. Champagne for Bubbly Fun The joyfulness of a champagne note can be experienced risk-free by wearing the right perfume. If Caron Royal Bain de Champagne might be out of reach for a last minute spritzing inspiration, you could also turn to Yvresse by Yves Saint Laurent or Etat Libre d'Orange Vraie Blonde or the more recent Sex Pistols, if you're in France. If you're in the US, the suggestively dry and sparkly Jo Malone Grapefruit or the warmer and sweeter Phat Golden Goddess, the latter featuring a champagne-incense accord, can usher in the new year with you. Demeter Champagne Brut aims to make you feel like you dabbed on some champagne on skin, and not just on your ear lobes. If you are in the UK, you can try to get hold of Kylie Minogue Pink Sparkle inspired by a softer champagne rosé....
Continue reading "What Fragrances to Wear on New Year's Eve 2010: A Best-Of Suggestions {Perfume List}" »
We purposefully replaced the word "perfume" with that of "cologne" in the Guy's Holiday Guide to, what else but, Cologne, following the Girls' Guide to Perfume. Just like girls wear pink and boys wear blue, "cologne" in American parlance in particular means we're not talking ninny fragrant molecules here but an assemblage of them wearing a mustachio, no question about that. Well, at least, let's just pretend for a moment that fragrances can grow hair on their chests...
Continue reading "Fragrance Gift Giving for the Holidays 2010 - Part 2: Cologne Gifts by Guy Type" »
Funny or quirky or simply seasonal figurative soaps are usually produced by artisans rather than big-name corporations, so we put on our miner lamp to go dig out a few twists on the idea of just cleaning your hands. Check these out for a bit of Holiday cheer and good spirit. Let's start with our ABCs. There is a peace-dove motif on the famous Dove soap, check,...
Continue reading "Fragrance Gift Giving for the Holidays 2010 - Part 2: The Christmas-y And/Or Funny Soap Edition" »
Perfume Lists Archive
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To be honest, you can herald spring any which way you choose to, of course. There are no diktats that one should follow, naturally. If however, you are looking for perfumes that can bring to you something to replace the sometimes elusive feeling of spring, then we are talking about an entirely different matter. Just like when you look at Botticelli's iconic painting Primavera you cannot doubt that the painter was entirely focused on conveying the idea of spring in allegorical form, so there are elixirs that distill the essence of spring, its feeling of renewal and young nature more clearly than others. So, just before summer sets in with all its ripe, juicy notes, its hot, dry nuances, this is the season for fresh, green, meadowy perfumes evoking cool, innocent flowers and grassy accents.
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