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 Nez à Nez is a newly established niche perfume house located 40, rue Quincampoix in Paris, a street where in the past the members of the maître gantiers et parfumeurs' corporation were located. This particular business is new but the Patout family has been developing perfumes for two generations. Nez à Nez was established by Christa Patout and her husband Stéphane Humbert Lucas and is now distinct from the business owned by Christa Patout's father, Jean Patout, the nose behind Parfums Nadine Patout. Nez à Nez has developed an edgy style: the store owners propose bird feathers to their patrons instead of the classic paper blotters (actually, a practice already followed by Jean Patout); the line is composed of perfumes with unusual names often based on word plays and creative imagery. Perfume compositions are both traditional and daring through the adjunction of assertive, unusual notes.There appears to be a predilection for trendy gourmand scents and a belief that comfort fragrances play or ought to play a central role in our lives.
There used to be two different lines, one numbered and the other one, named. The latter has remained while the first one has been discontinued by Nez à Nez. The named selection is exported and can be ordered from their site...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: An Overview of The Nez à Nez Perfume Line, Part I" »
I am sampling Atelier d'Artiste (Artist's Studio) by Nez à Nez. I received their collection of 10 perfumes and tested them over the weekend. Atelier is my favorite from the line so far. I find it to be the most complex and dark; it conjures up for me images of dark wood, warm, aged alcohols (rhum and cognac) drank at a party at a smoky artist's studio, the aroma of a dark grape whose color is similar to that of a thick balsamic vinegar from Modena - I imagine more precisely dark Moldovan wine brought as a present and left over from a previous party - wafting through the smoke of the studio, and finally, incense. The perfume evokes to me a working-hard-and-playing-hard atmosphere. I will review it soon more in detail and present the other scents as well. What fragrance are you wearing today?
Image is from Nez à Nez.
 Jammin is an English slang term for a newly released "musical" perfume by a popular French niche brand called Réminiscence. From what I have gathered from the reactions to my previous post about the release of Jammin, Réminiscence is a niche perfume brand that is little known or not at all in the US. So why should I review a scent that is not exported to the States and that fellow perfumistas might prefer not to hear about lest it should create an unhealthy temptation in them to procure it? I think it smells interesting. I also know that perffanatics love to explore new territories, even in imagination, so here's to you and to your next trip to Paris or London...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Jammin by Réminiscence" »
 The new Nina by Nina Ricci was released in France in July 2006 and will start rolling out internationally in September. It will be introduced in the USA in a third stage, in 2007. The perfume was created by Olivier Cresp and Jacques Cavallier of Firmenich. -- Whereby it is once more demonstrated that perfumery needs mythology otherwise it cannot operate --
Nina is an allusion to an "apple of love", as the story line goes, suggesting to "Give way to temptation..." thus conflating ancient stories or beliefs about Eve in the Garden of Eden as well as The Judgement of Paris. The latter, as you may recall or not, chose Aphrodite as being the fairest over Hera and Athena by giving her a golden apple marked with the words, "to the fairest" because the goddess of love had promised him he would be granted the most beautiful woman in the world, i.e., Helen, wife of Menelaus. As we know, in both cases, consequences were dire. In the first case, we had the fall of Eve and Adam, that is of mankind, and the archtypification of women as sinners. In the second case, we had the Trojan War. All these ideas are hinted at with a pretty figurative flacon of a red-pink apple adorned with silver leaves...
Continue reading "Perfume Review: Nina (The New Version) by Nina Ricci" »
 Perles de Lalique (Pearls of Lalique) is the most recent women's perfume edition by the house of Lalique. It was released in May in Europe and will be introduced in the USA in September. This modern take on a chypre was composed by nose Nathalie Lorson of Firmenich. Ideas behind the perfume were both a desire to tip one's hat to the Roaring Twenties as well as herald a revival of the chypres in modern perfumery. The flacon for the perfume is designed after the famous boîte à cactus created by founder and glass artist René Lalique (1860-1945.) The rectangular flacons for the edp are also inspired by it but in a more indirect fashion only keeping the opalescent white coloring dotted with onyx but still referring themselves to an art deco style...
Continue reading "Lalique Perles de Lalique (2006) {Perfume Review}" »
 Red Chypre is an unusual olfactory construction, a chypre reinterpreted to the point of nearly losing its identity as a chypre and being recognized only with hesitation, seemingly serving essentially as a symbolic crossroads for Serge Lutens' memories and impressions. The perfume here is biography and quest speaking of soul-searching and soul-finding tracing a path leading us from the present to the past or, perhaps it would be more correct to state, from the author's days as an adult to the chapter of his childhood. It also reflects his life journey from West to East. How significant are these elements in his creation of perfumes is made explicit by Lutens, "A perfume can only emanate from a memory, from something you have known earlier on, or from a cultural path."
Serge Lutens offers us clues that reinforce the mystery and secrecy of Chypre Rouge. It is a perfume that will offer its wearer the charm of strangeness; it exudes it. 
The scent refers to a red oakmoss that is half-dreamed, half-remembered and that we are not sure is really present as a significant chypre ingredient...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Chypre Rouge by Serge Lutens & Sample Giveaway" »
 Exclusive! The newly released Sensuelle Russie (Sensual Russia) by Esteban in their Le Bain collection does not disappoint. It is a delectable and rich gourmand Oriental blend that will be perfect for this coming fall and winter. Imagine a pot of succulent, idealized honey (let me specify that I do not like honey as a note in general but here it is a wonderful dark honey) a nectar fit only for the gods which would have accidentally or by design spilled onto a giant rough-hewn table made of fragrant cedarwood and as it slowly spread out would have mixed with tobacco and strange spices laid out there for no practical reason. Fate. The concoction thus created would have then macerated for a long, long time forgotten in the kitchen of the gods to reach, enfin, the perfect stage of aging at which point an enterprising human being would have come in and copied the molecules released by the mix and made it into a perfume...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Sensuelle Russie by Esteban & Sample Giveaway (Updated)" »
Please tune in again this coming Monday as I will post a review of the latest Serge Lutens, Chypre Rouge.
 Lonestar Memories is the latest creation by Andy Tauer. People who are familiar with his first two perfumes, both introduced in 2005, Le Maroc pour Elle and L'Air du Désert Marocain, will find that it departs from the previous two in that it is not a perfume with Oriental references but rather an ode sung to the naturalness and freedom expressed by the myth of the American West. I will add that it is also, to me, a perfume that contributes to defining without any ambiguity or restrictions a classic ideal of rugged masculinity as conveyed by a fragrance; it is rather efficient. In case we had forgotten, Tauer reminds us that certain perfumes just might smell more erotic on a man's skin than on a woman's if we are to recognize that to be able to provoke "trouble" (in French) could be a perfume's ultimate mission...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Lonestar Memories by Andy Tauer" »
Aedes de Venustas has just received a batch of hard-to-find European fragrances including the relatively recent releases Cèdre, Tonka, and Pivoine eaux de toilette by Estéban. I very quickly tested these in Paris and, at first sniff, thought that Cèdre was the most interesting until the dry down, that is, which I seem to recall was paradoxically less rich and deep than the body of the perfume. Pivoine, as I recall, was the least exciting, smelling nice but a bit banal. However, I should certainly try to test them again more at length. Aedes has also received Paestum Rose by Le Sirenuse. Image source: Aedes
 The latest release by Bond no 9 is called Fire Island and was created by Michel Almairac of Robertet. It is the 26th fragrance issued by the New York-based perfume house. Almairac also composed their penultimate fragrance released last spring, The Scent of Peace. Almairac is the author of the wonderful Burberry London for Women, Lumière by Rochas, Voleur de Roses by L'Artisan Parfumeur, Cabaret by Grès, and Minotaure by Paloma Picasso, amongst others. Like almost all of the fragrances issued by Bond no 9 the name of the new scent refers to a New York neighborhood or exceptionally, as in this case, to a place intimately connected to the history and pulse of the city. Fire Island, located on the southern shore of Long Island, is a favorite getaway for New York weekenders who regularly escape to its shores and frequent its beaches with much devotion and affection, despite the fact that they have to forsake their cars to go there.
Fire Island conveys a simple message in the sense that it is a beach scent, but it also contains a hidden level of olfactory meaning which makes it a pleasurable beach scent with an important twist to it. The complexity of the scent comes not so much from its notes as from its hidden and very effective ability to play with our memories while purporting to bottle future memories of happy vacations as well. Introduced just a fortnight ago in the middle of summertime, Fire Island, according to Bond, aims at "...bottling the scent of bronzing" and beyond that at capturing the scent of happiness and of the relaxed mood commonly experienced during leisurely vacations spent sensually on the beach with our bodies half-naked basking in the sun. Fire Island is a beach scent-cum-comfort scent and illustrates a popular trend in perfumery nowadays.
What is to me the most striking element in this fragrance is the manner in which it stands out as an olfactory monument dedicated to the memories, not only of upcoming, full-blown summer of 2006, but going deeper back in time, to that of the European seaside vacation experience of, roughly, the last quarter of the 20th century. During that time, virtually millions of people from Europe and outside of Europe spent their holidays on the French Riviera seeking a much sought-after fashionable dark tan. The perfume thus may be called Fire Island to pay homage to New Yorkers and to express Bond's love for the Big Apple while reinforcing its myth but what it conjures up to my nose, as I freely bet it will for others with a similar experience, is Saint Tropez...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Fire Island by Bond no 9" »
 Notes: Bergamot, mint / jasmine, white lily,
rose, ylang ylang / carnation, iris, heliotrope, vanilla, pear.Terracotta Voile d'Eté was created in 1999 and officially signed by perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain but in reality entrusted to junior perfumer Mathilde Laurent as a limited-edition fragrance. She had just been able to compose her first real independent work the previous year with Pamplelune in the Aqua Allegoria collection.
Like Les Météorites by the same house and more recently Azurée by Tom Ford for Estée Lauder, Terracotta is a perfume associated with a makeup line. One can thus guess that the marketing concept presiding over the launch of such a fragrance is to make the perfume be apprehended as an integral part of a beauty routine: the makeup is for the face and the fragrance is for the body. In effect, these fragrances are often conceived of as skin scents, evoking the intimate relationship one can develop with one's body through the mediation of scent. The powder for the face is mirrored by a fragrant powder or veil for the body.
I tend to like this concept. It puts the stress on the simplicity of the perfuming gesture envisioned as a complementary touch of beauty rather than as the exhibiting of a masterpiece of perfumery to be worn like a diadem.
It is an especially welcome mood for the summertime. It can suit you to wear this kind of relatively simple yet subtle scent as a preface to the summer holidays or to wear it to bottle the memory of these for later on.
When I say that Terracotta is simple, it is actually more complex and rich than many recent launches I have smelled lately, yet it is clear at the same time that it wants to play the card of summer far niente and lazy self-indulgence...
Continue reading "Guerlain Terracotta Voile d'Eté (1999) {Perfume Review & Musings}" »
Notes: Bergamote, menthe / jasmin, lys blanc,
rose, ylang ylang / oeillet, iris, héliotrope, vanille, poire. Terracotta Voile d'Eté fut créé en 1999 officiellement par le parfumeur Jean-Paul Guerlain mais en fait confié aux soins de Mathilde Laurent, le parfumeur plus "junior" de la maison à l'époque qui avait pu signer sa première création vraiment indépendante juste l'année précédente avec Pamplelune de la collection Aqua Allegoria. Elle officie désormais chez Cartier. Le prétexte de la création de ce floral oriental épicé fut le désir d'ajouter une fragrance à la ligne de maquillage Terracotta destinée à sublimer la beauté féminine estivale. A l'instar de Les Météorites, une autre ligne de maquillage Guerlain allait avoir son parfum. Plus récemment et chez une autre marque américaine cette fois-ci on a pu constater la popularité de ce concept avec Azurée pour Estée Lauder par Tom Ford. Ce parfum à odeur de plage et de lotion solaire fit un tabac parmi les férus de parfums de la blogosphère...
Continue reading "Terracotta Voile d'Eté de Guerlain (1999) {Critique de Parfum}" »
Siberian Barber no1 is an eau de cologne for men from the Russian perfume manufacturer Novaya Zarya (New Dawn), a venerable Russian institution that was created during the tsarist period, in 1864. The history of this entrepreneurial venture in capitalist tsarist Russia, set up initially by a French émigré, Henri Brocard, is one of initial tremendous business success at the European scale, then adaptation to new circumstances, i.e., the Communist regime, and, finally, of longevity at the threshhold of the 21st century. The business venture was initially founded as Brocard&Co; it first changed its name during the early Bolshevik period, changing it to "Soap and Perfumery Factory no 5" and then adopted its current name, Novaya Zarya, in 1922...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Siberian Barber no1 by Novaya Zarya" »
 A 24 h access program to the online Fabulous Fragrances of the World has now been available for some time and I myself have used it. I think that it is worth it in the end, but bear in mind that the database is good but not overly extensive (about 5000 fragrances). For contrast see how the online Perfume Intelligence advertises a database of over 53 000 entries (shorter ones.) which also features rare and all-but-forgotten perfumes.
What you will find associated with each fragrance is a description, sometimes in the form of a short narrative, notes, style, astrological sign(s), promotional themes (American accent, Irish accent, French accent, pastoral feeling etc.) names of celebrities wearing it, the name(s) of its creator(s), sometimes the date of introduction. At times the information given is more historical, at other times it is more anecdotal. The database cultivates a popular style rather than an erudite one as can be shown by the references to astrology. Jan Moran and Michael Edwards will also signal to you whether a fragrance is discontinued or not. Jan Moran uses a pleasant style of writing. The database is rich but not exhaustive. I noted that the entire perfume line for each house is not necessarily covered systematically even for modern issues and that niche perfumes, in general, are less prominently featured. It thus appears that serendipity plays a role in the selection of perfumes covered by the database...
Continue reading "Perfume Database Review: Online Fabulous Fragrances of the World, 24 h Access Program" »
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