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 Exclusive! The latest summer version of Angel for women is scheduled to launch in the States this summer. As of today, you can only purchase it on certain UK sites and find the occasional flacon on eBay. So here's a preview and a review of Innocent Summer Flash Eau Malicieuse (Mischievous Eau) by Thierry Mugler, the 2006 summer edition...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Innocent Summer Flash Eau Malicieuse by Thierry Mugler" »
The latest fragrance by CSP is inspiring me my shortest perfume review ever: if you like lemon meringue, go for it. I can almost smell the eggs that the recipe requires in this concoction. Intensely gourmand, sweet, milky, lemoney, and highly concentrated. Despite the advertised freshness, it is essentially a low-pitched, dessert-like skin scent.
Notes are, Candied Lemon Peel, Brazilian Orange, Blackcurrant Syrup, Tahitian Vanilla, Pink Hibiscus, Sweet Rose Jam, Chocolate, Vanilla Cream, Sugared Condensed Milk.
Price is $49 for 50 ml or 1.6 oz. You can purchase it at Beauty Cafe and Sephora. Photo is from Beauty Cafe
Kisu by interior design brand Tann Rokka was created in 2001 by perfumer Christian Provenzano and artistic director Azzi Pickthall. The name of the fragrance mimics the Japanese way of pronouncing the English word "kiss". It was inspired by Japanese bath rituals.
Kisu presents some of the olfactory nuances and combinations found in Agent Provocateur, also developed by Azzi Pickthall, but as if it were its tamer little sister. Whereas Agent Provocateur may appear assertive and even brash, Kisu plays the cards of softness and subtlety while evolving into a persistent skin scent. Another point of reference is Narciso Rodriguez for Her in Eau de Toilette concentration. Similarly, Kisu offers the same type of combination of soft woodyness and light aqueous fruitiness.....
Continue reading "Tann Rokka Kisu (2001) {Perfume Review & Musings}" »
Lux is part of a triptyque of scents by perfumer Mona di Orio. Reportedly, it took Edmond Roudnitska's disciple a decade or so to reach the artistic goals she had set for herself. The two other perfumes in the collection are called Carnation and Nuit Noire. Each fragrance is dedicated to a personality that has marked the life of Mona di Orio. Nuit Noire is an oriental dedicated to Serge Lutens; Carnation is a sensual fragrance dedicated to writer Colette, an author famous for her evocative olfactory, and more generally, sensualist descriptions of the natural world; Lux finally is dedicated to Mona di Orio's own master in the art of perfumery, the author of Femme, Diorella, Eau Sauvage, who is none other than Edmond Roudnitska........
Continue reading "Lux by Mona di Orio {Perfume Review & Musings}" »
George Sand was created by perfumer Nicolas de Barry and introduced in September 2005. It is part of a new collection inaugurated by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier called "Les Parfums Historiques" (Historical Perfumes). The collection is dedicated to the creation of fragrances that pay homage to Frenchwomen of note. George Sand is the first fragrance in the collection. George Sand is a light, spicy oriental. It strikes me as a very good choice for people who love orientals and wish to continue wearing them in the summer. I must say that I cared for it moderately at first, but now I realize that this was because it is an understated fragrance. Like many of its kind, it can grow on you and end up becoming one of your favorite scents precisely due to the easiness with which it can be worn and then forgotten on your skin. It is light, but it is also tenacious; I ended up wearing it to bed and the next morning I could still smell it on my arm, making me revise my judgement of it being a straighforwardly light scent.
The story behind the creation of this perfume is worth retelling. In 2001, nose Nicolas de Barry attended a music festival at Nohant, the locale in the Berry region of France where George Sand lived part of her life and where her castle or mansion can still be visited. There he met with a descendant of the Romantic writer who happened to wear a necklace with a perfume bottle as pendant having belonged to her ancestor. Sand was, reportedly, in the habit of wearing this necklace and pendant "on her heart.".......
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: George Sand by Maître Parfumeur & Gantier" »
Quadrille is a perfume from the 1950s. More precisely, it was introduced in 1955. It came after Le Dix (1947) and La Fuite des Heures (1949.) The date appears little relevant in this case because I think that its creator was more interested in expressing atemporal qualities such as natural elegance, refinement and I would even say more unexpectedly, courage. A recent fragrance like Agent Provocateur connotes much more of the 1950s period to me. What I particularly appreciate about this perfume is that despite it being marketed towards women, it successfully avoids the pitfall of encoding or stereotyping womanhood into a perfume.
The fragrance is very well balanced including both traditional feminine and masculine aromatic codes. Thus, it is a mix of dryness and sweetness, of spiciness, frutiness and floralcy, of austerity and sensuality.
I could perfectly see a man wearing this perfum; he would only need to apply it more lightly...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Quadrille by Balenciaga" »
 This is a review of the recently re-issued Sous le Vent, originally created by parfumeur Jacques Guerlain and introduced in 1933, the very same year that Vol de Nuit was released. Sous le Vent (2006) is part of the collection "Il était une fois" (Once upon a time) which is enriched each year by the addition of a new historical jus from amongst the 700 or so perfumes belonging to the Guerlain catalogue. The first perfume to be released in that collection was Vega in 1997. This museological or archaeological approach to the perfumed past is now widely experimented as a new, effective marketing tool by perfume houses in France. Sous le Vent is described as an aromatic chypre, sometimes also as a green chypre, but since I was directly told by the Guerlain staff that it is an aromatic chypre, I will reproduce their classification. It is a very dry jus and precisely due to that quality it is also very elegant. You cannot go wrong with this one; it will be the harbinger of your manisfest good taste in all the different social circles in which you will come to evolve. It is the equivalent for me of a perfectly tailored feminine grey suit, both a professional-looking one and a sexy one...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Sous le Vent by Guerlain (1933/2006)" »
 Maréchale 90 is the modern 1994 reformulation of the original Eau à la Maréchale created in 1669 for la Maréchale d'Aumont wife of Antoine d'Aumont. Her name is also attached to a powdery concoction for hair and wigs called "Poudre à la Maréchale" which she created herself. It is reported that the air in the salons was heavily perfumed with this powder covering many an aristocrat's head. References to this preparation can be found in 19th century French literature where it designates a face powder as well. According to the Société Française des Parfumeurs, this perfumed powder originally comprised orris, coriander, clove, calamus root, and sedge...
Continue reading "Crown Perfumery Maréchale 90 {Perfume Review}" »
Ah, these jasmines, these white jasmines!... Thus opens the poem The First Jasmines composed by Rabindranath Tagore in order to pay homage to jasmine sambac the ubiquitous flower of South Asia. In it, he attempts to re-capture the essence of his childhood nostalgically linking it to the scent of the flower as well as conveying his deep love for the fragrant blossoms. For those, like me, who have lived in regions where these flowers grow in abundance, their smell as well as their sights remain with oneself like an enchanted souvenir. In India, Jasminum sambac is also called by the very poetic name of "moonlight of the grove". This refers to the blossoming of the flower at night around 11 pm. Jasmine sambac has a scent that is headier than that of jasminum grandiflorum grown under our latitudes. It is also sometimes called Arabian jasmine and Grand Duke of Tuscany. Ormonde Jayne likes to use the Tagalog term for it, sampaquita...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Armani Code Pour Femme by Giorgio Armani" »
Violette-Menthe (Violet-Mint) was released in 2005. It is one of the perfume heirs to Ombre Rose, introduced in 1981 by the same designer, hatter Jean-Charles Brosseau. His latest fragrance in this series, which bears the title Fleurs d'Ombre (Flowers of The Shade), is Jasmin Lilas, only just recently introduced this spring. Another fragrance in the series, Ombre Bleue, was also released in 2005 although another source indicates 1987.
Violette-Menthe perpetuates the tradition of Ombre Rose, now a classic in its own category; it is a very powdery fragrance if ever there was one. The bottle comes also from the same mold, one that was used in the past for a perfume called Narcisse Bleu.
Some people appreciate a beautiful powder in a fragrance and others dislike this very trait in it. It seems to me that there are more people now in the camp of powder-haters. However, officially the American perfume market is perceived as powder-loving. It has been speculated that this preference only reveals the depth of early attachment to baby powder smell in America.
In seeking inspiration for his first fragrance, Brosseau wanted to recapture memories of his childhood, in particular, the memory of the powder used by his grand-mother, of Sunday luncheons spent at leisure with his family, of pastries, hats, and furs. Violette-Menthe recaptures once again those nostalgic olfactory memories, offering the same powdery base now perfumed with soft violet and cool mint. I cannot stress enough how much deftness and application are key in this case. Because the texture of the perfume is essentially powdery, it needs to be applied all the more judiciously. A light mist sprayed from a cautious distance is strongly recommended for the perfume not to transform itself into an obnoxious cloud of candied violets decorating you, the unwilling pastry du jour. If you apply the perfume lightly, it will render the texture of the powder finer and the scent will be allowed to develop subtly enough. It can make all the difference between creating the impression of a little girl's candy-sweetish scent or of a grown-up woman's sophisticated gourmand fragrance.
Although Violette-Menthe is classified as a green floral, I find that describing it as a powdery gourmand violet (floral) scent is also possible. The opening of the fragrance is somewhat herbaceous, minty, slightly woodsy, but the violet that shows its first petals make you think of sweets already. At times, the fruity wild blackcurrant note appears very prominent, as if forming a duo with the violet in the opening stage of the perfume.This sweet, fruity impression is confirmed by the development of the fragrance as the mint and herbs recede, now and then cooling down the powder, but not to the extent as to steal the show from the central impression: the sweet powder.  In fact, Violette-Menthe now starts to smell exactly like those delicious Japanese desserts called mochi which are made of pounded rice and filled with sweet red bean paste. It is the most unusual part of the fragrance. The powder becomes very softly sweetish, gourmand and even evokes very accurately the odor of the rice flour dusted upon the mochis. If you like L'Artisan Bois Farine, you might enjoy this aspect of Violette-Menthe. Further along, woods become more apparent, in this case sandalwood and oak. In the end you will have, hopefully, the impression that you are wearing a seductive violet powder with musky overtones but you might, alternatively, have the impression that your arm was rolled into some sweet Parma violet-scented flour covering a pastry chef's chilly marble board.
Top notes are bergamot, wild blackcurrant, peppermint, mint leaves Heart notes are Parma violet, peony, hawthorn, white flowers, rose Base notes are sandalwood, oak, sweet notes, musk
 
Norell was created in 1967 by nose Josephine Catapano for couturier Norman Norell. It is one of the early American design fragrances; it was introduced in 1968 or 1969, depending on the sources. Catapano is also the author of Estee Lauder Youth-Dew (some uncertainty remains regarding her authorship in this case) and Guy Laroche Fidji (1966). Catapano considered Norell to be her favorite fragrance amongst the ones she had created. She reportedly said, alluding to the neglect of Norell by the public in the 80's and 90's, "It's a silly world. It's the best fragrance, and nobody buys it anymore"...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Norell by Norell" »
What I like about Rose d'Été (summer rose) and what makes it a distinctive rose fragrance to me is the slight scent of decay that emanates from it. It is not at all a fresh rose but on the contrary it is a rose redolent with all the scents of ripe summer fruits that surround this flower in the imaginary garden evoked by its creator. The way I sense it, it is that antepenultimate time of summer not quite yet that time just before the end of summer.
As the fragrance liberates itself from the glass phial there is a very brief moment dominated by fresh notes.Then you are invited to dip your nose into the soft satiny heart of a rose, that part of the flower which retains its scent at the heaviest. According to the description of the notes it is a yellow rose and it smells realistically so...
Continue reading "Perfume Review & Musings: Rose d'Été by Les Parfums de Rosine" »
 The color of this perfume is mauve, with brown overtones. It is dark, yet airy. It is like a clear, airy room, maybe decorated with some white marble in which antique polished wooden furniture is to be found, faintly glowing of a warm ambery light, small vases of violets placed atop of them. A soft breeze is blowing through the windows and diffusing the violet scent, mixing it with the polished woods.
Mauve and brown are the colors that for me color Jicky by Guerlain as well. Here I sensed the mauve color before it evoked the smell of violet. It also made me think of lavender, either because it is there or because the mauve color is influencing my perception of the perfume.
I smell lavender, violet, and woods. The scent starts off with a sweet violet note combined with a medicinal accord that seems to comprise camphor wood, perhaps teak wood too. This is soon tempered by the violet becoming more pronounced, softer, and rounder. Then, the perfume becomes more powdery. Finally, the drydown is very woodsy, soft, and warm with new nuances playing out in which I seem to recognize birch wood. There are rich wood accents in this perfume. The final impression I have from this perfume is that of a soft, suggestively powdery veil of violet lingering on the skin.
The violet used in E.Duse is viola odorata Victoria cultivated in Grasse since 1875. It is a very woody violet with a powdery base reminiscent of orris. It was used by Eleonora Duse in a water she would order from Harrods. The perfume was created with the expert advice of historian Alessandra Marini and an Egyptian amber note was added to contribute to the ancient feel of the perfume.
It smells ancient but not in an outmoded way but rather as if you were transported back in time to a quieter world, a world where noisy machines were more easily shut out. It makes me think of the Belle Epoque, of women in a Renoir picture whom I could easily see wearing this perfume. For some reason I also think of Lake Como in Italy, of a room in a hotel by its side, of Eleonora Duse vacationing there in the 1920s. She is preparing to go out for the evening; she dabs on some of this scent before leaving the room and it suits her very well. I find this perfume to be very seductive. The staying power is not impressive, but I suspect that people around you might perceive it better than you.
Eleonora Duse or simply Duse (1858-1924) is considered to be the greatest Italian actress of the end of the 19th century. Her fame was only rivalled by that of Sarah Bernhardt whose roles she often played. She was also the first woman ever to grace the cover of Time Magazine on july 30 1923. She and Sarah Bernhardt were rivals for they represented two very different schools of acting. Her own style was very naturalistic and she privilieged being in-character. She is considered by many to be the first modern actor. Her writings also reveal a person with great humanity.
Her acting genius was so much admired by Constantin Stanislavsky that it inspired him to found the Moscow Art Theater in 1897 and to work on the codification of what would come to be known as method acting. He would present her as an ideal point of reference to his students. Through his method we can consider James Dean, Marlon Brando, Natalie Wood, and Robert de Niro for example, to be the heirs to her artistic legacy. You can find a biography of Eleonora Duse by Helen Sheehy here. E.Duse is a limited edition. You can find it at Luscious Cargo for $100 for a 100 ml flacon. Photos from Luscious Cargo and Laura Tonatto's website.
Coeur d'Eté (heart of summer) by Miller Harris starts off as if a garden full of gentle blossoms had suddenly and magically materialized before your eyes and quivering nostrils. You cannot quite make out the colors and the shapes of the flowers but you sense their abundance, their freshness, their loveliness. It evokes for me Claude Monet's Garden being rendered with touches of impressionistic and not so vivid, pastel coloring. A description of the notes in this case does not help capture the personality of the perfume. Coeur d'Eté is seamless, a perfectly woven tapestry of notes that support each others and contribute to the final impression of the perfume. For example, there are chocolate bean and licorice notes in the top notes but they are by no means felt individually. These notes just make the scented music of the perfume soar gently and mysteriously in the air. Sometimes a lilac note or a pear note will emerge fleetingly and fall back into the transparent, calm, and creamy folds of the fragrance. It is to my nose a rarefied and precious juice. The word that best describes its nature in my opinion is "delicate" pronounced softly please.
Coeur d'Eté starts like a beautiful fresh spray of flowers and then becomes slightly warmer and fruitier suggesting the passage from a garden to an orchard. There is also a tinge of the animalic that reminds us of our sexual nature in the midst of all this contemplation. Then, at some point, your skin starts to smell as if you had just stepped out of the ocean. Then, oh unexpected further surprise, you seem to be holding a baby in your arms and smelling its sweet-smelling head. The perfume reveals an extraordinary drydown which only improves with time. It is a superlative skin scent.
Lyn Harris composed this perfume while she was pregnant with her first child. Pregnancy is a time in their lives when women develop a heightened sense of smell. The perfume captures very well this experience, in reverse. This is the recreated ideal scent environment of a woman expecting a child, a barrier against the disturbing smells one notices particularly well at that time of life. I would recommend it as an ideal gift for moms-to-be and new moms. Beyond that, this perfume will make a beautiful perfume gift for anyone.
Top notes are chocolate bean, licorice, lemon, grapefruit, tangerine Heart notes are banana, white pear, lilac, cassia, heliotrope Base notes are sandalwood, benzoin, vanilla, fruity musk. A 100 ml bottle retails for $120.
Couture! was released in 2004. Its top notes are bergamot, a hint of pepper, mandarin orange. Middle notes are yellow poppy, jasmine, pomegranate blossom, poppy seeds. Base notes are benzoin, vanilla, and cedar wood.
Couture! opens up with a very soft, sweet, even suave accord, enlivened by citrus as well as slightly peppery notes. It smells distinctive, a good point in the context of a market that privilieges copy-cat perfumes. It is, at the same time, reminiscent for me of the contrast found between citrusy tanginess and a sweet flowery richness in Roma by Laura Biagiotti. Both have prominent citrus in the opening and rich jasmine in the heart notes combined with a warm woodsy base. However, the slightly tart and sickly sweetness found in Roma is much more subdued here. I find that this perfume tends to numb one's nose, so that the closer one gets to the scent, the more this one seems to vanish, with only a ticklish sensation remaining and marking its continued presence. Later, only a waft of air brings back the scent to my consciousness. The perfume is warm without being heavy. It tends however to become harsher in the middle of its development and by that I mean that it smells a bit of Castille soap. "Soapy" is a term that is part of the vocabulary commonly used to describe what I am trying to get at. As far as I know, there seems to be two principal meanings ascribed to that term. Soapy can mean that a certain scent makes me feel as if I had just taken a shower and there is a residual, pleasant soapy/clean smell lingering on my skin. Soapy can also mean that the smell makes you downright think of soap itself, that there's a certain lurking pungency to it that is reminiscent of bathroom liquid soap in public spaces (not of the best kind) and perhaps of Castille soap turned a bit rancid. Yes, "rancid" is the word. It is as if the oils in the soap had degraded. For example, I smell that very characteristically in Tabu by Dana (no offense meant to Tabu fans). Unfortunately, in my view, Couture! has a bit of the rancid type of soapiness.
There are probably some aldehydes, although these are not mentioned. Reportedly, certain aldehydes can smell like tallow candles, hence the rancid note. That explains to me also the constant tingling sensation I get when inhaling the scent.
However, if I stop deconstructing my sensations I am able to better capture the ensemble. The fragrance is sweet and mellow and evokes fresh petals of flowers after a while. The perfume warms down to a deep and soft drydown which is very pleasant. It is quite vanillic due to the combined presence of vanilla and benzoin as well as very woodsy. The overall impression the perfume gives me is that of a sensual and dressed-up scent, projecting an aura of sophistication which may prove useful to add a little fancy touch to your outfit in the workplace. I see it more as a social perfume meant for others rather than for oneself, that is, a perfume able to send an image of chic and self-control, but which has also the effect of masking your real personality. I don't think I would want to wear it at home, it's too self-conscious of its effects on others and a little bit guarded. In sum, I see it as a more toned-down and updated version of the power-perfume of the 80's (compare with Roma by Biagiotti which was created in 1988). I would still prefer to wear Cinnabar by Estée Lauder for the same effect (Cinnabar's notes are also similar to those of Couture!) because I find it to be more generous, frank, and ample as a perfume, freer. Cinnabar has a richer and better drydown. I also am able to stand aldehydes in Lauder's perfumes much more than in other brands. A perfume for women who need to respect conventions, even for a day, and keep up appearances in public or at work, while sending a message of sophistication.
Photo is from www.fann.cz
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