|
|
The Surrender, Alexis Kersey, oil on canvas Here is the short form of a longer review I wanted to write about the jasmine soliflore composition that By Kilian launched last year, Love and Tears, Surrender. I have not re-smelled the perfume since then, that is, last summer. Please consider it a snapshot in time. It opens on a powerful yet soft scent of jasmine. It is beautifully animalic, like a sleek panther moving among a field of jasmine. There is the contrast of the animal in it with the floral but the wild, savage part is dressed in very elegant garbs. A nuance of green makes the perfume feel a bit crunchy-green. It is just a beautiful fireworks explosion of jasmine sweetened by honey. As the scent progresses, it deepens further, both sharp and round. Very quickly one has to acknowledge that this is one of the most beauteous jasmine compositions of the day, a reenactment in some ways of the Joy challenge: to be extremely qualitative rather than artful...
Continue reading "By Kilian Love & Tears, Surrender (2010): A Jasmine Soliflore to be Remembered {Perfume Review}" »
Clair Matin means something akin to "a bright and early morn" in French. It is what the upcoming new perfume by Les Parfums de Rosine was baptized and it is now about to be unveiled in New York City this week. It will be one of their four new launches this year. The composition was reportedly inspired by the first rose tree, a dog-rose tree, that brand founder Marie-Hélène Rogeon planted in her rose garden located in her property in Picardie. The new scent is yet another research into the perfumes of roses, the house's trademark olfactory signature. I find Clair Matin to present interesting nuances, mostly for the rose lover, I am tempted to say, more so than for the perfume lover who might be looking for a stronger statement and state-of-the-art perfumery instead of being wooed by naturalness. For rose lovers always on the lookout for new rose perfumes, be it known that this is a tart, green composition with a certain level of complexity to it despite it being of a lighter concentration, it being an "Eau Fraîche." The scent eschews the most predictable shortcut to a clean, aseptic and transparent rose treatment while managing to be refreshing, crisp and fruity. The blend offers a balanced charm with little touches here and there that connoisseurs will appreciate, and an understated yet definite push in the direction of tangy. Notes: raspberry leaves absolute, Italian lemon essence, blackcurrant bud / camomile, violet, Turkish rose essence, peony / musk, apricot, sandalwood, amber...
Continue reading "Les Parfums de Rosine Clair Matin (2011) {Perfume Review} {New Fragrance}" »
Notes: top notes of bergamot, green mandarin, citrus fruit and prickly pear. heart of jasmine, cardamom and sea daffodil, A woody base of sandalwood and cedarwood mixed with olive tree and musk. The perfume composed by perfumer Alberto Morillas was launched in 2009 as a "light, contemporary bouquet." For me, it all started with a dubitative pout and ended with a feeling of genuine admiration for the qualities of this 2009 release by Versace, one of the designer-fragrance-brands-with-niche-creds, a conceptual category in my vocabulary which, I like to muse, exists to help blur the lines between neat, pre-defined and conventional divides brandished by marketers and snobs alike. Versense is not one of the niche-feeling perfumes by Versace like the 80s Gianni Versace or The Dreamer. It is very much a mainstream product of the house. But it is buttressed by exceptional savviness. If it starts out by smelling stale from the point of view of the imagination, in the end it sways you with its pure-perfumery qualities of impossible crispness-allied-with-warmth, ample diffusion and winning sillage. In other words, Versense can be considered a technical beast which smells oh-so-good in its very best moments of self-expression....
Continue reading "Versace Versense (2009) {Fragrance Review}" »
 Last year, Caron issued two new oud fragrances contributing to or rather joining the current Western perfumery movement of appropriation of a traditional Middle Eastern material also known as aloeswood and agarwood.They are exclusive launches reserved to the Caron boutiques and in-store perfume counters in Paris, not even listed on the brand's website. They are called Oud by Caron and Secret Oud. This fact, together with the release of Dior Leather Oud (2010) and other oud compositions of note, is an invitation to update the trend report on oud perfumes we listed we had to realize... already in 2009! It feels more like it was yesterday, in 2010. So, please expect to see a Part II which will include new fragrance titles from 2010 and 2011 as the Oud Wave is breaking upon us and we are most definitely awash in oud perfumes...
Continue reading "Caron Secret Oud, Oud By Caron (2010) {New Fragrances} {Perfume Short (Reviews)}" »
 
S by Shakira is the debut fragrance of the bilingual Spanish-English Colombian singer whom virtually everyone must have heard by now interpreting "Waka Waka," the anthem for the FIFA 2010. It was announced as early as 2008 that Shakira would be developing her own scent with Puig Beauty and Fashion Group as part of the celebrity-fragrance trend. The artist is known for her involvement with charitable work and in particular for her Barefoot Foundation / Fundacion Pies Descalzos. The institution springs from an early childhood memory of having been confronted with children's destitution at a time when her parents wanted to assuage her own anxieties about the family's financial downturn - at 8 she was invited to witness the much more distressful condition of abandoned children living on the street and sniffing glue...
Continue reading "Shakira S (2010): The Scent of a Golden Cage {Fragrance Review} {Celebrity Perfume}" »
Fleur Chérie is the latest perfume launch by L'Occitane en Provence. Its name in French, which one can translate as Beloved Bloom, is another of those cultural references that the Provençal company likes to make to the region of its origins, the Mediterranean. The beloved flower in question is orange blossom or neroli. The displays are currently strewn with textile star-shaped white orange blossoms. Gray ribbons and white blotters are handy to try to catch the fancy of passers-by. The bottle itself is decorated with a spray of orange blossoms on one of its sides. A makeup collection accompanies the fragrance release. The brand had released another orange blossom composition, Néroli in 2007, which is much more opulent and oriental and available at a different, higher price point. Fragrance notes: neroli, blackcurrant bud, fresh notes / sambac jasmine, orange flower absolute, orange blossom water absolute, soft woods, patchouli, cedar, musk...
Continue reading "L'Occitane Fleur Chérie (2010) {Fragrance Review}" »
"The portrait of an incredibly free woman. She wasn't born in Paris but Paris has adopted her. In the heart of the night, in the fever of a caress, she knows how to love and live, live and love with intensity..." "Le portrait d'une femme incroyablement libre.
Elle n'est pas née à Paris mais Paris l'a adoptée.
Au cœur de la nuit, dans la ferveur d'une caresse, elle sait aimer et vivre, vivre et aimer à l'extrême…" Perfume notes: vinyle accord, incense, blackberry, violet, Damascean rose, powder note, patchouli, suede, musk. Parisienne à L'Extrême opens on the very recognizable rose-violet accord of Paris by Yves Saint Laurent (1983) but as if it had been made more limpid, more watery (lychee), and purplish, with a hint of nail polish (the vinyle accord.) Perfumers Sophia Grojsman and Sophie Labbé of IFF sign this composition which pays in part homage to Grojsman's work on YSL Paris... 
Continue reading "Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne à L'Extrême (2010): The Parisian Woman According to Grojsman {New Fragrance} {Perfume Review}" »
The latest JLo fragrance, Love and Glamour, was created by perfumers Honorine Blanc and Harry Fremont of Firmenich. Notes are Italian mandarin, guava and nectarine pulp / a heart of water lily, coconut orchid, orange flower absolute and jasmine petals / sandalwood, sensual musk and amber. While the list of notes felt déjà-vu, Jennifer Lopez did say something encouraging, "Making the bottle, creating the packaging, creating the campaign -- it's all so much easier than creating the juice. You always want to create something signature -- that's always kind of what I'm pushing for when working with Coty. You want it to be a combination that people have never smelled before. It's always an exciting time, because the sky's the limit and it can go in any direction." The statement turns out to be vastly gungho and upon smelling the juice makes you feel like a Kathmandu street dentist promised you tooth extraction would be painless while breaking into a broad smile accented with a double row of gold teeth...
Vanilla is one of the most beloved and easy-to-love scents and flavors on earth, with few exceptions. It accompanies us from babyhood into adulthood transforming its meaning from foody and comforting to erotic and comforting. It takes on, for me, accidental animalic aspects thanks to its original anchoring in the nursery locus (Bledina) by being associated with nuances of infant refluxes and diapers in need of change. In adulthood, there is a constant nostalgic tropism towards baby talcum powder which gets reflected in the addition of fluffy and powdery vanillic musks in fine fragrances. The lushly powdery Ombre Rose by Jean-Charles Brosseau is not surprisingly a nostalgic reflection on the scent of a childhood goûter at the milliner's grandmother's place. Black vanilla therefore can be said to define more surely than white vanilla does, the passage into adulthood vanilla, the cured and aged kind out of a pirate's chest next to a barrel of Caraibean rum. How you create a deep ebony-colored vanilla in fragrance is partly natural and partly left to stylistic devices such as associating it with a rummy accord and dark ambery, woody and resinous notes (Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vaniile.)...
Continue reading "Yves Rocher Vanille Noire (2010): Secret Facet {Fragrance Review}" »
Adora is the third and newly out fragrance by tattoo artist Kat Von D following Saint and Sinner in 2009. Its name means "Beloved One" in Latin. The tag line is "Life holds new meaning when you're in love." If you are current with your people's news you know she is now in a relationship with Jesse James, Sandra Bullock's ex-husband, or at least was as of Sept 2, 2010 (things can evolve lightning fast in this area in showbusiness especially.) Kat Von D said, The word Adora has special meaning for me,” explains Kat. “I chose it because it takes me to some of my most passionate and tormented moments. The emotions that love evokes are unforgettable and this fragrance is like my reminiscence. Like her previous perfumes, the new fragrance reveals better than her makeup line does (except for the extraordinarily buttery texture of her lipsticks) the soft side of a woman who is daring visually but much more subtle in her choice of scents. If her color philosophy is more about calling attention to herself, her perfume preferences seem to go in the direction of intimate scents. The description "She's a romantic soul with an edgy exterior" is apt in translating the feel of this new scent...
Continue reading "Kat Von D Adora (2010): Foresty Veil {Fragrance Review}" »
 Belle D'Opium is the latest addition to the Opium franchise and destined to be a turning point as " a next-generation, younger version of Opium." While Yves Saint Laurent parfums have consistently pushed for the creation of annual flankers to the original Opium, usually good and focusing on bringing in a floral facet to the composition, Belle D'Opium is a novel approach. The new fragrance still inscribes itself in the lineage of Opium but aims to appear as a new-generation twist. More specifically, the brand wants to "... reinvent the concept of addiction for younger generations today," If Opium is " the story [...] about a woman addicted to her fragrance, [...] with Belle d'Opium, the woman is herself addictive." Color coding is helping express the new philosophy as "electric blue" replaces the iconic red of cinnabar. The whole concept behind the new venture is said to have been inspired by the creative vision of Stefano Pilati, the artistic director for YSL. The new jus attempts this delicate psychological exercise which is to appear both historically familiar and legitimate while heralding a new age. The advertising campaign is ambitious and lush featuring the jeune première Mélanie Thierry acting in a dance of Salome choreographed by Akram Khan who also recently coached actress Juliette Binoche for a spectacle. Thierry spent more than four hours a day during one month practising assiduously in order to become the dancer called Belle D'Opium and her performance, on an original music by Nitin Sawhney, is to be enjoyed. The TV commercial, ad print by Mert & Marcus, packaging and even the press release dossier were all carefully devised and the marketing team can rightfully applaud themselves for a job well done. Where the whole enterprise starts sinking ship is where the perfume composition itself is concerned...
Continue reading "Yves Saint Laurent Belle d'Opium (2010): Sacrificed {Fragrance Review}" »
 Ooh La La was launched by Victoria's Secret in their series Sexy Little Things two years and a half ago right on time for Valentine's Day 2008. It is still part of their catalog despite looking like an ephemeral little thing. Why review this scent rather than any other VS parfums on display? One afternoon and after smelling a good number of the brand's scents, doing a "wall progression", this is the one that smelled best to my nose and which I ended up purchasing. In store I was struck by its good balance of notes. It just smelled good above its competitors. The heart-shaped bottle and the packaging are ditzy in a fun way (you can use it as either a splash or spray flacon. If you store it, put the cap back on as the atomizer makes the jus be in contact with air.) Finally, I am totally one for wearing uncomplicated (but not poorly done juices) because, maybe, just maybe, they are restful and relaxing AND help you take yourself less seriously whenever you need an antidote (or someone you know needs one.)...
Continue reading "Victoria's Secret Ooh La La (2008): Not So Ditzy {Fragrance Review}" »
 Lisa Hoffman Variations Madagascar Orchid Day Time & Evening
dual set ($39,99) is a limited edition spin off for a good cause of the
original set introduced in the spring of 2008 with 4 variations which
also included "Morning" and "Bedtime" scents. 20% of the sales are destined
to the
Rain Forest Foundation which was co-founded by Sting and Trudie Styler whom brand founder Lisa Hoffman, the wife of actor Dustin Hoffman (see review of Perfume the movie), considers to be her eco-mentors. Madagascar
Orchid first made its appearance in functional perfumery as part of the Lisa
Hoffman Body Spa Collection in 2007. At the time, the label announced
that thanks to the Scent Trek program and Headspace technology by Givaudan, the latter which is able to record
natural scents in situ without destroying the plants, they had been
able to introduce for the first time in Western perfumery two new
ingredients: Star of Madagascar Orchid and Japanese Agarwood, which
were both translated later into fine, concentrated perfume oils in 2008...
Continue reading "Lisa Hoffman Madagascar Orchid Day Time & Evening (2008) {Fragrance Reviews}" »
 Eau de Toilette Sensuelle by Bio' Rêve is part of a new generation of natural fragrances which aim to be developed outside of the purview of the petrochemical industry regarding the essences it uses while getting further away from simplistic aromatherapy blends and closer to aesthetically-constrained fragrance-composing. Bio' Rêve (Bio Dream) is a French brand which has released a number of Eco-certified compositions since 2008. Their aim is to associate " the pure tradition of French perfumery" with an organic creed using a palette of raw materials devoid of the substances which have triggered public health concerns, including synthetic musks, Phthalates and Parabens, but not limited to these 3 most famous scare-mongering ingredients which they advertise most clearly. The company also mentions that they exclude Phenoxyethanol, glycol ethers, Polyethylene glycol (PEG). The packaging of their fragrances inform consumers that they are constituted of 100% natural ingredients and 81% organic ingredients. Progresses in the domain of natural and organic perfumery are quite rapid in France it seems and perfumes tend to become more and more satisfying each year although some are still technological letdowns (I am thinking of a Snö Bioflowers deodorant I tried in 2009.) It becomes therefore interesting to be increasingly able to apply the criteria of complexity, structure, diffusion and lasting power to natural perfumes, in 2010 even more so than in 2008. Notes: lemon, clementine, organic geranium rosewood, ginger, neroli, davana, patchouli...
Continue reading "Bio' Rêve Eau de Toilette Sensuelle Bio (2008) {Fragrance Review} {Green Products}" »
 Hope you are still able to partake of the pleasures of the beach and seaside before fall sets in. We are continuing our exploration of the marine landscape in perfumery and here is part 2 of the Best-Of list of Beach and Marine Fragrances with the next 7 perfumes on the list (Please see Part 1 here.)  - Hermès Eau des MerveillesThis is an elegant, sophisticated yet nature-referenced take on the solar marine genre co-signed by perfumers Ralf Schwieger and Nathalie Feisthauer. It is an ode to ambergris, the mythical substance full of wonders. The Eau de Toilette in its most marine phase smells of the scent of skin gently battered by the elements and softened by expensive suncare cosmetics. It is like a 21st century echo (2004) to the early 20th century Chaldée by Jean Patou (1927): it's all about chic in the sun.  - Hermès Eau Claire des Merveilles
Please see our review of it. The fragrance launches this fall. Who says you cannot wear a perfume in the beach
genre all year round if it pleases you especially when it feels a bit northerly? Its scent is milky-white and pale yellow like an Eugène Boudin sand-and-sky continuum; there is
the signature ambergris note of the Eau des Merveilles range; it smells of driftwood. This is a beach opus for the paler days
of the year perhaps more evocative of long walks on opalescent sand by a gray misty sea in the autumn. It might interest perfume wearers who like the stitching to show a bit and enjoy the study genre where the hesitations of different aesthetic choices can be felt...
Continue reading "30 of the Very Best Beach & Marine Fragrances - Part 2 {Fragrance Reviews} {Perfume List} " »
|
Fin O'Suilleabhain on
Les Exclusifs: Bel Respiro, No 18, & 28 La Pausa by Chanel {Perfume Review & Musings} {New Perfumes}
: Hi ... can I ask about the Stravinsky / Chanel image. Is ...
Thalestris Dupont on
Fragonard Caresse (1929/2008) {Perfume Review}
: Lovely perfume! Reminds me of the spring 2011 when I was wearing ...
Karen Lindsey on
Long Lost Crabtree & Evelyn Fragrance: Help Please {Ask The Readers}
: I just found this site and I so need to find someone ...
Regina on
Happy New Year 2012!
: Valentine's Day will soon be here. Any recommendations?
C Sasich on
Easy Tricks To Create Golden Globes Hairstyles! {Beauty Notes - Hair}
: My fave was Michelle Williams - modern , effortless not overdone . ...
kelvin neo on
Victoria's Secret Life is Pink Wish Pink, Live Pink, Hope Pink (2010) *New Fragrances*
: Hi good day, Can i know where can purchase or order Pink ...
Alan on
A Funny Post About Scented Candles {Fragrant Reading}
: Hell-scent candle, lol.
Gina on
Two Organic Oud Scents: Sama Oudh Jasmin & Undergreen Black Classic (2011) {New Perfumes}
: I want to try Sama Oudh Jasmin but checked the websites. I ...
Tammy on
Top 12 Best New Department Store Fragrances of 2011 for the Holidays {Perfume List}
: Wish this came with a little print out sheet for my next ...
Toñi on
Dance with Givenchy (2010) {New Perfume}
: Where can I get Dance with Givenchy? It's impossible to find it ...
Toñi on
Dance with Givenchy (2010) {New Perfume}
: Where can I get Dance with Givenchy? It's impossible to find it ...
evageli karounzou on
Choppy Waters for Stella Cadente Miss Me {Fragrance News}
: at 2007 i was in paris an i bought this perfume.Since then ...
Mandy Aftel on
Aftelier Perfumes Secret Garden (2011): Featuring Real Civet & Castoreum {New Fragrance}
: Thank you so much Marie-Helene for your lovely review! You are great ...
Kay on
Mona di Orio Chamarré (2009): Perfume Review in Memoriam
: This is very interesting. First thing that came to my mind when ...
Maddy on
Bint el Sudan, The Other, African Chanel No.5: Interview with Nick Evans of International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. {Perfume Q & A - The Scents of Africa}
: Interesting post. I've lived in Ghana but I don't remember encountering anyone ...
All original content and translations herein copyright © 2006. All rights reserved; reproduction requires the author’s prior written consent. You are however welcome to provide a link back to the posts on this site as long as you explicitly mention their authorship, recognize the original source of the information you give, and acknowledge the site of origin.
Powered by Movable Type 4.32-en
|
Digg This
Stumble
Facebook
Del.icio.us
