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The Synergy That Is Opium
Since 1977, Opium by Yves Saint Laurent has managed to achieve iconic status both from the viewpoint of the perfume it is and the image it projects. For people who might feel skeptical about the importance accorded the outer shell of a fragrance, Opium is an eloquent example of that higher level of self-realization for a fragrance so well given meaning and definition by its container that no doubt remains as to the adequation of the bottle to the jus and the desirability and marking personality of the scent; this is a quality that both mainstream marketing professionals and perfumers aim at and which they refer to as "synergy". Some perfumers even explain that ideas finally gelled when they saw the flacon for the scent they were developing......
Continue reading "Yves Saint Laurent Opium Poésie de Chine (2008): Salty Iris & Caramelized Eel {Perfume Review}" »
 Lolita Lempicka like every self-respecting successful fragrance brand puts out limited editions as the occasion arises. This is our first experience with one of their flanker editions to the original Lolita Lempicka (1997), which was a re-take on Angel by Thierry Mugler (1992). Fleur Défendue was created by perfumer Annick Menardo who also composed the original Lolita Lempicka. The scent already outsold according to Sephora US, not to be brought back. It sounded rather dramatic and perhaps even tragic so soon after its launch when first announced as the composition sounded promising. Either we are not quite ready for this composition or they were not quite ready to launch. At any rate, it flew off the shelves. If you are pining for it, the only recourse apparently is to turn to Europe where it is still available. (Update: one of the 2 sizes is back in store).
Fleur Défendue (Forbidden Flower) opens on conventional soapy top notes and segues into something with a bit more definition (white ambergris and some generic crunchy green accents). It reminds us there and then vaguely of a dozen other scents, Tommy Hilfiger Dreaming among them, which recently epitomized for us a kind of generic Jane-Doe scent.....
Continue reading "Lolita Lempicka Fleur Défendue - Forbidden Flower (2008) {Perfume Review}" »
Guerlain Jasmin ca. 1928 Lalique glass from Ragoarts With the summer approaching, my nose has become, for some reason, curious of three notes in perfumery: jasmine for its solar opulence and at the other end of the light spectrum, anise and lavender for their pristine pale greenish and bluish coolness. There was a Jasmin by Guerlain introduced in 1928, four years after Jasmin de Siam (1924) which is also at times referred to as simply "Jasmin", so further clarification is needed to sort these two out. There was also a Jasmiralda in 1917 by the same house. All these jasmine perfumes came out when the house was led by head perfumer Jacques Guerlain (1874-1963). It was an era which resembled in some ways ours in that perfume launches were not hyper selective but rather fluid, following the fashions of the day, meant to bring a spark of seasonal excitement to the élégantes who were used to expecting the latest new scent, the perfume that was dernier cri. Has this practice ever drastically changed? One may wonder about this representation. Perhaps right after WWII and before the advent of mass travel and consumption, there was a perfumery that was de facto more rarefied and elitist for a relatively short period of time at the end of years of privation imposed by the war and immediate post-war restrictions. What has evolved surely is the growing shedding of casualness when presenting a brand new creation, but perhaps not so much the fashionable appeal of perfumes.
A testament to the practice of widely-accepted seasonal perfumery creations is the fact that many of the perfume bottles containing the new Guerlain fragrances were re-used as undifferentiated containers except for the names on the labels and colors of ribbons which facilitated a rapid turnover of new launches without the big fanfares we have become accustomed with, with apexes of spectacularly theatrical launches as those of Yves Saint Laurent Opium and Dior Poison in the 1980s. Having said that, one cannot but marvel at the variety of perfume flacons that Guerlain offered even if some were "recycled". Having experienced the undifferentiated Guerlain amphora flacons, it never felt like a lack of imagination on the part of the house but rather like a consolidation of its myth. Jasmin by Guerlain was offered in a packaging of its own despite the fact that the composition is rather modest and feels more like a seasonal scent than a full-fledged composition. But then again it corresponded to a taste for soliflores.....
Continue reading "Guerlain Jasmin (1924/1928) {Perfume Review}" »
Guess by Marciano, as reported earlier, represents the brand's effort to offer a more sophisticated and upscale Guess perfume on the occasion of its 27th anniversary. Smelling the perfume having forgotten all promises, it is unexpected to discover the unfolding of a composition that should be going more firmly in the direction of one of those "pink" or "fruit-salad" fragrances for young women with their fruity-floral and milky tonalities, and see it in fact renew the genre by smelling deeply ambery. Instead of the light white musks and usual pinkish touches like rose, peony, and litchi, we discover a rolling-out of a more substantial and satisfying ingredient, ambergris, treated almost in an old-fashioned way, that is in an animalistic way. Distant references like Weil Zibeline and Jean Desprez Bal à Versailles pop up, only as if they had fallen into a vat of fruits and dulce de leche, in a good way.
The fragrance was created by perfumer Barbara Zoebelein of Drom Fragrances and developed by Parlux Fragrances, Inc. It could be seen as a milky woody oriental with a powdery overtone. Something of the spirit of Le Feu d'Issey can be detected here in the intensity of a lactic and spicy (cardamom) impression that feels grown-up rather than babyish. The vintage allusion found in the scent is reinforced by the fishnet motif on the flacon which precisely aims to reflect the spirit of a bygone era. Jasmine is showcased both on the bottle and in the scent.......
Continue reading "Guess By Marciano (2008) + 5 Bottles as Giveaways {Perfume Review}" »
Fruits and Fig in Particular in Fragrances Miller Harris Figue Amère (Bitter Fig) was launched in March of 2002 in the Nouvelle Edition Collection and joined the Ligne de Parfums in October of 2004. It is part of a modern soli-fruit group of fig-based fragrances that have proved popular and enduring to this day and were developed after Olivia Giacobetti came up with the original idea, paving the way with her L'Artisan Premier Figuier (1994) and Diptyque Phylosikos (1996). More generally speaking, perfumes that have showcased a slightly incongruous and conspicuous - at first - note of luscious ripe fruit like Guerlain Mitsouko (peach and prune) and Rochas Femme (prune and peach) or even the less mainstream Caron Acaciosa (pineapple) and Patou Colony (pineapple) could be seen to have helped shape wearers sensitivities to the welcome additions of notes subliminally suggesting a mythological golden age and the appeal of cornucopia thereby making fruits feel elegant, decorative as seen in paintings and Roman mosaics hinting at the abundance of the fruits of the earth rather than be perceived to be nibble-worthy. With time the showcasing of fruits in fragrances has become sometimes very realistic and the pineapple with peach in Yves Saint Laurent Yvresse has already become more 3-D......
Continue reading "Miller Harris Figue Amère (2002) {Perfume Review}" »
The two latest creations by Jo Malone, Lotus Blossom & Water Lily and Dark Amber & Ginger Lily, are both inspired by the diurnal and nocturnal rhythms of life as well as by the spiritual tradition of the East in their evocations of calm, unruffled waters and veils of mystical incense. The compositions are more complex than are usual for Jo Malone; here the simplicity that is usual to the line seems to have been translated into an aesthetic sense of purity and serenity resting on subtle and unusual aromas. Asian olfactory quotes are present helping the mind travel to distant exotic lands albeit without using the deeply sensual vehicle of the oriental perfume with Middle Eastern connotations. If Serge Lutens Arabie is a boisterous market in Istanbul replete with baskets of candied dry fruits bursting at the seams with honey and sap and half-stoned with ambient spices, Lotus Blossom & Water Lily is a transparent evocation of a dewy flower market in Bangkok at dawn as it fragrantly emerges from the obscurity of the night. Even in Dark Amber & Ginger Lily the heavier, more classically weighted-down oriental notes are made more spiritual thanks to airy notes of incense and the watery, cool-cucumber character of ginger lily. Suffice it to say that both perfumes succeed at making your mind more of a mental plane, similar to a clean slate on which letters or characters have not been chalked down yet. Although we were initially more taken with Lotus Blossom & Water Lily, the Dark Amber and Ginger Lily in the end is quite subjugating too if you let it produce its effect (a second layer of the same scent, applied later in the development seems optimal.) Both scents offer wonderful woody, incensey, and floral tonalities. We could not but propose to read a little poem by Dogen before wading in mind through the moonlit water, as both perfumes seem to offer a dreamy lunar quality,
"Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water.
The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.
Although its light is wide and great,
The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.
The whole moon and the entire sky
Are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass."
Dogen.....
Continue reading "Jo Malone Lotus Blossom & Water Lily and Dark Amber & Ginger Lily - Kohdo Wood (2008) {Perfume Reviews}" »
The latest perfume by Eau d'Italie, Magnolia Romana, is a light, airy, elegant, polished magnolia composition in which both crisp green facets and ivory-like creamy accents unfold. A clean and sensual musk accord supported by transparent ozonic notes mimicking the scent of outdoorsy warm skin signals summertime and nude tanned arms kissed by sea spray and hot sand, not far from the shade of a Magnolia tree.....
Continue reading "Eau d'Italie Magnolia Romana (2008) {Perfume Review}" »
The latest Dolce & Gabbana The One for Men is said by Gabbana to be an all-man's perfume, "I wanted to create a real man's fragrance" and the designer according to WWD emphasized the word "uomo" in the conversation. The ad fronted by Matthew McConaughey in the role of a (fully-dressed for once) Latin-inspired masculine icon was photographed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino. A micro site was set up to promote the new cologne.
The One for Men is a warm, sweet and fruity tobacco perfume in the oriental genre. The brand describes it as "a spicy, oriental perfume developed on the harmony of tobacco with refined boisé notes". The flacon is meant to directly reflect the fashion sense of the brand as "the proportions of the bottle recall a tailor suit made by the fashion house" (see also Narciso Rodriguez for Him). Noteworthy points are the fact that the scent emphasizes the fruity tonality - less common a phenomenon for masculine fragrances than for feminine ones currently (see Calvin Klein Man) - and that you can find a well-developed quote in the heart from a famous discontinued Italian oriental classic.......
Continue reading "Dolce & Gabbana The One for Men (2008) {Perfume Review} {New Fragrance} {Men's Cologne}" »
The idea of combining the sober, cool, and darkish notes of laurel and licorice in a fresh summer eau sounded attractive and promised some interesting dissonance. The concretization of this vision however is sorrily missing in inspiration. It seems as though Figue-Iris, reviewed yesterday, got the better budget and greater amount of attention, while Laurier-Réglisse did not really have the time to bloom properly. If, as said previously, Figue-Iris is able to make a Mediterranean summer scenery come alive, one constantly pays attention to the inner workings of Laurier-Réglisse feeling like a plumber of sorts peeking into the guts of the fragrance because a problem is felt. It is perhaps inevitable that when a twin or grouped launch occurs, one scent will be less developed than the other(s), but let us hope for the best.
Laurier-Réglisse Laurier-Réglisse was composed by perfumer Marie Salamagne in collaboration with artistic director Sylvaine Delacourte. She already composed Mandarine-Basilic in the Aqua Allegoria line last year while Jean-Paul Guerlain was in charge of the creation of Angélique-Lilas. We have only cursorily smelled these, so we cannot draw a comparison. Salamagne also more recently created Kenzo Tokyo, Vivienne Westwood Let It Rock and Boudoir Sin Garden, Miss Sixty Elixir, Grès My Life......
Continue reading "Guerlain Laurier-Réglisse (2008) {Perfume Review} {New Fragrance}" »
As each year, Guerlain releases a set of two Aqua Allegoria perfumes to usher in the summer. This collection of scents established in 1999 wishes to explore in a less formal setting materials and main accords - of two notes usually - while elaborating upon the idea of freshness by tapping each time into different tonalities, shades and meanings of the notion of freshness. Jean-Paul Guerlain who composed Figue-Iris this year has said that he is personally very much interested in this sensation as conveyed by perfumery. Laurier-Réglisse and Figue-Iris are the two new odes to pristine, more transparent impressions or their indirect suggestions in 2008. We will review Laurier-Réglisse separately. Figue-Iris While it is still spring now, smelling the new Figue-Iris made the days of summer suddenly magically appear out of thin air like images projected by an invisible movie projector with no silver screen in sight. If one can sometimes judge perfumes as art-for-art, at other times it is also relevant to evaluate them as wonderful successful magician's tricks, examples of the art of the illusionist or alternatively, little scintillating nuggets of fool's gold that make you believe in and crave for the reality suggested by the illusion. Figue-Iris creates an exquisite sense of longing for summer......
Continue reading "Guerlain Figue-Iris (2008) {Perfume Review} {New Fragrance}" »
Ed Hardy and Christian Audigier released a duo of signature perfumes this spring meant to convey the spirit of the vintage tattoo brand, which is young, with a mix of fusion sensibilities,
"...fusing the best elements of tattoo, hot rod, and cholo culture along with a tinge of his native French heritage. The brand is rock and roll with soul, California through and through." (see previous post)....
Ed Hardy for Men and Women came out in a seeming fanfare of arresting images and commercial promotions. Apparently, it is very efficacious because the perfumes are sold out in many places due to, among other things, a GWP in the form of a desirable white tattoo tote that is now already a collector's item on auction sites.
Scent-wise, of the two the masculine Ed Hardy feels more original, most noticeably in that part contained between the top and base notes, while the feminine version safely replays youth-perfume codes centering on the category of the milky fruity-floral, with a little added twist: the apple-soufflé accord.....
Continue reading "Ed Hardy By Christian Audigier for Men & Women (2008) {Perfume Reviews}" »
Isabela Capeto is a Brazilian fashion designer who last year launched her debut signature fragrance, Isabela Capeto. The flacon in the shape of a toy-art logo-like red plastic doll oozes cuteness and hipness. It won a 2007 Worldstar prize for packaging. The perfume itself by Carmita Magalhaes from Mane is much less interesting than anticipated for a project that promised to be a creative one. The composition is reminiscent of a school of predecessors in the woody-spicy category of perfumes. In fact it elicits the general hard-to-grasp idea that the scent feels both familiar and niche, two terms that should never be uttered in the same breath nor in the same sentence in principle for those who live and breathe for niche-perfume discoveries. It creates a much more twisted and subtle effect than when a niche brand copies a mass-marketed perfume, say as in the case of Santa Maria Novella Angels of Florence copying Elizabeth Arden Fifth Avenue, which itself copied...we forget. In the latter case, it only reveals some commercial anxieties. In the first case, it has more of a perverse effect as it copies some of the hallmarks of the - according to common sense - more creative side of perfumery. Here is a good example of how "niche" can come to mean a phenomenon of stereotypical olfactory branding by integrating some signature effects such as "pared-down", "spice-overdose", "photo-realism", "back-from-an-olfactory-trek-from-which-I-brought-back-new-unknown-aromas, except here it is a local flower (Brazilian marshland lily)......
Continue reading "Isabela Capeto by Isabela Capeto (2007): When Niche is Niche-y & Not Much More {Perfume Review} {Scented Thoughts}" »
 If the title of the perfume, White Jasmine and Mint by Jo Malone, seems to suggest an unusually fresh and airy rendition of jasmine thanks to the addition of mint, in reality the perfume surprises you with its slightly more complex dual character, which reveals a warm and rich creamy facet.
The perfume opens on a tapestry-like floral bouquet rather than offer any discernable singled-out note; it is delicately hemmed with mint (the “Jo Malone mint accord of wild mint and peppermint leaf”). The first moments offer variegated nuances: soapy, subtly animalistic, savory, creamy, green, woodsy, and perfume-y. In fact and in reference to the latter, the scent combines a fresh natural simple-girl spirit with a dash of sophistication. The scent sharpens a bit too much to my nose for a little while seeming to screech a bit, but next a mellower cardamom milky creamy sensation follows letting out lightly mentholated notes while further blending with a crushed green-foliage impression. A little savory-sweet nuance is unexpected and adds a discreet edible nuance to the blend......
Continue reading "Jo Malone White Jasmine & Mint (2007) {Perfume Review}" »
Unforgivable Black and Unforgivable Woman Black by Sean John are the two latest additions to the Sean John perfume portfolio. His debut scent was Unforgivable for Men in 2006 which was a commercial success earning the brand $150 million globally. Last year Sean Diddy Combs also designed a women's version of Unforgivable, which he noted had nothing to do with the original men's version except for a subtle "synergy note" of bergamot as he wanted the feminine scent to stand on its own. He told Women's Wear Daily,
"I didn't want to take the easy way out as far as just making a feminine version of the men's. Women and men are totally different. I like a woman to smell like a woman, and a man to smell like a man."
After everyone has had time to take in this statement and digest it, we can point out that this time the Black duo takes the synergy route that was rejected the first time around. The two perfumes are very much two birds of the same feather but this time they seem to belong to one of those species of birds where the male's plumage is more colorful than the female's one due to male active sexual competition over female mates......
Continue reading "Unforgivable Black & Unforgivable Woman Black (2008) {Perfume Reviews} {New Fragrances}" »
Here are some suggestions for wearing spring fragrances, in several installments. Today, I turn to the "effortlessly chic" category. By that I mean that as lighter, fresher perfumes these perfumes tend to dress down a bit but not overly so. They retain an air of elegance and sophistication about them mixed with a dose of studied nonchalance and casualness.
Why should some perfumes be considered to be particularly appropriate for spring time? Their vernal quality is suggested by their rich, yet still frail floral notes, their freshness, and their luminosity bespeaking of the spring equinox and daylight-saving time.
Green notes that are just a bit crunchy also contribute to this feeling of smelling half-open buds. These scents to me offer transparent, airy, cool nuances rather than ripe, decaying ones. When brainstorming about the topic, I had to realize that the house of Guerlain had been particularly committed to offering interpretations of springtime perfumes. Nina Ricci too, although only one of their scents is mentioned.
1- Diorissimo No list about perfume classics embodying the yearning for spring would be complete without Diorissimo by Dior. Composed by master-perfumer Edmond Roudnitska in 1956 it remains a central reference as the lily-of-the-valley fragrance as it has come to embody the very spirit of spring for generations of wearers. The scent of Diorissimo is like drinking muguet-scented champagne on the pristine empty streets of a clean and empty Paris in the wee hours of the morning listening to the distant sound of party laughters. You feel like you own the city of lights and spring, both. It too should have been called Joy......
Continue reading "11 Effortlessly Chic Spring Fragrances: The Classics " »
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