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 Interesting concept. You can now create your own olfactory bubble while away from home. A booking site for hotel rooms proposes a service that allows customers to travel with a bottled scent of their most familiar surroundings. It can involve the scents of lilies, roast meat, spicy cuisine... but, please, no whiff of cat's litter (Editor's note: well, actually, lilies do smell like cat's litter at some point in their olfactory evolution). It is not clear how practical the implementation of the idea is, or how truly desirable, but apparently, it's not a spoof. Perhaps the service will be best appreciated by frequent travelers rather than people who want to explore the planet, with their noses too. "Holiday firm LateRooms.com has created travel kits which include a fragrance that replicates the smell of customers' houses. There
is also an mp3 player to hear the sounds of family life, a selection of
favourite refreshments and a pillowcase smelling of their washing
powder."
Read more...
 Astronaut Michael Fincke on March 10, courtesy of Nasa via AP
A new olfactory frontier lies in capturing the scents of outer space. If fragrance has always thrived on the lure of mystery and half-unveiled truths, galactic scents will be one significant and sophisticated source of inspiration for the perfumery of the 21st century. In the past, Shiseido attempted to recreate the scent of a rose flown aboard a space shuttle with Zen (white bottle) as in a poetic reminiscence of Le Petit Prince by Saint-Exupery; Omega Ingredients more recently was working on a reconstitution of the smells of outer space for astronaut-training purposes declaring the main olfactory notes to be welded hot metal and fried steak; an exhibition on Extinct and Impossible Smells aimed to offer the imagined scent of the surface of the sun; Stephen Jones with Comme des Garçons offered last year a "violet hit by a meteorite" that smelled in part of dusty minerals; now, we are offered a more elaborate description of further other-wordly olfactory facets...
Continue reading "Another Olfactory Facet of Outer Space: A Whiff of Vacuum is the Next Big Trend {The 5th Sense in the News}" »
 A releatively well-preserved perfume flacon of woman pharaoh Hatshepsut underwent initial analysis and could become the basis of the reconstitution of a liquid fragrance, "Hatshepsut's perfume is also presumably a demonstration of her power.
"We think it probable that one constituent was incense - the scent of
the gods," Michael Höveler-Müller declares. This idea is not so wide of
the mark, as it is a known fact that in the course of her regency
Haptshepsut undertook an expedition to Punt - the modern Eritrea, and
the Egyptians had been importing precious goods such as ebony, ivory,
gold, and just this incense, from there since the third millennium B.C.
Apparently the expedition brought back whole incense plants, which
Hatshepsut then had planted in the vicinity of her funerary temple."
Read more...
Photo credit: statue of Hatshepsut at the MET, Wikimedia Commons.
 An interesting early advertising American label for an Eau de Cologne from Boston dating from the 1870s depicting a duel between Ja'ques and Farina, both makers of the wonderful Eau de Cologne
As 2009 marks the 300th anniversary of the Eau de Cologne (is it a simple
coincidence?), a village feud spanning the centuries and resembling in flavor that of the Capulets and
Montagues gets settled for a little while in favor of the Feminises
over the Farinas, both candidates to the title of inventor of the Eau
de Cologne...
Continue reading "Feud over the Invention of the Eau de Cologne Won by Feminis in the Latest Round {The 5th Sense in the News}" »
 A Grotesque Old Woman by Quentin Metsys
According to Datamonitor, the seniors represent the next segment of the market to conquer especially where fragrances are concerned as they reportedly develop a body odor that signals their age and contributes to making them look...their real age to others, i.e., old. Anti-age scents oriented for seniors care would be able to make them smell younger. Some people will think it's just a new gimmick set up to create new anxieties and make you shell out money to assuage them. My only problem with this view is that I would be hard-pressed to pinpoint an universal old-people smell like I could for that of a flower (with some nuances). When you walk on the street, do you get particular wafts?
"Skin care is already a strong category for the demographic,
particularly anti-aging, but other sectors including hair care are less
well developed.
But according to Datamonitor's Matthew Adams, it is the fragrance and deodorant categories that hold good growth potential among the older generation.
"Researchers in Japan have identified why we begin to develop a
different natural personal scent as we age and this could lead to all
sorts of new products to make people smell and feel both younger and
more confident," he told CosmeticsDesign."...
Continue reading "Perfumes To Make You Smell Younger -- Do We Really Need Special Prescription Scents? {The 5th Sense in the News}" »
 A fragrance panel hosted by The Fragrance Foundation addressed the issue of evolving consumers' spending patterns on perfume products, "When it comes to fragrance, something doesn't smell quite right to
shoppers these days. The scents are enticing, yes, but the thought of
spending money on another bottle of fragrance is not, as shoppers
tighten their hold on discretionary dollars -- said presenters of the
panel discussion "Marketing in a Downturn: Strategies for Selling
Scents in Challenging Times" held Tuesday at the Time-Life Building in
New York...
Continue reading "Marketing Analysis of Changing Perfume-Spending Habits - The 5th Sense in the News" »
 A humorous-sounding scientific finding which comes across as the olfactory equivalent of "Women are from Venus and Men are from Mars" reveals that each sex emits different scents in the armpit region when it is subjected to bacteria action...
Continue reading "Women Smell of Onion; Men of Cheese {The 5th Sense in the News}" »
 George Dodd answers the fundamental question of how best to reproduce your genes on the occasion of upcoming Valentine's Day 2009. Yes, I know, not very romantic-sounding, but that's what it is all about really, at a certain level of biological reality. "On the evening of St Valentine's Day last year, I held the world's first sniff-dating event in the Dana Centre at the London Science Museum. Here are some top tips to help you sniff-out your perfect romantic partner... With smell dating, we are effectively sniffing-out complementary genes in our partners' immune system so that we can have healthy babies. Mating and having healthy babies is crucial to survival, and part of this concerns our sense of smell. Our personal portfolio of smell receptors will like the body odour of some partners more than others. Body odour is linked to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes, a key part of the immune system that recognises self from non-self. Couples whose HLA-related body odour is too similar are more likely to have difficulties in conceiving. This is real biological perfumery - the mating instinct at the molecular aroma level." Read more in The Guardian... Upcoming Valentine's features on The Scented Salamander: To help you out on Valentine's Day, I will be posting about Perfumes That Smell Unique Because You Are Unique, and deserve nothing less than not to be betrayed by your perfume. If you don't feel unique, those will help you feel the part. That was an interesting exercise and was inspired to me by the proteian quality of Vanille Galante by Hermès. A contrario, I thought to myself, what are those perfumes that I always recognize on others and have such a strong signature, replete with olfactory integrity? You might be suprised by my choices and I will explain my selection. Watch also for my continuing series on musk perfumes. And in particular this time, I will be focusing on comparative reviews of MUSK OILS! I have been collecting a number of musk oils from all denominations for several months now and we will see what they have to offer!...
Continue reading "Best Advice for Valentine's Day: Sniff Your Partner {The 5th Sense in the News} - Valentine's Day Recap {Fragrant Readings}" »
 A gift-wrapped France by Fauchon
You could apply several different lenses to interpreting the problems faced by the luxury industry in France in the context of a global downturn, but one that is worth considering is the tilting in favor of a public discourse on values (on the part of the luxury industry players) and the promotion of a more low-key, intimist approach to luxury. It almost all seems to go back to the pre-industrial age in the 18th century when you hear Sonia Rykiel is planning to organize her next spring fashion show in two (no doubt, small) rooms. Mauboussin also preconises less ostentation, more real-world prices, and more reflection on values. Reportedly, the French's core moral values of balance (the Terreur notwithstanding) and dislike for show-off (Versailles notwithstanding), associated with their inherent conservatism will help them prevail, once more. Rather than trying to keep the machine running by pumping out
high-price hand bags, watches and other goods, he (Alain Némarq, the chairman of Mauboussin) proposed the
unthinkable: the entire luxury industry should slash prices. "We need a
return to reason, decency, discretion, beauty and creativity -- in other
words, to true values," Mr. Némarq said. (Mauboussin has led by
example. It has sold its one-carat diamond solitaire "Chance of Love"
ring for about $14,500, roughly a third less than its normal price, and
its lower-end 0.15-carat diamond ring was priced at $895, Mr. Némarq
said.)
Read more in the NYT...
 A new term has been coined to designate those remnants of smoking that are not associated with visible smoke but with the smells it leaves, " third-hand smoking". Those odors, like the cold tobacco odor, ought to signal danger because they remain toxic...
Continue reading "Third-Hand Smoke Best Detected By The Nose {The 5th Sense in the News}" »
 Photo © Gaetan Lee
French physicist researcher Gérard Liger-Belair used to be an oceanographer before having to quit his profession due to an accident. Next, while he was feeling bluesy and contemplating beer bubbles he decided to research the dynamic of their effervescence. This led him to a doctoral dissertation on the topic with Champagne wine now a prime object of research. Among the things his research shows is that bubbles form because of impurities and that the more bubbles there are, the more aromatic molecules get released. From a practical point of view, the Champagne flute therefore wins over the round cup as it encourages the formation of more numerous bubbles spread out evenly. They are also bigger in a flute thus debunking the myth that fine bubbles signal a better Champagne as is commonly asserted by tasters. Read more (in French)....
 This morning both Cosmetic News and the Chicago Tribune are indicating that internet shopping appears to be the way to go for holiday bargain hunters this season. Indeed although the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported a general slump in British retail, "The BRC/KPMG report found that although growth for non-food/non-store
sales (internet) slowed to 9.5% in November, compared with a 16.6%
increase in October, consumers are increasingly researching prices on
the internet to take advantage of heavy discounting. "Shoppers are
using the internet more this Christmas as they have become more
confident about ordering online [and are] feeling more relaxed about
ordering later," the report said."...
Continue reading "'Tis The Season of Bargain Online Shopping {The 5th Sense in the News} {Shopping Tips}" »
 Lucien Lelong dress from 1937
An article based on Jacqueline Demornex's book Lucien Lelong retraces the career of the couturier and in particular his determining role in having prevented French haute couture from being transplanted from Paris to Berlin during the Nazi occupation. His perfumes are evoked in passing, with a cultural note...
Continue reading "Article on Lucien Lelong's Heritage {The 5th Sense in the News}" »
 L'Artisan Parfumeur Mon Numéro
The International Herald Tribune has a piece on bespoke perfumery in which Cartier, L'Artisan Parfumeur, Guerlain and Francis Kurkdjian are featured. As long as the brands can sell a few or just only one perfume priced at $20 000 or 40 000 €, it seems to make a lot of sense to focus one's target on to the rich in a troubled economy. L'Artisan Parfumeur for instance is launching in January 2009 a collection of unique creations called Mon Numéro, housed in similarly one-of-a-kind flacons hand-blown by master glazier Pascale Riberolles. It will remain a Paris exclusive though. You can read more about this trend here...
 With the glut of celebrity fragrances in the market, launching a new scent in that category can feel like playing with the lottery or taking that opportunity just to garner publicity on the pretext of a new bottle of exquisiteness. You create an event and people talk about it and it is all good, even if, secondary concern, the juice suckeths big time. Who cares about the quality of the contents as long as it is a good brand-name carrier, a question some innocent people might still ask?...
Continue reading "Prince Sued for Not Participating in Promotion of 3121 {The 5th Sense in the News}" »
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