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 In an age so characteristically drawn to images and by extension to celebrity dazzle, it is no surprise to see a trend of perfumes emerge that are inspired by this particular moment of modern-day glory: the red carpet. From Cannes to Hollywood, beauty parades on long avenues of plush crimson red and become haloed by the flashes of the paparazzi's light bulbs. But why this year? This past half-year and this half-year year is or was the recession. A perfume idea gets floated about two years in advance on average. Did designers dream of the red carpet a while ago or is it just appropriate to make people dream even more glamorously when reality is less than perky? Movie tickets have never sold better than in the current downturn in a recall of the Great Depression. Obviously the red carpet is the right kind of dream to have these days.
The Red-Carpet Perfume TrendJessica Simpson said it so herself. Fancy, her debut perfume was meant to prepare her/you for all the situations in life one might encounter " With FANCY, I wanted to create a pretty fragrance, one that I could be just as comfortable wearing on the red carpet or every day with my favorite jeans," To quote the classics, the 15-mn of fame dictum by Warhol anticipated that one day we would just need that kind of fragrance: the red-carpet ready one. The bottle was über-shiny but not particularly red-carpet themed unless you see an allusion to the Oscar statuette in the bottle topper. Let's call it a transition red-carpet perfume.  Badgley and Mischka wanted to pay homage to all of their glamorous women friends who are red-carpet regulars and highlights. Couture was born. The bottle is designed after a red-carpet-worthy gold lamé dress with the shoulders of the star peaking through nude.... 
Continue reading "The Red-Carpet Perfume Trend: Jessica Simpson Fancy, Badgley & Mischka Couture, Michael Kors Very Hollywood, Chopard Cascade {Trend Alert}" »
 After reviewing Vanille Galante by Hermès which showcased the addition of Vanilla Absolute as a sign of luxury and authenticity, as opposed to synthetic Vanillin, I started noticing a bevy of perfumes that had the much touted luxury vanilla touch. Some come after the release of Vanille Galante but many, in fact, were released before as, simply enough, a quick keyword search in The Scented Salamander blog search-box indicated to me. As I said earlier somewhere else on the blog, 2007 saw the beginning of the development of an interesting vanilla-perfume trend because it was very much linked to an authorial position in perfumery. What I mean by that is that the trend was not primarily commercially driven but came as the result of perfumers' interest in and ideas about the material injected into relatively confidential releases. The change also took place around the place accorded the ingredient: vanilla was made to leave its traditional and essential supporting role to take the lead role in compositions, namely Tihota by Francis Kurkdjian for Indult and Spiritueuse Double Vanille by Jean-Paul Guerlain for Guerlain in a limited-edition perfume. Vanilla, the commercial aroma if there ever was one (Vanilla Planifolia is also called "commercial vanilla") became the sign of rarity in these attempts at bringing the flavor vanilla into the fold of fine perfumery in its most exclusive incarnations, a little bit like what frayed blue jeans would signal if they made a come back on haute-couture runways and were pounded to become cashmere-grade soft...
Continue reading "Rewind on Vanilla Absolute in Recent Fragrances 2007-2009 {Trend Alert}" »
 Nina Ricci will launch a new flanker to its blockbuster French success Nina called Love by Nina in March of 2009. If the first fragrance featured a caramelized red apple, the new version goes for more freshness by replacing that central note with a tart and crunchy Granny-Smith one. The composition is by perfumer Olivier Cresp of Firmenich who is also the author of the original Nina (with Jacques Cavallier)....
Continue reading "Nina Ricci Love by Nina (2009): Color Code Green, Smell Code Cherries & Almonds: The New Youth Theme {New Perfume} {Trend Alert}" »
Pure perfume extracts are making a comeback this fall and winter 2008 and sometimes where you least expect them to appear. Synonymous with classical luxury traditionally, the extracts this fall and winter 2008 still want to impress you, and so they dress up and heighten the concentration of their oils and change a few notes to lure you in with more promise, but at the same time they have been adopted by brands that have a much hipper and younger, even laidback image than is usual to see in this category. Chanel, Guerlain, yes, fur and perfume, yes, but Aquolina, L'Artisan Parfumeur, Fragonard, (nice) tee-shirt and perfume (?) Yet they do come on the tails of earlier this year John Varvatos for Women parfum, Mariah Carey Gold and Usher for She. This must mean that everyone is now convinced that this is the in thing to do. What you can expect from a pure perfume extract is a higher concentration of perfume oils, from about 15% to 30 %, and also a higher proportion of natural perfume oils that add that extra multi-layered effect that can only come from the richness of natural essences made up of hundreds of naturally-occurring molecules, mixed with the more stable synthetics. Pure perfumes will be longer-lasting than in the other concentrations but often have an aura, a sillage that is closer to the body, more velvety and muted in a sense. Usually the pure perfume version is tweaked and rebalanced to slightly new effect. It is not just more of the same compared to the eau de parfum, eau de toilette, as if you had just amplified the sound on your stereo. 1- Kenzo Amour Le Parfum"A woody oriental composed of rich ingredients coveted in Asia. A fragrance sculpted by the woody tones of patchouli, the sensuous richness of benzoin balm from Siam, the roundness of amber, spices and incense like an offering. Bottle: A matte gold bottle inspired by the temples of Southeast Asia." 30ml $65.00 50ml $85.00 ...
Continue reading "Precious Pure-Parfums Trend, Fall-Winter 2008 {Trend Alert} {New Perfumes}" »
 Quirky Spanish design brand Custo Barcelona, with an unending affection for bold colors and prints, has launched its first signature fragrance bearing the same name. The perfume was created by perfumer Alberto Morillas and is reported to be both " appetising and innovative"; the novel twist is immediately conveyed by the name of the family of the scent categorized as a " fruity floral cypress", with cypress being more unexpected... 
Continue reading "Custo Barcelona by Custo Barcelona (2008) {New Perfume} - Cypress Is In {Trend Alert}" »
 Zero Otto in collaboration with Italian Gold-leaf conceptual artist Anna Carla de Leonardis just launched a new line of perfumes in Rome. The trio of scents is meant to interpret her vision of art and creativity into fragrance. The perfumes are called after three nuances of the precious metal gold: Or Blanc (White Gold), Or Rose (Pink Gold), Or Jaune (Yellow Gold) with the tag line " From golden pictures to perfumes: art is transformed into its essence." The new perfume brand is also inspired by the spirit of the Italian medieval alchemical tradition and by exotic materials brought back by travelers in past centuries... 
Continue reading "1528 Parfums Or Blanc, Or Rose, Or Jaune (2008) {New Fragrances} & Gold-Trend Alert" »
 Fashion jewelry brand Réminiscence, which reportedly were the first to introduce costume-jewelry collections following the rhythm of the fashion calendar for spring/summer and fall/winter shows, have released their two latest perfumes in that Notes Gourmandes collection which marked 2008. Sol La and Si Do come after Do Ré and Mi Fa introduced in the spring of 2008. Like their predecessors, the new Eaux de Parfum are inspired by gustatory notes, music, and queen Marie-Antoinette who is fast becoming a major cultural icon in France. The delightful charming pastel colors of the flacons seem to allude to the Versailles universe re-created by Sofia Coppola in her unconventional biopic about the former queen of France. And at this point I think that a post on all the scented products taking inspiration in Marie-Antoinette is warranted because there exists definitely a cultural and fashion trend in that direction going beyond yesterday's fad. Another noticeable trend illustrated here is the one where perfumes are inspired more generally by queens (see M.A. Sillage de la Reine, La Reine Margot, Amyitis, Sublime Balkiss, Wode...), as in a distant echo of this seminal ancient perfume, L'Eau de la Reine de Hongrie... 
Continue reading "Réminiscence Sol La, Si Do (2008): Rich Inspiration {New Perfumes} - The Queen's Perfume {Trend Alert}" »
 Supermodel Kate Moss, who unbelievably looks like she is only 16 on some of her recent magazine ads, but looked more human in Berlin on June 13 in Berlin, i.e., 34, just went there to launch her newest and second scent titled Velvet Hour. The ad campaign is shot by Mert & Marcus and features a feline Kate Moss luxuriating in a scintillating deep blue lamé dress while her new perfume looks like a smoking gun of seduction. The tag line reads "Embrace The Night" and sounds like a more sophisticated perfume than her debut one, Kate Moss.....
Continue reading "Kate Moss Velvet Hour (2008) {New Perfume} {New Fragrance Ad} {Trend Alert}" »
 There is an interview with perfumer Annick Menardo in the Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times around the Diesel duo of fragrances. We thought in particular that it was interesting to learn that Diesel for Men was inspired by an anise and lavender balm that brand owner Renzo Rosso had Menardo smell. Interesting because it explicitly states that fine fragrances can derive inspiration from toiletry products and their scents.....
Continue reading "Interview with Annick Menardo in the New Straits Times {The 5th Sense in the News} - The Vague Toiletry Scent Trend? {Scented Thoughts} {Trend Alert}" »
Incensing The Veil by John Singer Sargent - aquarelle version of the painting by the same author, Ambergris Smoke (1880) JSS Gallery Well, you cannot deny it now, ambergris is making a prolonged comeback. In a world where perfume trends can be short-lived (is the mega 2007 iris-trend still alive this year?), a classic material like grey amber that is not exactly pedestrian is seducing anew. The trend is essentially taking place within the niche sector of perfumery in an effort, we can assume, to find notes and accords that are rarer, i.e., neglected by the mainstream market, and offer a stronger personality. Interestingly, the contrast between the niche/mainstream iris-trend and the ambergris-trend as a solely niche one tends to show that the latter is slower to combust but more enduring.
So what noteworthy ambergris perfumes do we have here?.....
Continue reading "Ambregris' Comeback 2006-2008 {Trend ALert}" »
Coty have announced that they will launch a signature perfume fronted and developed by Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry in the spring of 2009. Not only is this news a consolidation of the celebrity perfume trend, but even more significantly perhaps it also shows how fragrance and beauty brands are reaching out to women from minority communities (see recent news about Shakira) with the more recent inclusions of women with African-American ancestry in the stables of celebrities that sell perfumes (see Avon Imari with Jennifer Hudson, Armani Diamonds with Beyoncé Knowles and the projected scent by Tom Ford fronted by Erykah Badu, still to be confirmed). Even pionneer of the new generation of celebrity fragrances in the 21st century JLo has picked up on this trend by accentuating the importance of her Hispanic heritage with her latest fragrance named with a Spanish name, Deseo, a facet of her perfumes that had not been explicitly stressed before.....
Continue reading "Halle Berry To Launch Fragrance with Coty: The Rise of The Ethnic Factor in Fragrance & Beauty Marketing {Fragrance News} {Celebrity Perfume} {Trend Alert}" »
Fairytales Eau de Toilette, $58 for 3.4 fl. oz.
Lulu Guinness launched a new perfume yesterday on Halloween day called Fairytales. It is a limited edition and is inspired by the tales of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. She had already launched a fragrance inspired by the same magical theme called Cast a Spell, a woody oriental......
Continue reading "Fairytales by Lulu Guinness {New Perfume} Mirror & Fairy Tales {Trend Alert}" »
Parallel to the activities of innovation and sense of sheer child-like liberty of creation in perfumery that are perhaps best exemplified by Etat Libre d'Orange who seem to be delighted to be sticking their tongues at starchy perfume wearers and complementary to it, we see a more curatorial-minded movement that aims to resurrect antique and vintage French perfume brands, some of which are all but forgotten. It would be interesting to see how this current (for the French-owned brands) parallels another cultural movement in French-movie making, that of the so-called heritage movies. The preservation of national patrimony has become a core Republican value of the French. Is its seeming equivalent in perfumery similarly minded or animated by a different spirit? More generally and beyond the French frame of reference (for Piguet for example) it certainly signifies an aesthetic choice......
Continue reading "Resurrecting Vintage Perfume Brands: Robert Piguet, Lubin, Jovoy, & Now Gabilla! {Fragrance News} {Scented Thoughts} {Trend Alert}" »
More often than not one is tempted to associate vetiver with masculine fragrances. Fragrances that famously advertize vetiver the rooty, herby ingredient are the likes of Carven Vetiver, Givenchy Vetiver, Guerlain Vetiver, all meant for men. Notwithstanding this olfactory code and convention, we all know that Vétiver by Guerlain was high-jacked by women, signaling a popular protest against such entrenched positions. In the 1910s-1920s, vetiver was to be found in a number of very feminine fragrances that played the liberated card of the garçonne, such as Caron Violette Précieuse, Tabac Blond, Chanel No.5, Cuir de Russie, Bois des Iles, Molinard Habanita, etc. Later of course Bandit offered a masterful feminine use of vetiver. In the very recent past a number of perfumes have demonstrated that vetiver can add femininity and sexiness to a fragrance and the trend is picking up as evidenced by a series of new releases in both niche and design lines........
Continue reading "Oh So Feminine Vetiver - {Trend Alert}" »
The Italian group Eurocosmesi is going to unveil a new niche perfume brand in October of 2007 at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes, which was christened Memento. The collection is dedicated to presenting an olfactory tour of Italy. Their first creation is a women's fragrance called Venice. Interestingly, Italian perfume brands lately seem to offer an almost nationalistic flavor and derive inspiration often from the national landscape. It might be that it is this idea of turning perfumes into objects that tourists will feel moved to buy as souvenirs from their trips or it might be that there is some sort of ideological current running......
Continue reading "Venice by Memento {New Perfume} The Beautiful-Italy Trend {Scented Thoughts} {Trend Alert}" »
Perfume bottles this fall are adopting the sexy fishnet look to stress their sex appeal, sense of style, and surprise the consumer -- Le bas résille a le vent en poupe cet automne en parfumerie sélective et même dans celle dite de niche! Témoins, trois parfums qui optent pour plus de provocation vestimentaire et de références fétichistes à la Bunuel:......
Continue reading "Fishnets on Perfume Flacons are In! Les Flacons de Parfums Adoptent le Bas Résille! {Scented Thoughts} {Trend Alert}" »
Open your eyes! Photographer Terry Richardson is becoming fashionable among celebrities wanting to promote their perfumes from the porno-chic angle. He is well-known for his graphic aesthetics and these days, it seems that one needs all the attention one can create to pull a perfume out of the crowd, nay sea, of new releases. After Tom Ford decided in a dramatic reversal of aesthetic choices to play the Terry Richardson card rather than the Marilyn Minter one, the Beckhams have also enlisted Richardson's camera to promote the Intimately Beckham Night duo......
Continue reading "Terry Richardson, is the New Darling of Perfume Advertising, Which Means More Sex Please {Scented Images} {Scented Thoughts} {Trend Alert}" »
As previously announced, from the venerable, upscale, and well-loved Italian brand Acqua Di Parma created in 1916, comes next month a new perfume called Colonia Intensa, which will represent their first historic foray into the explicit masculine categorization of a scent. This launch comes within a market context where masculine customers are perceived as a new driving force in perfume sales encouraging a neo-virile trend in the design of fragrances, which are being trimmed of their ambiguous, unisex references......
Continue reading "More on Colonia Intensa by Acqua Di Parma {New Fragrance} The Neo-Virile Trend {Trend Alert}" »
Yves Rocher have announced that the third Secrets D'Essences after Voile D'Ambre and Rose Absolue will be dedicated to the supremely elegant iris flower with a fragrance called Iris Noir (Black Iris). Lately, several significant launches have honored the bloom or are about to, pointing to an iris comeback as if every perfumer wanted to try their hands at an iris fragrance (often associated with a fashionable and noticeable note of fruity and musky ambrette seed): Ormonde Jayne Orris Noir, Acqua Di Parma Iris Nobile, Chanel no 18, more discreetly in the heart of Miller Harris Fleurs de Sel, also Prada Infusion d'Iris, Guerlain Iris Ganache, and the upcoming L'Occitane Iris, Parfum d'Empire Equistrius and L'Artisan Parfumeur Iris Pallida 2007. Black flowers are also very in with the trend having been particularly well exemplified by Tom Ford fragrances, starting with Black Orchid......
Continue reading "Secrets D'Essences Iris Noir by Yves Rocher {New Perfume} Galore of Iris Perfumes {Trend Alert}" »
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