Wednesday, April 23, 2008

To distract...

Bad news don't have to be announced beforehand, they strike like lightning in a sudden summer storm getting you out of your comfort zone into the realisation that things follow their own course no matter how you think they're going. I was about to do a little article on Caron in light of the recent discussions pertaining to their reformulation by Fraysse and how this affects them or not, intending to procure samples of the current version to compare with my own older batches. All in the aim of accurate reporting, bien sûr!

Alas, at least one gem I was anxiously waiting to see if it had been altered significantly (at least from the version that I enjoyed) was Alpona, that weird beast which fascinated me. Yet, according to The Scented Salamander, Alpona is no more... Shed a loving tear for this individual chypre that would have celebrated its 70 years in 2009. Probably succumbing under the weight of oakmoss restrictions, it has been discontinued. An urn perfume no less, which is foreboding.
Your last chance to grab it before it goes away for ever is at the Caron Boutique for $100 for a 1/4 oz of extrait de parfum to $ 520 for 200 ml. The New York City boutique can be reached at (212) 319-4888. An Alpona review is in the works and will appear on Perfume Shrine shortly!

But enough with the fragrance world gloom and in a playful attempt to distract you from such sad occurences I am hosting a little contest.
Here is a clip that acts as a collage of perfume clips for several fragrances. The reader who identifies the perfumes seen in the correct sequence wins a decant of one of my spring perfumes.




(uploaded by arturdvm)

Check back again for review and surprise posts!


20 comments:

  1. Wow that is insane to hear that Alpona was discontinued just like that. So sad; I never smelled it but I remember there are quite a few lovers of it and well I was always intrigued by the descriptions...and well I will never know what it was like. I'm not even going to try with that video; too much in the morning.

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  2. It's very sad indeed...It was quite unique and now, it's no more.
    The video is easier than one might think: there are clear depictions of the names at the end of the clip; one only has to take a pencil and write them down and then rewatch to put in sequence ;-)

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  3. Anonymous17:41

    alpona is one i kept putting off trying for some silly reason. i need to snag some before it vanishes. if it is the oakmoss issue, it's interesting that they're stopping production rather than adjusting, as others have apparently done. maybe it's a combination of factors.

    some of those clips look european - much more "out there" than what we get to see in commercials here in the states. i have always preferred european ads to ours - they are more funny, more sexy, more strange, and just plain more. - minette

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  4. How sad !
    I'm clinging to my oz. split from Patty last year.

    Poor Carons. Like Rodney Dangerfield-
    "They don't get no respect".....

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  5. I like that you like the clips, MC!
    But no participation to the contest? Ts, ts...

    Yes, there might be lots of reasons for axing Alpona. Pity...

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  6. Dear I,

    it's very sad indeed....and great quote!
    Wish I had split some too :-(

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  7. Anonymous02:57

    Well.... I'm going to enter the contest. Here's my entry:

    Lagerfield Man
    Acqua di Gio
    Bvlgari Aqva
    D & G The One
    Gaultier 2
    **something in greek - couldn't read what this perfume or bottle this was**
    Boss
    JPG Le Male & Classique
    Kenzo Air???
    Lacoste Touch of Pink
    Insolence
    Very Irresistible Givenchy
    Cinema
    Very Valentino????
    Hugo

    The end. :)


    Dawn

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  8. Anonymous06:04

    Oh, Alpona! It's my favorite chypre. This is very, very sad news.

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  9. *Very* close Dawn and thanks for participating!!

    The illegible to you text is not in Greek, it's in the Slav alphabet; probably Russian, although it's too quick for me to say with any accuracy.

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  10. I'm so sorry M.....it's very sad indeed.

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  11. Anonymous12:33

    Nice with competitions! :) Gave up this one because of a buzy work day - I would have needed to replay it too many times, but at least: could read the cyrilic, but best not to reveal the name, the competitors will solve the problem..
    A question if I may dare: is it worth the effort trying to get a sample of Hermes' Jardin en Med. (as I really love fig++, but this particular Hermes is not sold in my city I think) Do you like it?

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  12. Anonymous13:12

    I love many more Guerlains than Carons. Only three urn perfumes have made it into my collection via splits/decants from TPC and they are Tabac Bolnd, Poivre and Alpona. I knew Alpona was wonderful the second I first smelled it but it took a couple more goes before love developed. It is like sunlit moss and quite unique. I can imagine a man smelling fabulous in it. What a shame. Maybe it's simply not fashionable. Nicola

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  13. Sp, please share the cyrillic-named perfume because I doubt anyone will know.
    Jardin en Med is a good perfume, quality throughout, with no sweetness in its figs, rather bitter; but to me is less realistic than Premier Figuier or Philosykos for the smell of the tree.
    It all depends on what you're searching.

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  14. Nicola,

    I surprised myself by liking Alpona the very first time I smelled it. By then I was fully prepared to hate it, because I had -like you- trouble with many Carons. I attributed that to the rose accord which seemed always musty to me.
    It is fabulous and very fetching on a man ;-)

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  15. Anonymous15:27

    The cyrillic one is Hugo Boss' Boss - БОСС :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. A ha! Thanks!! So two Boss perfumes in this collage (Boss and In Motion)
    There was a lot of text there and I couldn't make anything out in time!

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  17. I am going to leave this on for the weekend and if no one else tries their hand till Monday, we have a winner.

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  18. Anonymous20:27

    Dawn had it almost right, and she is then perhaps the winner morally, my additions are the cyrillic perfume, and Armani code.
    perhaps our efforts are joint?
    Well, the list is then:

    lagerfeld man
    acqua di gio armani
    bvlgari aqua
    d & g the one
    galutier 2
    hogo boss boss
    hugo boss in motion
    j & g le male
    j & g classique
    kenzo air
    lacoste touch of pink
    insolence guerlain
    very irresistible givenchy
    cinema ysl
    very valentino valentino
    hugo deep red

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  19. Anonymous20:29

    Armani code is between insolence and very irresistible..

    ReplyDelete
  20. SP,
    thank you for continuing with the contest and I think you nailed it.
    Have to rewatch once to make sure, but I think you're correct.
    (in which case mail me with your address so I can send you a little something)

    ReplyDelete

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