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First in the list is the new spin on Paris by Yves Saint Laurent, Parisienne, fronted by Kate Moss. More info here. Launches widely starting 17th August in Europe.
Eau Méga by Viktor & Rolf is the newest creation of the cutting-edge designing duo for which they conceived the megamizer (it's a giga atomiser, don't get overexcited) for a composition green and fresh encompassing notes of violet leaf, green basil, pear, peony, jasmine sambac, Italian citron, cedar and casmeran (a smooth wody-musky aroma-chemical)
Prices: 52€ for 30ml, 72€ for 50ml, 90€ for 75ml) Launches in October in Europe.
Lolita Lempicka after the flanker to L de Lolita Fleur de Corail is issuing a new feminine, tagged Si Lolita. A creamy, sensuous spicy floral, it is orchestrated around the lily-of-the-valley note with bergamot, pink pepper, mandarin, clove, heliotrope, elemi and amber notes around it. The bottle is shaped in a 4-leaf clover shape (or is it a butterfly?), perhaps in order to bring luck. Launches in August.
Issey Miyake is coming back with a fresh and casual composition in A Scent. Yes, the fragrance is called A Scent by Issey Miyake, you got it right. (got to give it to him, he insists on non-perfume-y names, probably because rumour has it that he is averse to fragrance himself). Hyacinth, galbanum, vervaine and jasmine should produce an easy formula for casual days. Launches on 24th August, but could be previewed starting 10 August at Galleries Lafayette.31st August will see the secret of Givenchy, Ange ou Démon Le Secret, a flanker to their original Ange ou Démon. (of which you can read a review here). A watercolour impression is aimed for in this new version which is a luminous floral with notes of jasmine tea, Italian citron, cranberry, jasmine sambac, white peony, water flowers, blond woods and patchouli. The bottle reprises the familiar diamond shape of the original but in in a pink tint.
Ricci Ricci by Nina Ricci has the most adorable bottle I have seen in quite some time. If only the juice lives up to expectations and is as good as past glories...The press releases talks about an audacious woman (personally I find this in dissonance with the packaging, but this is only an opinion), while the formula will encompass rhubarb, bergamot, night queen flower, Indian tuberose, rose centifolia (May rose), patchouli and sandalwood. Official launch in France on 27th August. (Prices 41€ for 30ml, 59€ for 50 ml, 79€ for 80ml)
Giorgio Armani is launching Idole d'Armani at the end of August (official date in 26th August). Notes included are bitter orange, ginger, davana, rose loukoum, jasmine, saffron absolute, styrax, patchouli, vetiver. You can read more info on this article.Van Cleef & Arpels, the famous jewellers, are launching a collection of 6 scents, Extraordinaire. You can read more on this article. 130€ for 75ml and they will come out in September.
Finally Sensuous by Estée Lauder, a woody marketed to women, is coming to Europe in September after a successful year in the US market.
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Trying to be hopeful here! I do give mainstream fragrances a fair chance and every once in a while I am pleasantly surprised. But this happens infrequently with new releases. Kenzos tend to be a pretty safe bet and of course many of the older classic mainstreams are fine.
ReplyDeleteLooking at this list, I have some hope for the VC&A Extraordinaires. The concept, though done before, is sound, the compositions look interesting and I like some of the VC&A scents. Well, at least I like First!
I want to like the YSL, and the notes in Idole d'Armani sound compelling. But we've all seen fragrances that look great in the description fall apart on skin!
Guerlain is launching Idylle in Sept. You likely talked about it already. I read and heard more about it at Guerlain in the Palazzo in Las Vegas. I haven't talked about it yet -- too much to talk about with Kilian still.
ReplyDeleteIdole and Idylle one month apart... Someone should start working on a fragrance called Ideal.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that most of these seem uninteresting. We'll have to wait and see, of course.
I agree about the Ricci bottle, really stunning- they deserve a goodie. Quite interested in the new Lempicka and Miyake (not a big L'eau fan but quite like Feu and when houses don't release lots it increases the interest don't you think?). Also very interested in Parisienne against my better judgement.
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of stating the obvious, the only one that makes me froth over with excitement is YSL Parisienne, if only because I love the original so much. I wore it in the Eighties, and I wore it in the Nineties, and I even wore Baby Doll. Apparently, I'm one of the lucky ones who can wear grapefruit well.
ReplyDeleteBut YSL has disappointed me in the last few years, with the possible exception of Nu. (Amazing stuff!) Cinema - no. Elle - meh. Ordinary. You know it's going downhill when one of your favorite perfume houses begins to make scents like everyone else.
Surely that was never the late, great St. Laurent's intention?
I keep wishing for another Rive Gauche, another Opium, another Paris, and it hasn't happened yet.
(sigh)
I like the idea of Armani's Idole, but I've never been a huge fan of his perfumes.
I'm still hoping for the next great thing to get excited about, apart from all my new Ormonde Jaynes.
Thanks so much for this article. Niche stuff is great but I find the mainstream can offer great frags that sometimes gets overlooked. Yes,the Nina Ricci bottle is so cute. I am most curious to try the Issey Miyake. Recently, it's all been l'eau de issey flankers and so I'm curious to smell A Scent. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteDagney
I know these aren't the most sophisticated choices out of the bunch, but I'm really excited about the new Lolita Lempicka and Victor and Rolf perfume!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting!
xo
Jennifer
http://milliedeel.blogspot.com/
M,
ReplyDeletetruer words haven'ty been spoken. The proof is in the pudding, or in the sniffing in this case and therefore I withhold judgement till I do. Let's hope the Van Cleefs prove to be good, it would be lame if they didn't have at least a couple of winners.
The new GA, hmmm, that press release was odd.... :/
Karin,
ReplyDeleteyes, I had done an announcement when I found out about the new launch last spring. I am hoping you get to test it and tell me how you feel about it!
Fq,
ReplyDeleteyou're absolutely right!! There is a lack of creative imagination in naming these days. What happened to the days of Suivez Moi Jeune Homme (follow me young man) etc? ;-)
I am not too optimistic, but I am not morose either. Maybe one or two will prove to be winners.
K,
ReplyDeletethat Ricci bottle is like a small bijou, it's delectable. But I wonder what scent will come out from such a girly thing, I sincerely hope not another fruity floral or I will slit my wrists...
Can't seem to gather too much enthusiasm for Miyake (how many non scents are there out already anyway?), but will be sure to sniff Parisienne and Si Lolita (even if the last LL FdC was too sweet for me)
Tarleisio,
ReplyDeleteI don't suppose the mainstream will ever put as much love to their offerings as OJ does, although they're attentive.
I am hopeful for Parisienne, although who could improve on Paris anyway? Still, the LEs every summer have been mostly very good and so I guess they're not ruining it now.
Cinema is all right, but it's no Nu, agreed on that. Nor any of their classics. The YSL brand only lacks a "collection" a la D&G, GA, Prada, DK, etc etc and they will be finally exactly the same as everyone....It saddens me because I have loved his vision and his perfumes madly (Opium is my HG)
Anyway...we'll see when the season is upon us. In the meantime, vive les OJ and the niches! :-)
Dagney,
ReplyDeletethe mainstream is very, very attentive. If they make something meh, it's a calculated meh, as oppposed to an accidental meh from a niche house. Therefore I never underestimate what they have to say. It's sad that with so many releases there is no time or budget to instill great taste and work on each, but sometimes they have little gems and that's all good.
I wonder what Miyake will make of this: what was the brief? A scent of what? :-)
Ms.B,
ReplyDeletethanks for dropping by and welcome to the community of PS!
Only time will tell, I suppose and we will find if they fulfill expectations. Still it's nice to make our little mental notes on what seems promising so we're prepared.
What a lovely project you have there!! :-)
Tried the Idole d'Armani, verdict, boring.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, this Viktor & Rolf makes me prick up my ears, though I've tried nothing by them.
ReplyDeleteI hope you all in Europe enjoy Sensuous; I think I was not among the many who loved it. For my money, Magnifique de Lancôme was the better bet in the "sweet woody" category last year.
Jen,
ReplyDeletewhy am I not surprised?? Thanks for the reportage!
Joe,
ReplyDeleteV&R had a very successful launch with Flowerbom (although too potent for my taste), but Antidote was rather blah...Let's hope the Eau Mega lives up to your (and our) expectations. :-)
The EL one is nice but nothing earth-shattering I thought, I liked the "woodies for women" trend though a lot!!
After reading the ad copy and Mr. Armani's insane comments I had the feeling the fragrance was going to be haphazard and well it was true. I may have been offended and annoyed by Tom Ford's advertising but at least with a good deal of his fragrances he delivers some unique scents. The only reason I do a comparison is that both Mr.Armani and Mr.Ford have offended me with there advertising campaigns. One through his comments and the other visually.
ReplyDeleteJen,
ReplyDeletethere is certainly some lack of proper translation/PR checking/whatever in those quotes, I agree.
I think TF knows better than to mess with advertising potential, whatever "offence" is well calculated on his part and I bet he has carefully balanced the pros and cons (and knows that his images will be memorable which is the most difficult thing really in this tsunami of images we're flooded with, even if they're vulgar quite often).
Still, he has managed to produce better scents overall than GA, I think. Which is saying something.;-)
The Ricci caught my eye, and not just the bottle - I would love see them have a hit too.
ReplyDeleteOh, and: Nice PR, Giorgio - NOT!
F,
ReplyDeleteyeah, it'd be nice to see a successful NR scent (and I mean both artistically and commercially).
LOL on the PR part, I think either something got lost in translation or he said more than he meant to.