Thursday, April 7, 2011

L'Artisan Parfumeur collection Mon Numero by Bertrand Duchaufour: Scents Missing in Action Reappear in New Clothing

L’Artisan Parfumeur’s new collection Mon Numéro created by Bertrand Duchaufour features 8 moods, 8 numbers, 8 destinations and I was intrigued by one detail: . The collection will be on the market around the world in June, with specific numbers launched exclusively in different markets. Do I see Le Labo shades or am I delusional? It seems that L'Artisan Parfumeur is in some sort of creative orgasm with many launches recently, but they're also bent on retaining their exclusivity cachet that "made" them as one of the original niche brands. And in order to do that, now that the house is much better known to much more people, the practice of city-exclusives. It remains to be seen if the denied offer will drive up the demand.


L'Artisan promises that each scent features the highest quality raw materials that would evolve into a certain richness on the skin. The descriptions of the fragrances in the Mon Numéro collection are enticing enough all right, if cryptic, but I fail to see the novelty factor: they already sport a zingy cologne (Eau de l'Artisan), an iris (Iris Pallida), a vetiver (Coeur de Vetiver Sacre) in their regular line... So what's so special this time around?
What's even odder is that the collection was announced in 2009, but it's only now that wider distribution is set to materialise. The fragrances are also repackaged: the new bottles follow the classic, typical L'Artisan style with the hexagonal caps and identical labels in deep chocolate. So why the belated release and why the repackaging? I'm jotting down guesses.

N°1 is a bold seductive fragrance fresh and fruity with pear and mimosa. Delightful !

N°3 recalls the intoxicating notes of an alcoholic drink, with sober, elegant notes of vetiver. Elegant and virile.

N°4 is a fog of memories, in the barber’s shop… Lavender… So familiar !

N°6 celebrates the rebirth of planet earth, a travel after moosoon, with green, floral, fruity aquatic notes

N°7 evokes a day in India, with Chai Tea, Jasmin and Tuberose softened by Sandalwood. With a whiff of spices.

N°8 powder, iris… Paying tribute to a great classic of perfumery…Classic and chic.

N°9 awakes the senses. A subtle cologne, zesty, crispy, with tangerine and citrus on a musky elegance on the background…

N°10 the addictive oriental with eccentric notes.

10 comments:

  1. Wow, this is the first I've heard of this line. I definitely see a correlation to Le Labo, and I'm not sure how I feel about that, but a few of these scents sound interesting enough that I'll be sampling them. Thanks for your post!

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  2. Anonymous06:33

    Thanks for the info- I am NOT happy that they're taking the Le Labo approach- did they really HAVE to do this? And I too, see nothing so novel from the descriptions of the new scents, though I am curious of Duchafour's creations.
    And I think I can kind of see which fragrance will be exclusive to which city... I mean, market, whatever...

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  3. Numbers don't tell me much but name of the city gives some hint what the fragrance might be.

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  4. I think city exclusives is a decent way to introduce exclusivity into a line that has fairly wide distribution (like L'Artisan or Le Labo do) without just hiking up the price (aka, I hope L'Artisan's will be priced the same as the rest of their line, unlike the Le Labo exclusives.) I also think it would be nice if they made them available from the boutiques by phone order, so it is possible to get your hands on them if you live far away - you just have to try a bit harder than just ordering online.

    Am I correct in thinking that the new Fleur d'Oranger won't be part of this line, but is a separate thing? I'm hoping that won't be too hard to get our hands on because it's shooting toward the top of my wishlist (though I'll be smart and sample first).

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  5. Carrie,

    it was announced in 2009. It was in special bottles. A rather big deal was made (at the same time there were one-offs that should be made for the exclusive use of ONE patron; yup you heard that right). It was when BD was "hired" as more or less in-house perfumer. Then nada...
    Now, they're reintroduced repackaged and with new "direction". I wonder. Yes, will sample, most definitely, but still...

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  6. RH,

    let's see how i goes. Apparently they had, since the brand is rather less "exclusive" than some others. And the latest trend is to have a more haute line within your line, if you know what I mean ;-)
    The market shares are more or less a given. The interpretation however could be interesting.

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  7. Civava,

    indeed. Wait and see.

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  8. A,

    I couldn't agree with you more.

    Something tells me they will be spiked in price. There's no reason to play hard to get if the ring isn't a D flawless carat from Tiffany's, right? ;-)

    Fd'O isn't part of the Mon Numero line, it's part of the regular line and it's in limited supply for the moment. Just that. I hope they bring it into wider distribution, because it was a very nice fragrance indeed and the previous price/size was prohibitive for most.

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  9. I know exactly what you mean, I would also be surprised if there wasn't a price increase on this line!

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  10. I have a fragrance from L'Artisan from the '80s, in a different bottle from the new ones. It's a taller, slender bottle, , with gold scrolling around a center rectangle. Unfortunately I no longer know the name of this fragrance and it's not on their website. It's spicy, almost incense-like. I still have a good bit of it, but I totally love it. Any ideas? It's not amber, nor sandalwood-and I wish I knew what the name was (label wore off).

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