The melancholic timbre of Billie Holiday's voice, the "black voice" behind the inspiration for Serge Lutens's latest Paris-exclusive perfume, is reverberating through the unusual paths of the fumes rising from the bell-jar bottle with its beautiful brownish, maroon almost, shade of juice inside. The waxy, thick petals of gardenia with their irresistible browning that is poised between sweet rot and carnal abandon have a way of capturing hearts like mine...and Billie's too, who wore one tucked beneath her ear as a trademark. But to designate just gardenia to Une Voix Noire would be doing it a disservice.
Guy Bourdin photo via thinmoonsugar.blogspot.com
Gardenia and tuberose are olfactory allies in crime. Both nocturnal creatures with creamy white blossoms which exude a kaleidoscope of weird and wondrous facets, from sharp greenness that recalls camphor, to blue cheese and mould, all the way to meat rotting in the heat to help attract various pollinators, they're fascinating flowers to cultivate in a warm climate that oozes with the dangerous atmosphere of a film noir. Lutens and his trusty perfumer Chris Sheldrake have been no strangers to tuberose's wiles thanks to Tubereuse Criminelle with its jarring contrast of rough edge against smooth silk. But Une voix Noire is to gardenia a new take on the flower, less simplistic and more complex, with an abstract background that brings it closer to a Bois variation than a fleshy, photorealistic photo of the opulent flower with its blue cheese timbre that Tom Ford put in the forefront for his (now discontinued) Velvet Gardeniaor the spring-like styralyl acetate greenness it exhibits in Lauder's life-like, budding Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia. The candied plumminess of the cedar & fruits base is certainly progeny of the Feminite du Bois school of mock dilettantes (posing as less serious than in reality) and the rich, satisfying, warmly honeyed core to be explored on further wearings would be most pleasurably received by those who have enjoyed Mary Greenwell's Plum, Botytris, Jar's Jardenia and -naturally- the rest of the Lutensian series of "woody" cedar & fruits melange fragrances.
The perfumer and the art director play in chiaroscuro with extreme grace in Une voix Noire, bringing on an opening tuberose-gardenia note that is fresh and real but dissipates fast into clean and metallic notes that ring like cold air in the stillness of the night. Smoky and indolic, almost animalic facets slowly reveal themselves, darkening the proceedings through a sweetish, leathery, tobacco and boozy (rum, according to the official notes) phase which creates an effect worthy of a blues singer velvety sighing her pain into hard vinyl.
Like Billie's voice, Une Voix Noire is indelible...lasting a lifetime and then some.
Une Voix Noire is a Paris-exclusive Lutens fragrance available as Eau de Parfum 75ml in the bell jar bottles.
For our readers, a generous decant of the new Une Voix Noire is available. Draw is open internationally till Friday 28th midnight. Just answer in the comments what "a black voice" conjures up for you to be eligible. Draw is now closed, thank you!
The Robert Piguet company is compelled to revise the formulation of one of their beloved classics by perfumer Germaine Cellier, the bracing ‘Bandit’ perfume due to compliance with the latest regulations on allergens/irritants in the fragrance industry.
According to Basenotes: The current formulation was praised by Luca Turin and Tanya Sanchez in their perfume guide, but with changing regulation the company says it needs to address the issue: “The IFRA regulations on oakmoss make things so difficult for that perfume” says [Joe] Garces [CEO of Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics] “If you keep changing and keep tweaking things you could end up with a different thing. I don’t want to spoil it so I’ve asked [perfumer] Aurelian [Guichard] to look at the whole thing again, to go back to the very original formula and take it from there.”
Given Guichard's delicate impressionist hand as opposed to the brutal fauvism of Cellier, could this pose a risk on effacing the sharp character of Bandit? Remains to be seen. Let's be hopeful and hope that we can sample for ourselves soon.
Niche fragrance brand Odin New York is introducing a new perfume with a play on Sri Lanka and its vetiver harvests. 08 Seylon is a vision of vetiver accompanied by notes than enhance its unique character.
According to the blurb:
"The creation of 08 Seylon communicates a new understanding of vetiver through a calming blend of rich, earthy aromas. During the initial stages of development it was essential that the fragrance represent actual vetiver, extracted from the root. With this in mind, not only is the finished concept an authentic interpretation, it also reflects perfumer, Phillipe Romano’s idea that imposing structures such as orientals, woods, spices with exotic shades should transport you far away."
Two more articles belonging to the polemic on scent. Actually inferring a good point all the same, that having everything scented around us is contributing to a major sensory overload that means increased exposure to potential irritants and allergens. Too bad they're throwing the baby out with the bathwater too!
Plus there goes again the common misconception: allergy is actually an auto-immune response and a medical fact, oversensitivity to stimuli/sensory overload/sensitivity to scents is something different (though totally real, mind you).
The first heavy drops of rain fell on the thirsty ground yesterday after a hot, hot summer that scorched our conscience. It seemed like release, like tears falling after a gigantic pressure mounting inside that had overflown, ready to burst.
"With the first drop of rain the summer was killed. Soaked were the words which starlight had born. Words that were meant just for you." writes Odysseas Elytis.
This sweet melancholy of autumn is inextricably tied to the pit pat of the raindrops on the window pane, much as it sounds corny. Like many, I adore the ambience after the rain; when everything seems washed, purged, the green leaves and flowers shiny fresh with droplets hanging onto them refracted into myriads of rainbows in the emerging light; with the distinct smell of the earth that has soaked the water and brought out a scent at once musty and refreshing, a scent that is ancient and at the same time of the moment, galvanizing, a scent of the divine and the pagan. But what makes that delicious scent, popular enough to be first unapologetically encapsulated into a fragrance to sell by Christopher Brosius in his Fragrance Library for Demeter by the eerie name "Dirt"?
The answer is more enjoyably lyrical.
via http://lifeofpri.blogspot.com
Petrichor is the name of the scent of rain on dry earth, which aided by the compound geosmin contributes to that delectable ambience of upturned earth and musty deliciousness which walkers of the woods have been known to enjoy with all their might. Due to poetic justice, I suppose, and because everything is paid upon at the cashier eventually in this world, both words have a Greek origin: "Petrichor" literally means the fluid in the veins of the gods hitting stone (from the words πέτρα i.e. stone and ιχώρ i.e. the mythical lifeblood of the Gods). "Geosmin" is simpler, more to the point: from the Greek word for earth, γαία (deriv. γεο-) and οσμήν i.e. smell; simply put, "the smell of the earth".
The term "petrichor" was coined in 1964 by two Australian researchers, Bear and Thomas, for an article in the scientific journal Nature. In their article, it is argued that certain plants exude an oil during dry periods which is then absorbed by clay-based soils and by rock. The hitting of the ground during the rain releases this oil alongside geosmin, a germacranoid sesquiterpene or a trans-1,10-dimethyl-trans-9-decalol for the more chemically minded ~or simply a by-product of microorganisms, which acts as a metabolite.
Geosmin is produced by a number of microorganisms amongst which the mycelial soil bacteria Streptomyces. Geosmin is exactly that distinct smell that soil gives off when disturbed or just rained upon and its human detection threshold is so low (allowing almost all to savor it) and so pleasant, it is used to confer an earthy scent to perfumes! But careful: in flavor, by contrast, geosmin can turn a glass of water or wine (or fruits or vegetables) musty and unpleasant for consumption.
Even lightning contributes to the scent of the earth after the rain nevertheless; the presence of ozone is electrifying, producing that energetic, come what may, putting on boots and clutching a cane walk in the woods mood one doesn't know they had in them until it actually happens. This is the magic turn of the screw that makes fragrances such as Creed's classic Green Irish Tweed (with the infinitely matching name to this fervent desire) and the quirky enchanted forest of Ormonde Woman work so well.
It's interesting to note that geosmin doesn't just contribute to the smelly landscape but could be a way of promoting sporulation as it occurs where humidity is involved. "Camels may well smell out an oasis by sniffing the air for traces of the fragrant metabolite. While camels quench their thirst, hordes of Streptomyces spores will be supped with the water or will find a way to stick onto the animals’ hides. In this way, spores can be carried for miles. In the same way, some cacti flowers may also use the geosmin scent to fool insects, in a sort of fragrant mimicry. Indeed, insects are attracted to the plants in the hope of a little refreshment, and in their quest for water, they actually serve as pollinators!"[source]
As with everything involving smell, there's more than meets the nose...
Music clip "With the First Drop of the Rain", lyrics by Greek nobelist poet Odysseas Elytis, set to music by Manos Hadjidakis and sung by Dimitris Psarianos.
...for the Opardu sample is Liane. Congratulations and please email me with your shipping data using the Contact, so I can have this in the mail for you soon!
Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic participation and rest assured that anyone who missed their chance this time will have PLENTY of chances on the multiple giveaway organized by Puredistance on Perfume Shrine soon to preview the new fragrance of the line (talking about plenty of perfume flowing!). Stay tuned!!
Impossible Iris is like those beautiful raven-haired girls with big, sincere eyes that seem to engulf you and creamy, gorgeous skin that shines with the sheen of mother-of-pearl (like Liv Tyler or Anne Hathaway to bring modern examples); there's both a wholesome appeal (in the sense of "non-plastic") and a retro elegance to it all (in the sense their beauty ideal defies tanned, scrubbed, peroxided "nowness").
Iris can be like that, when excellent, with the added artistic bonus of a delectable melancholia that negates all the "shiny happy people" silliness that is pack and parcel of the "plastic" and "nowness" mantra. But iris can also be a fragrance note that can render itself rather too prissy and difficult for its own good; too many times it can be too starchy and earthy-raw (smelling like boiled carrots or turnips) or it can become too dusty or too creepy cold like the tomb (and there's no better reference than the chilly Iris Silver Mist by Lutens if you're after that sort of effect). Perhaps this is why the easiest, most popular iris on the market is Infusion d'Iris by Prada, a smashing best-seller and a modern classic; no guesswork there, the fragrance isn't an iris per se as the name would suggest, it's a sweet woody incense built on benzoin! Other times iris can be tilted into violet-heavy territory (with whom iris shares ionones, molecules with a powdery, dirt/earth feel) and land into Parfums Lingerie, a totally different sort of aesthetic effect, makeup reminiscent rather than upturned garden dirt.
Personally, I like irises, especially woody ones, such as Bois d'Iris by The Different Company and the stupendous Chanel No.19, so testing Impossible Iris wasn't a challenge by any means. Still, it exceeded expectations and has found itself firmly in my perfume rotation which is something when you take into account the jadedness of a seasoned collector.
Ramón Monegal went neither way between chilly or earthy for Impossible Iris, opting for an iris fragrance that is recognizably iris, yet projects with a delicate, mimosa-laced/heather hint of sweetness under the metallic opening; clean, elegant, slightly soapy fresh and very appealing! It's an iris to put you in a good mood, for a change, with subtle floralcy and woodiness in equal measure, if that was possible, with all the prerequisites to make you fall in love with it just as easily as imagining Iris as a girl's name. It stands as the perfect metallic/woody iris to encapsulate and recapitulate all we have come to expect from a prime iris fragrance; there is the delicate, shy beginning with the cool touch, then comes the touch of wooly mimosa with its hint of warmth to smile into the proceedings, while the quiet, bookish woody tonality of the aftermath with its pencil shavings nuance is enough to consolidate it among the richer in nuance irises.
Ramón Monegal has that rare talent: he has taken "difficult" notes (iris, leather as in Mon Cuir, patchouli, as in Mon Patchouly) and rendered editions that transcend the rougher aspects into smoothing them into compliance, making them melt with pleasure under the sprayer and onto the skin... Gaia, The Non Blonde, found it more floral in the beginning than I did, but we both loved it all the same.
I was impressed with the sillage (it's a perceptible iris that will get you comments, the positive kind) and with its tenacity and I find that though delicate and graceful, it can also be worn by men easily, thanks to its woody background and its slight tinge of fruitiness that adds just enough tart elements in the formula.
Notes for Impossible Iris by Ramon Monegal:
Italian iris, Egyptian cassiopiae, framboise, ylang-ylang, Egyptian jasmine, Virginia cedarwood
Impossible Iris is available as Eau de Parfum in a beautiful inkwell bottle of 50ml at Luckyscent.
A jewelry designer with an interest in fragrance, Ann Gerard is channeled her creativeness into marrying the two, enlisting the help of master ( and very prolific!) perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour into her new fragrance line, exclusive available at Luckyscent.
The fragrances nicely reflect upon materials which make every woman dream a little, smooth and onctuous like mother of pearl or shiny and multi-faceted like opals...
According to the blurb:
“Jewelry, in its ultimate expression, turns into Perfume”
A partner of every moment, the mirror of our emotions, a secret adornment. The first three fragrances of the collection were composed by the great perfumer and friend Bertrand Duchaufour.
Sculpting his materials to display their facets, radiance and transparency, he has fashioned fragrances that translate Ann Gerard’s vision. Uncompromising compositions in the noblest materials: An innovative, timeless debut collection.
Cuir de Nacre - An elegant intrepretation on leather: Notes of Iris, Sandalwood and Styrax magically transform into the most melting calfskin.
Perle de Mousse - In a masterful reinvention of the green floral chypre, Bertrand Duchaufour stretches out the muguet theme until it becomes a full orchestra.
Ciel d’Opale - Is there anything more intoxicating than basking in the heady, honeyed scent of a linden tree?
Remember we had talked about the Paris exclusive bell-jar coming out of Le Palais Royal de Shiseido in September back when we had announced both Lutens releases for this year? The other was of course the stupendous Santal Majuscule, for the export market.
Une Voix Noire by Serge Lutens (a black voice) is finally out for purchase in Paris and online at the official Lutens site, tagged with the cryptic -as always- text: "The stars rise in focus. The night sky is filled with the light of the moon." Read a bit more about it on the link provided, before we embark on a full review shortly.
Pacifica, a range of well-priced, good quality scents that circulate in the US (and have been fortunate to been able to try in some of their scents in the past and see their delightful packaging) are introducing a new sampling program that is worth your attention. Their top 17 scents are now available as mini .1oz solid samples for just 2$ each, so you can pick your favorite without just relying on a written description. Plus there's a free sample for every order over 25$ and two free samples for every order over 50$.
Meanwhile, Pacifica is introducing a new solid perfume in those adorable little tins that you can slip into your purse or airbag when flying on a carrier with instructions on liquids: it's Island Vanilla, one of their best-selling fragrances combining vanilla absolute, jasmine and fruit with a touch of tea notes on top. Retailing at 9$ for the full size tin.
A mutual passion for scent, botanicals and art brought Anthropologie and Ineke together to create the Floral Curiosities limited edition line of fragrances in 2011.
Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) is a clove-scented flower in the family of carnation that is bi- colored in white/pink/red tones.
Kate Middleton included it in her bridal bouquet, presumably for both the lovely scent and the name, and that was it: a trend was born. Ineke Ruhland has created a Sweet William soliflore fragrance that is anchored with rich wood notes and opening with a juicy peach note. Cinnamon, clove and cumin essential oils provide spice. The dominant wood notes are a blend of cedarwood, sandalwood and patchouli, sweetened with Bourbon vanilla.
Sweet William is now available at all Anthropologie stores and anthropologie.com
Also, Ineke parfums is doing a giveaway of the new perfume at the following link, if you want to participate:
http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/291550
My childhood summers were spent mostly outdoors, till very late at night. The Mediterranean nights are balmy, warm entities with inviting arms, when the nature is still buzzing in full force, the sky is pitch black but the stars can be clearly seen, and the energy from the sun-soaked bodies which have enjoyed their siesta in the early afternoon (unless us children rebelled by sneaking out of the room as soon as the elders slept to catch cicadas) take a long time to unwind and get ready for a good night's sleep. It was only natural that staying out so long produced its own pattern of rituals: backgammon-playing by the blue-tinged lights of the terraced porch watching the boats dock at the bay in the distance, chasing frogs by the small watering poodles in the yard, hanging fresh herbs from the fields upside down to dry, raiding the fridge for watermelon & feta cheese if bored and of course the "ceremony" of lighting incense coils for repelling mosquitos at sundown. Those tiny insects sure knew how to bite if left unattended, making us scratch and scratch our legs ad infinitum...or so it seemed.
We affectionally called that spiral (hey, we still do!) φιδάκι "fee-THA-ki", i.e. "little snake", due to its shape. These mosquito coils have their detractors who can't stand the smoky smell; they insist the product relies on a placebo effect ~one's mental perception of the insect bites is blunted by the fumes, as if smoking cannbis or something (come to think of it, the smell does have a cannabis note in there). And they have their ardent fans who love them just because of that particular smelly smoke they emit. You can count me among the latter...I just love it; does this come as any surprise?
Typically mosquito coils in this part of the world (and in Asia) are held at the center of a spiral, suspending it in the air, or wedged by two pieces of fireproof nettings to allow continuous smoldering. Burning begins at the outer end of the spiral, slowly progressing toward the centre, taking hours; a process that is as navel-gazingly, painfully slow as to render it almost a philosophical pastime.
Katori Senkou mosquito coil ad, 1900-1929, originally uploaded by Gatochy.
via oldadvertising.blogspot.com
Do not be fooled, the history of the mosquito coil is an old one, as befits these pastimes, clicking audibly like the amber on a lazy man's beads: Pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium) was used for centuries as an insecticide in Persia and Europe and the mosquito coil was developed around 1890s by a Japanese business man, Eiichiro Ueyama. The Japanese used to combine pyrethrum powder with sawdust and burn it in a brazier or incense burner. Initially, Ueyama created incense sticks mixed from starch powder, dried mandarin orange skin powder, and pyrethrum powder. It was his wife who had the idea of coiling the incense into a spiral so as to extend the duration of the mosquito-repellent smoke for maximum practicality and his company, Dainihon Jochugiku Co. Ltd, became a powerful player in the game of insect repellent products.
The variety we used to buy ~and still buy~ locally has always been a vivid, dark forest green. I don't know if this is indicative of a specific formulation, as I have also seen coils in tan and deep brown in other parts of the world. These mosquito coils have a very distinctive scent: sweetish like a sweet-shop burnt sugar note, intoxicating and resinous, with smoky, incense-y peppery notes; a mingled aroma that oscillates between sassafras, labdanum, cloves and camphor/eucalyptus.
But how does the mosquito coil work, you ask. And what about the origin of that scent?
The active ingredients in mosquito coil are pyrethrins, naturally occurring in the seed cases of the perennial plant pyrethrum (Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium, grown mainly in Kenya, the Med coast of Dalmatia in Croatia and in Japan), which has long been grown commercially for its insect repellent properties. Pyrethrins are chemically classified as terpenoids, being derived from dimethylallyl pyrophosphate, which combine by the action of the enzyme chrysanthemyl diphosphate synthase. The extract of the pyrethrum plant is solvent-extracted and yields pyrethrin I and II, cinerin I and II, and jasmolin I and II [the I tagged molecules are esters of chrysanthemic acid, while the II tagged molecules are esters of pyrethric acid]. That's enough of chemistry though. I'm pretty sure that besides the naturally gasoline and terpenes scent of the active ingredients in the coil there are additives which impart a more complex "bouquet" so to speak, rendering the coil pleasant smelling. The sticky brown residue that remains if you burn on a ceramic disk is viscous enough and bittersweet-smelling enough with amber-leather facets to suggest that a smidgen of labdanum incense is indeed used.
I have heard that the OFF mosquito coils sold in the US are also pleasant smelling with an incense whiff (and they're green too!), though I haven't been able to compare side by side so far. And mosquito coils are apparently not that new in that market either, which gives a nicely vintage-y factor to it all! Vintage coils even surface on Ebay, proving their cult status I suppose.
For all its sweet, smoky scent, certain precautions are of course de rigeur when using a mosquito coil, as with everything involving use of chemical and combustible materials: You should only use mosquito coils outdoors (being the equivalent of smoking 57 cigarettes if indoors!), never leave it burning close to anything in risk of catching fire (though it burns without a flame, it can transmit heat and produce sparks into combustible materials) and not use it more than occasionally -if that- if pregnant, especially during the 3rd semester. The pyrethroids in particular (used synergistically in some coils) are considered xenoestrogens [Garey et al., 1998], so take care if concerned, as should people with asthma and respiratory ailments. Also best avoid if you keep cats or fish, as it can be toxic to them if used by accident or they're exposed to the fumes. [For a full list of health/environmental concerns you can consult this article. ]
Pyrethrins are not fatal to insects in low doses ~especially to these modern, "mutant" ones which seems to have escaped from camp movie Mimic~ but they do have some sort of repelling action on them still. At the very least, these incense coils provide a smoky, scented ambience that is very evocative of the languor and mysticism of an exotic part of the world. Can't knock that.
I am doubtful as to whether an elegant yet lush floral with woody undertones is really reminiscent of the opulence of the 1920s and 1930s. Historically, I know these were years when florals were given the sheen of aldehydes, transposing them from worlds of flower beds into vistas of abstraction (Je Reviens by Worth, Chanel no.5, Bois des Iles), and big profuse chypres, often with decadent fruity notes (see the pineapple in Colony by Patou, the peach-skin in Mitsouko by Guerlain et al) or leathery scented accents (Cuir de Russie by Chanel, Scandal by Lanvin for instance), reigned supreme. In that sense Opardu, the latest fragrance by Puredistance, is rather incongruent, but it is delightful all the same in its own genre, much like all the fragrances in the line have proven so far: from the smooth bravado of M by Puredistance to the nostalgic femininity of Antonia, the compact line is well thought of, evidenced by the lack of continuous releases heaping up like an avalanche on us -much like it happens with some other niche lines that shall remain unnamed.
No, Puredistance makes an effort and as soon as the first transparent drops of the new elixir, Opardu, landed on my skin I knew that this was another quality fragrance from them. My only complaint? For a parfum concentration, it seems weaker, less lasting than the others. But don't let that stop you from trying for yourself.
The inspiration
The word 'OPARDU' is a creation of the owner and creative director of Puredistance: Jan Ewoud Vos. "When he came up with the word OPARDU he felt that this word had always been there, in a mysterious way... evocative and strangely familiar" the official story goes. I can't say it means anything specific to me, yet it does evoke leopards, bringing to mind Visconti's glorious and utterly romantic Il Gattopardo in mind.
"It took more than a year to further work out OPARDU. Central to the 'feeling' of OPARDU have been the expressive paintings of Kees van Dongen, in particular one of his illustrations for the book 'PARFUMS' by Paul Valéry, published in 1945 in a limited edition of 1000. (Jan Ewoud Vos is the owner of book no. 429)." [according to this info]
The bouquet in the middle below is an illustration of Kees van Dongen
The perfumer
When Jan Ewoud Vos showed this illustration of Kees Van Dongen - a rich and lush bouquet of flowers - to Annie Buzantian, the famous Master Perfumer from New York, she instantly fell in love with it.
The first word that came to her mind was 'Opulence'. She also felt this nostalgic feeling for the early years of the previous century; the golden age of perfumery. And then her work began. As a starting point Annie used a reinterpretation of a classic carnation she had already created which was safely stored in one of her 'secret' drawers.
How it Smells
To my nose the dominating sensation is not of a classic carnation (those tended to be clove-spicy affairs, like in Caron's Poivre & Coup de Fouet), but rather of lilacs; pollen-dusted and with nectarous facets that mingle with a smidgen of green, transparent gardenia impression and a hint of powder and cedarwood. These lilacs are divested of their more melancholy, rained-upon ambience that En Passant by perfumer Olivia Giacobetti for Frederic Malle's perfume line has turned into a cult. That was a passing impression of walking under an umbrella in the early spring just catching a whiff of white lilacs in the distance from some stone and cement-walled garden afar. Here, in Opardu, the purple lilac is trembling under the morning sun and the white flower notes (not especially indolic, but not sanitized either) provide a tinge of honeyed sweetness. The wink of a bit of spice could be said to evoke a carnation interpretation, though I'm mostly struck by the inclusion of the non mentioned powdery soft and woody-earthy garland of ionones (rendering a violet note) and what I could liken to a hawthorn/mimosa note with a little muskiness. If you have always admired Vacances by Patou (1936) but have been frustrated by its rarity (now that even the 1980s reissue is discontinued for so long), Opardu can provide a good substitute.
This delicate bouquet in Opardu makes for a very feminine and subtle composition that is graceful rather than opulent and restrained in very good taste. I would have loved it to be a bit more maxed out for the opulent effect and for greater tenacity, but that's just me.
Notes for Opardu by Puredistance:
Main notes in Opardu as announced in time of writing are: carnation, tuberose absolute, jasmine absolute and gardenia with a background evoking the gentleness of romance through soft powdery notes. (All notes will be officially revealed in the first week of November, when I will update).
OPARDU will be available in a 17.5 ml. Perfume Spray and a 60 ml. Perfume Flacon as pure Perfume Extrait (32%) only, in November 2012. Available at select carriers.
A sample of the as yet unreleased Opardu parfum will be given to a lucky reader who comments on this post. Draw is open internationally till Sunday midnight. Draw is now closed, thank you!
Music: Φεύγω (i.e.I'm leaving...all those years I'm leaving) by Greek songwriter Orpheas Pieridis, adapted here & sung by Dionyssis Savvopoulos.
In the interests of full disclosure I was sent a sample for consideration.
“Smells are things you treasure for a lifetime,” [Carlos Benaim] says. “As a young boy I would often accompany my grandfather to the marketplace in Tangier, and I remember the smells of the spices and fruits, oranges, peaches, melons and apricots — they are engraved in my memory.”
The Moroccan-born, Jewish Benaïm thus reminiscences of his childhood in Tangier before the Six-Day-War of 1967 made him move to Paris, then to Amsterdam and to Buenos Aires before finally settling in New York where he's still working today for International Flavors & Fragrances. His latest foray into cult fragrance is A Lab on Fire's "Liquid Night".
His appreciation of fragrances coupled with his knowledge of chemistry helped him establish himself early as one of the world’s leading perfumers with the classic masculine "green" Polo by Ralph Lauren bring his first breakthrough and popular commercial successes following; Flowerbomb for Viktor & Rolf, Giorgio Armani’s Code for women, Helena Rubinstein Wanted, Bvlgari Jasmin Noir and Yves Saint Laurent’s Saharienne among many many more.
An article by Jeremy Josephs which appears in The Jewish Chronicle online stresses his heritage: "He never has forgotten his Sephardi roots or the plight of Moroccan Jews who made their way to Israel rather than Europe or the United States. “They didn’t have the same opportunities as we were given,” he says. “To put it bluntly, Sephardi Jews in Israel were discriminated against in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.”
"Benaïm’s response is to have become first a donor, and now chairman of the ISEF Foundation, which attempts to combat social inequality in Israel by offering funding for higher education to gifted students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It has awarded over 18,000 scholarships since it was set up in 1977. “Israel’s greatest resource is the minds of its young. Our approach is a way of protecting Israel — by developing its brain power,” he says.
Carlos Benaim has also received the Leon Levy Leadership Award during the events honoring Moroccan Jewry and their heritage as seen at the American Sephardi Federation.
Another article on the many different permutations of a popular and confusing fragrance: Kenzo Flower and its many concentrations, different editions and limited editions, dissected following the tradition on Perfume Shrine to guide you through the variety. [If you want to see more articles of this type, check the bottom of this post].
Flower by Kenzo is the original release from 2000, created by Alberto Morillas. The bottle depicts a poppy inside the cap of the bottle in various degrees of wilting according to the size of the bottle. The bottle is white with a red poppy painted on a stem.
Kenzo Flower Le Parfum is a "parfum"-like concentration of the original Kenzo Flower, issued in 2003, with boosted vanillic and powdery notes however which give it a different enough character. Three editions according to size with different names were issued: Satin Spray (75ml), Natural Spray (50ml) and Just a Drop (15ml). Kenzo Flower Le Parfum highlights the notes of opoponax resin, white musk, vanilla, almond and Bulgarian rose. The perfume is encased in a shiny red metal bottle and in a red box, again with the familiar poppy painted down the side of the box.
Flower by Kenzo La Cologne is the latest concentration in the "original" fragrance of Kenzo Flower, from 2010 and is presented in a homogenous style of bottle: again white box with red poppy, but the bottle is cylindrical with a metal cap that doesn't hide any flower inside and the box is similarly rounded to hold it. The piquant start of bitter orange (bigaradier) keeps it fresh, with a green-like note, and less powdery overall.
Kenzo Flower Oriental is a rather different incarnation from 2005: a patchouli-amber oriental fragrance in a bottle with a black poppy instead of red inside the cap and a subtle red script down the side of the bottle. The fragrance is distinctly different from the woody powdery of the original and should not be confused with it or Le Parfum. The addition of dense, smoky incense and pepper create a distinctly "orientalized" fragrance. The bottle is white with a black poppy painted on instead of red.
Kenzo Flower Essentielle from 2009 is composed of Damascus rose absolute and jasmine absolute, with the background notes of vanilla absolute, incense and three sorts of musk. The bottles shaped like its antecedents, with the poppy tucked inside the cap, are leaner this time and accentuate their graceful arc with a long body and a pronounced cap. The box is the same as the original release, so care should be taken to differentiate with the "essentielle" mention.
Kenzo Flower Tag is a fruity floral with a quite departed role in the line-up: the citrusy fruity touches are perceptible first as a more youthful approach to the classic woody-powdery violet of the original. Two editions are available: Eau de Toilette (2011) and Eau de Parfum (spring 2012), the latter adding more gourmand/foody nuances in the background with praline, patchouli and vanilla.
The bottle in both cases is red glass with black graffiti lettering on it down the side, while the box is also red with black "Tag" in bold lettering.
Several limited editions/flankers of Kenzo Flower (retaining the original composition smell-wise in the majority of cases, noted below if otherwise) have been issued through the years; the most remarkable optically is the 2006 Edition d'Artistes on which three acclaimed illustrators create an individual packaging on box and bottle (as shown on above picture):
Kenzo Flower Limited Edition 2004 (white box with white bottle, with tiny lettering delineating the outline of a poppy)
Kenzo Flower Edition d'Artistes (2006)
Kenzo Flower Summer Edition 2006
Kenzo Flower Summer Edition 2008
Kenzo Flower Summer Edition 2011
Kenzo Flower Winter Flowers (autumn 2008, a slight recalibration on boosting the white floral component, with an open flower in deep pink and peach lines on both box and bottle)
Kenzo Flower Spring Fragrance (spring 2009)
pics sourced via Google for educational purposes only
"The glass-blower's sweat and work is something that tourists appreciate when they come here [Rejmyre Art LAB in eastern Sweden] and look. So for me there isn't such a huge difference in selling the glass-blower's sweat and the finished glass," says Daniel Peltz, a conceptual artist from New York who is working in Sweden, to TheLocal.se.
Do you recall Oscar by Oscar de la Renta? The classic from the 1970s has lost some of its fans over the years (no less due to a reformulation that attenuated its incredible sillage), but with last year's lovely Esprit d'Oscar and a new collection of six luxurious fragrances, the St.Dominican born designer hopes to gain new ones, according to reportage on WWD.
The new "niche"collection, Essential Luxuries, comprises 6 fragrances available in uniform bottles with a cap vaguely reminiscent of the curvy style of his classic Oscar allied to personal memories and stories, "inspired by the life and loves of Oscar de la Renta".
NOTES & INSPIRATION FOR OSCAR DE LA RENTA ESSENTIAL LUXURIES FRAGRANCES
Sargasso, reminiscent of De La Renta's home lapped by the waves of the Sargasso Sea, has fragrant notes of salty air, fresh citrus, seaweed and refreshing cucumber. Santo Domingo, where the designer was born, has sweet and spicy notes of coffee and tobacco leaves tinged with spicy mandarin, coriander, and patchouli notes. Oriental Lace, meant to reflect the colorful and luminous collections of the fashion designer, has notes of hoya carnosa flower, as well as honey, bitter almond, and dark cacao.
Coralina, inspired by the semi-precious stone from his birthplace, is a mimosa, violet, and orris eau. Mi Corazon, dedicated to his beloved daughter Eliza and sharing a precious memory with her, comprises notes of ylang-ylang petals mingled with touches of exotic peach. Granada, inspired by a trip in Spain, has notes of jasmine, rose and orange blossom, reflecting the lushness of the gardens of the city.
All fragrances are available at 3.4oz/100ml at 150$ exclusively at Saks 5th Avenue, Oscar de la Renta boutiques and oscardelarenta.com
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