The Idol and the Replica

How funny and sad it is to come upon the original and the reproduction, the inspired and the aspiring, to spot a déjà vu! When idols take their place in the pantheon, mere mortals can only aspire to get some of the fairydust, with a whiff of something fragrant atop.
Lindsay Lohan recently posed as Marilyn Monroe, replicating the series of photographs code-named "The Last Sitting" (1962) by Bert Stern, for the New York magazine. "Last Sitting", because six weeks after she had posed, Marilyn was found dead due to -apparently- a barbiturate overdose which remains a mystery to this day. We hope that won't be the case with Lohan, although who can bet their neck on it?
Reportedly Hugh Hefner was so impressed with Lindsay Lohan showing it all as Marilyn that he wants her to do the same for Playboy.

We won't be mean and won't wish her good luck in the replica career. After all, a short perusal of the photos in question, especially contrasted with the original ones {click here to compare}, proves that apart from the ample bosom, miss Lohan, sun-damaged skin and all, is a poor substitute for the intrisically feminine guiles of Marilyn, but perhaps she is too young, too reckless and might grow to learn.

However olfactorily speaking, this gave me pause for thought. Thoughts run to the fragrance profile of the two women.

Marilyn immortalised her signature scent when she replied to what she wears in bed to a cheeky reporter : "A few drops of Chanel No.5". But that wan't all. What is less well-known is that she also enjoyed Joy by Jean Patou and the tuberose daredavil Fracas by Piguet. That leads me to believe that she consciously designated an erotic role to No.5, obviously the drops hinting at the extrait de parfum; a role that is manifested through No.5's marriage of aphrodisiac ylang-ylang and warm musk with the spike of soapy-waxy notes sizzling throughout. This shows both calculation as well as consiousness of the role of perfume as amunition in the seduction stakes. This is the stuff of dreams.

Lohan is famous for her fondness of Child perfume oil, buying five bottles at a time, a cult favourite by Apothia made of pikake essence and little else. Blogdorf Goodman does quite a decent job of delineating its history here.
It's ironic that Lohan won't be able to immortalise this fragrance, despite the name that firs her behaviour, because it has already gained notoriety thanks to Jennie Garth who uttered the famous line "it drives men gaga". Plus all the 20somethings in Hollywood are known for wearing it as you can see in Perfume Shrine's celebrity perfume list. Lohan also wears Coquette Tropique, another favourite white floral fragrance worn by numerous other starlets as well. So her chances of making a particular fragrance be forever associated with her are dim and left to the future. She can at least hope.

Like many things in modern life, there is something forced and coerced about the whole affair which detracts from the intimacy and tension that accounts for the stuff of legend. A fabrication instead of spontaneity and a fad rather than a choice for a reason.
Like New York Magazine succinctly notes:

"In the first session, Stern persuaded the entourage of stylists to leave him alone with Monroe. The shoot thus took on the symbolic (if not the actual) contours of a liaison. The rise of the celebrity industrial complex has rendered this sort of tense pas de deux all but impossible. At the Lohan shoot, the crowd included Lohan’s manager, her security guard, and her younger sister, Ali; a makeup artist and assistant, a hairstylist and assistant, a stylist, a manicurist, a sentry to watch the borrowed diamonds; Stern, his manager, and two photo assistants. Lohan and Stern worked in an adjoining room, while the rest of us hovered outside like groupies at a backstage entrance".

Perhaps for something to gain the credence that only the patina of time can give one needs to wait several years. Even almost a few Saros cycles in some cases...

Pic of NY Cover courtesy of celebitiot. Pic of Marilyn Monroe originally uploaded on POL.

What fragrance would these Oscar winners wear?

You do realise this is a post from the storehouse, don't you! What I mean: Oscar weekend came and went by the time you'll be reading this and I have no idea what fragrances the Oscar winners and nominees for 2008 chose to wear and if they were their favourites, but it had seemed a great idea to me last week. The Yahoo movie page must be filled with all the details about the winners by now (hope my pics did them justice) and the world will be abuzz with the fashion choices of the celebrities. Perfume Shrine couldn't ignore this little bonfire of the vanities...

In a way it's become unglamorous. Like Julie Christie exclaimed:

"It's product placement now. 'Who are you wearing, from where have you borrowed your jewels?' I don't know where the 'glamour' is in admitting you've borrowed your jewelry, or you've been put together by a stylist. How about not wearing jewels? Would that be so terrible? And what's wrong with fakes? They glitter, that's the point, isn't it?"

Herself she proudly wears two antique rings of unidentified make.


I have to admit she does have a point! For someone who is so level-headed about it, despite her enormous body of work and being a 60s icon, I was always curious to find out what fragrance she wears. This is one of the most famous and popular Perfume Shrine projects. Alas, she has never divulged. And so we are left to our own devices to choose one for her!
It's rather interesting that a famous Dior commercial, J'adore ~with Charlize Theron dropping her clothes one by one entering that mansion~ is directly inspired by a famous Julie Christie scene in the film "Darling". But this is not the fragrance I would imagine Julie to revel in. For her very feminine personality I imagine her in something sensuous, deeply floral loaded with reminiscences, like Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia. Or Boucheron Femme.

Marion Cotillard is such a cute gamine face that I bet one of those petulant but nice, perky fragrances with a little twist, would suit her to a T.
I propose to you (and her!) Passage d'enfer, an incense executed in watercolours, the savoury/sweet Pleasures Delight or the ultra-cosy Amber Splash by Marc Jacobs. Her own favourite however is Après l'Ondée, which is so wonderful melancholic...
However her role in La Vie en Rose would demand at least some identification with the character of Edith Piaf or -am I very unimaginative in suggesting this?- some rosiness. For her ethereal physique and sprity spirit I would love to propose Un Zest de Rose by Les Parfums de Rosine as a fitting scent.

When it comes to Cate Blanchett, one is spoilt for choice as she has expressed fondness for a whole array of perfumes from the enigmatically mossy Aromatics Elixir to crowd pleaser gourmand Burberry Brit, to the more individual Mure et Musc by L'artisan and Kisu by Tann Roka.

Ellen Page and Laura Linney on the other hand are entities unknown to the demystifying of their fragrance choices world. The former is very new in the game, while the latter is probably not much in the celebrity watch radar to register as an endorser of perfumes. But she did grace the Donna Karan Gold party launch and I would think that she grabbed a goody bag or two. Which might serve her rather well: What do you think?

Men nominees and winners are even more difficult to assign fragrances to. Basically because, despite their outstanding thespian qualities, three out of five are either too unglamorous for such concepts (Tommy Lee Jones) or too immersed into their own little indie universe (Daniel Day Lewis, Viggo Mortensen). However, there are some established favourites for two of them: Zino by Davidoff for Johnny Depp whereas George Clooney has admitted to a predilection for Io Carthusia and Green Irish Tweed.
Which is rather fun.

I don't know if these tidbits of info add or detract from these Oscar actors' and actresses' allure, but you're free to suggest what they should wear in your opinion! I am looking forward to reading your views and comments on Oscars' night.


Hold the press (just saw this!): please take a minute to check The Non-Blonde for witty and pithy commentary on the Oscars.

Pic of Daniel Day Lewis courtesy of Moviemarket. Pics of Julie Christie and Mario Cottilard originally uploaded on MUA. Pic of Johhny Depp sent to me by email unnacredited.

A perfume for Sirens

It is perhaps in tune with upcoming Valentine's day and therefore despite the fact that Perfume Shrine doesn't usually go the fluff celebrity way, we couldn't disregard this opportunity to discuss someone who has been in the public eye lately and has a taste for perfume as well.
Yes, Carla Bruni has married French president Nicolas Sarkozy; and who would have thought it too probable?
But love or infatuation has its ways and one cannot argue with the heart. In the case of Bruni, it is not the first time and one might argue it won't be the last. But let's not be a Cassandra like The Independent posed to be for the happy couple and wish them the best of luck and that they have fun; people in love or lust deserve as much.

I admit that Carla's musical odyssey had never entered my consiousness and she had remained the quintessential supermodel-breaker-of-famous-hearts in my mind. An Elizabeth Taylor of serial tabloid romances. Where to begin? Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Kevin Costner, Donald Trump, Vincent Perez, Laurent Fabius, the Enthoven father and son... But who can blame her? She has made it clear and brava for her candour:

"I'm monogamous from time to time, but I prefer polygamy and polyandry."

Who can blame her? Her choice, her right, her decision.

When I read in the above article that

"Even when I was having my hair and make-up done backstage at a fashion show, I would sneak in a copy of Dostoevsky and read it inside a copy of Elle or Vogue"

I had to pause though.:Why reveal this now, when such a practice necessitated covering it up when posing for the designers' clothes and fragrances? Are politicos over her to sound a certain way?

Heir to one of the wealthiest families of northern Italy, thanks to their tyres business, the Bruni Tedeschis ~by the way, the second surname could denote a German streak in the family~ and with a sister, Valeria,who is an acclaimed actress, Carla Bruni has been implicated in perfume both in her role of ambassador of image for designers' fare and through her personal choices.

Famously she has been the public face of Ysatis, the soaring chyprish floriental by Givenchy, a fragrance that sings a beautiful motet in unison like a small choir. I recall it being advertised with a memorable rhyming line in its Greek campaign which unfortunately cannot be translated to comparable effect; suffice to say that it invoced that once you smelled the woman wearing it you would seek her out...

Her own perfume choices range from the sophisticated, divine Vol de Nuit extrait de parfum by Guerlain as her signature to the more prosaic Versus by Versace.
One would think that her quote below is reflecting the feeling that Vol de Nuit in particular evokes in the psyche of its wearer:

"Desire is not very precise in my case, so I never choose. The one thing all the men I've loved have in common is a strong feminine side. I find feminine men very virile and macho men very fragile. Machismo is a defence mechanism."

The mysterious Guerlain could therefore be an eminent choice for the siren who seduces men possessing a feminine side, as she herself revels in the androgynous facets under the more traditionally femme guiles of this amazing, dual-faced fragrance.

Could that be her femme fatale secret and not the great bum to accompany the Terminator smile and the Dostoevsky intellect? One would love to suppose so...

Pic of Bruni from sportaction.gr, Ysatis and Vol de Nuit ads from parfumdepub.

The Agony and the Ecstasy part3: Fetish in fragrance

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A scent for the famous on their wedding day?

Perfume Shrine in its toddler steps started as a modest guide of what celebrity prefers which scent. It was early days and compiling a list had been going on for years. Although it was meant as fun, it was also a great marketing research tool, since audiences are usually mesmerised by what the rich and famous opt for. The list got expanded into a website, the website into a perfume blog and the rest is history...for what it's worth.

So seeing that Eva Longoria, 32, the sexy brunette Latina of the Desperate Housewives Tv show stardom got married in Paris the other day to her sweetheart NBA champion Tony Parker, the question of what she opted for the big day rose once again.
It's not unusual for a bride to be to ponder on which scent to pick for the grand day among other concerns. After all, smell has such a way of imprinting itself in out mind like the fingerprint of a guilty party, that it is only natural we want the guilt to be as pleasurable as possible.

The sartorial choice was a double affair: since french law requires a civil ceremony by the french mayor before the religious one, the bride opted for two dresses on the two seperate occasions ~ a Chanel mini dress in pink and a white short dress.

According to my sources she is a white floral girl who loves her Kai and her Fleurs d'oranger and indeed I could picture her in those admirably, suiting her sexy persona and her lush features with their fresh yet soft and inviting smell.
She is also reputedly tied to the Desperate Wives perfume project, Forbidden Fruit, along with the other actresses who appear on the show (Terri Hatcher, Marcia Cross, Felicity hoffman, and Nicolette Sheridan), but somehow this strikes me as highly improbable. Think about it: do you share your fragrance with just about all the people you work with? Even if they are completely different types of people? Even if that perfume is free and inexhaustible because... hey, your pretty face is fronting it?
Sounds like marketing to me...And not that successful either.
Forbidden Fruit is reportedly not as potently fruity as surmised by the name, but rather veers into fruity floriental nuances containing notes of Rome apples, orange blossom, peach, wisteria, jasmine, ylang-ylang, passion lily, cedarwood, sandalwood, vanilla and tonka bean. The notes do denote an intense floral presence.

However, like I said, I envision her in something more unique and in tune with her personality even if her lunch at Coco Chanel 's own old private studio which is quite a rare occassion not too many have participated in before would point to a Chanel perfume freebie: maybe one of the new Les Exclusifs?
(full reviews and an opinion article click here: Eau de Cologne, no.18 , 31 Rue Cambon review, Coromandel, Bel Respiro and 28 la Pausa).

I'd love to have been able to catch a whiff of what she chose in any case. Would you? And what do you imagine would be the perfect choice for her Parisian wedding? Or for any wedding, come to think of it?



Pic of Eva Longoria courtesy of Thesuperficial.com
Kai bottle pic courtesy of sporkfashion.com