Optical Scentsibilities: the Hug

What better way to show affection, protectiveness and love than a hug? In that spirit, the pose of a woman hugging a perfume bottle has been used a lot in advertising and it is our study subject for today.

A hug can be maternal and protective of a precious entity, signifying tenderness. As in Fidji by Guy Laroche.


And the Mother and Child by G.Klimt.



A hug can also signify daydreaming, and in it the freedom to be what one trully is. As in Caron's tender and contemplative Fleur de Rocaille.



Or in this art print in 60s style.



A hug can also be slightly provocative, sensually tantalising and promising escapades of an amorous sort. As in this ad of Senso by Ungaro featuring Nastassja Kinski from the 1980s.

Or in this famous illustration by Mel Ramos Hunts for the Best (1981), where the model suggestivelly embraces the topmost of the ketchup bottle.

Additionaly there is the semi-hug, a way of displaying the fragrance bottle than actually bringing it close to one's bosom, which can mean that it is prized loot; like in this ad for Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker. If you had followed Perfume Shrine, you will remember the wonderfully witty commercial for the scent, directed by J.P Goude.

It can also signify contemplation of the value of what its true essence means to you, like once again in the exotic shores of Fidji. The perfume becomes you, as the tagline said: "Every woman is an isle. Fidji is her perfume".

It can be your true essence itself, the magical elixir that transforms the woman into a plummed bird such as the Coco ads with Vanessa Paradis as a paradise bird (ingenious). Thus hugging the bottle is embracing the last frontier of imagination...



And finally, when something is as iconic and a mythos of its own, like Chanel No.5 is, it simply demands to be carried on the bosom as the insignia of excellence and the true arbiter of taste. Gigantic in its message as well as its physical size, it becomes bigger than life, fit to be hugged by only another living myth: Catherine Deneuve.

Which one is your favourite hug?

Pics from okadi, parfumdepub, ebay, allposters.com and art.com

Be a perfume sleuth if you really Covet that bottle!

Sarah Jessica Parker impressed us with her Lovely musky foray into fragrance as we didn't really expect a celebrity perfume to be of any considerable substance. But this was a serious perfume lover we were talking about (click here for her signature perfume mix and here, for an interview with Chandler Burr)and she passed the test with flying colours.
Now comes Covet, her new scent for women and the commercial was conceived by genius director Jean-Paul Goude, responsible for the Chanel Egoiste commercial that made it to the advertising Hall of Fame.
Set to Verdi's Forza del Destino with adorably playful french by smokey-eyed mrs. Parker as she talks to monsieur le gendarme and with red-soled Louboutin shoes that peek unmistakably under her Lacroix couture dress as she kicks to the count of the orchestra on the window of the posh boutique, this is a Paris-shot commercial that imprints itself on our mind with its strange atavistic motto "I had to have it!". Because it is so much coveted, you see.

And now Coty, the brand which is issuing Covet the fragrance for Sarah Jessica Parker have devised a new sleuthing game on who masterminded the theft of the bottle on their new site, Case of the Coveted Bottle(click on the link). The site offers free samples and a contest running till October 15th for weekly prizes. There will be extra clues given on this My Space link, where you can additionally download screensavers and wallpapers for your computer.

The Grand Prize winner will receive $10.000 and a trip for two to NYC to attend Lucky Magazine’s Lucky Shops 2007, but also a Covet gift bag encompassing a jewelry box and a deluxe mini. One First Prize winner will win a flat panel TV costing $1.200 and the Covet gift bag with the items described above. Last but not least 30 second prize winners will be receiving the Covet gift bag.
Additionally, the first person to solve one of ten weekly challenges will receive a green apple iPod Shuffle along with the Covet gift bag and the challenges will renew themselves each week. Finally two lucky winners will receive an apple iPhone and a Covet gift bag for the Bonus Challenges.

Sounds impressive! In any case good luck, those games can be addictive! I could spend hours being all monsieur Hercules Poirot on that site.

On the other hand if you want to laugh a bit with the ingenious uses of the bottle, please visit this link on Smelly Blog.

Clip uploaded by Leofour4, pics from Myspace/covetsarahjessicaparker