Hermes Le Parfum de la Maison Reveries collection: Hermes forays into Home Scent

An ice vault tunneling below the ground, covered with a glass panel. Illuminated objects below the glass shining with an unearthly beauty. A 18th century private home in the not-as-hip 13th arrondissement in Paris, on a side street. Touring through 5 rooms, each propped to reflect a different scentscape. This is the somptuous setting for the presentation of the latest collection by Hermès. And last Tuesday a presentation in a Manhattan mansion built in 1905 by society architect C.P.H.Gilbert, again split into 5 different rooms, decorated to a fault to reflect something which is by nature abstract.

via Mitchell Owens

No, it didn't involve either accessories, nor saddlery (on which la maison built its reputation), not even perfume, though the link with the head perfumer is hard to miss. The charming and no-nonsense Céline Ellena, 3rd generation perfumer and daughter of in-house master perfumer Jean Claude Ellena and an accomplished artist in her own right, has composed a range of home scents for the super chic French brand: Rêveries, Dreams.

Céline is said to have been inspired by Cabris, the olfactive references in her father's home there, giving the rationale behind creating a home scent line: "A home breathes and whispers, it makes noises and murmurs that cause your mind to wander" And none of the scents created are specific. "I wanted to create stories that could be olfactory murmurs". Care was taken to distinguish this home scent collection from any perfumes in the Hermès catalogue.

The 5 different Hermès home scents come in 3 formats: Limoges porcelain white faceted jars holding scented candles with a different color glaze inside for each scent designed by Guillaume Bardet, ceramic "stones" (which can be rescented) and paper origami horses that can fold flat for transport. The porcelain bowls start from $185 (they come in varying sizes), the stones start from $245 and the originami horses cost $79 for a package of 4.

• À cheval!  (Saddle Up!) is of course the one most tied to the heritage of the house, presented via a lifesize horse model amidst books and smelling of smoky leather and beeswax. 
• Temps de pluie (Rainy Day) evokes the favorite past-time of many a perfume lover, reading in the bedroom, and Celine herself, spending time with her kids on the sofa, watching movies: the misty atmosphere and the freshness of geosmin. 
• Champ libre (Open Field) is a green composition that was conveyed via a wall covered in reeds. Fenêtre ouverte (Open Window) is as literal as it is evocative of a bedroom with its window open into the fresh air. 
• Des pas sur la neige (A Walk in the Snow) smells of hay, soft and fluffy like snow, like the the artificial snow that overflowed from a Parisian bathtub. 

The collection will be available in select Hermès boutiques starting from December.

Home for the Holidays: Home Fragrance Project

The holiday season means it’s cold outside and everyone is spending more time indoors, with the windows and doors closed. It’s time to feature beautiful natural scents to highlight the festive spirit.

The Natural Perfumers Guild members are dedicated to using 100% natural aromatics, and for this season, members of the Natural Perfumers Guild created ambient fragrance for the home and office, using incense, candles, room sprays and wax melts. Eight Guild perfumers and associates have independently created lovely ambient scent products to celebrate “Home for the Holidays” 2012.
 The natural scents work hand-in-hand with the idea of fragrant Christmas trees, boughs and wreaths fragrancing the homes and offices. The Guild members were matched up with eight scent bloggers, several of whom have never previously reviewed ambient fragrance products.

The rationale behind the idea makes sense, as it's supremely difficult to find natural-sourced products for home use. "We in the Guild thought this was a great challenge, and love the idea of being the first to introduce them to this scenting concept. Many homes are awash with synthetic room scents, from plug-ins to automatic spritzers. How lovely, we thought, to keep in the spirit of the holidays, when pine and cinnamon and frankincense, all natural aromatics, in addition to our creative takes on indoor fragrance, can be introduced!"

The scents in which Anya's Garden presents her home fragrance wax melts in are:
Outlaw Perfume (named after the challenge to the government regulations on perfume allergens back in 2010 the perfumer took) - Oakmoss, bergamot and lime! Believed to be the first oakmoss/chypre room fragrance
Lemon Vetiver - Lemon myrtle with its lemon candy/herbal scent pairs with woodsy vetiver
Bay Rum and Honey - Oh, honey, so yummy - like a tropical night, and surprisingly, a holiday scent, too.
Each scent variation is available in 6-8 pieces 3oz. hand-poured and costs 30$.

I was sent sample wax melts to try, presented in a lovely purple pouch, obviously hand-poured with love into cookie and candy "molds" that resemble fleur de lys (or small platypus feet, it all depends on your level of humor!) and as soon as I opened the sachet I was greeted by a delicious waft of assorted freshness and spiciness.

They're all good, but my favorite has to be Bay Rum and Honey. It has that aromatic spiciness with that clove-like tinge which I adore. The throw is very good and it avoids that pitfall that many "sensual" scents get trapped into: too much sweetness to the point of nausea (though it is sweet, but in a good way). If you're bringing this to the bedroom or the living-room while entertaining you won't have people thinking some random cable melted or that you forgot something sweet on the stove! It also has an outdoorsy nuance that is not common for this genre, Christmas-y, like pine or fir. It smells delicious!
Lemon Vetiver emphasizes the fresher, brighter and vivid aspects common on both materials. These two also have other, differently nuanced facets, aromatic for lemon myrtle (which should not be confused with either lemon the citrus or with myrtle, it is backhousia citriodora and it's technically a spice) and licorice for vetiver, which are not explored here. The Lemon Vetiver wax melts would be very popular for de-stuffying a room naturally, sort of actually opening the window; it's a head-clearing, alert scent that would go down very well for a working environment or a home office, it seems to bring on a dynamism and energy to it.
Outlaw Perfume is perhaps the most outdoorsy of them all, an oxymoron for fragrance intended for the home. Its mossy, green, even slightly soapy scent from some angles invites contemplation, novel reading in overcast days when the rain pits-pats on the window pane and a foreshadowing of the good, long walk into the woods that comes after everything is properly washed down after the storm...

Wax melts are a great value since they're also the ultimate recycleable fragrance product (you can stash the cooled melts in a closet or -as Anya suggests, but I haven't tried it personally- use as a polish on furniture).

Anya's Garden has offered us the option of a giveaway: To USA-based readers only, a Room Candy tin of the scent of their choice, plus a tea candle burner, a $40 value.
Enter a comment, saying what are you desires/concerns regarding home fragrance and you are eligible. Draw remains open till Sunday 4th midnight.

Products reviewed available at Anya's Garden site. There is a good value for money Starter Kit at 40$ which includes a 3oz. tin of wax melts, tea light burner (not sold separately) and one organic beeswax tea light.

Like mentioned above this is part of a greater project including natural perfumers (from Andrea Shanti to Elisa Pearlstine and Anita Casamento) and bloggers (for instance The passionate parfumista, Feminine Things and Perfume Critic) , so if you are really interested you can consult Anya McCoy's  blog page for reference and to see other links.

Diptyque Opopanax: fragrance (for home & beyond) review

The practice of wearing room fragrance as personal scent isn't totally revolutionary on my part (everyone raves, me included, about incense-y Essence of John Galliano by -recently controversial- designer Galliano) but Opopanax by Diptyque is my very own personal "discovery" down that path of delightful addiction that plagues at least some of the aficionados of scent. Basically a room spray (with its fine fragrance counterpart being Eau Lente by the same brand, which I also like a lot), Opopanax is more complex and nuanced than its simplistic name would suggest; which is exactly what prompted me to experiment with it in the first place.


Opopanax (also spelled "opoponax") is a secretion from the stems of the plant Opopanax chironium, or "sweet myrrh", which is then dried out in the sun. Coming from a sunny climate where the yellow flowers of this "noblest ofincense gums", to quote king Solomon himself, are a common enough sight, I have somewhat of an affinity with this sweet smelling essence. It might also have to do with the delightful etymology: ὀποπάναξ comes from the Greek words ὀπός and πανάκεια, literally "total healing through plant essence".

In Diptyque's Opopanax apart from the fluffy, powdery woody, exotically sensuous and all around cozy haze of the eponymous Middle-Eastern resin I can detect shades of orange blossom, orange confit cake, balsamic vanilla and even Eastern Bread, the confit qualities and the mahlep spice being facets of the resin itself. And yet it also has a certain freshness about it: Not exactly the lemon-facets of frankincence which peter out to smokiness cooling the air as they leave, but nonetheless it does not smell opressing at all. Its voluptuous unfolding on air, linen, skin or clothes is like an arc of graceful awakening: you feel it making your nostrils quiver and then settle into a prolonged inhalation and another prolonged exhalation of utter pleasure. The dark, powdery backdrop of Opopanax is reminiscent of how vintage Shalimar used to dry down, the powder never too sweet, the leathery quinolines never too harsh, all coppery clouds setting on some eastern temple scenery when nary the tremble of a leaf would cut the awed silence of the moment.

Among room fragrances which can be borrowed for fine fragrance needs (the opposite is also valid practice, as some in the Guerlain Aqua Allegoria line have proved in my experience), Diptyque's Opopanax is truly stellar, achingly gorgeous, right up there with the very best and lovers of Misuki, Or des Indes, Bal a Versailles and indeed Shalimar are urged to check it out.

Diptyque Opopanax comes in a room spray of 200ml and a 6.5oz candle. Obviously the room spray is easier to manipulate towards perfuming what strikes your fancy, but the candle is also terrific.
Available on the Diptyque site.(and on their UK page)


photo of candles in Orthodox church via wooz.gr

Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady: new fragrance

Les Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle have ventured into home fragrance lately (here & more below on this post), but the fine fragrance department was seemingly neglected for a while. Portrait of a Lady, their newest feminine fragrance is going to change all that, introducing another coveted item in the niche line. The name is of course inspired by the same-named novel by Henry James from 1881, focusing on a heroine who afronts her overwhelming destiny with all the tragic mood of a classical Greek tragedy and set in a context which clashes the Old and New World sensibilities to great aplomb.

Composed by Dominique Ropion (who had collaborated with Malle on Une Fleur de Cassie, Vétiver Extraordinaire, Carnal Flower and Géranium pour Monsieur), Portrait of a Lady, the upcoming F.Malle fragrance, is centered around rose alongside spicy notes of clove, cinnamon and incense, developing a complex sillage that is promising to be oscillating between an oriental and a chypre. After all the F.Malle Une Rose is indeed almost chypré already. The woody note in Portrait of a Lady is patchoulol, a terpene extracted from natural patchouli, whose one isomer is responsible for the scent of patchouli itself. This refinement allows to avoid some of the technical problems of using the unfractured patchouli and leads to a purer scent. Rose and patchouli have been a beloved theme of modern perfumery in the last decade with several worthy speciments in niche fragrances, from Voleur de Roses by L'Artisan to Lady Vengeance from Juliette has a Gun. But the orientalised take and the spice addition alongside the smokiness of incense seem like a novel take that seems exciting and promising. Could it prove to be the perfect Gothic rose fragrance that sometimes people are seeking?
Portrait of a Lady will retail from 145 to 215 euros for 50ml and 100ml respectively, available from November 2010.

In the home fragrancing front, ‘Diffuseur Solitaire’, a non electric minimally designed new gadget, shaped like an aluminum cylinder in either black or metal-finish adapts itself to confined spaces. The more modest price point (compared to the 360 euros that were asked for Fleur Mécanique) is another advantage. It is for the moment offered in re-worked scents of ‘Coffee Society’ and ‘Saint des Saints’ (review on the link) which were originally developed for the scented candles in the F.Malle line. But the recharges of the Fleur Mécanique line have also profited from a lifting: a new concentration extrême, touted as more than 50 % is being presented as "+" version.

All pious at the Malle shrine, enter!

Diffuseur Solitaire : 85 euros ; Recharge "+" : 55 à 75 euros, available on the oficial site editionsdeparfums.com/

Related reading on Perfumeshrine: Upcoming releases, Frederic Malle news & reviews

pic via osmoz

Le Cherche Midi: fragrance reviews & Gift Set giveaway

Le Cherche Midi, a niche brand that provides Eaux de Toilette alongside matching candles and fragrant "cubes" for home fragrancing, translates as "found moments" and its origins echo the welcome respite that the tucked-away Rue du Cherche Midi in the Left Bank of Paris offered to the wanderers of its cosmopolitan alleyways. The desire to capture that serene ambience and translate it into something tangible motivated Nathan Motylinski and Alex Mehfar, who bought the original Parisian brand and re-branded Le Cherche Midi in 2006 into what it is today. (an interesting video on Candles Off Main TV is here).

I humbly admit that I was oblivious to their very existence till very recently. They were a finalist for the 2008 Fifi Awards for Interior Scent and won the 2008 Best Off Main Awards for Most Luxurious Candle Line and Best Gift over $50, so I should have known, shouldn't I? Therefore I got a real kick out of testing their entire portfolio and photographing their glorious candles set. (Depicted is the Les Voyages gift set which retails for $150 and includes six 25+ hour candles, one in each fragrance in the current collection, which I am giving away to one lucky reader, along with a full set of samples for another reader, so comment if you'd like to be included in the drawing!) It's needless to say how rustically and yet elegantly luxurious the reusable wooden box feels and how pleasing to the eye, you can feast yours on it: a picture speaks a thousand words! The Eaux de Toilette are austere, spartan glass bottles similarly encased in wooden packaging, very vintage-wine-style. Personally I'm a sucker for such presentations (and an oenophiliac), so half the game is won simply because of the lovely visuals. But the great thing is the fragrances ~with their numerical "names" and colour coding~ are very nice too! Complex, deep, evocative and multi-dimensional, they can be used as the beautiful soundtrack of your home existence or can be portable forms of intelligence for when you want to take them on a journey on your skin.

From the selection I was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected beauty of No.9, a rich and addictive floriental with a noticeable (and delectable) soft note of lavender on top and a vanillic base, which manages to smell both soothing like a baby cologne and enticing like something meant for adults. It makes for a sexy fragrance to scent your bedsheets before some romping à deux, which I guess is not really antithetical to the cocooning idea; on the contrary! Also wonderful is No.20, a peppery and mossy-leathery alloy which fits with my autumnal mood that yearns for decaying leaves fallen on muddy puddles and the pungent smell of the earth after a roaring thunderstorm. It would make both a supreme masculine/unisex scent (with just a touch of sweetness and lemon zest to balance things out) and a home surrounding aroma, woodies being the par excellence olfactory touch to make even then most mundane little appartment smell like a gentlemen's club study-and-cigars-room out of a James Ivory film. They both lasted exceptionally well too, whiffs caught on skin by morning after an evening application.
Other scents that caught my eye were No.21, a delicious tart, dark berry and evergreens scent underscored by rich spices which brings the atmosphere of a winter fête a little closer in season; and No.57, aimed at capturing "a New York state-of-mind" with its soft powdery aroma with limpid tonalities.

No.1 is a pleasant driftwood and lavender scent that started it all (it was the first product of Le Cherche Midi), which will appeal to those who appreciate Preparation Parfumée by Andrée Putman (minus the peppery start of the latter), while No.14 is the only "fruity" in the line, evoking tangerines just out of the bowl and hologramming in front of you in their happy costumes. A little too simple for my taste, but not sugary which is a plus.
The only one I didn't like at all was No.5, its "clean" ambience said to mimic garden parties and fresh laundry relying heavily on the (personally) dreaded hydromyrcenol note and the hydroponic-freesia soapy accent of several detergent-like florals au courant. It has something of the tonality of Sécretions Magnifiques, ( a scent which reminds me of an operating theater), which unfortunately unfolds right after the interesting top redolent of bitter absinth. It was interesting ~and a little scary~ to note that it had tremendous tenacity too. Ah well, we can't like everything...
CT01 was a limited edition which I believe is out of stock now; its hazy, fluffy sage note is an intriguing touch amidst the vetiver-cool backdrop of an early spring morning.

Le Cherche Midi offers each scent in various forms for the home and the skin: same scent, different technology. They explain:

"Application of fragrance plays a vital role in formulating and
fine-tuning the technical aspects of a fragrance formula. Every product requires
a unique fragrance oil formulation, depending on what the fragrance oil will be
mixed with. For example, we have three different formulas and oils for Le
Cherche Midi No 09 - one for each of our products: eau de toilette,
candle and Fragrance Cube. Even though all the oils smell the same, they are
constructed with different materials and solvents to be able to mix and perform
with other chemicals and compounds. Here, the perfumer’s knowledge of chemistry
helps take the creative concept and make practical solutions".

The fragrant cube, for instance, is a new product in which the wooden top soaks up the fragrance to diffuse the scent without spilling or the need for reeds.
The bulk of the fragrances by Le Cherche Midi are created by Cécile Hua, a Marseille-born French perfumer and chemist living in New York, who dreamed of her career in perfumery since she was a child. The first recipient of the Fashion Group International ‘Rising Star Award’ for the Fragrance Design category in 2003, she went on to create several fine fragrances for big houses. The exceptions in the line are 20, composed by Bertrand Dor, and CT01 by Octavia Jordan.

Notes for Le Cherche Midi 01: Sicilian Bergamot, Sage, Lavender, Freesia, Mint, Oakmoss, Driftwood, White Amber, Sand Musk
Notes for Le Cherche Midi 05: Absinthe Flower, Cyclamen, Hyacinth, Fresh Cut Grass, Clean Laundry, White Lilac, Pine, Galbanum, Tonka Beans, White Musk
Notes for Le Cherche Midi 09: Lemon Meringue, Lily of the Valley, Night Blooming Jasmine, Whipped Lavender Crème, Patchouli, Soft Amber, Sandalwood, Vanilla Absolute
Notes for Le Cherche Midi 14: Mandarin Leaves, Blackcurrant, Water Lilies, Rhubarb, Peonies, Rose Buds, Orange Absolute, White Cedar, Musk
Notes for Le Cherche Midi 20: Armoise, Bergamot, Lemon Zest, Black Pepper, Rose Water, Soft Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Dark Amber
Notes for Le Cherche Midi 21: Grapefruit, Blackberry, Golden Saffron, Cardamom, Cinnamon FLower, Carnation, Sandalwood, Leather, Skin Musk
Notes for Le Cherche Midi 57 (a Bergdorf Goodman exclusive): White Tea, Rhubarb Leaves, Pink Laurel, Cherry Blossom, Casablanca Lily, Cyclamen, Vetíver, Amber Crème, White Moss Vanilla.
Notes for Le Cherche Midi CT01 (a collaboration with designer Costello Tagliapietra): Sicilian Bergamot, Sage, Lavender, Freesia, Mint, Oakmoss, Driftwood, White Amber, Sand Musk.

Prices range from 39$ to 50$. You can watch videos with Cécile Hua on the inspiration for the scents on the very well-designed site of Le Cherche Midi where there is also an online boutique and the offer of free swatches.
Enter code SHRINE30 when checking out to gain a 30% discount!!! (non affiliated)

Please enter a comment if you want to be in the drawing for:
1)The luxurious set of candles in its wooden crate pictured (this is heavy stuff, so I'm spoiling you rotten on shipping costs!)
2)A complete set of samples by Le Cherche Midi
Submissions valid till Sunday 1st November midnight and I will draw two random winners shortly thereafter.



All photographs by Elena Vosnaki.
In the interest of disclosure, I was sent the samples as well as the candles for the giveaway directly from the manufacturer.

Byredo candles & Byredo Blanche: new fragrance

ByRedo Parfums is a Stockholm-based newcomer onto the perfume scene as a brand founded by Ben Gorham, a graduate of the Stockholm Art School and an ex-student of interior design. Acting as creative director for the new line, he has assembled the talents of perfumers Olivia Giacobetti, Jérôme Epinette, and Michel Almairac to compose a collection of eight fine fragrances so far: Gypsy Water, Fantastic Man, Bal d'Afrique, Green, Rose Noir, Chembur and Pulp.

Their new candle collection is comprised of 9 scents which seem just like the stuff to get home to, this autumn.


The 9 ByRedo candles are:
Ambre Japonais (Coriander, sandalwood, vanilla)
Baker's Guild (Bitter orange, star anise, ginger)
Bibliotèque (Peach, prunbe, violet, patchouli, leather, peony)
Candy Darling (Coriander, rosewood, patchouli, benzoin)
Carrousel (Orange, rhubarb, cardamom, vetiver, amber)
Cassis (Cassis, berries, strawberry, cedarwood, cinnamon)
Cotton Poplin (Linen notes, white cedar, blue chamomille, musk)
Loose Lips (Violet, black cherry, rose, rice powder)
Peyote Poem (Tonka bean, hyacinth, fir, vanilla)

Each candle is 225g for 50 Euros.

I am itching to try the Bibliotèque candle: How more perfect ~and Lutensian I might add~ can it get?

Ben Gorham, the creator of parfums By Redo, is also launching a new Eau de Parfum, called Blanche this autumn.

"The idea of Blanche is ~as its name suggests~ constructed around my
perception of the colour white. For the first time I have conceived a perfume
for and with the collaboration of one particular person. I wanted to capture
that innocent and immaculate side, a perfume that is of almost transparent
nature. Blanche also represents a homage to classical beauty. The
fragrance is pure and simple in its formula, but its character is extreme".

~Ben Gorham

Blanche ByRedo opens on notes of white rose, pink pepper and aldehydes, segues to a heart of violet, neroli, and peony and reveals a base of white woods, sandalwood and musk.
Available in Eau de Parfum spray, 100ml

notes & pics via press release

Frederic Malle Home Collection Scents & Saint des Saints review

"In this new adventure, I have chosen to work with perfumers or noses specialized in fine fragrances, as opposed to those in functional fragrance who would normally work on home fragrances,” says Frédéric Malle, the auteur behind Editions de Parfums and the instigator of several "lines" of fragrances across the market. “A fragrance should become part of life without smothering it. The goal for this new home collection is to embellish the complex alchemy that makes up the odors of our world.”

With imaginative names such as Jurassic Flower (centered on magnolia, which we had mentioned in relation to Malle before) and Coffee Society (the aftermath of a rich dinner) the sparse packaging eschews the ultra-luxe presentation upscale home fragrance brands invest their offerings with such as the rococo-looking Cire Trudon and Ladurée. I see half the bet already won: it's all about the formula, we're left to think! Judging by his Saint des Saints, which I was fortunate enough to smell through an inward connection, the mission is accomplished. Saint des Saints is a holy offering of myrrh incense and balsams (I seem to detect Tolu and Peru balsams, but nothing official is forthcoming now) that is capable of conjuring Caspar in turbaned gear in nano-seconds. I can picture myself reading my beloved books on medieval and renaissance alchemy by the throw of this scent, a blazing fire burning in the fireplace and some fine Napeoleon cognac in my palm. It just seems to condone such an atmosphere, which were it not available it should have been invented.

For this collection Frédéric Malle joined forces with fine fragrance "noses" Carlos Benaïm, a close colleague of the late Dr. Mookherjee (vice-president of IFF), the prolific and bestseller-producing Sophia Grosman, and Dominique Ropion, who has been working with Malle for a long time producing some of the line's most memorable creations. Since of the three only Carlos Benaïm hasn't collaborated with F.Malle before are we to expect the newest fragrance to join the fine fragrance line to be his creation?
The home range encompasses 5 florals, 1 woody and 3 compositions more attuned to orientalised sensibilities. The technology and artistry employed aimed to produce realistic scent “portraits” of flowers and essences for the home, combining head space techniques and natural essences, coming out with ways to emit the aroma as best as possible: that took the form of a candle (with wax especially formulated to aid diffusion, though what I smelled was not super potent), a diffuser (called "fleurs mécaniques" or mechanical flowers), or both. The innovation of the difuser is that it is an in-house development of the Editions de Parfums, a wireless cube that can be recharged with a refill. There is also another innovation available in one scent, Saint des Saints, which is called Rubber Incense: this is the Space-Age equivalent of the pot-pouri sachet that proviencial women put in closets to keep them aromatized; a small sheet of 100% recyclable plastic rubber is saturated with fragrance. The patented Polyiff technique from IFF allows diffusion for years without necessitating electricity or refills.

The Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle Home Collection Scents comprises:

• Un Gardénia, la Nuit by Dominique Ropion (available as a candle and fleurs mécaniques). The gardenia is one of Frédéric Malle’s favorite flowers and this is a rendition following the head space method of Dr. Braja Mookherjee producing a most convincing natural scent. Incidentally the most pricey of the range.

• 1er Mai by Dominique Ropion (candle and fleurs mécaniques). This near-reproduction of the fragrance of a cluster of lily of the valley (muguet) is the result of working with historic formulae (Coty Muguet de Bois, Dior Diorissimo) for the flower along with head space technology.

• Rosa Rugosa by Carlos Benaïm (candle and fleurs mécaniques). The reconstitution of the dry, cold, astringent-like scent of these wild rose bushes which grow on the Atlantic coast was developed by Benaïm “au nez”, just by using his nose.

• Rubrum Lily by Carlos Benaïm (candle and fleurs mécaniques). The ravishing perfume of a full bouquet of lilies which has dressed up rooms since the turn of the century: Floral, green, salty, and very spicy.

• Jurassic Flower by Carlos Benaïm (candle and fleurs mécaniques). A unique floral fragrance centered on magnolia thanks to top notes which resemble those of citrus fruits. A subtle lavender aspect and the sweetness of peaches complement this very natural smelling freshness.

• Saint des Saints by Carlos Benaïm (candle and rubber incense). The work that Dr. Mookherjee did to record scents included the analysis of his favorite places such as Indian temples which lead to the creation of this mystical fragrance.

• Coffee Society by Carlos Benaïm (available as a candle) This candle attempts to recreate that ephemeral odor of the living room after the end of a Parisian dinner, several dishes and the delicasies that accompany that demitasse. Among the perfumes of the home collection, this one most resembles a fragrance that is to be worn.

• Russian Nights by Sophia Grosman (available as a candle). This simple yet rich fragrance has notes of nutmeg, cinnamon, iris and sandalwood producing a soft spicy ambery oriental. It was designed to embody the suave warmth of long nights in Russia, although I imagine it has more to do with the cozy feeling of a log-fire room than actual nights in the great outdoors.

• Santal Cardamome by Dominique Ropion (available as a candle).The scent of sandalwood has become something of the far-reached Avalon for perfumers these days due to restrictions to its harvesting resulting in substitutions with sandalore. The Malle team came upon a chord of harmony of sandalwood cardamomthat compliment each other in a woody blend of raw attraction.

Frédéric Malle Home Collection Scents will be available in F.Malle's boutiques (at New York City and Paris) starting November 2009 as well as Barneys stores, and online at EditionsdeParfums.com in December 2009. Prices for candles between $85 and $150, Rubber Incense $105 for 5 pieces, and Fleurs Mécaniques $380 with one refill included in the price. Each scent refill surplus costs from $70 to $100.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Frederic Malle news & reviews, Myth Debunking: Scented candles cause cancer? The truth.

some info/prices via press release and Fragrantica, pic via osmoz

Myth Debunking: Scented Candles Accused of Causing Cancer? The Truth Revealed

If you're any phobic about the big C disease at all, you'd bettter skip this article or you'll get ideas. Or rather you should read it to decipher another bunch of C, the kind that has you nodding your head incredulously and exclaiming "my, my!"

After all the IFRA brouhaha that erupted last spring concerning the strictening of perfumery raw materials control and percentage allowed in commercial products {you can read about it clicking the highlighted links}, there comes intimidating news concerning even the humble ~or not so humble, depending on your decadence quota and disposable income~ scented candle! According to a fun two-sided approach on the Telegraph.co.uk, in which scented candles are praised and trashed respectively by Becky Pugh and Nick Collins based mainly on aesthetic and cultural reasons, it also transpires that "Researchers at South Carolina State University have discovered that the humble scented candle releases potentially harmful amounts of toxins". How scary, right?

To be thorough we investigated this info a little (our geeky nature cannot be hidden for long). Here are some of the claims of the research:

"This study characterized the products of emission by individually burning 91 candles inside a stainless steel combustion chamber and determining specific emission rates of soot, benzene and lead. Candle soot was typically less than 1 µm, contained up to 66% elemental carbon and carried numerous adsorbed organic compounds including dibutyl phthalate, diethyl phthalate, toluene and styrene. Volatile organic compound emissions included benzene, styrene, toluene, ethyl benzene, naphthalene, acetylaldehyde, benzaldehyde, benzene, ethanol, and 2-butanone (methyl ethyl ketone). Analysis for lead revealed some candles emitted significant quantities of aerosolized lead during combustion".

The quote originates from "Characterisation of Scented candle emissions and associated public health risks" by J. David Krause, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, August 1999.

Please note the date folks: 1999!!! I mean, geez, a whole decade ago! Wouldn't there be more info available till now and wouldn't companies have cottoned up to those claims so as to reduce the hearmful ingredients as much as possible? After all nail polish comes sans toluene or phtalates anymore, therefore why would candles be far behind? And just how many of you burn candles inside a stainless steel combustion chamber, unless you're fetishizing KZ-Dachau (in which case what are you doing reading this venue?). Somehow this piece of "news" is making the rounds on the Internet (see this article on The Daily Mail for some quotes by doctors or this one spinning off the info) and one is picking it after the other which usually has my antennae up on something fishy being behind all that. It's either that "there are no news in August" or...something else. There is the snippet mentioned that "The neighborhood around NPR HQ in Washington is crawling with chemists attending a big meeting of the American Chemical Society this week". Could it be comparable to the war declared on fragrances and the egoes involved in the academic world?

It's quite logical and sane that Nick Collins exclaims on the Telegraph:

"One really has to respect the brass neck of the designers who make these things, because they have got the women of this world eating out of the palm of their hand [...]If candles weren’t primarily an evening product, one might call it daylight robbery – the market in candles is believed to be worth a jaw-dropping £125 million, 90 per cent of which are bought by women. What’s more, the market has increased threefold in the past three years".

Who can argue with that? It's a way to make the economy roll! Still I would like to focus more on this attitude as presented by Becky Pugh:

"Being, without doubt, a luxury item, it's hard to justify the cost, especially as the inconvenient truth is that the cheaper the candle, the sicklier its fragrance. So although every homeware store, and even supermarket, now stocks a range of them, you need a fairly posh one for it to be worthwhile".

Indeed one would presume that the real danger healthwise, the lead-treated wicks, are often eliminated from more expensive candles, while paraffin (a cheap by-product of petroleum) is less opted for in favour of soy wax. "Candles made from soybean-derived wax didn't show the same pattern of potentially toxic emissions" [quote source] although scientists are wary of cautioning this is merely qualitative info. Did the soybeans manufacturers lobby up for their product or was the Candlemaking Foundation caught asleep at the wheel? From the following ~published on the above source~ it transpires that something is rotten in the kingdom of Denmark: Scott Hensley notes:

"One more caveat: the work is funded by the Department of Agriculture, which wouldn't mind if soybean-based candles became the rage. As a summary of the research under the headline "Soybean Candles For Healthy Life And Well Being" puts it: 'By replacing paraffin wax with soy wax in candles, an estimated 60 million pounds of soybeans would be required for annual candle production. This requirement will have a direct economic impact on soybean farmers as well as a health and environmental impact in this country'."

Draw your own conclusions!

Of course one could also claim that soy is one of the most heavily genetically-modified products on the planet (and it's in the top 3 actually) so that would open a whole new can of worms, but you know what I am getting at, don't you! And to further this, there is also the fact of a scientist for one company going public on MSNBC that an industry study a few years ago could essentially not differenciate between paraffin-based and vegetable-based candles' emissions!!

Personally I would be wary of linking cancer to any of these products: cancer is increasingly identified as being a genetical predisposition (and believe me I know, I have family members working in cancer research at top notch institutions), meaning you will get it anyway if you're so DNA-inclined and panic certainly doesn't help, nor would banning scented candles bring any significant results; I'd venture that industrial and urban air pollution is hundreds of times more detrimental in exarcebating cancer growth. Like an intelligent commenter noted: "I think the only way to avoid cancer-causing materials these days is to move into a bubble. Unless the plastic turns out to be a cancer-causer too…which it will". Another writer at The Guardian "gets" it, although to her scented candles are a no-no due to other reasons; but that's totally cool and she might have a point (the article is worth a read).
The claim that scented candles "could trigger asthma attacks or skin complaints (ie/eczema)", according to the American Chemical Society's annual conference, that I can believe. But surely the solution to that would be quite simple: avoid whenever possible. Like with smoking, a certain regard for other people's comfort goes a long way...

David's The Death of Marat has been cleverly manipulated to include Cire Trudon candles in papermag.com. I found it supremely fitting! Aqua di Parma candles via splendora.com

Sleep Scentsations Pillow Liners: a novel bed-scenting idea

Do you like to scent your bed? I know I do, usually spraying the sheets with a favourite fragrance. Sleep Scentsations Pillow Liners is a novel idea of instant gratification with minimum hassle: little scented liners that are placed under your pillow case to aromatize your pillow and your…dreams! The products were developed by two sisters in Texas:

“After many years as executives in the corporate world, sisters Lynne Sammons and Michelle Fitzwater often found themselves facing an extremely stressful environment. […]After spending what she swore would be her last sleepless night, Lynne and sister Michelle, along with a group of well-trusted associates, spent months researching the effects of essential oils and aromatherapy, as they’d heard that these natural alternatives served as a good method in inducing relaxation. They quickly discovered applications for aromatherapy were often quite cumbersome and costly, and did not bring out the subtle natural effect inherent in fragrance oils. Experimenting with different applications, they came upon an ideal method to enhance a great nights’ sleep; it was easy to use, could be personalized to their liking, and could be taken anywhere….thus Sleep Scentsations ™ was created”.

Or so the story goes.

Personally I would find the approach much more convincing if I hadn’t already heard of the adage of “discerning consumer who couldn’t find what they wanted, so they made their own X product” numerous times, from Donna Karan to Christy Turlington and Iman downwards. There is nothing wrong with having a good business idea, after all! Why not just say it? It even landed them a partnership with the American Hotel Register Company, the world's leading product distributors within the hospitality industry! And since the Wellness and Aromatherapy liners are contra-indicated on the site for pregnant women due to containing essential oils, I'm led to believe the rest do not. But let’s skip my minor gripe and focus on the product itself.

Basically it consists of thin, scented liners which adhere to your pillow (under the pillow-case) and emit their scent for a few days until it’s time to peel them off (they come off very easily, no trace). They’re indeed easy to use, although if you’re accustomed to silk pillowcases you might feel a bit of the screetch-scratch sound at first, but nothing too bad. One observation is that the liners themselves are manuactured in China, while the scent is produced in the US. (It seemed interesting to me). As to the scents, there’s something for every taste.

The categories and respective scents included in the Sleep Scentsations line are:
Aromatherapy: Bliss (mandarin and vanilla), Relaxing (lavender, bergamot, cedar)
Botanical: White Tea & Lily, Wild Flower (tobacco flower, white ginger lily & freesia)
Exotic: Ginger & Amber, Shanghai Nights (flowers & musks)
Fresh: Day at the Beach, Fresh Cut Grass
Sensual: My Boyfriend’s Shirt, Seduction (vanilla, mandarin, amber, honey)
Wellness: Cold RX (A therapeutic blend of essential oils formulated to stimulate relief of congestion, coughs and cold symptoms) and Snore RX (A therapeutic blend of essential oils formulated to suppress snoring)

The three individual liners sent to me to test included Day at the Beach (Fresh category), Ginger & Amber (Exotic category) and My Boyfriend’s Shirt (Sensual category).

From those Day at the Beach was easily my favourite, as it replicates the much sought-after suntan-lotion-effect, filtered by memory into evoking sandy dunes and oiled-up sexy bodies languorously sprawled under the sweltering sun. I admit despite my usually posher tastes, the whiff of a little creamy mandarin-ambery and tropical tiaré/jasmine smell catches my attention more often than not. Pairing it with reading Evil under the Sun, in which the indomitable Arlyna Stuart Marshall is exposing limps as brown as a salty-almond biscuit, is quite blissful.
Ginger Lily & Amber has a spicy and aqueous undertone beneath the soft, waxy and powdery floralcy which is pleasant, if not too memorable. Still, I expect that it would be quite pretty to many people, especially those who are fans of clean white florals and it makes for an inobtrusive prelude to sleep.
My Boyfriend’s Shirt is the least remarkable in the trio and the harshest in its aromatic fougère genre; if my boyfriend used comparable cologne, I guess he wouldn’t be my boyfriend! This is one that needs reworking in my opinion because it deduces from the impression left from the other two.

Sleep Scentsations Pillow Liners can be purchased online on the official site. One pack for a 30-day-supply costs $19.99.

Disclaimer: I was sent three individual liners as part of a PR giveaway.
Photo: Gisele Bundchen shot by Mario Testino for Vanity Fair.

New Diptyque Candles: Patchouli, Roses Rose, the Basile collection

Diptyque might have discontinued some of their most interesting candles (and fragrances!) but they're busy expanding the rest of their stable with new additions. After the trio of hesperidic colognes (L'eau de l'eau, L'eau de Neroli, L'eau des Hersperides, all by nose Olivier Pecheux), which they issued last year, they are adding new candles in their lineup now.

"Patchouli: Its long blue leaves, steam distilled on tiny plantations way up in the hills of Indonesia, effuse a surprising woody scent.
The freshness of patchouli stems, humus and moss, wrapped in warm wood and resin. Deep yet luminous, it rekindles with its exotic roots and delicate accords.

Patchouli scented candle : € 47

The Roses Rose candle is nestled in a very British-style box. Its design is inspired by Liberty fabrics and pays tribute to the Diptyque founders who originally created textiles for this historic department store.
The Roses Rose candle is a mixture of antique rose petals and aromatic geranium leaves".

Roses Rose scented candle (limited edition) : € 50

The Roses Rose candle is timely coinciding with the shopping onslaught of the St.Valentine's celebration...

These come as an addendum to another Limited Edition that Diptyque issued a little while ago: the Basile collection of three scents (Amber, Scotch Pine and Briar Honey) which optically replicates the design of one of their first fabrics, in its turn based on the rich motifs of Byzantine architecture. The three scents, intended to make winter days and nights a little more luminous and warm, are as follows:

"Amber: The mystery of a substance so rare that Arab merchants once used it as a currency as precious as gold. The enchantment of ambergris with woody, leathery notes.
Scotch Pine: Being green in winter as well as summer is only one of the virtues of Scotch Pine. Its vigorous, resinous notes evoke the scents of a majestic pine forest and the freshness of the fleeting winter.
Briar Honey: It is difficult to find a sweeter, fruitier nectar. You almost feel like you’re in the middle of a moor full of fresh, scented briar".

Basile Collection scented candle : € 55 each

Pics and info via Senteurs d'Ailleurs

Scent your Home for Spring

How can one do without friends? Fragrant friends are especially wonderful, if only because they introduce you to delights of the senses that forever tie their memory with the feelings thus provoked. One of those friends sent me some Jacques Garcia Gold. And the elation of sniffing recalled the wonderful traits of this lovely lady who has been spoiling me rotten!

Jacques Garcia Gold is an orange blossom scent: it was therefore natural that it would attract the attention of Perfume Shrine which has so much elaborated on orange blossom in the past. {click the link for our series}
Jacques Garcia is, amongst many famous international places, the interior designer of Hôtel Costes in Paris, La Mamounia in Marrackech, La Reserve in Geneva, Casino de Montreux in Switzerland, L'Avenue Restaurant in Paris, Jean-Georges in NYC and Hotel Victor in South Beach...
Jacques Garcia had the lovely idea of launching a line of home fragrances in room spray and candle form to scent all those sumptuous interiors and to do that he collaborated with Rami Mekdachi. The latter is a true sorcerer of scent who actively sought to create "perfume for modern temples". His diverse portfolio of artistic direction encompases the opulent brocades of the Hôtel Costes scents, the leathery smoothness of the exclusive fragrance for the infamous dancing venue VIP Room, as well as in the eponymous fragrance for the famous Colette boutique and Pierre Frapin Cognac. Not to forget ’Scent Lab’, the fragrance forecast bible for the cognoscenti.

With a background of marketing at a major cosmetics company as well as being a musician, Rami Mekdachi found the perfect fusion of art and business in the world of perfumery: "Music has the ability to bring you to a certain period of your life, to remind you of special moments. The same can be said of perfume, and yet, the effect of scent is even more powerful, because it acts on the subconsious level and opens the mind to a whole new arena of emotions".
All this with a nod to the ancient tradition of scent being a means to transport one to a different mood upon entering a sacred place. Very simpatico with Perfume Shrine's philosophy!

The nose chosen by Mekdachi to recreate these feelings in the Jacques Garcia line of ambience scents was the great Pierre Bourdon: the nose behind such elegant compositions of light cyclamen as Iris Poudre,the ethereal chiffon of Ferré by Ferré, as well as enduring bestsellers like Cool Water for men.

Gold is the freshest whiff of orange blossoms swaying in the spring breeze, bringing promises of happiness and insouciance, the glimpse of sunny days ahead and destinations in the Mediterranean where groves full of bitter orange trees look like white fairies in the wind.
The smell is simple, yet heavenly, as it engulfs you in its initial hesperidic freshness making the nostrils smile with pleasure. In a minute the blossom is there, true, honeyed and realistic as if a citrus aurantia tree is growing its branches beneath your windows, with the scent of wood as an afterthought. I have been known to put this on skin, as a personal scent, to uplift the spirits.
The bottle is one of the most decadent ones I have ever seen for a room fragrance, yielding itself to the frou-frou look of a boudoir atomiser in midnight blue with a tassel in silk thread and gold filigree design on the front. The candle is a comparable affair of indulgent decoration that will bring a touch of glamour to any coffee table. They're perfectly transporting!

The candle comes in 6.7oz, while the room spray comes in a 3.4oz bottle. Available at Aedes.
The line also includes Silver, a tuberose scent and Bronze, a scent based on myrrh. I can't wait to try those out as well.


So, what will you use to scent your home this spring?

Pics courtesy of Aedes

Guerlain news for fans

With a house as venerable and as under the fire (recently) as Guerlain one can only hope for the best. So the piece of news I am posting today is intended to inspire rather than dampen hopes and to instill anticipation rather than cause an anticlimax.

First of all the new addition in the "L’Art et la matière" line will be Iris Ganache, distributed at exclusive spots and Guerlain boutiques starting at mid-June. The name alludes to an iris laced scent that might hide a sweet gourmand note reminiscent of the homonymous chocolate french delicacy. Sounds very promising indeed. We'll just have to wait and see when it is finally available.

As to the re-issues of illustrious past glories of the house there has been some talk about Ode, but nothing conclusive as yet. I will keep you posted.

There are also two new body oils conceived by Sylvaine Delacourte, who is director of perfume creation. Garden Sensuel and Oud Sensuel are two perfumed oils inspired by the Middle East, destined for men and women respectively. They aim to capture a happy medium between a carnal oriental sensualism married to the parisian classicism of Guerlain.

The 2005 creation of Jean Paul Guerlain Plus que Jamais is finlly entering the Parisiennes line as a "grand classique" (a term with which some disagree on this particular fragrance) encased in the famous napoleonic bee bottles, available at Guerlain boutiques. I guess this makes its former Baccarat bottle a valuable collectible, so keep this in mind if you do possess one such bottle.

Also, on May 1st a Lily of the valley (Muguet) based parfum will be issued as a commemoration of the lovely french tradition to offer this flower on that day.

In addition the "Home collection" will include an Eau de Lit (bed and linen water) fragranced with orange and four home fragrances: Bois des Indes (=indian woods), Hiver en Russie (=Winter in Russia), Contes Tahitiens (=tahitian tales), Boudoir Vénitiens (=venetian boudoir)
They sure sounds interesting and what could be more luxurious and decadent than using a Guerlain home fragrance instead of all those middle of the road things that can look so tacky?

Last but not least, the "Aqua Allegoria" line, after a rather mediocre course in the last couple of years (despite some lovely offering in the first throes after its launch) is introducing Mandarine-Basilic and Angélique-Lilas, the one greener and fruitier and the other more romantic and floral.
Available at major department stores late in spring.

"The proof is in the sniffing!" like we always say at Perfume Shrine.

Assorted info thanks to cyberpress and Mario Girard.