Back in the old days, when Calvin Klein was a bona fide designer house and the fragrances weren't made by Coty, the churning of smells was set on the decidedly loud end of the spectrum, and on the rather creative side as well. This was the decade of Dallas and Dynasty, of shoulder pads that pushed you over on the ladder to the corporate top, when women started to bring back home the bacon in earnest ("and fry it on a pan") and when the tip-toeing of perfume wearing in public spaces was only considered far-fetched dystopian sci-fi.
Obsession (for women, 1985) and Obsession for men (1986) were the natural products of such a period. Loud, brash, gold jewelry statement, knock-your-socks-off scents, full of the inherited warmth of their French counterparts (the success of the Opium perfume by Yves Saint Laurent fresh on the collective memory), but very American in their stylized presentation. And who could forget those infamous advertisements with the naked bodies standing atop a hammock in black and white, shot by Bruce Weber? Ann Gottlieb, creative director for Klein fragrances and responsible for countless commercial hits for countless brands, had demanded "sexy with a touch of raunchiness" and possibly, as it has been argued, got the balance reversed. But that's not a bad thing.
The person credited with the creation of Obsession for Men, a certain Robert Slattery, unaccredited for anything else, got the raunchy and sexy in spades by relying on the tension between trustworthy materials: mandarin on top contrasting with warm amber on the bottom, nutmeg and cinnamon spicing it up, giving a certain piquancy which recalls a man-made space somewhere in the late 80s, early 90s; gregarious, evening-time, where people smoke and drink freely, and where confident men in lots of aftershave prowl for the casual encounters of the evening, their own clean sweat mingled with the adrenaline of the flirting. It was a happier time, a less controlled time, and a time when anything seemed possible. Or, perhaps, it was a time when we felt ready for anything.
Obsession for Men in its current format feels watered down and lacking that density which sealed its unmistakable presence, but it still is a great trip down memory lane.
If the popular ice princess Elsa from Disney's Frozenhad a scent, Ginepro di Sardegna by Acqua di Parma would be it; the spontaneous eruption of icicles and snow flakes that come whirling at the flick of her hand is within the fragrance's intentional scope. There is one scene in the movie in particular that perfectly evokes for me the feel of the Ginepro scent: the other main character, Anna, alongside a comic snowman and the friend-who-will-dawn-as-boyfriend-material-in-the end (surely a time honoredtrope) enter a forest where ice curtains of icicles hanging from the tree branches tinkle in the frosty air like piano glissandos.
This goosebumps producing, intensely fresh yet at once highly spicy fragrance from Acqua di Parma feels like a slice of Iceland in the midst of a heatwave when wearing even a chiffon top over tap pants feels like too much. Perfect for the southern summers, then! The unisex fragrance is part of the mostly fabulous Blu Mediterraneo line which includes the unusual Mirto di Panarea, a personal favorite, as well as the ultra popular Mandorlo di Sicilia, the light-hearted Arancia di Capri and the nicely introverted woody scent Fico di Amalfi. Ginepro di Saregna (Juniper of Sardinia) recalls the now discontinued Cipresso di Toscana from the same line and no wonder since its basic aromatic "note", juniper belongs to the family of cypresses, trees traditionally tied to the Mediterranean paysage, part of which is the isle of Sardinia/Sardegna. I'm not sure if this was a move to satisfy the lost customers of Cipresso or a plea to new ones who are attracted by new, new, new.
Ginepro di Sardegna is immersed in the vigorous gin & tonic feel of juniper berries, bitter aromatic and tingling on the tongue, coupled with the eerily cooling feel of peppery spiciness. The peppery effect is not unlike the one in Poivre Samarcande (in the Hermessences collection by Hermes) so I'm hypothesizing that the effects of a clever use of Iso-E Super perfume ingredient are harnessed for all their worth, especially since cedar is the main woody note to underscore the composition. The after-feel is quite powdery, a soft, dry talc impression (I suspect white musk).
Further than a mere parsing of smells nevertheless Ginepro di Sardegna feels the way a Brâncuși looks, seamless and polished. Not entirely novel, one might argue, but pleasing all the same.
It's perfect for a seaside holiday under the scorching sun, the same as it's perfect on a gray winter day when you look forward to the snowflakes.
Lovers of Angeliques sous la Pluie by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle, Navegar by L'Artisan Parfumeur, Poivre Samarcande,Bang by Marc Jacobs, Juniper Sling by Penhaligon's and Piper Negrum by Lorenzo Villorezi should give Ginepro di Sardegna a try. More traditionally masculine feeling than feminine (apart from that powdery touch at the end), but who really pays attention when the back of your throat almost closes by the, welcome, dry frost?
Fragrance notes for Ginepro di Sardegna by Acqua di Parma: Top: juniper berries, bergamot, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg Heart: sage, cypress Base: Virginia cedarwood
Interestingly the strength of Acqua di Parma is that although it was bought by LVMH as an existing company (and we all know what that means for historical houses) the basic core was developed post hoc and therefore great attention to detail and clever marketing paid off instead of backfiring. Bravo!
Les Parfums de Rosine, Marie-Helene Rogeon's outfit borrowing only the name of the original Poiret line, do their utmost to stretch poor rose to the limit, like on a Procrustean bed, but I admit that I quite like Majalis, their newest launch, thanks to its tawny cinnamic and peppery blast which is sweet music to my ears. This style never fails to make me want to break out the flimsy scarves and the rusty sunsets lipstick and belly dance a bit in front of the mirror as if no one's watching and no one's ever the wiser; a gift to myself alone.
As announced a little while ago, the newly launched Majalis is inspired by the unique Rosa majalis, native to the Asian mountains, to render a soft oriental with spicy complementary notes of pink pepper and nutmeg on a woody background. Bulgarian rose absolute contributes a bright and heady heart note.
It is essential to like cinnamon (see a bit of cinnamon's history on this article) and peppery stuff to appreciate Majalis, because the content in cinnamic elements is so high that I almost can hear IFRA's breath down its neck itching to wield the axe and go off with its head. Les Parfums de Rosine affectionally call the inspirational rose a "cinnamon rose" and it's not hard to see why. But although we have come to associate cinnamon with orange & cloves from the classic Christmas melange sold in specialized tea shops and the festive pot pouri mixes originating from the medieval pomander, the composition of Majalis insists on more peppery (rather than clove-y) elements which pique and give a short rather than prolonged nasal pinch. It's also rather different from Rose Kashemerie by the same brand which is more resinous and saffron infused, less powerfully spicy. [In fact Majalis nicely falls into the "mellis accord" more on which you can read on our Oriental Perfume Basics. ]
If I were to draw a perfume comparison, I'd mention Cinabre by Maria Candida Gentile, a composition built on some gorgeous naturals which is as honking loud and as gorgeous as Sophia Loren in Marriage Italian Style. Cinabre is rather more ambery and with a distinct ginger note, while Majalis is less so, but the style is not miles away, so if you like one, you'll like the other. Although Rousse by Serge Lutens is another fragrance that immediately leaps to mind when thinking about cinnamon scents (and to a lesser degree Auburn by Tauer Perfumes), I find that the treatment there is different from the orientalised Taif rose that dominates the heart of Majalis by Parfums de Rosine and its milky sandalwood drydown.
Majalis just launched and is available through Rosine retailers and online. The bottle is beautiful as you can see, in all its coppery and fuchsia glory.
Notes for Parfums de Rosine Majalis:
Top: Bergamot, Mandarin, Grapefruit, Nutmeg, Cinnamon bark
Heart: Cinnamon leaf, Taif rose, Tea rose, Rose absolute, Jasmine, Black pepper, Pink pepper, Coriander seed
Base: Vetiver, Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Amber, Musk
One carded sample of Majalis is available for one lucky reader. To enter the draw please let us know in the comments if you have a particular spicy cinnamon scent/food/association (pleasant or unpleasant!). Draw is open internationally till Sunday midnight and winner will be announced sometime on Monday.
In the interests of disclosure I was sent a sample by the company.
"Sometimes he frets his instrument with the back of a kitchen knife or even a metal lipstick holder, giving it the clangy virility of the primitive country blues men". This descriptor for Bob Dylan's style fits the newest Serge Lutens creation to a T: clangy, virile in a rugged way, disruptive, angry and unusual are all characteristics of Vitriol d'Oeillet (meaning vitriol of carnation); an uncharacteristic carnation fragrance which breaks the mould of old fashioned powdery florals of the start of the 20th century, offering a futurist angry woody floral. In Vitriol d'Oeillet Lutens alludes to carnation via intense, corosive pepper and lily and invites us to think of carnations of red, feisty under the intense sun of Provence, and at the same time of the London fog hiding a gentleman killer à la Jack the Ripper, who sports a carnation in his buttonhole.
There's something to be said about 19th century and its fixation with death & violence, a kind of violence beyond the funereal association so many people have with carnations. The ethereally romantic image of the era gets shattered when we read Honoréde Balzac for instance: Madame Cibot is a widow twice-over, when her husband Rémonencq accidentally consumes the chalice of vitriol he was intending for his wife (in Cousin Pons)...Oil of vitriol features in many a 19th novella, not just Balzac.
Two especially memorable scenes have the caustic sulphuric acid unceremoniously thrown on a face (the acid works by releasing acids from their salts, i.e.sulphides); namely in George Gissing's The Nether World (1889) and Robert Louis Stevenson's The Ebb-Tide (1894). Perhaps what inspired those writers into using vitriol in fiction scene stealers as an aussault (an aussault to injustice, poverty and degradation), as well as a metonym for realism (a late 19th century claim to the explosive!), is what inspired Lutens himself; a desire to break loose with preconceptions about how a carnation fragrance should be: pretty, prim, feminine, dainty? Vitriol d'Oeillet is nothing of the sort!
But there's something to be said about Vitriol being in tune with Moorish sensibilities too, of which Lutens has long been an accolyte. Blue vitriol is copper (Cu), green vitriol is iron (Fe), and white vitriol is zinc (Zn), all Hermetic references for the initiated. Sulphuric acid (historically known as 'oil of vitriol') was formerly prepared from green vitriol in a ritual that crossed into the alchemical. The Moors sold vitriol preparations as an antiseptic panaceia. There's this thing in Shi'ism called ta'wil, it's this idea where "you take anything back to its root significance, its original self". A cleanse going for the bone!
On the other hand, in late 19th century carnations were innocent, popular buttonhole flowers; Oscar Wilde was said to sport one and companies producing such fragrances were a dime a dozen, rendering the carnation soliflore a dominating fragrance trend of the Victorian era. The dandified character of carnation scents has persisted: from old-image Floris Malmaison to Roger &Gallet'sever popular ~but ultimately discontinued~ Blue Carnation all the way to modern-day retro Dianthus by Etro.
The opening of Serge Lutens Vitriol d'Oeillet is sharp, caustic as befits the name though not smelling of sulphur, without the dense powdery note that surrounds the rich floral heart of retro carnations such as Caron's Bellodgia. After all, clove, the main spicy component in creating a carnation accord in perfumery, is called clou de girofle in French, same as a pointy "nail". But despite the disruptive nails on a chalkboard of the opening of the new Lutens fragrance, the progression of Vitriol d'Oeillet softens gradually; much like Tubéreuse Criminelle hides a silken polished floral embrace beneath the mentholated stage fright. In Vitriol d'Oeillet's case Serge hides the heart of a lush lily inside the spicy mantle. Indeed it is more of a lily than a carnation fragrance, as per the usual interpretation of carnation in perfumery.
The spices almost strangle the lily notes under cruel fingers: black pepper, pimento, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, pink pepper with its rosy hue, paprika and clove; in Serge Noire and Louve the spices serve as a panoramic "lift" to the other notes, here they reinforce what was a hint in the flower. The woody backdrop of cedar is softening the base, but lovers of Serge's and Sheldrake's candied-fruit-compote-in-a-cedar-bowl will not find the sweet oriental they have grown to expect. Vitriol d'Oeillet is resolutely spicy, rendered in woody floral tonalities that only slightly turn powdery towards the very end.
To give perfume comparisons: If you have always found Secret Mélange, from Les Caprices du Dandy collection by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier (a fragrance which dared to mix cold spices and flowers and harmonize the accord with warm woods) quite intriguing, you have good chances of liking the jarring nature of Vitriol d'Oeillet. So might lovers of Caron's Poivre (which is vastly superior nevertheless) or of the dark, suffused imagescape of Garofano by Lorenzo Villoresi and E.Lauder's intense Spellbound. If you were looking for a classic, dense, feminine carnation floral or a minimal contemporary treatment oif the note such as in Oeillet Sauvage by L'Artisan Parfumeur, you might be scared by this violent yet diaphanous offering.
Oddly for the actual formula, since it's chartreuse liqueur which is infused with carnation petals and alchemically it is green vitriol which hides the greatest power, Vitriol d'Oeillet if of a greyish-lilac tint which looks someplace between funereal and alluringly gothic-romantic. The sillage is well-behaved, indeed subtle, perhaps because vitriol derives from the Latinvitrium, meaning glass, therefore denoting a certain transparency and lightness. Vitriol d'Oeillet is androgynous with great lasting power that seems to grow in depth, becoming a little bit sweeter and woodier as time passes.
Serge Lutens Vitriol d'Oeillet belongs to the export line, available at select stockists around the world and at the official Lutens site, 95euros for 50ml of Eau de Parfum. The limited edition engraved bottles depicted cost much more.
A generous-sized decant is available for one lucky reader. Draw is now closed, thank you!
If like me you find yourself sighing with contentment at the first crisp days of autumn seeing the leaves turn into fiery rusty shades as if passionately burning from within, then you know of the inner exaltation one feels from the intense and clear clarion to action that spices signal. The newSienna Musk by Sonoma Scent Studio is warm and spicy like you're waking up in a retreat in the mountains on a glorious sunny yet pleasantly cool morning and dynamic as if the world seems full of possibilities: the dies is yet to carpe and the credula postero is extending to far beyond. Recalling the homonymous limonite clay used for producing oil paint pigments, Sienna Musk invites us into an impressionistic painting of luminous yellows and golden browns shot through with the fiery timbre of reddish hues. Sometimes there is indeed a psychological effect in fragrance and it is acting in an Ayuverdic manner: bringing a lift, taking us into a better place, stirring energy levels and gently pushing our bottom out of the door to get things accomplished. Or perhaps it has a special psychoacoustic resonance: you almost hear the spirited energy in certain fragrances and differentiate them by their approaching vibrations.
Sienna Musk is just like that. Built to be a warm scent that envelops you in the first crisp days of autumn but also well into winter, it recalls culinary spices in a wooden kitchen table ready for the picking and woods that look radiantly red under the rays of the afternoon sun and fill you with optimism and the indulgunt feeling of savouring every day to the maximum. The perfumer, Laurie Erickson, divulges: "I wanted this fragrance to be a cozy, gently gourmand scent featuring warm spices and woods. I added soft mandarin because it works well with the spices and because mandarin and clementine are my favorite citrus oils. One of my main goals with this type of scent is to achieve the right balance of sweetness, which is difficult because that balance varies greatly from person to person. Sienna Musk opens with a burst of sweet spices and mandarin, and then the creamy woods and musks emerge".
Although the notes might remind you of her previous Bois Épicés Légère this fragrance is less sweet and has softer woods and more musk, going for a soft-focus effect. The blending of the spice notes is wonderful in that they are clearly identifiable, yet they also fuse into each other, creating harmony. Ginger is not too pronounced and therefore the scent melds on my finicky skin with no sour undertones. Nutmeg, the dried kernel of Myristica fragrancs also included in the new Secret Obsession, is a wonderful spice full of its own timbre; paired with cardamom their unison gives a slight Middle-Eastern flavour to an essentially New World harmony. Mandarin essential oil (just one member of the varied citrus family and their nuanced scents)is a fresh, uplifting top to middle note which perfumers can extend the longevity of by combining it with other carefully selected oils. It works great with spices, as evidenced here: sunning them, making them open up. The backdrop of smoothness provided by a blend of synthesized musks gives a clean, downy-soft feeling that lasts comfortingly very long extending it into carpe noctem. Sienna Musk makes me physically happy and gives me a much needed boost during these frantically busy days and I am putting a bottle of it on my wishlist as we speak.
Sonoma Scent Studio Sienna Musk is available in 15ml/0.5oz or 30ml/10z Eau de Parfum (great size options low on the commitment) and samples are also sold online.
Other recent launches from Sonoma Scent Studio include Wood Violet and Vintage Rose and Laurie intimated that she is working to perfect Gardenia Musk before holiday time (Gardenia Musk will be a demure gardenia for those scared of the loud note: a feminine floral musk with jasmine, soft and creamy gardenia, green notes, subtle peach, silky skin musks, and light cedar).
We had announced the news of the upcoming Calvin Klein fragrance back in May and with it a few musings on how these things work as well as commentary by its new face, sexy actress Eva Mendes; who (to her credit) had contributed a few words on body perception and beauty. Now the fragrance rolled out to actually test it and the proof is in the pudding, so here we are doing a review of it, if only because we had always been great fans of the original Obsession, especially the one geared towards men.
"Secret Obsession explores the secrets that lie between love and madness. It's about being taunted with illicit thoughts and compelled with seeking pleasure. The fragrance is an intoxicating floral oriental weaving together hidden fruits, exotic flowers and a sultry wood signature for a provocative and addictive sexiness. Sultry. Addictive. Exotic."
The fragrance is presented as a floriental, created by Givaudan perfumer Calice Becker and art-directed by Ann Gottlieb who is responsible for many Calvin Klein successful launches. To me however it registers as fruity-spicy-woody, much like the latest Lancome feminine fragrance Magnifique, with which it shares many facets. Poised between Sensuous and Magnifique, along with its congenial sisters, it heralds the new vogue in feminine fragrances: namely, woody, duskier notes.
The initial impression of spraying Secret Obsession is rum-like boozy with an alcoholic hairspray blast petering out quickly, plummy and ripe but not overtly sweet (a good thing!), especially compared with the overall sweeter Magnifique. In Secret Obsession there is a distinct phase in which the resinous, intense aroma of mace provides a welcome surprise as the fragrance opens up on the warmth of skin. In the first century A.D., the Roman writer Pliny described a tree, Myristica fragrancs bearing a nut having two separate flavors. Nutmeg is one flavour coming from the kernel of the fruit and mace is the other. Mace comes from the outer, "lacy" reddish covering of the Myristica tree fruit, but it has a more delicate smell in comparison with nutmeg. On the contrary, floral notes do not register much, which is surprising given the intense character of the flowers listed (orange blossom, jasmine, tuberose). If I were hard-pressed to put my finger on one, I would offer jasmine or the similar, denser note of ylang ylang, but in no way is this especially pronounced in the scheme of things, nor classical in treatment. Its creamy manipulation takes its cue from Songes by Goutal, but whereas the intense ylang ylang and natural jasmine of the latter contributed to a narcotic, intensely heady feel of being on an exotic island's orchard, in Secret Obsession we are met with a postard from the tropics that bears the handwriting of a past love. Perhaps like the gold-flecks of Fragile by Gaultier are meant to represent the confetti remnants of tuberose festivities, we are left with a trail of something past, instead of a presence of the here and now.
The overall effect is tanned skin, cocoa-buttyric, pleasantly cedary-woody, much of it accountable to Cashmeran* and is less loud than the oriental monochromatic amber of the original Obsession by Calvin Klein or the fruity megaphones of Euphoria, but perceptible. Secret Obsession has a linear development that doesn't change much as you wear it: the initial scent becomes warmer and duskier, but doesn't change significantly over time. I wouldn't necessarily deem it too sexy or provocative and would prefer to see it in a body oil concentration where its shady character would shine.
The advertising takes a page off the usual Calvin Klein style: provocation, even if leading to negative publicity, is ultimately good publicity. Censors in the US have banned the commercial and the brand has decided to fight that decision. The furore caused by the commercial didn't raise my eyebrows: just a beautiful woman, actress Eva Mendes, wriggling in bed naked, supposedly only clad by a few drops of Secret Obsession; it's rather well-made, if you ask me. "It really taps into the secrecy of a private moment - where it's clear that Eva is having illicit thoughts," Lori Singer, vice president of global marketing for the brand at Coty Prestige, tells WWD. "It's somewhat up to interpretation - because of how it's shot, and what you see and hear, and what you can't see and hear. You hear her voice, talking about having a sexy secret." Judging by the advertising concept, Marilyn Monroe is still a very influential icon, if the notion that a woman wears nothing but perfume in bed can be traced back to her own statement of opting for Chanel No.5. However those were conservative times and such an oral, and nota bene non visual, statement had the tantalising advantage of making people imagine Marilyn preparing for a lover who would get to profit from her alluring presence laced with a few seductive drops of a fine fragrance. This kind of mythos cemented the reputation of No.5 as not only elegant and prestigious, but also as a weapon of attraction. Those times, however, are over for better or worse.
The main difference I perceive with the current advertising for Secret Obsession is that Eva is implied to be alone in bed: there is no hinted lover about to emerge behind the lattice, thus making the images take a rather auto-erotic turn which might have caught censors off-guard. Personally I fail to see how a soupcon of nipple is provocative or contributes to moral destruction, especially when bombs are let free to explode on prime-time TV news and shows. Such sort of selective censorship reeks of hypocricy to me. But perhaps my European eyes have become jaded, living at a place when clothes drop unhesitatingly at the drop of a pin on national TV without the programme earning the label of X-rated, while violent scenes and films often equal delegation to the after-hours zone.
In any case, the Fabien Baron directed commercial is available for your perusal, so you can judge for yourselves.
Official Notes: Top: exotic plum, mace, rose Damascena Heart: French orange blossom, Egyptian jasmine, tuberose, plum, woods Base: cashmere woods*, burnt amber, Australian sandalwood
In the interests of disclosure, I received a free sample of the new Secret Obsession by Calvin Klein. No, not the bracelets they were advertising to bloggers! An actual decant (ie.hand-poured juice from a bigger bottle into a smaller one). Yes, you heard this right! Not a commercial carded sample, not a full bottle either (probably because I specify to anyone who asks that I need financial details so I can actually pay; that pretty much makes several of them vanish into thin air! The Calvin Klein people to their credit didn't.) How to get hold of your own? Click here or here (and scroll)for your free sample of Secret Obsession.
Secret Obsession has just launched in Europe and is out on September 15 in the US according to the official info, available from major department stores in a brown glass bottle like a turtle's face, which tapers towards the top featuring an amber cap, sort of 70s retro. Eau de Parfum 30ml/1oz, 50ml/1.7oz and 100ml/3.4oz. Satin Body Lotion and Satin Shower Gel in a 200ml/6.7oz tube each. We're taunted to check out everything on it by searching "Secret Obsession Calvin Klein" on Facebook under the Pages tab and to visit the official Secret Obsession site.
*Cashmere woods or Cashmeran is a IFF patented, complex aromachemical that provides a beautiful, velours note with diffuse nuances of earthy-wood and spicy notes (pine, patchouli), fruits and flowers (heliotrope, red fruits, apples and jasmine) and is softly musky-vanillic. It's featured in Ysatis, Amarige, Michael, Lacroix Rouge, Perles de Lalique and many more.
Clip via celebriNet2/Dailymotion.com. Pic of nutmeg courtesy of mydiversekitchen.blog. Bottle pic via Osmoz
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