Ex Nihilo Iris Porcelana: fragrance review

 

In January 2022, Ex Nihilo introduced a new women's fragrance, Iris Porcelana. The inspiration for its creation was fine porcelain that came to Europe from the East, as well as a perfume material called Pallida iris. The perfumer is Dalia Izem (of Givaudan), a young perfumer from Dubai. The fragrance joined the main collection of the brand named Initiale, which already includes bestsellers such as Fleur Narcotique and Lust in Paradise and is therefore a useful gauge of how brands perceive materials and concepts. 

photo borrowed from Pinterest

The iris one is very popular, having become almost synonymous with a delicate feminity that is so sought after by many, many women nowadays. Alongside violet, it's often at the core of "powdery fragrances." Notes like milk, vanilla, iris, ambrette seeds, cashmere woods, musk, "cotton," and soap also define a genre of fragrances that create a sense of comfort and serenity, very sought after during and since the pandemic. Truth is, iris "notes" are routinely produced through less expensive methods. But this is neither here nor there; their magic happens not because of the cost itself, but of the perceived value.It's all a game of smoke-and-mirrors! But it works. It definitely works. 

 In Iris Porcelana by Ex Nihilo, the iris is rendered lightly metallic, with an eau de vie touch, and then fanned on something totally unexpected: Hazelnuts! The star ingredient appears thanks to a potent aromachemical in several creations in recent years. Being safe for even food use (GRAS), it is exploited with gay abandon in perfumery, exactly because it is not going to be on the chopping block of potential allergens in the near future. 

 From the intense praline in Angel Muse by Mugler to Amouage Guidance (a fragrance which I reviewed here and which takes Filbertone to the next level by overdosing), this trend shows no signs of abating: Devotion Intense, Patchouli Noisette, Valentino Uomo, English Oak & Hazelnut (Jo Malone), Aimez moi comme je suis (Caron), Joop! Homme Eau de Parfum, several boutique fragrances in the Trussardi line, Vetiver Gris, and even La Vie est Belle L'eau de parfum Intense. The precursor in the combination of Iris Porcelana is probably Praliné de Santal by innovative niche creator Pierre Guillaume. He coupled the sandalwood milkiness with the hazelnut savory facets and created an atypical fragrance that fascinates. And of course the pioneer was Mechant Loup by L'artisan Parfumeur as far back (in relative terms of contemporary perfumery) in 1997!

Givenchy L'Interdit Eau de Parfum Rouge: fragrance review

 Glamour fragrances go hand in hand with the celebrities who endorsed them. No myth is stronger than the tie of Marylin Monroe with Chanel No 5 Parfum or Audrey Hepburn with L'Interdit by her preferred couturier Givenchy from the 1950s. Whereas No.5 has retained its core formula to the best of the brothers Wertheimers' ability, rendering the contemporary versions recognizably No.5, the same cannot be said for L'Interdit Eau de Parfum by Givenchy from 2018 and its subsequent editions - especially L'Interdit Eau de Parfum Rouge Givenchy (2021).

That does not mean at all that it is not worthwhile or that it does not reflect some semblance of a vintage advantage. Although vintage fragrances belonging to specific genres suffer from a sort of incompatibility with the modern tastes of the market nowadays, such as the aldehydic floral, the mossy chypre, or the spicy oriental, there are elements that can salvage a core idea into a timeless quality. Despite an embarrassment of riches in having three top perfumers vying to make it worthy (usually a sign of despair in my personal books), L'Interdit Eau de Parfum Rouge by Givenchy is excellent because it retains that precarious balance between a contemporary fragrance, yet with vintage elements, making it a recurring theme from the past extended into four dimensions, like it's traveling interstellar mode.

 
The classic combination of the amber-floral chord, a sweet hesperide, a white floral, and a woody base of sandalwood with ambery tonalities, is lifted through two or three specific jarring points, which provide the interlocutor suspense.
First, a cherry note that is oh-so-modern. Cherry scent molecules have trickled down to floor cleaners by now because the trajectory of the industry from top to bottom of the ladder has increased so rapidly, but two years back, it was still kind of novel and ground-breaking.

Secondly, there is a spicy component, but not just any spice. Beyond the dated cloves references (which recall the best days of Ernest Daltroff for Caron), there is ginger which, via its Asian reference, is very contemporary and sort of multi-culti too. Thirdly, there is a pimento leaf note, which adds to the green-spicy garlands but tends to withhold the headache-y allusions to the oriental spicy fragrances from the 1980s.

The end result is a contemporary fragrance with a very satisfying tie to the past. There is no direct reference in glossy publications and influencer videos on social media that Audrey Hepburn actually wore this version of L'Interdit Eau de Parfum Rouge like they often -still!- do with the revamped version from 2018 (L'Interdit Eau de Parfum Givenchy), but it is a fragrance that reflects glamour, elegance, plush and a true sense of chic.

How the Perfume Market Game is Changing

 The drift into the corporate mainstream by some of the older niche brands always creates the risk of a possible (or rather probable?) diminishing of innovation and creativity as a result: Tom Ford, L'Artisan Parfumeur, Penhaligon's, Le Labo, Diptyque, you name it... We're therefore experiencing niche 2.0 with newer artisan and indie brands. Creed is the latest brand to be sold to a large luxury group, to Kering to be specific. 

Creed was a family business with a disputed past into fragrance making (the history of the Creed fragrance brand as examined for inconsistencies is laid bare in this piece I wrote). In short, Creed is a Paris-based perfume house renowned for its self-styled history and the unquenchable thirst for name-dropping. It has been possible to find and acquire in garage sales and collectors' catalogues perfumes created by Guerlain, Chanel, Caron, etc. worldwide. Yet it proved virtually impossible to find specimens of a Creed fragrance prior to the '70s.  

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In 2020 after decades of tight family management, the perfume house of Creed was sold to BlackRock Long Term Private Capital and Javier Ferrán, the Spanish businessman and chairman of Diageo. At the time, Olivier Creed said that Ferrán and BlackRock LTPC were “ideal partners for Creed, given their collaborative approach to working with their companies and their long-term orientation. I also look forward to continuing to work with all our staff, suppliers and distributors, and I know that they will continue to share in our success.” BlackRock is incidentally one of the biggest property management firms on the planet. It was around that time that Aventus for Men had become their ultimate best-seller, the best-seller to end all best-sellers, a Jean-Christian Herault composition with prominent fresh pineapple over notes of green apple, patchouli, birch and ambergris.  

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 Creed has now been bought up by a large luxury group that controls famous houses. Kering is a French multinational company specializing in luxury goods. It owns the brands Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Alexander McQueen, and Yves Saint Laurent. It remains to be seen what will happen to Creed and to Aventus in particular, which latter subject has been under scrutiny for watering down by its many fans for a couple of years now... 

 

I guess we will see about that. The point is the perfume market game is changing and we'll see more developments soon. 

Pierre Cardin: Choc de Cardin, Paradoxe, and Rose Cardin fragrance reviews

  Regarding Pierre Cardin fragrances, his first officially documented release has been Pierre Cardin pour Monsieur in 1972 and Cardin for women (Cardin de Pierre Cardin) in 1976. However the official Pierre Cardin website does not mention them and begins the story from Choc de Cardin. Now that the great designer has passed, they will be the subject of speculation and furtive bidding wars on auction sites. Celebrated for his avant-garde style and Space Age designs which, alongside those of Courreges and Paco Rabanne, Cardin catapulted the fashions of the 1960s, and partly made that decade what it is.

Choc de Cardin in 1981 was indeed for many their first distinct memory of a Cardin-signed scent. The evolution of a citrus cologne given a shadowy chypre mantle in the way of Diorella and Le Parfum de Thérèse, Choc is neither shocking, nor chocolate-evoking; it's as French as it possibly gets, and in many ways "a forgotten masterpiece" worth hunting down. Seriously, if only warm weather fragrances were that nuanced and that balanced nowadays.

 Rose Cardin from 1990 also has many fans. Indeed the latter is among the few rose-centric fragrances which has something to draw me in, maybe because it does what niche fragrances today do at tenfold the price. Created by the same perfumer who gave us Choc de Cardin, Françoise Caron, it's noted for its sureness of execution more than its innovation. The rose is fanned on coriander, which puts a fresh and rather soapy spin on the blossom's nectar, and on patchouli, which makes it seem like it's endlessly unfurling, but softly, not angularly, with a smidgen of incense and musk.

In the meantime, in 1983 Paradoxe by Cardin was launched. This was a sandwich of two main ideas by Raymond Chaillan, who also created Givenchy III: the fresh, sour and bitterish top note of galbanum and green gardenia, and the animalic-leather growl coming up from the base in between lovely florals, all womanly and plush. It's enough to make a (chypre loving) girl dream.

As my colleague Miguel put it, "Paradoxe is an assertive chypre and it's almost an academic example of that style. From the top we get a freshness that is aldehydic, green and citrusy. The galbanum note is very evident and grounds a certain fizziness from the aldehydes and bergamot.[...] This is not a powdery scent at all. It is crisp, transparent and angular. This angular aspect is worked mostly through the hardness of the somewhat ashy base notes."

These are fragrances that collective memory passed them by, but they need to be rediscovered.

 

Pretty Is as Pretty Does...More Perfume Bottles From My Collection

photo by Elena Vosnaki

The bottle of Shalimar Parfum Initial is a jewel, and thus should be accompanied by jewels. The choice of pearls is not random at all, as the sheen of the vanilla powdery ambience of the scented liquid is gloriously feminine with that touch of elegance we dedicate to those beautiful globules. You can find a fragrance review of Guerlain Shalimar Parfum Initial here. 

Flankers/derivative versions of Shalimar by Guerlain (with linked reviews & comparison with original):

Shalimar Eau Legere/Shalimar Light

Eau de Shalimar

Shalimar Ode a la Vanille

Shalimar Parfum Initial

Shalimar Parfum Initial L'Eau

Limited editions of Shalimar (without change in the perfume formula itself):

Eau de Shalimar Flower

Shalimar Charms edition & Eau de Shalimar Charms edition

Shalimar Fourreau du Soir

Shalimar extrait de parfum in Bacarrat quadrilobe flacon 2011 edition

photo by Elena Vosnaki

The classic of classics and a scent redolent of women's emancipation, the eminable Tabac Blond (incidentally not a tobacco scent). You can find the fragrance review for Caron Tabac Blond here. The bottle is testament to the fact that I have exceedingly enjoyed the eau de perfume version, which is as good as possible. 

There are a lot of Caron fragrance reviews and news on PerfumeShrine: on the linked text. 

Caron Parfum Sacre Intense eau de parfum: fragrance review

Back when I was a teenager I developed a strong belief that "real" perfume was supposed to harken to its oriental roots and smell of the East; or at least what my west-laden eyes of the mind imagined a mythical East to be like. Parfum Sacre (sacred perfume, the quintessential notion of eastern scent), launched in 1991, at the cusp of the transition into the blander part of mainstream perfumery after a clashing cacophony of too many loud perfumes worn all together in the 1980s, and it sort of flopped commercially. But it was such a good execution that they have kept it. And when the Parfum Sacre Intense version rolled over by Parfums Caron in 2010 I admit I was greatly intrigued.

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There was a 1925 fragrance called Mystikum, by perfume Scherk, tagged "the mystery of flowers" of all things, and accompanied by a full range of body products in the coming years, but surely the name would fit Caron's perfume perfectly as well.

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I own a quite large decant of Caron's Parfum Sacre Intense (more like a purse spray), and I should quickly upgrade to a full bottle, but each time I use it I feel like a goddess on a pedestal, receiving rites of peppery spices and rosy sacrifices upon a sacrificial altar, while myrrh fills the atmosphere with the solemnity of religion. The myrrh is especially warm, bittersweet, with no powdery after-effects, so it doesn't project as "clean" or "groomed" rather than sombre and liturgical, but it's the alliance of spicy rose with musk which makes the real message of devotion to a higher being. For once, rose sheds its prim guise and reveals a throbbing heart full of thorns.

I dig this kind of ritual and therefore Parfum Sacre Intense aims for the sweet spot. Touchée.

I just wish they hadn't changed the bottle, from the glorious deep purple with the peppercorns into the blander columnar ones they have used when revamping the line a couple of years ago...

Perfume as a Personal Story: The Historical Beginnings

The heirs of the aristocratic perfume tradition of post-Middle-Ages Europe were precursors, innovators, pioneers who helped establish modern perfumery as we came to know it, but who also carved out a path for the following of that artistic and commercial sector, drawing crowds to their boutiques and their wares in an unprecedented way. This last bit however isn't far removed from the enthralled reception that the modern niche perfume consumer bestows on today's fragrance celebrities, such as Serge Lutens, Frédéric Malle, Francis Kurkdjian or Jean Claude Ellena, to name but a few.

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A La Corbeille de Fleurs, Houbigant's boutique situated since the late 18th century in the then-uncelebrated Faubourg Saint-Honoré, helps make the spot le dernier cri among wealthy bourgeois who shop a few decades later for his trendy perfumes, such as Fougère Royale, composed by acclaimed perfumer Paul Parquet. Le Trèfle Incarnat for L.T.Piver was famously created by head Jacques Rouché and nose Pierre Aremingeat under the direction of chemist Georges Drazen of the Ecole Polytechnique; it soon became a sensation that had tongues wagging on the house that issued it.

Les Salons de Palais Royal by Serge Lutens in Paris, the abode of the Lutensian opus, can be said to be today's modern version, a Mecca of innovative compositions which changed the scenery for everyone following in their niche steps. The perfume-smelling booths at the Frédéric Malle boutiques across two continents are testament to the desire to dedicate time and energy to selecting perfume, but it is the frames with perfumers' portraits on the walls which remind us that authorship is the core of this brand who first dared make the connection between éditeur (as in Editions de Parfums) and auteur (as in cinema).

Some creators, like the Guerlains, have been immersed in the trade since they were in diapers; Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain saw to it that he created a dynasty of perfumers and perfume directors which successfully survives to our days as Guerlain. Some others however were self-made wonders. François Coty is an emblematic figure in that regard, none the less because he lent an attentive ear to the public itself; heeding their needs, their desires, their suggestions with the perspicacity that is the mark of a true genius. But he also imposed his own ideas, drawing from forgotten relics (his iconic Coty Chypre perfume drew on the ancient cypriot fragrances that had trickled into Europe in the form of cosmetics) or by offering novel suggestions (such as L'Origan, what can be argued to be the first "floriental" perfume).

His "school" taught a great many scrappy upstarts, giving them the confidence to venture where others had faltered, until Coty's own unfortunate demise which risked leaving that gigantic business headless. Luckily for Coty perfumery, François Coty's divorced wife had a brother-in-law, Philippe Cotnareanu, who was immersed in the business. Cotnareanu changed his name to Philip Cortney and under that pseudonym took rein of the colossal portfolio, until 1963 when Coty and Coty International were eventually sold to Chas. Pfizer & Co. for $26 million. But it is Coty's success in the perfume world which made it possible for everyone else in the beginning of the 20th century, from Russian émigré Ernest Beaux for the fledging Chanel fashion "griffe" to Ernest Daltroff at Caron, or for Alméras who first took the creative reins chez Poiret and then composed a pleiad of 1930s fragrance masterpieces for Jean Patou.

What unites all those past greats is the vision of perfume as a personalized story, a momentous revelation: fragrances created for specific circumstances, for an occasion, a happy day, for a woman (a woman, please note, and not the woman). This approach implied a directed and directive concept, providing the public with a product on which it was not consulted first (no marketing focus groups voting on perfume!) but which didn't disregard it either. A path which assured the consumer that what was offered to them was well devised for them, a product of artistry suggestive to the powers of seduction, but also heeding to a time signpost, to cultural bearings of the time, transforming them and popularizing them into trends: a best-selling book, like La Bataille influencing the creation of Guerlain Mitsouko, a trend such as Les Ballets Russes ushering orientalia into European fashions and the arts, you name it, all influenced the creators into a fertile dialogue with their time and age.

Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male: fragrance review of a best-seller

Back in 1995 when this Francis Kurkdjian composed fragrance launched Le Male didn't look like it would become that huge in popularity. Jean Paul Gaultier's first masculine fragrance (programmatically named Le Male) was honestly too sweet for the times. No man would capitulate to such a sweet scent surely? And I'm saying this in full knowledge that the archAngel of sweetness came out 3 years before. Angel by Mugler was still too sweet by any mass market standards in 1995 and a very slow commercial success in the market; it took confidence and patience to make it the monument that it is. Le Male followed an analogous path though a bit more speedy thanks to its intended audience.

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Le Male was evidently camp with its rippled torso and sailor paraphernalia. It was made by a French brand, for Pete's sake, fronted by a "crazy" looking guy always dressed in a matelot top! But it caught on spectacularly because of a very specific reason. It caught on first with the fashion congnoscenti and the tasteful homosexuals who were drawn to its campy imagery and gender bender advertising aesthetics. Truth be told gay men with fashion savvy often have an uncanny ability to focus on just what is right and works in the style stakes and predict trends. Evidently all strides of life favoured it commercially in the end. The advertisements and the scent were so tongue-in-cheek that you couldn't ridicule it no matter what one's orientation were; it had a healthy portion of self-sarcasm to carry it through.

Composition-wise the sweet lavender over coumarin-vanilla recalls a hint of classic fougère specimens, but the execution is nothing but. To better view this one can do a side by side experiment with a classic sweet lavender built on coumarin notes; Caron's Pour Un Homme. Whereas the Caron is a fist in a velvet glove Le Male is rubber band or nitrile gloves that slap shapely buttocks in jest.You can detect the modern musks which make this powerful. Or at least which used to make this powerful and very long lasting. I hear it doesn't last as long nowadays though my last personal testing is a couple of years old to be honest.

Now that fragrances for men have become increasingly sweet, Le Male continues to be popular with all ages of men (fathers and sons alike), but especially young ones who have rediscovered it. Quite a feat for something older than the age of its wearers!

Perfumers' Profiles

PERFUMERS' PROFILES

• Annie Byzantian
• Carlos Benaim
• Chris Sheldrake
• Christophe Laudamiel
• Clara Molloy
• Edmond Roudnitska
• Francis Kurkdjian
• Francois Demachy
• Francoise Caron
• Germaine Cellier
• Guy Robert
• Isabelle Doyen
• Patricia de Nicolai
• Pierre Guillaume
• Yves Dombrowsky

Rare Vintages/Cult Scents: Reviews & History

RARE VINTAGES/ CULT SCENTS

• Annick Goutal Eau du Fier
• Baccarat Larmes Sacrees de Thebes, Certain Ete a Livadia, Nuit Etoilee au Bengale
• Balenciaga La Fuite des Heures
• Bulgari Black
• Caron Alpona
• Caron With Pleasure
• Chanel Gardenia
• Chanel No.46
• Coty Chypre
• Dior Dioressence
• Dior-Dior by Christian Dior
• Diorling by Christian Dior
• Estee Lauder Azuree
• Etat Libre d'Orange Secretions Magnifiques
• Etro Messe de Minuit
• Etro Via Verri
• Fath Iris Gris
• Guerlain Atuana
• Guerlain Chamade
• Guerlain Djedi
• Guerlain Fleur de Feu
• Guerlain Loin de Tout
• Guerlain Mitsouko
• Guerlain Pour Troubler
• Guerlain Shalimar
• Hermes Doblis
• Hermes Eau d'Hermes
• Krizia Teatro alla Scala
• Lancome Kypre
• Lanvin Scandal
• Les Nez L'Antimatiere
• Paco Rabanne Calandre
• Paco Rabanne La Nuit
• Patou Vacances
• Robert Piguet/Raucour Calypso
• Serge Lutens Tubereuse Criminelle
• Shiseido Nombre Noir
• Weil Zibeline

Quick Index

QUICK INDEX

• Alphabetized Reviews by House
• Bookshelf: Books on Scent
• Chemistry Articles: Fragrance & Aroma Materials
• Discussion on Scent Etiquette & al
• Eau de Cologne: the Basis for a Legend
• Food: scented escapades in the kitchen
• Frequent Questions (for Newbies & Beyond)
• History of Perfumery
• House Series: Amouage
• House Series: Annick Goutal
• House Series: Armani
• House Series: Bvlgari
• House Series: Caron
• House series: Chanel Les Exclusifs
• House series: Christian Dior
• House Series: Estee Lauder
• House Series: Etat Libre d'Orange
• House series: Guerlain
• House Series: Hermes
• House Series: Lancome
• House series: Lanvin
• House Series: Paco Rabanne
• House series: Patou Ma Collection
• House Series: Serge Lutens
• House Series: Weil
• House Series: Worth
• House series: Yves Saint Laurent
• Myth Debunking
• Mythology of Aromatics
• News! (Fragrance releases & Industry)
• Optical Scentsibilities articles
• Perfume Advertising articles
• Perfumers/Noses & their Perfumes (LIST)
• Restrictions Perfume Ingredients (IFRA)
• Smell-Alikes: Twin Peaks
• Travel Memoirs: Scented Journeys
• URL index (Informative Links)

Oriflame Mirage: fragrance review

One of the few and far in between fragrances composed by Françoise Caron for Oriflame (as per the company's official info), Mirage had the stunning visuals to turn heads even before smelling its intense "magical broth" scent. The intensely green bottle and the red-haired heroine representing it, dressed in emerald flowing gowns (red enhancing the green) had me salivating even before holding the lovely rollerball vials they used to make and trying it on my own skin with all the apprehension reserved for ritualized experiences.

This most striking of colors, green being the color of horror movies and sorceresses' brews, is taken for a wild ride in Mirage. The peppery, mysterious and lush smell of vetiver and sticky, sweetly spicy peppery resins engulf its core of dark, gothic rose with thorns attached. One can almost feel the ache of those "pricked thumbs" and the foreboding of [the] "wicked [which] our way comes" as per Macbeth's second witch's famous lines. But unlike Lady Macbeth you won't long to wash it off your hands, if it catches your heart. And it very well might, unless you're of the gourmands and fruity florals brigade, in which case step away like hordes of Huns are stampeding down your path.

Unusual for Oriflame fragrances Mirage was very potent and with a high sillage, making it a true love-it-or-hate-it perfume. And I say "was" because it is discontinued. In the hopes of having it re-introduced, even under another name, I am writing this elegy of its emerald-hued heart of darkness.

Fragrances for Christmas Occasions: My Personal Picks for 2016 Christmas and New Year's Day

For those of us not inclined to do mad shopping, nor partying till dawn just because it's the holidays, meeting with relatives and close friends who have distanced themselves spatially by moving to other countries is the very best part of what makes the holidays what they are. There's a beautiful ambivalence surrounding these meetings, which reminds me of the boyish hands-in-pockets and rocking-on-toes-a-bit pose that says "missed you" in the sort of shy manner that you know is really heartfelt. The feelings run so high, even if we do not admit them verbally, that a reassuring fragrance feels like welcome expression of the warmth that emanates from hearts that have grown fonder by the distance put in between.

My scent choice for those occasions is Tolu by Ormonde Jayne. The fragrance oscillates between the cozy affability of a classic "oriental", built on balsams and powdery amber, and the nostalgic, in the literal sense of "pain from an old wound", feeling that the sharp and aromatic elements bring to the composition. A whiff of frankincense lends it the spirituality which inevitably surrounds Christmas. Could it be that you're all meeting over candles burning with the flicker warming your hands praying for journeys ending in lovers' meeting? Or snacking over orange-flower-sprinkled butter cookies and sweet wine, reminiscing over past funny events?

There's a pang of moments in the future already lost when meeting knowing you must part again, and Ormonde Jayne's Tolu captures that perfectly. In the meantime, rejoice for the moments shared. It's the holidays, after all.

The other fragrances which I'm fondly thinking of wearing this holiday season are:

Ambre Narguile Hermes (Christmas baking)

Bois des Iles Chanel (Night out)

Dans tes bras Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle (Clubbing)

Feminite du Bois Serge Lutens (Evening by the fire)

Nuit de Noel Caron (Silent Night, Holy Night)

Angeliques sous la Pluie Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle (Rainy Morning After).

National Fragrance Day Today

The Fragrance Foundation UK is celebrating National Fragrance Day on March 21st and what better opportunity to share your scented thoughts and choices? Every day is a fragrance day around these pages, but having a semi-official excuse to celebrate makes it more palatable to the rest of the people around one's obsession.

 

Fragrance has the ability to make us feel, to make us really think, to make us believe that we can fine-tune our own personal aura and presentation to the public in a way that no other "product" can.
It's evocative, it's transporting, it is even felt in the dark.

Today I'm wearing Caron's Tabac Blond extrait, a very special perfume for me, as it paved my plunging into a house I had little exposure to in my formative years, Caron being semi-absent from the local market. It more or less consolidated my longing for things unattainable and hard to get but it also made me realize that one likes what they like and that's priceless. 

via Givaudan

In celebration, please share your own scent story in the comments, right below this post. I'd love to read your stories!!

A few of my favorite less celebrated fragrances

Since almost every perfumephile agrees on the trancedental character of Bois des Iles (Chanel) or the easy swagger of Tabac Blond (Caron) and the quirkiness of Bulgari Black or Bandit (Piguet) there would be no point to regurgitate a list of "sign me up as a parfumista" fumes. Yes I do happen to love all of these celebrated perfumes. To prove one's mettle is the game of the novice and here at Perfume Shrine we're 10 years old.

But readers kindly suggested I share with them which are my favorite fragrances; at least some of them. 

So without further ado below find a list of personal favorites. They may not be the most obscure nuggets in Fragoland but they do not get the praise they deserve. I wonder why. Maybe for those still in production this highly personal list might be the kick off to encourage more people to buy them and therefore actually keep them in production for awhile longer...At any rate I frequently use these and enjoy them.
I decided to match them each to a line of poetry I particularly enjoy. See if you do as well.

Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Ginepro di Sardegna
All the white horses are still in bed

Annick Goutal Myrrhe Ardente
And then she would smile to show me how and it was the saddest smile I ever saw.

Annick Goutal Musc Nomade 
But we loved with a love that was more than love.

Apivita Earth
Moss circled; female; promised land.

Boucheron Femme 
Rage rage against the dying of the light.

Chanel Antaeus 
(They've aged us prematurely Yorgos do you realize?)

Crazy Libellule and the Poppies Musc & Patchouli
I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.

Frederic Malle Lys Mediterranee
Hope is the thing with feathers.

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Guerlain Parure
For a moment you waved your bolero and your orange petticoat like banners. 

Guerlain Vetiver pour Elle
She seems celestial songs to hear.

Hermes Equipage
And I who longed to be buried one day in some deep sea of the distant Indies shall come to a dull and common death. 

L'Artisan Parfumeur Passage d'Enfer
A gloomy line of snuffed out candles.

L'Artisan Parfumeur Oillet Sauvage
But I shall write a sorrowful ballad for the forgotten poets

Lancome Miracle So Magic 
He kisses those adored lips; excites himself on that exquisite body.

Le Labo Gaiac 10 
And in a way I'm yearning to be done with this measuring of truth

Ormonde Jayne Tolu
Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert.

Oriflame Amber Elixir Night 
Towards these isles of yours that await for me.

Paco Rabanne La Nuit
Misted the flowers weep as light dies.

Ramon Monegal Mon Cuir
Oh there is thunder in our hearts.

Serge Lutens La Myrrhe
You will not read the riddle though you do the best you can do.

Sonia Rykiel Woman Not for Men
Oh it's hard on the man. Now his part is over.

Valeur Absolue Sensualite 
My face became all eyes and my eyes all hands.

Zara White Jasmine 
Thy hair soft lifted by the winnowing wind.

BTW I noticed an interesting phenomenon by going through the list. There are almost no chypres there. [edit to add: I just thought that La Nuit could be classified as a quirky leathery chypre and Parure is a fruity chypre.] That's very odd because I ADORE chypres and I wear chypres quite a bit in my everyday existence! So what gives?

I came to realize that there are no "favorite less celebreated" chypres because all chypres have become celebrated in online perfumedom; even "chypres" that are not technically speaking chypres (Chanel No.19 I'm talking to you)!

This is what an avalanche of sweet tutti fruti scents does to the average perfumista; they retaliate by embracing the exact opposite end of the spectrum. Companies please take note. Therefore I couldn't include "less celebrated chypres". These will need to wait for a subsequent post of "favorite celebrated chypres" so we can all oooh and aaaah together in awed rapture...

Guerlain Ne M'Oubliez Pas: New Fragrance

Breaking News: A new perfume comes out from Guerlain, inspired by the house's own history. According to Sylvaine Delacourte, art director for Guerlain fragrances, the name derives from the first lipstick "baton" which Guerlain issued and is reprised in their modern Rouge Automatique line of lipsticks (it's #102, a muted rose).
"Guerlain was responsible for the very first modern-day lipstick, made with a wax base in 1870. "Ne m’oubliez pas" was its name and it came in a refillable container with a 'push-up' mechanism."

via dorothytrose.tumblr.com

The name translates of course as "forget me not", a popular motif of floral fragrances of days past based on the "forget me not" flower of the Myosotis family, such as those from Woods of Winsor or Carthusia.
The Myosotis is immortalized in art and folklore during Medieval times as an emblem of romantic faithfulness and enduring love. It later became also a symbol precious to freemasonry.

The new Guerlain perfume, Ne M'Oubliez Pas (tis imperative recalling the ones issued by Caron, in a way, such as Aimez Moi and N'Aimez Que Moi) comes as a new formula composed by head perfumer Thierry Wasser. It is an extrait de parfum edition, in a 125ml quatriblobe bottle with amethyst tassels and a ribbon around its neck. The composition itself is reportedly based on the juxtaposition of a plum chord with patchouli and warm amber. There are also vanilla and rose notes, possibly tilting the composition into the oriental fragrance family. It remains to be sniffed to make sure. But what great news all the same!
The Ne M'Oubliez Pas Guerlain perfume will retail at 500 euros for 125ml of extrait de parfum. Let's hope that a smaller, lesser concentrated edition might trickle down into the boutique line?

Thanks to Czech site Guerlinade.cz for info on notes, price & pic

Acqua di Parma Acqua Nobile Rosa: fragrance review & giveaway

It's pink! 

This exclamation can be taken two distinct ways. It either beckons lovers of all stuff girly

or it scares hardcore perfumephiles with their anticipated suspicion hardened through years of insipid fruity florals that would be better used as shampoo. Thankfully Acqua Nobile Rosa isn't either too fluff, nor a fruity floral. It's a pure, crystalline, airy wisp of a scent, as ethereal as wind chimes heard through an early morning breeze.

With Acqua di Parma issuing a newer interpretation of their previous Rosa Nobile in their Acqua Nobile line of scents one might expect a rehashing of the same formula, only turned lighter. But in fact Acqua Nobile Rosa is a new composition, certainly more ethereal, yet managing to differentiate itself enough to warrant testing both.

Rosa Nobile is a cool and straight-up rose petals fragrance, a ballet slipper of a smell rather than an exuberant Nahema (Guerlain) red Jimmy Choo pump or a moiré slingback in the fruity green style of Sa Majeste la Rose (Serge Lutens). It's not retro, but it's not bastardized either, the way some of my favorite rose fragrances are, i.e. sprinkled with loukhoum rosewater (Mohur extrait), dense with spice and patchouli (Aromatics Elixir, Voleur de Roses) or plain resinous goddess-like (Caron's Parfum Sacre). It's never easy making a true rose scent, so Rosa Nobile is not unworthy of mentioning as a relative success, especially given how jammy the pure absolute of rose can smell.

Acqua Nobile Rosa on the other hand is more like the air floating above a rose bush, with a perceptible citrus and blackcurrant tinge, tart and a little bit tangy. Blackcurrant buds have an illustrious and infamous history in perfumery, what with them being used to great aplomb in First by Van Cleef & Arpels (where they open the scene to the animalic smelling background beneath the posh French style perfume) and their ammoniac feel reminiscent of a kitty cat. 

But do not fear. It's pink. How wrong could it go? 

The airy, electrical buzzing (i.e. freesia) but prolonged -thanks to large musk molecules- drydown is very soft, lightly powdery (a hint of makeup aroma), lightly sweet and the rose is retained throughout; it's as if one is catching the whiff of a rose garden next door rather than hiding one's nose amidst the bushes. I'm OK with that.

Capturing the serene beauty of a stroll in an Italian rose garden, Acqua Nobile Rosa Eau de Toilette is a radiant fragrance for women. This sparkling Eau de Toilette focuses on the lighter, brighter aspects of the rose garden with notes of mandarin, blackcurrant, rose and ambergris. A veritable symphony of enchanting accords capturing both the vibrant and ethereal facets of the Italian Centifolia Rose, famed for its incomparable beauty. 

Fragrance notes for Acqua Nobile Rosa by Acqua di Parma:

Top: Bergamot, Mandarin, Blackcurrant

Heart: Damask rose, Centifolia rose, Cyclamen, Freesia

Base: Ambergris, Musk

Related reading on Perfume Shrine:

Top Rose Scented Fragrances & Products

Everything's coming up roses: how rose is on trend again

My Troubles with Rose & Overcoming Them One Step at a Time

I have a full bottle of this from which a 5ml decant has been taken for a lucky reader. 
Please enter a comment below this post to enter. Draw is open internationally and closes on Sunday 5th midnight. 

In the interests of full disclosure I got this through a PR promo. 

Americans Complaining of Perfume Overload: Cultural Divide or Other?

It seems like I get almost every single one of the mails complaining of perfume overload from people living on US soil. The matter had been discussed in a previous post, Americans vs French, the Culture Wars, but here are some more thoughts stemming from past discourse with interested parties.

via

1. The frivolity of perfume seems ingrained in a sort of WASP mentality, the glorification of soap & water of religious significance through the "cleanliness next to godliness" axiom. Interestingly, although the phrase is similarly coined in other languages to extol the value of cleaning up, the connection is not made with the divine but rather with other values, such as social status (In Greek it's "cleanliness is half nobility" ). To further the syllogism one might say that eschewing the god-preferred clean smell of soap & water, covering it up with perfume "reeks" of suspicious motives, of emulating women of low reputation who used perfume in order to either hide the smell of other men on them or to seduce men through perfume. In a certain milieu, the use of perfume might be considered thus immoral.

2. The cubicle farm culture is most prevalent in the US rather than in other countries (although I'm not going by any solid statistic, just what I see on first "reading") which might explain why there are so many people who have complaints. It's not entirely their fault (or their co-workers'), you know, the environment induces discomfort, conflict and ennui! Someone has to be blamed and perfume is so easy. Especially so since smells invade our space and trigger emotional responses.

3. The following might not be relevant nowadays in all cases, but I distinctly recall a perfumer mentioning that American perfumes are made with a higher concentration within the established eau de toilette, eau de parfum concentrations so as to satisfy the taste to have your perfume announcing you, a form of "olfactory shoulder pads". It's also a historical fact that some of the most potent, powerful fragrances first met with success in the US, such as Narcisse Noir by Caron, due to this preference for stronger fragrances. (And we all recall Calvin Klein's Obsession and Giorgio Beverly Hills, don't we). So it' wasn't always like that. Additionally several of the modern "clean" scents of American name are so harsh that they do pierce sinuses.

 So in view of the above is it any wonder that lots of Americans are complaining? I don't think it's entirely their fault.
What's YOUR take?