Tom Ford Grey Vetiver: fragrance review

~by Mike Perez

Has it really been 18 months since the last Tom Ford masculine scent (Tom Ford Extreme) was released? In the rapid-fire release schedule for fragrances, it seems like Mr. Ford took his time releasing a new masculine (unlike the 4 unisex Private Blends he launched in less than a year and his new feminine, White Patchouli).

Our patience has been rewarded: his newest masculine, Grey Vetiver, is slated for a fall 2009 release and Perfume Shrine was able to obtain an exclusive pre-release sample.

It is easy to love the fougère-oriented top notes – reminiscent of violet leaf, angelica and something slightly watery and pungent. Imagine holding your breath in an outdoor pool, under the surface, and then once reaching the surface to fill your lungs the air smells of grasses, plants and leaves…mixing with the scent of dripping water. Not an aquatic fragrance (thank goodness, the men’s fragrance counter has more than its share of this kind of scent), yet the smell of wet and thriving plant life clearly define the beginning notes of Grey Vetiver.

The vetiver note seems as if it has been genetically spliced – all of the dirty and soiled bits have been removed leaving a shiny, metallic and distinct vetiver accord that increasingly gets richer, smoother and softer as it dries on skin. Grey Vetiver belongs to the clean vetiver family, of which Encre Noire by Lalique and Series 3: Cologne Vettiveru by Comme des Garcons belong – yet it also leans a bit towards the theme that Frédéric Malle and Dominique Ropion strove for in Vetiver Extraordinaire (loads of vetiver, crisp, no sweetness). Ever so often, I got a whiff of acidic lemon.
My first thought, after I enjoyed wearing this scent was: do I need another new vetiver scent? The answer is, no! Yet, there’s something entirely unique about this one.

It’s barbershop-oriented top notes will make it easy for men to love this on first sniff (my hunch is, this will be a big hit for Tom Ford Beauty), but the modern salty vetiver and spiced woods should appeal to those who like to mix it up a bit (think KenzoAir, minus the anise-headspace radiance). Even though Ford is releasing this as a masculine fragrance, it has a delightful fresh-as-a-summer-breeze manner which defies being categorized as only for men.

The only official notes we were able to get from Tom Ford Beauty are: vetiver blended w/ sun drenched citrus, refined spices and rich woods. The 1.7 oz bottle (a frosted glass version of the iconic TF men’s fluted bottle) will be $85.00 and is set to be released September 2009.

Tom Ford will be in person, at Selfridges (Oxford Street) UK department store on Wednesday, June 10th 2009 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm to sign bottles from his Private Blend collection and to introduce the newest in the line up, Bois Marocain. {click for review}

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Tom Ford scents, Vetiver Series

Pic of a bunch of vetiver roots that are reinforcing a wall in Australia, from Vetiver World Wide. Pic of Tom Ford found by Mike Perez

Zoa Night Perfume by Parfums Regine: new fragrance

For those of you who are not familiar with Régine, a Parisian constant in the nightclubs scene, suffice to say that she was involved in launching eponymous perfumes for 20 years now (After all, we've already discussed how the celebrity scent phenomenon is not that recent here).

Now comes Zoa, Night Perfume, a new launch inspired by a 1966 song, encased in a striking black bottle meant to represent a dancing figure of the night. The audacious floriental powdery-ambery composition was developed by Emilie Coppermann encompassing notes of peony, spicy rose and orchid.
Zoa by parfums Régine is exclusively available at the French concept store Colette this June and will launch widely in autumn.
Bottles of 30ml, 50ml, 100ml, from 27 to 60 euros.



Pic via fashionmag

How to Smell of the Cricket Lawn while Stuck behind your Mac

The smell of cricket (and I mean the game, not the little critter) is apparently more appealing than you might have thought, according to two articles that occupy themselves with efforts of perfumers and scientists to find fragrances that mimic the outdoors so that people (men in particular) stuck behind their desks all day in the corporate environment can smell of the great outdoors. And oh, in case we forget about the aspirational airs of fragrance, not just any outdoors, but the frightfully British (and considered posh) sport of cricket: "In Britain, we have a national therapy, we call it cricket. Unlike other sports, it doesn't involve anxieties or pressures. It's leisurely and lyrical. It's the song of willow on leather". (if you're wondering click to find out the quote source) What's next, I wonder? Ersatz "I'm working my ass off and deserve a raise" spray? Don't knock it, it might not be far behind!

The first article announces the introduction of outdoors replicating odours

"Perfume makers have now captured scents from cricket grounds, including the changing rooms, cricket bats and kit, as well as from the cabins of ocean-going yachts"

and is clearly taking its cue from the longer and more detailed second article which highlights the whys and hows.

“We are looking for modern smells that have never been used in fragrances before but which have strong associations with activities that people enjoy or respect,” said Will Andrews, a fragrance scientist at Procter & Gamble (P&G), which makes perfumes by Hugo Boss, Dolce & Gabbana and Lacoste. His aim is not to recreate the sweaty smell of a cricket pavilion or yacht cabin but to find “notes” within the odours found in such places that evoke positive emotions associated with sporty activities.[...] Harvey Prince, an American manufacturer, recently claimed that its Ageless Fantasy scent had captured the smell of youth, so that women wearing it would be perceived as around eight years younger than they were. Independent tests suggested, however, that the benefits were unclear.[...]P&G’s research has shown that there are many smells that have acquired a modern appeal. Even the “electronic” smell of a warm computer is attractive to some people – and P&G is trying to bottle that too".

Read the whole article here which makes also some interesting points about how some scents become obsolete through association and the passage of time.

Now you know why your new perfume is having notes named "waterfall accord" and "deck sea spray" accord!

Pic via oldthorntoniansclapham.org.uk

What perfume does Michelle Obama wear?

In an article by Roxana Sarmiento on Stylelist.com the elusive answer to many people's question as to what the current First Lady in the White House, Michelle Obama, chooses to wear as a personal fragrance is answered. The reporter credits The Financial Times with the info scoop and goes on to say:

"What's interesting is that she bought the fragrances based on scent alone (the bottles are identical) yet the names of the fragrances say a lot about her. Which did she choose? Noble, Divine, and Delicate (which is currently sold out). Sounds perfect for a First Lady, don't you think?"

The scents are created under the brand Boedicea the Victorious, a name which is a throwback to epic-making Celtic figures in the UK's history of fight against the Romans.
Noble ("en exotic calling card") is encompassing bergamot, rose, vanilla and patchouli. Divine takes jasmine as the core and calls us to "breathe in the ripeness of this fecund and sweet flower" garlanded with aldehydes, mandarin, styrax and sandalwood. Delicate is considered "a delightfull old fashioned quintessential British scent that is destined to be a cult classic" and is exploring the olfactory landscapes of fields of bluebells, hyacinths, rose, lily and jasmine underscored by galbanum and the spicy caravan of clove and cinnamon.

All in all, mrs Obama has chosen a true fragrance wardrobe, something for every mood!

According to Harrod's who carries the UK-exclusive brand (along with Selfridge's): "Prepare to be seduced by Boadicea The Victorious. Historically inspired, this brand takes its name from its muse, Queen Boadicea of the Iceni, who led her people to a glorious war against the Romans. The result? A range of scents which evoke and celebrate feminine strength with an urban edge - ideal for the modern warrioress. Renowned stylist Michael Boadi, in partnership with a royal English perfumer, using only the purest scents". [sic]

You can see the whole line on the Boadicea the Victorious site.

What is Chandler Burr up to with his new book?

Most of you know Chandler Burr from his regular columns on scent, Scent Notes, in the New York Times, as well as his articles on the Style magazine supplement to the Times, and his two books, "The Emperor of Scent" and "The Perfect Scent" (both quite educational and enjoyable reading by the way and highly recommended). We had conducted a two-part interview with Chandler Burr on Perfume Shrine too, which you can read here and here. But as rumours to the precarious position faced by The New York Times, were fueled by comments on a unrelated Thinking Digital convention in the UK in which he was a speaker, some of you might have been wondering what he will do next. Or rather what he has been doing lately regardless of that eventuality!

The time is ripe for me to announce to you what has transpired by some private conversations which we had with Chandler Burr, namely that he has his first novel out: "You or Someone Like You". Yup, a piece of fiction unrelated to perfume and something that is inspired by his own esoteric path in life, having to do with his struggle between his conflicting background: Judaism on the side of his father (his mother is Protestant) and his personal choices. Feeling like an outcast within that frame, left him with the desire to give voice to what it feels like to belong or not, the idea of "group-ness" itself. "It's not only restricted to Judaism, but this is my experience", he had intimated to me.

The plot is nicely delineated in the book jacket, which bears a blonde sketch not unlike Gwyneth Paltrow (intentional or not?), herself a product of mixed background, and I quote:

"Anne Rosenbaum leads a life of quiet Los Angeles privilege, the wife of Hollywood executive Howard Rosenbaum and mother of their seventeen-year-old son, Sam. Years ago Anne and Howard met studying literature at Columbia-she the daughter of a British diplomat from London, he a boy from an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. Now on sleek blue California evenings Anne attends halogen-lit movie premieres on the arm of her powerful husband. But her private life is lived in the world of her garden, reading books.
When one of Howard's friends, the head of a studio, asks Anne to make a reading list, she casually agrees- though, "Anne," a director reminds her, "no one reads in Hollywood." To her surprise, they begin calling: screenwriters, producers from their bungalows, and agents from their plush offices on Wilshire and Beverly. Soon Anne finds herself leading an exclusive book club for the industry elite. Emerging gradually from her seclusion, she guides her readers into the ideas and beauties of Donne, Yeats, Auden, and Mamet with her brilliant and increasingly bold opinions. But when a crisis of identity unexpectedly turns an anguished Howard back toward the orthodoxy he left behind as a young man, Anne must set out to save what she values above all else: her husband's love."

Things are peppered with small sub-stories, and with lots of caustic wit, judging by the previews, thankfully it seems bypassing the kitschy stuff inherent in cliché twists (we had elaborated on how art can pose the risk of Kitsch in detail here) but at some point the two heroes draw apart, as you can read in this small excerpt:

"He wraps some black shoes in felt. There is a suit bag. He is leaving our home.

Who will you be staying with? I ask.

He is struggling with the suitcase. "I'll be in touch," he says through gritted teeth, working on the lock. He snaps shut the case, hefts the suit bag. Glances heavily at the dresser to check that he hasn't forgotten anything.

Who will you be staying with?

It takes an instant for his feet to begin to move.

I hear his footsteps going down the hall. The kitchen door opening, a moment of auditory void, then the sound of it closing. An eternal period, and the car's powerful German engine wakes again, calm mechanical equanimity. I listen to the recessional down our driveway. The faint sound of gravel crunching under tire comes through the open window, then the engine, the car leaps forward, and Howard vanishes into what is left of the night.

The movie cliché is the woman reaching out her hand, touching his pillow, and only then remembering. But I, when I wake again, find by contrast that my brief sleep has been entirely drenched in a blue distillate of his departure, such that even awake I confuse waking with sleeping and believe dreams to have become merely mundane. Unlike in the movies, there is never a single instant I don't know that he's gone".

When I asked Chandler whether he feels like he might chaff some butts with his comments, even though I was sure he must had considered it already, he told me the most memorable line: "And maybe some will think 'Isn't this completely obvious? Why don't we deal with this clear problem of not being able to reconcile Jewish tribalism and racialism with democratic, contemporary universalism and anti-racialism?'"

The book is officially launching on Tuesday June 9th in hardcover from Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers; you can read reviews on this and yet on another link; you can pre-order the book at Amazon clicking here.

Chandler will make personal appearences with free readings (no admission tickets!) as follows:
June 10, 7:00 PM at McNally Jackson,52 Prince St.New York, NY,
June 16, 7:30 PM at Borders 11301 Rockville Pike Rockville, MD
June 18, 7:00 PM at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
June 22, 7:00 PM at Book Soup 8818 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA and on the 23rd, same time, at Vroman's Bookstore 695 E. Colorado Blvd. LA
June 24, 7:30 PM at Elliot Bay Book Company Town Hall 1119,8th Avenue Seattle,WA
June 25, 7:00 PM at Book Passage 51 Tamal Vista Blvd.Corte Madera, CA
June 26, 12:00 PM at Rakestraw Books 522 Hartz Ave. Danville, CA
and at 7:00 PM at A Great Good Place for Books 6120 LaSalle Avenue Oakland, CA
June 30, 7:00 PM at Barnes and Noble 2289 Broadway @ 82nd St.New York, NY

How much love kills?

I'm a little rushed today so there's no review, but in the spirit of keeping you on your toes and allowing you more airtime with your comments I included a clip of one of my favourite films, "Romeo is bleeing" (1993) with Gary Oldman, Annabella Sciorra, Lena Olin, Roy Schneider and Juliette Lewis. It's much darker than it looks from the following clip with the romantic "Too Much Love Will Kill You" song by the Queen, be warned.
So please be my guest and free-associate: Have you ever been in a comparable situation? Were you wearing something scented in particular? Would you have thought of something in particular as fitting? Or simply state what you think the characters should wear. The ball is in your park!



The draw for the Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus is still open and I will accept all comments till midnight. Hope to announce the winner by Monday.

Clip originally uploaded by GOFoxy on Youtube

Neil Morris new Vault fragrances: fragrance reviews

It's not customary for me to review several fragrances in one go, but seeing as I was sent some new Vault samples from the trismegista Ida/Chayaruchama and some others from a representative of Neil Morris, the temptation to group my thoughts on these was immense and I couldn't resist. Days of consecutive testing left me with the impression that people who are very much attuned to the richer, ambery and woody end of the spectrum in fragrance preferences should have no trouble at all finding something in the extensive Neil Morris portfolio to fall in love with. I found some surprising hits and some misses myself where I didn't expect to, so sampling is the only way to go (as if this needed further insisting upon). This last May they were celebrating their one year anniversary of the introduction of Vault fragrances and I am at a loss on how they could manage to have so many there already! (For what is worth I always loved the wondrously leathery Gotham from his Signature Collection)

But who is this ultraniche artisanal perfumer, Neil Morris? According to Where Magazine, he "takes the cake as Boston’s resident fragrance artiste” and I admit I can't think of anyone else hailing from this untraditional locale (which evokes universities and the rare urban deliquent or two to my mind). Can you? It might sound superficial, but knowing the good, trusty relationship that Ida has had with self-taught Neil over the years has feeling sympathetic to the man through reflection of Ida's wonderful warm personality, even though I don't even know him! I also appreciate the fact that in times of recession he's trying to accomodate perfumistos and reduces the size and accordingly the price of his creations. He's on top of a trend obviously and more people in the business should pay attention to their audience! And I love that I have been twice given the chance to sample compositions that were custom-made for a friend: first Le Parfum d'Ida which has entered the mainstay collection at the Vault (and it's highly recommended to sample this!) and then Rêve Foncé, translating as "dark dream", a leathery smooth potion containing no aldehydes to her specification.

The newest 2009 Vault fragrances have something for everyone it seems.
Rumi, inspired by the Persian mystic, poet and philosopher, literally took me by surprise with its warm rosiness and incandescent resinoids. I had decided not to read any notes before sampling so as to have my mind free of associations, but if the ouris in Muslim heaven wear this, the promised rivers of milk are guaranteed to run forever. It's so delectably ambery, with a powdery veil of golden warmth, its core vibrating with good rose absolutes that I stand corrected in not usually liking roses. I love this one! Considering I have been impressed by Andy Tauer's Une Rose Chyprée lately, it looks like I need to devote some airtime to rose fragrances in general.
In that vein Vanille Rosé was a posteriori another surprise: This one is taking the other road of rose, the traditional rose of yore, a Tudor rose so to speak. It reminded me of something my mother wore beautifully in the past, which I couldn't place, until I realised it was a simple but pretty rose essence she had received from South of France from a poet friend residing in Marseilles. There is a beautiful vanilla tonality that lasts well in the perfume and I detect a citrusy touch which highlights the more crystalline, fruity facets of the rose. While I am usually leery of roses which never quit, I satisfyingly wore this the whole day and with the leaping realisation we get when we catch ourselves in a mirrored door in the background: "Hey, stranger, who is this? Oh gosh, it's me!!"

Maria in her laconic Midnight Forest review stresses its "touch of magic, but no monsters" and I can't but agree. The initial blast of galbanum, bowlder-like bitter, has an intensely bell- pepper green aroma which took a couple of prisoners along the way and I admit I was hesitant, but the drydown is resinous woody with a delectable myrrh trail that provides a mystical touch of vielle église.

Red Sky begins with an intense, piquant lemongrass note that petters out to a resinous background, meant to evoke the Southewestern sky at sunset. Mystic Dragon on the other hand, inspired by a Chinatown walk during the Chinese New Year's celebration, utilizes a mixture of cocoa absolute ~which smells uncanningly like real melted chocolate (and will give you ideas, but sois sage!)~ and warm patchouli, its natural chocolate-y facets complimenting the absolute. Both fuse into an amalgamation of beckoning sweetness on the skin. A little too sweet for my personal tastes, but I can see it becoming popular with folks.
Mariner is a standard masculine around citrusy, rosey and woody notes, which is pleasant if not too distinctive and I would have liked it to be more wistful, like it fits those who go down the sea in ships.
In Vapor Neil Morris took a risk: The fragrance feels like a ball of almondy pastry suspended into an invisible veil of pincushions all around, its sharp opening tingling with frost, giving way to the resinous-ambery base that Neil Morris so loves.

I was more impressed overall by City Rain, the first tentative drops on the hot pavement and the creosote slowly becoming an enveloping sensation when you think you're in a viridian whirlwind travelling at God-speed towards a hidden cool colliery where the sun only tentatively shines. And if that whirlwind accidentally gushes you in a terrain where exotic blossoms raise their heads from enchanted pits that whisper to you to lean and see the darkness up close, then you're face to face with Prowl which is as prowl-worthy as its name. The soiled white-floral ache is meowing through the tall grasses.

Regarding Neil Morris for Takashimaya, Chandler Burr described it as "luxury retro with power and a high-gloss, premodernist effect. The scent is purplish fruit, big pinot noir and dark ripe plum, plus the scent of a 1930s boudoir: the fragrances of the old-fashioned creams and makeup and the scarlet velvet drapes thrown in". The fragrance is full of dark fruits drenched in pear eau de vie and is intended for the hedonists among you.

Notes for Neil Morris Vanille Rose: Orange blossom, heliotrope, green tea, red rose, dark vanilla, musk.
Notes for Neil Morris Rumi: Ylang ylang, rose, benzoin, patchouli, amber.
Notes for Neil Morris Midnight Forest: Galbanum, redwood, dark musk, nagarmotha, oak, myrrh, and myrtlewood.
Notes for Neil Morris Mystic Dragon: Jasmine, amber, patchouli, smoke, cedar, chocolate.
Notes for Neil Morris Mariner: Italian bergamot, Damask rose, geranium, white musk, cedar, sandalwood. Notes for Neil Morris Red Sky: Lemongrass, lavender, narcissus, delphinium, oakmoss, amber, black musk.
Notes for Neil Morris Vapor: Aldehydes, water lily, tonka bean, heliotrope, frankincense, amber, musk.
Notes for Neil Morris City Rain: Green tea, ozone, heliotrope, honeysuckle, blue musk, green patchouli, earth note, golden musk.
Notes for Neil Morris Prowl: Black pepper, honeysuckle, jasmine sambac, tuberose, patchouli, oakmoss, amber, civet.

The Neil Morris Vault fragrances can be purchased directly on the official site , 70$ for 1oz/30ml and they ship internationally. They also offer generous samples for 5$ each.
More info: Neil Morris Fragrances, 221 massachusetts avenue, suite 501, boston, ma 02115 tel 617.267.2315

Joseph Mallord William Turner painting Peace via funeralatsea.com. Illustration Voyager by Chris Moore via angelart.com. Pic of Neil Morris and client via his site

Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne: new fragrance

The newest feminine fragrance by Yves Saint Laurent is officially corroborated as Parisienne and will be fronted by Kate Moss. There had been a photoshoot with Craig McDean by the Eiffel Tower a while ago and Kate seemed so in love with the couturier's smoking jacket she refused to let it go for days later. Right when she's ready to launch her own celebrity fragrance, Vintage, after the commercial success of her first eponymous scent Kate Moss, there rolls this new contract!

Parisienne will launch next autumn and will be encased in a bottle that is eerily reminiscent of the diamond-cut one of the original Paris. [click for a review]
Judging by the roses that accompanied the photo-shoot (and which perhaps not coincidentally perfectly match the shade of the bottle and juice) and by the optical resemblance of design to Paris fragrance, it's safe to assume that rose as a note or perhaps a central diva will be featured in the newest feminine fragrance by Yves Saint Laurent, composed by perfumers Sophia Grojsman (the nose behind the original Paris) and Sophie Labbé. Also the name, a variant denoting the citizen of Paris, the city, alludes to some relevance with the classic rose-violet perfume by the master couturier. The alleged vinyl top note comes with all the modern clin d'oeil to a younger generation who might have grown up with Paris being worn by their mothers, so it's natural they want to strut their own way in pleather slim-pants much like their idol, fashion-plate Kate Moss.

Parisienne will be available in 30ml/1oz, 50ml/1.7oz and 90ml/3oz of Eau de Parfum for prices between 51 and 90 euros and it will be accompanied by ancillary products, such as body lotion, shower gel and deodorant spray.

A perceptive reader of mine notified me at last Monday that the new fragrance is already featured slightly discounted on an online store in the Netherlands, from which comes the pic of the bottle, but the articles are not yet available for sale.

Update:
Official notes for Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne:

Top: “vinyl accord (evoking metal gloss and varnish)”, cranberry, blackberry
Heart: Damask rose, violet, peony
Base: patchouli, vetiver, musk, sandalwood.

The teaser ads, tagged "Qui est Parisienne?" (Who is Parisienne?) are playful, to the accompaniment of bass riffs.
Qui est Parisienne ?

Watch more on www.ysl-parisienne.com/fr and take the fun test to win a week being Parisienne! (take the test clicking here)

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Yves Saint Laurent series.
Pics thanks to Modelinia.com and parfumerie.nl, video Dailymotion.

What do you find irresistible?

Liv Tyler looks all fetchy, hot and silly insouciant in the latest Very Irrésistible commercial for parfums Givenchy, shot aboard a motorboat on the river Seine and its ponts in Paris. I can accept the bare back dress (although it does get chilly in the evenings on the Seine), but if you have ever driven a motorboat you know it speeds so fast you need to have your hands on the steering wheel at all times or you might bump into something in such an enclosed space as a city river. Stilettos are also a no-no for any deck involving wood (the owner would sledgehammer you if you dared step a foot on it with anything pointy!), but I realise I must be splitting hairs and it's all in the name of le glamour. At least she has an acceptable accent on the French part of the name!
The jazzy tune was composed especially for the ad by Nicolas Errera.



I think I prefer the original Very Irrésistible 2003 commercial with Liv. It's more playful somehow and suits her to a T...You can watch it clicking here.

Check back later for reviews of the newest Neil Morris Vault fragrances!

Clip originally uploaded by modelstvcm2 on Youtube.

Guerlain Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus: fragrance review

Take a room that appears goldenish baroque in its ambience, but actually comprised of little, aptly chosen, dramatic furniture and saturate it in the cool and bright light of the North on a salubrious day and you have the latest Guerlain, Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus. Tentatively smelling it, convinced I'd absolutely hate it, it gave me the testing whiplash of my life: It isn't half bad! Aesthetically it is as successful in its modernisation as Eau Première is to the iconic Chanel No.5 (I wish I could say that for the latest Cristalle Eau Verte).

The introduction of a Mitsouko flanker, and what's more a watery Mitsouko in a mouthwash-tinted bottle, initially sounded as mind-numbingly sacrilegious as Regan impaling herself with a crucifix in one of the most brilliant scenes of William Friedkin's 1973 thriller "The Exorcist" would look to the Pope. However Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus reminds me of another William Friedkin heroine, this one more mature, sexier and tamer than the possessed child Regan; namely, Trina Gavin in 1995 "Jade". Not exactly Ai-no Corrida material, the passions are contained, but still an involving character.

The original Mitsouko by Jacques Guerlain launched in 1919 at a time when women rediscovered luxury and all things Eastern and it subtly unveils its peachy-fuzz chypre heart amidst a spicy, smoky mossiness that creates the feeling of decadent and, at the same time, wistful opulence. Jean Paul Guerlain rightfully decided not to mess up with perfection and merely injected an airier lotus blossom note which uplifts and mollifies the composition into a brighter, lighter plane.

“Mitsouko is really a masterpiece,” says Jean-Paul.[1] “I did not want to betray my grandfather’s, so I added a freshness to the scent with spices and white musk to give a modernity to it without changing the original scent.”

Jean Paul Guerlain is according to Thierry Wasser (new resident nose at Guerlain) "the Indiana Jones of fragrance" [2], such is his galivanting the world in search of new and exciting raw materials; and lotus blossom is a traditional essence of the East which seemed very fitting to what is essentially an Eastern inspired composition in the first place.
After the initial acqueous and rather green jasmine-like impression the unmistakeable palpability of Mitsouko comes through while the progression surprisingly takes Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus into more hesperidic (the lotus), cooly powdery tonalities (some cardamom?) with a slight sprinkling of clean sweeteness instead of the butyric lactonic richness and almost burnt peachiness of the original. And since the classic Mitsouko can be worn by men too, I see no real problem in the newest version being co-operative on a man's skin if they generally like softer fragrances. Be prepared for a short-lived experience however: The lasting power is nowhere near the tenacity of the classic in either of its concentrations.

If you love the original Mitsouko enough, the new Fleur de Lotus variant seems like a redundancy. If you do not, it is doubtful whether you will find something seismically different that would make you do a 180 degree turn. As March put it: "You can hear the right chords being played, but they’re in the background. Somewhere down the hall, but still there. I wouldn’t say, precisely, that it honors the original, but it doesn’t diminish it, either.". Nevertheless, people who might have objected to either the latest botched reformulated Mitsouko with its bread-like top note and its long finish of treemoss instead of oakmoss, or people who longed for a twist in the classic recipe like one less olive, one dash of vermouth less in their martini glass, might find in Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus a fragrance to successfully claim as their own. For my vintage collecting self it simply isn't a necessity, which affirms the thought that this is an attempt to grab new audiences, not established ones.

Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus is available in 60ml/2oz bottles of Eau de Toilette, whose design reprises the classic inverted heart bottle with a degradée of bright blue-ish shades and a white label. It retails for $100 at Guerlain boutiques exclusively and Saks Fifth Avenue NYC, Bergdorf Goodman NYC, Waldorf Astoria, Neiman Marcus at San Francisco, The Bellagio at Las Vegas, the Epcot Center at Orlando and The Breakers at Palm Beach.

One sample will be given to a lucky reader! State your interest at the comments, draw open till Friday midnight.


Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Guerlain series, flankers, Chypre series.

[1]Quote via Vanity Fair [2]Interview of Wasser and JPGuerlain at Wallpaper.
Pic of Linda Fiorention from the 1995 William Friedkin film "Jade" via L'internaute

Flora Attica: Galivanting amidst the Greek gardens

The last day of May had me leafing through the photos that I had taken throughout the Veniamin month of spring. The fragrant orgy of the warm Greek spring was simply irresistible not to lock away in digital form for the gloomiest days of winter and the promise of a rampant summer was achingly palpable in every petal and every leaf.
Here are some of them as a small tribute to the glory of scented walks in the city...




The season of the lilac is all too brief, its passing leaving behind a nostalgic pang for beauty betrodden.

I like to prolong their fragrant whisperings by wearing Tocadilly, After my Own Heart by Ineke and Highland Lilac of Rochester well into the early throes of summer, when their lush, ripe beauty is but a distant memory. (click the links for reviews)






Pittosporum tobira (the dominant blossom in the heart of the strict, celebral chypre Knowing by Estee Lauder) hides in its small little corola a sweet, intoxicating smell of white floral longing.
The whiffs caught in the evening make the heart palpitate with pleasure and rapture.




The vibrant flowers of oleander in pink, white or salmon are characteristic of the Greek landscape and truly abundant, even in the intense heat of the summer. Their dusty, bittersweet aroma that combines earth and stem is indicative of their poisonous nature, yet tempting to a tentative taste.





Robinia pseudoacacia (mock acacia) on the other hand blooms safely in May and the white grappes hanging off the trees are swaying in the cool breeze of early morning with the promise of sunny happiness.



Small statuettes are very common in doorways and porticos and here we have a Venetian lion under a climbing vine and fuschia bougainvillea bush. The early peaches are visible on the peach tree at the background. The succulent juice of the fruit whets my appetite for Péché Cardinal by parfums MDCI, in which the sinful peach is the indomitable protagonist.




Fig trees, their mighty shade and their dusty, bitter tang of the leaves always a welcome solace in the schorching rays of high summer, are already producing their first figs, unripe and green. They're bitter still, their white-ish "milk" making one's face grimace upon smelling like a child sucking on a sour lemon for the very first time.
The refreshing quality of both tree and fruit is lovingly captured in L'artisan's Premier Figuier, Cielo by Napa Valley, and A la figue by Satellite.







Scarlett bougainvilleas are sadly without their match in perfumery, but their emblematic contrast with the white of the houses casts our mind to summer vacations on Greek isles and their respective irresistible bouquet of aromata of herbs and foliage.

Roses are early bloomers in the warm climate and the juxtaposition of this most English of flowers with the terracotta of the archaic metopes and akroteria is arresting in its unexpectedness. Whenever the mood strikes me for a lush rose fragrance such as these blooms I turn to the embullient rose and violet combination that is Yves Saint Laurent's Paris; its crystal melody speaking of feminine elegance and almost tipsy romanticism. When I want an earthier companion to my rose, Une Rose Chyprée by Andy Tauer and Frédéric Malle's Une Rose provide the rich, dirty feel that enrobs my roses with the pungent soil odour following a summer thunderstorm. And finally when I'm all out for an orientalised classical rose that "would smell as sweet", nothing will do but Guerlain's Nahéma.


Last but not least, this garlanded doorway of delight had me stop in my tracks even before I turned the corner of the small alleyway; the fragrant stream of the jasmine trellis was so potent, so intoxicating, my feet had a will of their own trying to track the source of the heavenly aroma! Nothing caprtures the beauty and the awe of summer jasmine in the warm embrace of the Mediterannean like A la Nuit by Serge Lutens ~its enveloping hug is as mesmerising as falling in love all over again: not only with one's beloved but, more importantly, with life itself.

All photos by Elena Vosnaki, copyright for Perfume Shrine. Click to enlarge.

Patricia de Nicolai sur mesure and Jean Claude Ellena new book: news

The much anticipated book by master perfumer Jean Claude Ellena "Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent" (comprising 168 pages in English)
will be officially released on 4 June 2009. You can pre-order yours for just £10.49 (25% off the RRP) on Amazon UK by following this link.
(ISBN-10: 1559709111
ISBN-13: 978-1559709118)
*And please disregard the glitch that has messed with the book's description and editorial credits on the site.

Patricia de Nicolai on the other hand had a brilliant idea: offer a custom perfume that would be composed with her direction by the individual him/herself! The service is called Ateliers Haute Parfumerie and is aimed at people who will be in Paris, also profiting by a nice shot of Nespresso (can't recommend it highly enough!) and Ladurée macaroons at Les jardins du Palais-Royal (yup, right where Lutens's seraglio is around the corner!). Individuals will be able to dabble with rare and precious ingredients and create 250ml of their own custom-made fragrance to which they will have access at any time, as the formula is kept and production can be undertaken within 15 days should they want to. The course is addressed to both novices and people who have followed a previous atelier, so there is something for everyone, and the groups will contain between 2 and 50 people according to the specifications discussed.
Info: Nicolaï Créateur de Parfums - 28, rue de Richelieu 75001 Paris - Tél.: +33 01 44 55 02 02 / Fax: +33 01 44 55 08 69