Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Aromatics Along the Silk Road

The American Museum of Natural History will be hosting Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Aromatics Along the Silk Road, featuring renowed natural perfumer Mandy Aftel, which we have hosted on our pages in the past.
Frankincense, myrrh, patchouli, and jasmine were among the valuable commodities traded along the ancient Silk Road , and they are still prized today. Renowned perfumer Mandy Aftel, the nose behind Aftelier perfumes, will awaken the senses as she leads visitors on an aromatic journey.
Attendees will learn about the fascinating world of fragrances and have the chance to sample authentic and pure essences during a discussion about aromatics’ history. This program is part of a series of tastings and lectures for adults and educational programming for children that are being offered in conjunction with the exhibition Traveling the Silk Road : Ancient Pathway to the Modern World, on view until August 15, 2010.

WHEN : Wednesday, January 20, 6:30 pm

WHERE: Linder Theater, first floor
Enter at 77th Street

HOW MUCH: $20

You can purchase tickets online on this link.

Kim Kardashian: the "Voluptuous" New Ad

After bootylicious star Beyonce with her Heat, another celebrity (albeit famous for less creative endeavours) debuts her eponymous celebrity fragrance (will there be no end?), named after her: Kim Kardashian and developed by Lighthouse Beauty. Between that and Carl's Jr salads commercials, the starlet famous for her Keeping up with the Kardashians participation hasn't been idle.

The advertisment has the booylicious Kim dressed in vintage pink lingerie (the push-up bra being a little too modern maybe) and a marabou coat, swinging from a circle-trapeze burlesque-style. I personally think her best feature (her warm softness) is traded for some "hardened" glam-shot in which her face appears a little too austere, perhaps in an effort to lend some retro high-cheekbones and dark-lips-on-white-canvas drama. The trapeze mirrors the smoky bottle ~with some necessary pink on the neck, let's not forget~ bearing her initials; one K mirrored-into the other like the two faces of Janus. On a sidenote, funny how all the Kardashian sisters have names starting with a K! It would be hard to position themselves if they all started producing their own fragrances, but anyway.
Kim Kardashian the fragrance could have been a bootichouli: After all, who better nowadays than realistically curvaceous women to bring back those unabashedly feminine compositions. But no, it will be a white floral instead (yawn?) with a sensual soft base, encompassing jasmine, tuberose and gardenia at the heart and tonka bean coupled with sandalwood for the base. Sounds rather nice, if a little "been there, done that", no? Prices will start from super-affordable $16 for a 0.33-oz. rollerball and up to $65 for a 3.4-oz. spray bottle. The Kim Kardashian fragrance debuts in February, exclusively at Sephora.

What do you think about the advertisement?

Pic courtesy of Stylewatch.

Gap Close: new fragrance

The American giant, Gap, is presenting their new fragrance, Close. Designed by Patrick Robinson of Gap, Givaudan perfumery and the Interparfums group, Close is a casual fragrance which aims to be "sexy, sensual and pretty". Close to your object of affection? Possibly.
Notes for Gap Close include almond blossom and salty hesperides for the top, freesia, jasmine, daphne and stephanotis for the heart, alongside sandalwood, musk and a touch of vanilla for the warmer, sensual base. I admit it doesn't sound half-bad, although of course a list of notes is usually nothing to depend on.

The packaging reprises the egg-shaped tactile feeling which helped make Agent Provocateur a success, but in white and with a brushed silvery cap, to evoke "a pure sensuality and modern simplicity".

Aiming at the casual customer who scent-shops alongside their clothes, Close is positioned at the lower end of the market: 24 euros for 100 ml, 17 euros for 50 ml and 6 euros for 10 ml at Sephora and the Gap boutiques network starting January 19th.

Diptyque (Red): All for a Good Cause!

Diptyque lends its image and its expertise to the association (RED) for its new creation. Light and creamy Vanilla Rooibos is born of an encounter between dual-faceted African rooibos tea. A fragrance with particular force and the enchanting scent of grilled amber. Herbaceous fragrance notes and tobacco, evoking that particular part of the world. Then, with voluptuousness, a powdered and fleshy note comes to finish the olfactory journey.
Diptyque contributes 4 euros for each candle sold to support and help (RED) in its fight against viral diseases in Africa.
(RED) is not charity.(RED) is not cause. (RED) is not theory. (RED) is the simple idea of transforming our acts of consumption in a joint force to help those in need.
(RED) reconciles the pleasure of buying an object of desire in a affirmative action. In only 2 years, people have opted to buy (RED) products have positively influenced the lives of 2.5 million Africans!

Available now wherever Diptyque is sold.

info via press release