Black Widow: fragrance review (in time for Halloween) & draw!

"Bob Rafelson's Black Widow with its good, flashy star-performances by Debra Winger and Theresa Russell, comes on with the seductiveness of an expensive perfume that inevitably evaporates before the night is over". When the New York Times critic gives you the opening line on a perfume review, you know it's one that has baggage attached. Black Widow ,the fragrance, has a name that might induce mirth, sarcasm or slight apprehension and would fit Halloween's fragrance choice to a T.
A while ago I was contacted by a small brand, Small Wolrd LLC who generously provided a bottle of the fragrance for me to test. (Which was a first!) I assume they went the same route with other bloggers as well, regardless of whether it was inferred or not. I don't flatter myself that I was the only one; decency dictates mentioning it.

Black Widow came with zero expectations, exactly because I was oblivious to its existence. A look at their site revealed a playful page full of catchy slogans, such as "What You Do With Your Prey is Your Business" or "At Least He Went With a Smile On His Face", which really made my evening.
To me nevertheless it is Bob Rafelson's 80s neo-noir that came to mind in a Nescafe-dissolving-in-a-styrofoam-cup kind of way: that is, instantly!

In the homonymous film

"The villain [...] is Catherine (Theresa Russell), beautiful, charming and intelligent woman that seduces and marries a whole bunch of wealthy men only to have them mysteriously die few months later. After collecting inheritance money, she disappears, takes new identity and begins her deadly scheme all over again. Her modus operandi, however, brings the attention of Alexandra Barnes (Debra Winger), workaholic Justice Department investigator. After obsessively tracking down Catherine all over the country, Alexandra finally reaches her at Hawaii. Catherine there wants to pull the same stunt on Paul (Sami Frey), local tycoon. Knowing that she would have to catch Catherine red handed, Alexandra meets her and tries to strike a friendship, not knowing that Catherine has some suspicions too."

(synopsis by Dragan Antulov (1988))

Forget the big shoulder-pads on bright-coloured garments and the at-times-bouffant hair, this was a seriously entertaining neo-noir with a slightly hinted-at lesbian flair which differentiated it from most of the run of the mill productions. It even featured cult cameos by Dennis Hopper, Diane Ladd and Nicol Wiliamson! And if it missed by a shot, sumbitting to the mania for ethical endings, what the heck, it was a fun evening watch.
In one memorable scene, Alex offers a wedding gift to Catherine: a black widow jeweled brooch. And we see Theresa Russell's face smirk both seductively and diabolically as she slowly says: "Black Widow; she mates and she kills. The question is: does she love? It's impossible to answer that unless you live in her world. {she pauses}. Such an intriguing gift..." And then, bang! all the homoeroticism that was latent manifests itself as she grabs Alex by the back of her neck and kisses her violently on the mouth.

Black Widow is a fragrance that could have been chosen by Catherine to prey on her wealthy victims as well as charm women who are on her pursuit. Saturated with spice, it opens up on an intense peppery accent that catches your attention like a razor blade touching your throat. It stays there poised for a while, mixed with a little hesperidic touch, until a cascade of rich, smoky clove weaves itself into the trap laid for the unsuspecting victim: you!
Clove is such an underappreciated note, mostly because of associations with medical appointments involving root canals. But moi, who has never had the need for one, can appreciate it for its qualities beyond: those embryo seeds of Eugenia caryophyllata , full of natural eugenol and caryophylenne, that grows abundantly in Zanzibar are unctuous and lustful for moisture, with a tinge of the sweet in them. In food products, such as biscuits, the aroma is replicated by 1-Acetoxy-2-methoxy-4-propenyl benzene.
Here, in Black Widow, you can appreciate the natural clove essence, as the fragrance is purpotedly made up by naturals, which comes nifty if one considers the aromatheurapeutical benefits of such aphrodisiac essences.
It is this phenolic scent that dominates the heart of the perfume, alternating the sweet with the dry accents throughout as it marries with rich amber, sucking on it vampirically. Other spices such as cinnamon and nutmeg also surface, albeit less prominently, on hair that shines like spiderwebs; and they weave a sexy spell from which the soft, slightly powdery silk of the trully lasting drydown cannot escape unscathed.


The official information provided on the site runs thus:

Black Widow is made from all natural essential oils.
Black Widow is a sweet and spicy oriental
with a rich amber scent, top notes of citrus,
and middle notes of musk and spice, including
cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg.
We realize it is hard to describe a perfume with words so we hope it helpsto say that Black Widow resembles a fresher updated version of Opium.

I believe that the comparison with Opium is perhaps unjust, as it places Black Widow on the shadow, not appreciated for what it is; especially given the fact that it lacks the orange-mandarin aspect of the former and its intense floral-woody accord, concentrating instead on the natural spices and the ambery base. However, if you like spicy orientals such as Black Widow is not a bad scent to start your seduction ploys with. And "Oh! what a tangled web you will weave". Until a Federal Investigator catches you, that is...


Black Widow comes as a lasting Cologne Spray in simple, round black bottles of 60ml/2oz in a black box nand can be ordered directly from the Black Widow site here and also from Henri Bendel NYC, Heebee Jeebees in Colorado Springs and the Pleasure Chest in West Hollywood (so you know it has something going on for it! *wink*)

Please note that shipping costs to Europe or overseas might be a little different than those stated for the US.

Since we have such an abundance of the fragrance at our disposal, I am offering samples to readers who comment and a lucky draw for a decant of it to one lucky winner!

Poster of the film through impawards.com

Chypre Rouge by Serge Lutens: fragrance review

It's not often that a perfume assumes a stolen identity to pass icognito under our noses, hiding its true nature under a misnomer. Chypre Rouge is not a chypre by any stretch of the imagination, even taking into account the new chypre contestants that assimilate the older façade. It takes the symbolic image of red oakmoss of Chypre Rouge to make one think of an interpretation of a fantasy in which darkness and light mirror the hues of the No-like makeup that Lutens has always opted for in one of his previous incarnations as makeup director for Dior and Shiseido. And much like those waxy materials that metamorphose plain features into studies in cubism, Chypre Rouge has a weird power in it that transports the notion of chypre into the realm of oriental meets occidental.

Chypre Rouge came into the public scene with one of the most impressive yet somehow incoherent press releases to date.
It ran like this:

“I remember looking at the forest ground, covered with dead leaves, and finding it both macabre and beautiful. Something caught my attention: a strange patch of moss at the base of a tree, it looked as if it were bleeding, purple and red. Ceremonial dress, splendid and dying, lit by the rays of a nearby clearing. “Don’t deny, you will confess!” In this doorless dungeon we look for an exit. Thin light comes from a murdering hole.
Eagle nest, precious stones, coat of arms, standards, what are we made of? Eternity, limpidity, freshness, beauty, velvet softness. A secret continent of which we would be the body, in golden darkness, moss of spices and vermeil. The kiss of a choirboy on the ring of an archbishop.
Softness and depth, secret in scents where, laying our cheeks we can only dream.”

(press release courtesy of Scenteur d'Ailleurs)

Now, before you get any naughty ideas about the choirboy and the archibishop's ring, I have to add that imaginative imagery has always been at the core of the Lutens canon, so we are to take this as a flight of fancy, a reminiscence about his childhood in Hansel and Gretel land.

And just where is this mythical land? Osmoz says a propos de Chypre Rouge that it "was inspired by Serge Lutens’s memories of fall in his native Vendée region of western France". Native? Please allow me to disagree on that score. Lutens was born in Lille which is quite far from Vendée. In fact as revealed here, he spent his youth in Lille too!
However I am perfectly willing to believe that he had some extended family or friends who stayed there and that his visits were coloured with the sweeping brush of vermeil and purple mentioned.
It is not without importance to note that he was a neglected child whose mother donned black on her second wedding day, perhaps a symbol that rang poignant in his id. The confessional tone, mingled with the religious overtones of the papal purple, hint at a desire to express some secret ache that needs to surface through the catharsis of the artistic. And so Chypre Rouge becomes deeply personal, psychological endoscopisis rendering it difficult to interpret by someone outside the circle.

Upon encountering Chypre Rouge one is hit with the earthy smell of celery. So vivid is the impression that doubting our artistic tendencies we do a double take wondering what came upon them to devise such a -shocking to many- opening. Of course Lutens is no stranger to exagerration and carefully constructed ugliness; which puts the essential final straw on a perfect specimen, like the demonic camphorous Vapo-rub opening of Tubéreuse Criminelle, another daring Chris Sheldrake creation. However the latter is to be distributed directly from Les Salons du Palais Royal being part of the exclusive range, therefore a touch of the outré is not particularly unexpected. Chypre Rouge forms part of the export line and therefore it stroke me as odd that such a choice of top notes was opted for.
The progression to fenugreek and immortelle (the note that accounts for the maple surupy hot sands of a deserted beach of Annick Goutal's Sables and the pronounced curriness in Dior Eau Noire) comes after some minutes to soothe sensibilities and transport into the territory of the spicy with subtle whiffs of flowers, dried, rolled into heaps of curried dust. Mace and coriander raise their beady heads out of this basket that recalls Arabic souks, like most of the Lutens creations, especially Arabie, influenced by his mysterious seraglioat Morocco that no one has ever visited. Named "Al Medina al Hamra", Red City because of its architecture, Marrakesh has served as a rich pool of inspiration for Lutens and his vision of perfume as a homage to a cross-reference of civilisations.
The final phase of caramelised nuts rolled into musky, smooth moss is the least challengening, but by then potential audiences will have either walked away or braved the initial coup in anticipation of the soft nucleus. It is unfortunate that I tend to the former group.

Chypre Rouge launched in 2006 as an Eau de Parfum Haute Concetration, a term that denotes higher concentration of aromatic essences because of the nature of the latter that demand a higher saturation point to be perceptible and is not meant to imply that it is louder in odour volume.

Official notes:
thyme, pine needles, pecans, fruit gums, honey, beeswax, jasmine, patchouli, amber, vanilla, moss and musks.

Instead of further commentary I direct you to Placebo with brilliant Brian Molko and their song "Meds":



(uploaded by dagonsio)

Please remind me to post "The Bitter End" (again by Placebo) if Serge Lutens trully retires from fragrance creation, per rumours.

Top pic from the film Carrie by Brian de Palma (1976)/Filmhai. Ad pic courtesy of autourdeserge.

Chypres series 7: The Chypres that Time Forgot

If you're new to Perfume Shrine's Chypre Series, please refer to the following basic articles:
What ARE "chypre perfumes"?
What are the aesthetics of chypre fragrances?
What's the history and zeitgeist of "chypre" evolution?

There are some chypre fragrances that got sidetracked for various reasons, none of which is the fault of their actual scent. Either their heyday ended in an abrupt change in the public's sensibilities or they fell out of production because of a deal that got terminated, or alternatively they became so low profile and obscure that they didn't pique the interest of the general public anymore. Notwithstanding that chance that they got reformulated beyond recognition. Whatever the reason, today's choices are great fodder for rediscoveries, much like a wild safari in the virtual jungle.

 Deneuve by Catherine Deneuve
The jewel of the crown is the magnificent, transcedental chypre that was named and devised by none other than the perfumista par excellence, Catherine Deneuve. Her well established love of perfume blossomed into a creation she could call her own; first launched via an agreement with Avon for the US market (which might come as a surprise to some). However, according to her own admission in Elle magazine in 1994, that agreement fell through and the production stalled, maybe because greens were not so popular anumore, making Deneuve a sought after wonder of the online auctions even since.
She had personally been involved in its creation in France in 1986, "like a child in front of a magical toy", smelling hundreds of ingredients and combinations, eliminating (she hinted that the team creating it didn't really know what to do), testing the mods up till she settled for the final three ones. And then, on a shooting trip to Italy, she came up with the winning choice that materialised her vision: an "open" perfume, something that would be trully feminine, something classical and beautiful like a great piece of music, smelling like entering a garden which has an indefinable aroma. She wanted emotion, mystery, perhaps a bit of the Orient mixed in for good measure. {translated from quotes on French Marie Claire 1989}

I was moved by the brave sizlling top of green that combined intense galbanum with naturally eugenol-rich spicy basil, only to be awed upon coming across the lushness of the floral heart that spoke of warm smelling bouquets that rest on a mossy, sensual base that has a touch of the leathery animalic that is to be experienced in the drydown of classic chypre Miss Dior. It even came in a dusting powder which is so gloriously decadent and old-fashioned that I am stumped why it hasn't been featured in one of those highly successful commercially guides of how to become the perfect bombshell or something.
The downside? You must hunt it down on Ebay: be prepared for astronomical bids!
On the bright side, two dupes of it are reputed to be particularly spot on although I haven't tested them myself: Cannes from Long Lost perfumes (said to be a little sharp)and the Deneuve Type by DSH (said to be a tad richer)

Official notes for Deneuve:

Top: Green notes, Galbanum, Bergamot, Neroli, Basil, Aldehyde
Middle: Rose, Muguet, Jasmin, Orris, Ylang-Ylang, Violet, Hyacinth
Base: Moss, Musk, Cedarwood, Sandal, Civet

Coriandre by Jean Couturier 
It first piqued my interest when I read Susan Irvine's desrciption of it: "fit for a red headed Raymond Chandler heroine". Perfume Shrine has long worshipped the noir heroines and their universe and this was like a bowl of cream in front of a hungry kitten: irresistible!
Subtle and refined, it didn't speak of the femme fatale so much, but of a patchouli and geramium wreath around roses of a dark red hue, an elegant missile of indoors denotation. Contrary to its name, it doesn't predominantly smell of coriander, although there is discernible spiciness to it that does not recall the culinary. The green pong of angelica makes it dry and somehow young despite appearences.
Created in 1973 by Couturier's own wife Jacqueline, who was Grasse-trained and an heir to perfumers, it was the foundation on which the Couturier Parfums brand was established. It comes in a bottle topped by a green malachite-looking cap, beautifully veined.
Coriandre has been a little surgically enhanced (this happened in 1993), but it didn't involve a complete face-lift which is good news to its acolytes. Consider yourself honoured and not humbled to be included in the latter.
Available from newsparfums.com and other etailers for reasonable prices.

Official notes for Coriandre:

Top: Coriander, Aldehydes, Angelica, Orange blossom
Middle: Rose, Geranium, Jasmine, Orris
Base: Patchouli, Sandal, Vetiver, Civet

 Halston by Halston
  Halston by the american designer Roy Halston Fronwick stops at the Disco end of the Silk Road, being launched smack down in the middle of the 1970s decade (in 1975) in a bottle designed by Elsa Peretti, a designer famous for her "natural", organic shaped jewel designs for Tifanny. Those were the times that chypres were still in favour and its minty aroma that opens on green notes allied with marigold and bergamot, seguing to a lathery soapiness of orris, jasmine and rose touched with a little woodiness were alluring to the audiences of Studio 54. Then soapiness fell out of vogue and its vetiver-laden base with a slight smokiness of incense and moss to it was antithetical to the heavy drum n'bass of the 80s amber perfumes that dominated the corporate world, too busy to go dance recklessly under strobe lights.
Still, Halston manages to survive today as something that smells unique and invitingly warm. I was deeply surprised when Agapi Vardinoyiannis, the socialite wife of a tycoon, divulged casually upon being asked on the familiar smell emanating that it was her preferred signature scent. Surely a woman who can afford anything condoning this long-time forgotten little gem is enough motivation to seek it out.

Official notes for Halston:

Top:melon, green note, peach, bergamot, spearmint, marigold
Middle: jasmine, rose, cedar, orris, ylang ylang, carnation
Base: moss, patchouli, vetiver, amber, musk, sandalwood, incense

Jean Louis Scherrer original 
Jean Louis Scherrer (1979)by designer Jean Louis Scherrer is a precious sight in its elegant, tall hexagonal bottle that opens up to verdant glory of liquid emeralds. Green and with the rush of sparkling aldehydes it is soon intensly mossy and floral, recalling a bygone era. The violet note is mostly reminiscent of an iris fragrance, slightly metallic and otherwordly; but the brooding synergy with the other ingredients brings out a luminiscent aura that is tantamount to wearing an expensive necklace of Peruvian pre-Colombian emeralds set on antique gold.
It can be ordered from First in Fragrance/Aus liebe zum duft and Escentual as well as other etailers.

Official notes for Jean Louis Scherrer:

Top: aldehydes, cassis, violet, hyacinth
Middle: tuberose, jasmine, rose, gardenia, carnation
Base: sandalwood, vetiver, civet, moss.

Armani "Classic" Femme (for women)
Last but not least, one of the first perfumes that I donned on my juvenile person and came to love, earning lots of compliments in the process and assuming poses well beyond my years was Armani Femme, the original scent that was issued in 1982. Perhaps more green than traditionally chypre, it came in a bottle trifaced like a byzantine triptych, which enchanted my historically bent soul. The aroma of greens merged with the powdery and lush whiffs of flowers and fruits that never became sweet. It was perfume-y and proud of it, asserting its persona beyond doubt with a warm, erotic base that surely made more promises than those delivered to my admirers back then.
Sadly discontinued in favour of newer blunt releases...Shame, mr.Armani, shame.

Official notes for Armani Femme :

Top: Spearmint, Galbanum, Pineapple, Marigold
Middle: Jasmine, Tuberose, Cyclamen, Narcissus
Base: Cedarwood, Oakmoss, Tonka, Benzoin

Pics courtesy of parfumsdepub,okadi,toutsurdeneuve, escentual and Greek jeweler Fanourakis

Paloma Picasso Mon Parfum: fragrance review

It's hard for me to speak of Paloma Picasso perfume and not implicate the obliviously innocent in this. Because it happens to be the signature choice of someone I knew, someone who is most probably unawares of this blog, its writer and musings. I doubt I had even registered much in her mind back then when her scent made an impression on me. A really young novice I was at the Conservatoire, accompanying her vocal classes on the piano.

Anna was a creature of fire and spice, long tresses of chestnut trailing her back in thick curls, a straight, impressive nose under austere dark brows, but with a gregarious, roaring laughter that dared to flirt with anyone within a 10-mile radius. She dressed in full bohemia, just about 10 years after its heyday or about 20 before its resurgence, any which way you choose to see it. She wore dangling earrings made of ethnic beads and smoked heavy Gitanes. And her scent seemed to preceed her; which was not all that au contraire to the mood of the era, if only because there were numerous others, men and women alike, who followed a fragrance cloud rather than the other way around. That was the 80s, that was when Paloma Picasso launched Mon Parfum, a powerful chypre fragrance meant to embody her unique style.
Anna did not wear white shirts with black skirts, though, nor painted her lips in a crimson bloodfest that recalls the picadors in the tercio de varas. No, Anna was beyond such clichés...

The Ritual Fire Dance by Spanish composer Manuel De Falla conjures up comparable images in my mind. (the cello soloist is Julian Lloyd Webber and the clip was uploaded by gindobray)

The pungent green and dry chypré opening was like a bruise, aching long after the blow has been hit. And then roaring spices came cascading down in quick succession: clove and coriander, bold and proud, unashamedly pronouncing their presence before the hazy drop of flowers smelled at a distance was perceived, with a little hedione brightness. Rose was musty, musky, playing hide-and-seek with an effluvium of patchouli leaves with a little powder, much like that in Aromatics Elixir.
The gaunlet however was only thrown after the base notes develop, like the hides of dead animals, rich castoreum with more than a touch of the masculine, at a tannery on a warm day. The funk of a big animal in its ammoniac glory used to cure the hides is there and it dares you to bypass without closing your nostrils for a while, doubting if this is supposed to smell good or bad. A conundrum!

It came in a glorious soap formula that was made for bathing meant to make you smell dirtier than what you started with and didn't you love this, back then.
The eau de parfum was Anna's preferred concentration, encased in a black glass bottle from what I recall (current versions with lightned up base -due to restrictions in animalic ingredients used- are in plastic). And upon resniffing for the purposes of this review I couldn't but wonder how it was possible to tolerate, -nay, love madly- such a potent mix! It would take a very sparing application in this modern day and age to make it smell acceptable. But it is worth trying to find the perfect balance. The parfum/extrait which comes in a white splash bottle is perhaps the way to go as it is meant to be dabbed and not sprayed.
It's interesting to note that some modern day scents such as Sisley's chypre Soir de Lune were even inspired by Paloma's approach.

Paloma Piccaso, the daughter of Pablo, codenamed this scent Daphne 19, which puzzling as it is it is reminiscent of my own experience. Perhaps she knew someone named thus, while at her stint at Tiffany's as jewel designer, echoes of which are evident on the elaborate bottle, shaped after a pair of earrings made of petrified palm wood she designed for the brand? Or did she merely refer to the odorous plant? Dubious...
Mon Parfum was composed by Francis Bocris in 1984 with Paloma's guidance and includes the following notes:

Top: bergamot, lemon, hyacinth, angelica, ylang ylang, clove
Middle: Rose de Mai,jasmine, lily of the valley, orris
Base: Oakmoss, castoreum,vetiver, patchouli, amber, civet, musk, cedarwood, tobacco, sandalwood

.

The touch of a masterful persona that purposly discards social rules to do their own is evident in Mon Parfum by Paloma Picasso. Anna wore it amazingly well. Not all do.

Pics from parfumsdepub

Fragrance review: Midnight violet by Ava Luxe

By guest writer Ida Meister


I am such a neophyte, that I feel a disclaimer is in order.
To begin with: it should be noted that I am neither a writer nor a perfumer.
I am simply a woman possessed by a 50 year love affair with fragrance,
who lives for her nose…known to some of you as “chayaruchama”.

Helg most generously offered me the opportunity to write a review for
you all. She had just reviewed the magnificent Madame X{click for review} by Ava Luxe, and her enthusiasm spurred me to sample quite a few of Serena Ava Franco’s works.
I was delighted to discover how gifted Ms. Franco is.

Some fragrances announce their presence with a clarion call- others insinuate their way into a room. Midnight Violet falls into the latter category.
If Madame X is a symphony, then Midnight Violet is an etude, a dark one, by Chopin.

(click to experience what such a glorious thing is!)

Not melancholic in an abysmal sense, but deep, powerful, real,
evocative, and full of feeling.
There is no strident opening, no coyness or girlish blushes, no precocity.
Conversely, Midnight Violet is not a gloomy, dank incense.

Somehow, this unusual perfume manages to be richly hued, with many
layers of depth and nuance without being opaque or heavy.
Midnight Violet opens with a shaft of light, which is heralded by the joyful notes of pink pepper, cinnamon, and galbanum.
This translates into an intensely green, dry spiciness, which then
yields to a richer, denser resinous smoke flavored with orris, the scent
of damp earth and black hemlock.
Cedar and sandalwood- very soft and creamy- ally themselves, joined by a
languid moss, wood balsam, musk and civet.
The addition of these woody and animalic accords endows Midnight Violet
with a harmonious complexity that is very satisfying and possessed of
great warmth.

My impression is of being drawn into the woods at dusk, when the light
is just beginning to falter, and discovering that you are suddenly
surrounded by the approaching night.
The moon can be spied between the branches, but the forest is dark,
quiet, and very deep.
The haunting, faint odor of sylvan violet is nestled in an earthy, smoky
bower, peaceful and contemplative.

Pic of Liv Tyler from the advertising campaign of "Lord of the Rings". Thanks to Youtube for the clip of Chopin's etude op.10 #1