Naturals Again

Perfume Shrine has always been interested in the developments in the world of perfumery and one sector of that is the perfumers who dabble in Naturals. Much maligned in the past, yet increasingly acquited of accusations of a blinkered approach, it is refreshing to see that they are gaining credence for what they are: simply a different approach and aesthetic. I was reading Anya Mc Coy's, from Anya's Garden line, article on Basenotes and nodding my head in agreement: I also don't see Natural perfumes and perfumers as competing with the mainstream brands. Rather as offering an alternative, which is as valid as ever in the ever-growing fragrance market that has a niche for everything.

Even Luca Turin, a man whose job is to synthesize aromachemicals, issuing the new "Perfumes: The Guide" (out on 10 April, but you can pre-order it here), has had a custome-made natural perfume by Dominique Dubrana/Abdes Salaam (from Profumo.it), as he recounts here.
Of course Dominique Dubrana has had an extensive experience in perfumery and an anthology of natural perfumes to stop us in our tracks. It is therefore with pride that Perfume Shrine will occupy itself with reviewing some perfumes by him very soon.

While we're at it, announcing upcoming articles and reviews that is -and unrelated to the above article- other perfumes which use a high percentage of naturals or defend the use of a variation of natural ingredients will have their own share of the limelight.

And to keep you abreast of current developments in the world of allowed ingredients, a matter near and dear to the heart of natural perfumers, Cropwatch has scored another point in the match against legislature that tries to limit the palette of perfumers around the world. You can read the full report here.
Nevertheless, new developments are highlighted by Octavian Coiffan here: 1000fragrances: SFP conference REACH. Let's hope reason will prevail in the end...

Pic through art.com

Winners Announcement

I admit I had a rough time choosing the wittiest comment among those left on the "What you want next?" poll. I enjoyed them all and found them wonderfully inspiring: all your wishes will be granted sooner or later.
However Rachel/Sabregoddess's one really had me laughing out loud, so she wins the contest. Please mail me your info so I can send you your prize.

The winner of the Lucky Draw for Une Histoire de Chypre was totally random, therefore much easier: it is Aimee L'ondee. Please mail me your info so I can send you your sample.

Thank you all for participating and more surprises up next!!

Shortly...

The Poll has closed, the results speak for themselves and I have to announce the winner of the Contest.
I had so much fun going through the answers! I have taken notes of your excellent suggestions in both the comments and your enthusiastic emails and everything suggested will be covered soon.

Travel Memoirs will begin next week!

Chandler Burr Scent Dinners: now in Europe!

The New York Times perfume critic and writer of two books in the fragrance world (The Emperor of Scent and The Perfect Scent) has been organising scent dinners in New York City. Those who have attended have been enchanted with the experience! After all, readers of Perfume Shrine had a chance to see how congenial Chandler really is in his interview to us.

Now readers in Europe have a chance to meet up with him and book a place for his "scent dinners" which combine culinary pleasure with olfactory escapades of the perfumed kind!

Context Travel is the boutique tour shop that created those special guided tours. Founded by National Geographic writer Paul Bennett and Lani Bevacqua, Context is a network of English-speaking scholars and professionals —including art historians, writers, architects, and gastronomes— who organize and lead didactic walking seminars in seven cities: Paris, New York, London, Rome, Naples, Florence, Paris, and Venice. In May 2007, Travel + Leisure named Context one of the top European tour companies for its innovative approach to travel and the depth of its programs. To learn more about Context visit contexttravel.com


Paris, Rome and Florence are the cities that will be featured this summer: June 5 for Paris (full scent dinner), June 10 for Rome (perfume lecture with food and wine) and June 11 for Florence (full scent dinner).


SCENT DINNERS EXPLORE PERFUME IN PARIS, FLORENCE, AND ROME

Context, the network of scholars and other experts who lead walking tours of major world cities, will host a series of “scent dinners” with noted perfume critic Chandler Burr as part of their “Out of Context” series of site-visits, lectures, and special programs. Combining taste and smell with a fascinating discussion of perfume history, chemistry, and politics, the events will explore the intoxicating relationship between some of the world’s greatest scents and some of her greatest cities.“Chandler Burr has the uncanny ability to unfold something as seemingly silly and ephemeral as perfume in such a way that you see the complexity of human endeavor and aspiration” says Context founder Paul Bennett. “We’re thrilled to have him join our network and apply his unique lens to understanding and appreciating some of the greatest cities in the world.

The series begins on June 5 in Paris, with a dinner organized inconjunction with the historic Left Bank restaurant, Laperouse. Working with chef Samuel Benne, Burr will design a gastronomic and olfactory experience that explores the intimate relationship between Paris and the perfumes it has created —arguably the best and most important perfumes in history.
This will be followed by a second event in Rome on June 10, at the enoteca Casa Bleve, located in part of the ancient bath complex of Agrippa, where Burr will look at perfumes that evoke the Italian landscape.
And, finally, the series concludes with a special event at the Palazzo Tornabuoni in Florence on June 11.

Each evening begins with a discussion of perfume, its history and aesthetics. Burr introduces the fundamental idea that perfumes, like architecture, or a chair, or a dress, are designed and thus can be analyzed and broken down into their constituent parts. Working with a category of perfumes known as culinary/gourmand perfumes —that is, perfumes that are made from such edible sources as spices, herbs, fruit, chocolates a nd teas— Burr then begins deconstructing certain perfumes for the group, passing around samples of the perfume itself or its component parts to allow participants to “rebuild” the perfume themselves. For example, Burr might explain how Thierry Mugler's megahit Angel was designed to evoke an amusement park, and then pass around the molecul ethyl maltol, which is what one tastes and smells when eating cotton candy. In the Paris and Florence events, each perfume will be coupled to a dish designed by the chef in a way that expounds on these themes and ideas, allowing the participants to more fully understand the total olfactory and gastronomic structure of what they’re sampling.

The events are programmed as part of Context’s “Out of Context”series. This is a series of special lectures, site-visits, and thematic dinners that explore the great cities of the world in new andinventive ways. The series runs through the spring and summer, and again in the fall and winter.
Chandler Burr is The New York Times’ perfume critic and author of several books. His latest is The Perfect Scent: A year inside the fragrance industry in Paris and New York)(Henry Holt, January 2008). He speaks around the world on scent and perfume and hosts interactive masterclasses in gourmand scents.

To book your own seat, contact:
Paul Bennett, +1 888-467-1986, +3906 482 0911, or paul@contexttravel.com

Pic from Angelina, 226 Rue de Rivoli, 75001 Paris

Leather Series 12: the Modern Leathers

After the Big Bruisers of the 80s, so ingrained into the decade of decadence and carnality, leather scents took a back seat until the modern fragrance niche phenomenon erupted like a well-oiled explosive mechanism, issuing forgotten ripples into the stagnant pond of ozonic-marines of the early 90s. Suddenly those “weird” smells were cool again!

Modern leather scents are divided in so many categories it was a Herculean feat trying to sort them out. There is a leather fragrance for every mood these days.
So this little list is meant to help you navigate your way through the plethora on offer, but it's by no means a definitive guide: that would implicate your own nose.



*The Orientalised Leathers
When leathers take a turn for the Middle East or the exotic spices and dried fruits caravan.

Cuir Mauresque by Serge Lutens: a Moorish scent (therefore of Spanish Leather tradition), it infuses cuir with clove, mandarin rind and aloeswood to turn the smoky heart of Tabac Blond into a modern, sweeter alternative with a little funk.
Cuir Ottoman by Parfums d’Empire: described by a dear friend as “feeling like actually wearing a leather couch” it is uber-luxe, very warm and opulent.
Ambre Russe by Parfums d’Empire: the hangover-ed sister of Cuir Ottoman who drinks dark Russian tea to perk her up.
Cuir Ambré No.3 by Prada: unisex leather with an orientalised twist.
Montale Oud Cuir D'Arabie: intensely leathery with the characteristic mustiness of aromatic oud. For those who go for the potently woody.
Fleur de Peau by Keiko Mecheri: heavy heliotrope over smooth nubbuck, bittersweet, a little soapy, for those who like Daim Blond and can abide sweet leathers.
Parfum d’Habit by Maître Parfumeur et Gantier: lush, with a delectable fruity top married with the rosiness of geranium and patcouli.

*The Quirky Leathers
Some leather fragrances do not want to conform, like spoiled brats who want to do their own thing. Sometimes this is a good thing!

Dzing! by L’artisan: the hide of a living animal, completely weird and therefore compelling. Warm and nuzzling, to some it might even smell like zoo dung, but it might bring out your inner "Cat People".
Black by Bvlgari: rubbery, fetishist and urban. Close to Dzing!, with a more vanillic underlay.
Baladin by De Nicolai: vetiver-smeared leather and you know there is something sophisticated hidding here.
Jean-Luc Amsler Prive Homme: leather nappa stretched on a rock (a mineral touch)
Marquis de Sade by Histoire des Parfums: stewed prunes kept in a leather pouch for consuming au lit, après.
Rose d’Homme by Rosine: or how a rose can smell as sweet by no other name. A bastard who makes you look twice and wins you in the end. For rose-haters.
Idole by Lubin: boozy like a drunken pirate in the Caribbean
Nuit Noire by Mona di Orio: citrus and floral avalanche (orange blossom and tuberose) over an animalic musky and civet-catty note that recalls visions of Lutens at his best.
Corps et Ames by Parfumerie Generale: with a fierce chyprish quality about it, wonderfully unique

*The Butch Leathers
Because some days you want to get out into cow country and never look back.

Lonestar Memories by Andy Tauer: an outdoor smell of leather chaps on someone who has been cooking over a woodfire on a campsite for hours on end. It grabs you and never lets go.
Cuiron by Helmut Lang: an intense slap of leather from an austere designer glove and an invitation to a modern duel
Patchouli 24 by Le Labo: full of birch tar, no patchouli, what a misleading name!

*The Subtle Whisper Leathers
Sometimes there only needs to be a passing whiff...

No.19 by Chanel: the toughness under the white shirt and the powdery iris is the winning combination of elegance.
Kelly Calèche by Hermès: “soles of angel leather” indeed! The prettiest introduction to proper perfumes for a young woman. Quality all the way. A sleeper classic!
Fleur de Narcisse by L’artisan: unattainably heavenly like the rotting corpse of a soldier on a spring field through the eyes of Rimbaud in "Le dormeur de Val" {click Fleur de Narcisse to read the poem and review}.
Dzongkha by L’artisan: the temple smells of wood, but the shoes of the pilgrims left outside have their own tale to recount
Tuscan Leather by Tom Ford Private Blend: opulent aroma of burnt wood and cigar smoke of a poser; rather soft for something named Leather
Vie de Chateau by De Nicolai: starts as traditional cologne, graduates to so much more. Aristocratic.
John Varvatos pour Homme: Varvatos (pronounced Var-VA-tos) is a designer whose name in Greek refers to a man who smells of pungent and quite intense sex juices ~his own! Unfortunately the onomatopoieia has not been entirely successful: it doesn’t smell as such. What a pity: It would have been the perfect ice-breaker!
VIP room: a very interesting, limited edition by the infamous Parisian club house. Suede-like, less sweet than Daim Blond and ultimately a favourite. Too bad it’s getting hard to find!
Etienne Aigner Suede Edition: light, smooth, soft, with a salty undertone of real suede.
Daim Blond by Serge Lutens: suede with sweet apricots and an almondy powdery note, too sweet sometimes.
Cuir Beluga by Guerlain: the merest hint of leather for budding leatheristas, rather sweet.
Habit Rouge by Guerlain: leather hidding under powder; a well-bred gentleman is having a relaxing day at his club.
Cacharel pour Homme: fine suede, rather too traditionally masculine to make a striking impression any more
Kitsune by Armando Martinez: smooth, musky, suede-like and soft like his other nuzzling scents, with a fabulous name.
Histoire d’Eau by Mauboussin: light summery leather that can be worn anywhere really.
Trussardi Donna: why did they reformulate this one? In its white mock croc bottle it was the loveliest torrid affair of feminine flowers and costly nubbuck. I miss it…
Rykiel Woman-not for men! by Sonia Rykiel: a sexy wink of the eye that comes from musk and leather speaks in silence under the mask of powder and amber. Too well blended for anything to pop out.
Vol de Nuit by Guerlain: an exceptional creation that even features a slight hint of leather if you close your eyes and picture Saint-Exupery in his bomber jacket flying over the Sahara.
Shalimar by Guerlain: the bronze deitythat wears this has her eyes kholed and her neck collared with bands of vanillic, powdery leather.
Murasaki by Shiseido: named after the heroine and author of Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji),it vibrates into the frequency of purple, soft and fresh like a cosmetic product that stays on you for the day, a sensual reminder.

Read the rest of the Leather Series following these links:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4,
Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8,
Part 9, Part 10, Part 11

Pic of The Avengers and Quills courtesy of Allposters, pic of Marc Jacobs shoes originally uploaded on BlogdorfGoodman