New Angel Face

According to the latest news, Naomi Watts will be the new face of Angel by Thierry Mugler, exactly at a time when the brand is repositining itself as to be more exclusive and more niche-oriented with its A travers le Mirroir series.

Source: Sev.prnewswire.com

NEW YORK, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- In 1992, Thierry Mugler's Angel fragrance sprang from a childhood memory and the dream of a star. It created a great impact in the world of perfumery, representing the first Oriental Gourmand fragrance.

For Angel, the world's most beautiful models have embodied the image of a highly glamorous woman. After 17 successful years, its new incarnation is more star than ever...

The artiste perfumer's new angel, Naomi Watts, is an Academy Award nominated actress, who has appeared in an impressive list of films since her notable debut in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive." Successfully steering her career and choosing her films with care, she has worked with leading directors: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("21 Grams"), Peter Jackson ("King Kong"), David Cronenberg ("Eastern Promises"). In 2008, she is starring in Michael Haneke's latest film, "Funny Games," and in 2009 she will star in Tom Twyker's film "The International" with Clive Owen.

Naomi Watts was the inspired choice for Thierry Mugler, over and above her beauty and her star image. Displaying a modern touch, the actress projects a personality that blends sensuality, voluptuousness and evanescence to evoke the many facets of Angel. A blond fragility, a natural tenderness, an emotional seductiveness...

Rather appropriately, it was in Los Angeles, city of the angels, and in the Hollywood Center studios, that the commercial was shot, following a scenario by Thierry Mugler and directed by director Bill Condon ("Dreamgirls"). A Hollywood fairy-tale surrounded by a profusion of Angel stars.

To immortalize this mythical moment, Thierry Mugler called on photographer Ali Mahdavi to produce the advertising visuals of his Hollywood dream. A worldwide campaign, glamorous and magical, will begin in October 2008.

Personally I like the choice: modern, expressive, not scandal-monging. Perhaps they went for a cool blonde, and an Aussie as well, the way Chanel did with Nicole Kidman for No.5 with good results in renewing the image of the fragrance. Although Chanel is rumoured of changing its No.5 face too, sometime soon, opting for gamine Audrey Tautou under the direction of enfant formidable Jean Pierre Jeunet.

So: What do you think about Naomi as face of Angel?

Scent set in 9mm

Grab the phone and communicate this exciting piece of news to your friends: The first ever Fragrance & Film Festival, organized by Vogue and The Fragrance Foundation, is happening before our eyes. On April 25 the deadline for submissions from auteurs was closed and they're now working on turning the following fragrances into little films that will try to translate what they smell like into another medium: Paris Hilton’s Can Can, Usher for Men, Usher for Women, Missoni Acqua and Gucci by Gucci.
Perhaps the choices are not every perfumeholic's wet dream. Think of the amazing possibilities: turning the wistfulness of Mitsouko, the daring of Tabac Blond or the opulence and decadence of Opium into moving image and sound...But still, it will be an interesting exercise.

The contest awards the winner $10,000 and the voting for eligible contributions will be held online by the public (so vote, vote, vote!). The winner will be proclaimed by a panel of judges including director/producer Brett Ratner (“X-Men: The Last Stand” and the “Rush Hour” series), Doug Keeve, director of fashion documentaries “Seamless” and “Unzipped”, music video director Chris Robinson and producer Lee Daniels (“Monster’s Ball,” “The Woodsman” and “Shadowboxer.”)

Thanks to Karin from Savvy Thinker and to thestylephile for the info.

Pic from JamesBond Wikipedia.

Guerlain The 4 Seasons collectibles!

2008 marks the 180th anniversary of Guerlain, as we had noted a short while ago : It was Pierre François Pascal Guerlain who opened his first shop in Rue de Rivoli in Paris in 1828. Therefore, to celebrate this landmark on May 15th 2008 a limited box-set of four different perfumes representing the four seasons by Jean Paul Guerlain will launch: Eau de Toilette Muguet de Printemps, Eau de Parfum Quand Vient l'Été, Eau de Parfum Brume d'Automne and Eau de Toilette Winter Delice.

Brume d'Automne (=autumnal mists) is a new creation, an aromatic, floral woody with bay rose, coriander, rosemary, ylang-ylang, absinthe, sandal wood and vetiver rhizome.
The rest are re-issues of previous limited editions.

The fragrances will be presented in a black leather box in 35 ml crystal Baccarat 'heart shaped stopper' bottles. Each bottle is engraved by hand with a small drawing, illustrating each season.
With only 85 copies made and a price of 2500€, this release is targeted towards the serious collector!


We will occupy ourselves with recent Guerlain launches such as Cruel Gardenia shortly!

Thanks to Mr. Guerlain for the info and the pic.

The Scent of a Sylphid ~Debut by DelRae: fragrance review

Like watching the prima ballerina dancing the night away en pointe during La Sylphide there often comes the realisation that behind such delicate artistry and graceful elegance there must be an insurmountable amount of toil and wistful spending of self. Noticing the details of the Marius Petipa choreography I never cease to wonder how the strength of those calves supporting the dancer's weight is so effortlessly flowing into an optical legato of sorts that defies the laws of gravity and strain to give the sense of fluidity, like that of a forest spirit.
Just like a forest sprite, a lily-of-the-valley-centered fragrance is tied to the deceptivy intense work behind nature's spring rites, to reverie and daydreaming among the green foliage, shaded by a passing cloud that tentatively sprinkles the countryside with dew. Début by San Fransico-based niche line Parfums DelRae is one such fragrance: ethereal, sylph-like, effortlessly impressive and with the dewiness of a fine spring morning veering into summer.
Created in 2004, Début is characterised by DelRae as "Youthful yet sophisticated. Charming and utterly beguiling".

Nose Michel Roudnitska had hard work ahead, much like the ballerina aforementioned, if only because his formidable father, the great Edmond Roudnitska, has composed what is assuredly the archetype lily of the valley fragrance, Diorissimo, among his other magnificent Dior creations. He had cultivated lily of the valley attentively and tenderly in his own garden to study the elusive aroma so as to replicate it as closely as possible through synthesis and he managed to infuse it with the merest hint of civet that gives an delicious surprise in the drydown phase of the extrait de parfum.
Michel however avoided the trap of imitating and thus trying to "gild refined gold, to paint the lily". Instead as if seen through the lens of a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, lily of the valley takes on a modern sensibility in Début that allows it to be wearable even if one is not wearing a sylph-like gown of white.
Alternating between a soapy element, the cooling greeness, the innocence of linden blossoms and the radiance of white flowers (without the headiness usually associated with them), Début feels as if a scintillating scotoma has been lifted and you can see clearly for the first time. Sweet warmth of what smells like beeswax absolute to me, intermingled with the suaveness of sandalwood, lingers seductively to lull me into a daydream of lying in the fields before donning the urban attire again for a round in the busy metropolis.

Notes: bergamot, lime, green leaves, lily of the valley, ylang ylang, vetiver, sandalwood and musk.



Début used to come in Eau de Toilette and Eau de Parfum concentration. Eau de Toilette was abandoned for Eau de Parfum in 2006, but sometimes bottles of the former can still be found. They're both excellent and equally tenacious.
Parfums DelRae are available at Aedes, Barneys and First in Fragrance. You can also call: Tel 415 441 1627 • 866 906 9901. Or Fax 415-673-9828. Or email: info@parfumsdelrae.com.

Painting The Black Shash by Giovanni Boldini courtesy of art.com. Pic of bottle from parfumsdelrae.
Clip La fille aux cheveux de lin (=the girl with flaxen hair) by Claude Debussy performed by Joshua Bell, originally uploaded by airplanelova 93 on Youtube

Little known facts: fragrance history

I have been keeping these "on ice", so to speak, for some time. They're interesting and fun to know and probably not too practical either, but thought I'd share.



Light Blue: It's the title and colour of attire by which a representative of Cambridge in an athletic tournament goes by, its counterpoint being Dark Blue *for Oxford. It goes back to the boatraces between the two university towns many years ago, specifically the Varsity Match. Something tells me Dolce & Gabanna never thought of that!

"The man who began the Varsity match tradition was Charles Wordsworth of Christ Church college Oxford, who in June 1827 arranged a two-day cricket match against Cambridge at Lords. The first Boat Race between the two universities was in 1829, and was rowed over 2 and a quarter miles between Hambleden Lock and Henley Bridge. The second Boat Race was not until 1836 which was rowed over more than double the distance, from Westminster Bridge upstream to Putney Bridge. It was in this race that one of the Cambridge oarsmen tied a light blue ribbon to the bows of the Cambridge boat (the colours of his school, Eton College). The colour dark blue was then ascribed to Oxford because it is the colour of Christ Church college, and the Oxford crew sported white jerseys with dark blue stripes during the race. These colours have remained over the years and now sportsmen who have represented Oxford in a Varsity match against Cambridge in a Full Blue sport are entitled to wear a dark blue blazer".

~according to Sport.ox.ac.uk



Chamade: Technically thus is called the drumroll that in the Napoleonic wars signalled retreat. Also used by Françoise Sagan in her novel, La Chamade as a sign of erotic surrender ("son coeur bat la chamade"). Interestingly, on top of all that, the name of a quite successful car model by French auto-industry Renault!
Guerlain had chosen a wonderful vehicle for conveying the sweet message of romantic surrender to love.

Listerine: Now known as a deodorising mouthwash and also a series of oral hygiene products, it began its career as a house and hospital general antiseptic in the 1870s! It only re-invented itself as a mouthwash in 1920, through cunning and rather manipulative advertising; even inventing the non-existent medical term halitosis for what is commonly known as bad breath!

Ma Griffe: In French it means both "my signature" (hence a designer's marquee is called one's griffe) and "my talon" (accordingly pictured in advertisements in the 1970s). So basically, Ma Griffe hints at having someone at your clutches: not exactly the prim image we have of it, now, is it?

Eternity: The Calvin Klein scent derives its name from the eternity ring of Mrs.Simpson (which was a gift by the Duke of Windsor) that Calvin bought at an auction for his then wife Kelly Rector. Inside the ring there was a simple inscription: Eternity. Which was the case for the Windsors, but not for the Kleins as they seperated later on.

More fun later on!


*Thanks to Bela for pointing out that the translation for "dark" vs "deep" does denote a difference in shade in this instance.

Pics courtesy of ciao.fr and parfumdepub