Ti Amo, Amore Mio!

Living in Italy, Parma especially with its tradition of Verdi's operas, is like surrounding yourself by culture the way other people in other places are surrounded by skyscrapers, Taco Bells or hay fields full of cows. It just isn't quite the same!
Italian artist and jewellery designer Hilde Soliani is one such person, lucky to live and breathe around quality.
She has created five original perfumes inspired by five flowers, communicating universal love through an acronym for "I love you" (Ti Amo in Italian):
T.ulipano (red bottle- floral fruity woody - unisex)
I. ris (lilac bottle- floral woody musk- feminine)
A.nemone (orange bottle- woody aromatic- unisex)
M.argherita (blue bottle- floral- feminine)
O.rtensia (pink bottle- floral woody musk- feminine)

Just how she started designing fragrances recalls La Forza del Destino: a journalist seeded the idea. Hilde is primarily an artist ~she designs jewellery, she paints, she plays in the Parma theatre, using her voice and her body to convey her feelings. What started in jest and on a dare however, essentially a private hobby, has now become her "job".

“During a press conference for my first line of jewellery, I showed a line of candles for Valentine’s Day that each included a gold and diamond daisy necklace inside. To wear it you would have to burn half of the candle. The journalist
asked me if the candle was perfumed and of course it wasn’t.”

That put the idea in her head and after a few years her dream was realised in a line inspired by flowers. Flowers talked to Hilde because they made her feel good, they made her house special. The dice was cast and the Ti Amo line began in earnest {for those who read Italian, click to read a great interview}.
Each "flower" is an abstract rendition, rather than a faithful representation of nature (a couple of them don't even have a particular scent and she is not interested in a photorealistic approximation by her own admission). Each reminds Hilde of a precious memory: Tulipano is a memento of her father's voice and warmth. Iris stands for Italian elegance. Anemone recalls the scent of the Parman theatre. Margherita symbolises her happy childhood. Ortensia reminds her of the kiss of her beloved grandmother.
The scents also tell a fairy tale, "La Mia Daisy", inspired by Soliani's grandmother's daisy creation: the fictional story of a girl named Daisy, a five-act play with the happy ending of a discovery of an enchanted place: a touch that makes us dream again, like children. As Hilde says: “I want to bring art into daily life.” She enjoys art which expresses itself in a childlike, playful character.

"My grandmother, who made fragrances herself, teached me how to smell and create fragrance since I was a child. During my business travells I always had nice experiences, nice emotions. I try to capture them by pictures but they don't smell of anything: that's why I wanted to recreate those feelings in scent".

Hilde art-directs the fragrances with the help of experienced perfumers in Milano and Grasse.

Tulips are often taken to be scentless, however the deep yellow varieties do possess a hint of primrose odor about them, which makes them not entirely wasted on those who hanker after odoriferous rather than merely decorative blooms. Upon smelling Tulipano I was surprised to find that it was described as a fruity floral; it had an intriguing bitter edge to it to make it truly unique. Luckily the usual aspect of most commercial fruity florals is missing. In our conversation, instigated by my interest in the line, she told me she likes to produce what she likes, not what focus grousp want, loyal to artisanal values. Hilde's vision of a tulip inspired by the Vulcano island in Sicily and its black beaches scattered with little red wildflowers has elements of freesia and blackcurrant, which is an interesting mix that plays upon the tart bitterness of the fruit to bring balance with the underscoring of sandalwood and cool vetiver, making it a fiery fragrance fit to be shared by both sexes.

"I am very gourmand and it is a nice experience to find the smell of coffee or something to eat inside flowers", Hilde divulged during our discussion. Her point is amply revealed in the opening accord of Iris, a fantasy suave mix of delectable Sicilian almond with the soft touch of iris and sandalwood, producing an easy, comforting fragrance which smiles a little inwardly and could even nibble on a macaroon or two. In the direction that Iris Ganache cemented with its gourmand touch on what is essentialy a bulby, earthy smell (that of iris root) and by smoothing out the rough, too bitter edges of popular Hypnotic Poison without resorting to too sweet however, Iris by Soliani manages to have a disposition that bypasses the metallic aspects of the raw material for an abstract powdery effect that makes even non almond-lovers, such as myself, swoon. Musky and almost vanillic, lightly honeyed accords surface making Iris particularly suited to people who have had bad luck with traditional iris scents.

I didn't need to hear that Margherita was inspired by a happy childhood. The fact projects from every pore. A solar, happy scent, much like intended, with its garlands of orange blossom and green-smelling muguet along with shamrock-like leaves which sing basking the sun. It never missed the chance to put me in a good mood ever time I wore my sample with its slightly carnation-like/ivy feel about it that could entice those who like an innuendo of spice. Pronouncely musky in a modern way it lends itself easily to a variety of occasions, making it a perfect everyday scent for when one wants to let their hair down and relax.
I found Ortensia a little sweet for my taste, with an emphasis on the sweeter aspect of white florals, white musks and cosy Cashmere Woods providing a green touch surprisingly upon drying down, yet pleasant as well.

Notes:
Tulipano: Bergamot, blackberry, lime, peach, kiwi, passion fruit, freesia, lily of the valley, jasmine, vetiver, sandal, oak musk, white musk.
Iris: lily of the valley, green accord, iris, jasmine, mimosa, sandalwood, white musk
Anemone: Orange blossom, tulip, ivy and galbanum, tuberose, lily of the valley, jasmine and cyclamen, white musk, vetiver and sandalwood.
Margherita (Daisy): Orange flowers, ivy leaves, galbanum, bluebell, honeysuckle, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, tuberose, white musk, and ambregris.
Ortensia: Green accord, hortensia, ylang ylang, jasmine orange flowers, lily of the valley, rose, white musk, cashmere wood, and cedar wood.

The fragrances come in Eau de Parfum concentration with 14% essence and last very well. The boxes reproduce Hilde's paintings: a lively mixture of chromatic packages made with new print technologies on special paper. On one side of each Hilde has written her fairy tale, La Mia Daisy. The bottles bear the designer's elegant handwriting.

The Ti Amo line is currently sold exclusively at New London Pharmacy NYC (tel:212.243.4987 / 800.941.0490): 50ml for 75$
Hilde Soliani samples are now available for : 1 ml $3.50, 2.5 ml $7.00, 5 ml $12.00, 8 ml $19.20 at Fishbone Fragrances.

I can provide a couple of Tulipano samples for those who are quick enough to comment and claim them!

Perfume Shrine exclusive on the even more exciting Soliani New Line inspired by Teatro Reggio Parma: Soon on these pages!

Artwork by Hilde Soliani via the artist and artprocess.net

Bali Dream (travel exclusive) Winner!

The winner of the lucky draw for a sample of the new Bali Dream by Estee Lauder is none other than Elve.

Please send me your info in an email so I can send this out to you!

Thank you all for participating and prepare for another lucky draw of rare samples soon!

Happy Father's Day!

Image sent to me by the Hermes team

New Face for Coco Mademoiselle yet again!

It seems like it was only yesterday that Keira Knightly was chosen as the face of Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle fragrance, as we reported and commented on here on Perfume Shrine. The commercial finally convinced us that it wasn't such a bad idea after all, or at least the artistry that went into it convinced us on the skills of the artistic team at Chanel and their collaborators.
But Keira's contract at the Coco Mademoiselle stint ends this summer and a new face will front the marquises: that of Mademoiselle Hermione, that is the young actress Emma Watson who plays Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films.

According to the Daily Mail:

"The 18-year-old actress has signed a two-year contract worth £3million with the French fashion house to promote the brand.[...] Emma has been slowly integrated into the Chanel brand. They have been dressing her for film premieres and parties over recent months to see if she is the right fit. Once it became clear she is growing into a beautiful young woman and wears the Chanel brand so elegantly, they had to sign her up. Chanel realises it is important to target a young audience."

A better choice I should think, judging by the pictures and by the far more expressive face of miss Watson! The only disadvantage is that the girl is far too young for the older consumers to identify with (I deduce Chanel doesn't target those; why didn't they choose her for Chance though?) and hasn't really shown her acting chops in anything less commercial or more artistic. But time is on her side.

That would also indirectly mean that Keira is going to front another product in the Chanel stable:

"Sources said Chanel is creating a new role for Miss Knightley who, in her latest advert, poses provocatively with just a bowler hat covering her modesty".

And probably that would entail a more sophisticated one than Coco Mademoiselle too, as it would mean an upgrade, rather than younger still (Chance is out of the running following that trail of thought). So which would it be?
No.5 is officially taken by Audrey Tautou who is replacing Nicole Kidman. Coco is very much tied to 80s images and it would be a hard act to follow those wonderful Vanessa Paradis commercials as a caged bird by Jean-Paul Goude anyway. Cristalle and No.19 seem to be slowly disappearing from the US market so it wouldn't make sense to have such an advertising budget for only the European and Asian markets. Les Exclusifs are too exclusive for print ads and commercials. Does that leave Allure and Allure Sensuelle (face of latter being Anne Mouglalis)?

Myself I think they're saving her for the Chanel makeup collections or their skincare, for which surely the fresh-faced Keira couldn't be wrong. If someone -other than a professional model- is identified as the face of a fragrance, it usually means they won't be posing for another fragrance so soon.
I am very curious to see now that the great artistic director Jacques Helleu is dead what they will come up with!


So, what is your opinion on Emma as face of Coco Mademoiselle and which is your guess for the next product Keira will front?

Picture of Emma Watson via Dailymail.co.uk. Link brought to my attention by RoseInfo on MUA

YSL Tribute Coming to an End...and a Little Poll

These past two weeks, ever since Yves Saint Laurent left this vain world for hopefully a better one (or so we have been lulling ourselves to sleep?), it has been a great pleasure writing about the fragrances of the Yves Saint Laurent brand, many of which have been firm favourites, or indeed faithful allies in everyday battles.

Even the ones that have not produced quite the same frisson of excitement in me, such as the otherwise competent spicy fougère Jazz for men (1988) or the girly-sweet Baby Doll (1999) have been additions which have caught my eye at some point for different reasons: if only because they were parts of a line that I liked.

Same goes for some rare ones, such as the unisex Eau Libre with its suave black models, a practice for which Yves was famous; or Pour Homme, his first masculine for which he himself posed in the nude questioning our acceptance of female nudity over male; or even the discontinued fruity Vice Versa.

And of course there are some other fragrances, such as the fabulous incense and spice fireworks of Nu (2001), the controversial M7 (2002) -with its alleged inclusion of agarwood/oudh for the first time in a mainstream fragrance and its provocative ads echoing Yves's nude- or the pleasant almond flower caressed by vanilla of Cinéma (2004); I opted to leave those for another time. The reason? They were created when Yves himself had already retired from his house and so his vision was not the driving force behind them. But they will soon get their share of criticism or praise on these pages.

So for now, a little visual love expressed in the elegant advertising and fashions of Yves Saint Laurent from the 1970s.
And two clips from later on: Jazz from the late 80s and Cinema from a few years ago.



And on to you, dear readers:
1.Which is your most favourite fragrance in the Yves Saint Laurent line?
2.Which is your most despised? Why?
3.And if you could suggest something for the brand for the future, what would that be?

Looking forward to hearing your responses!



For a review of YSL L'homme click here and for a commentary on Elle, click here.

Clip of Jazz uploaded by Ilovelowe and of Cinema by LightBlv on Youtube. Ad pics from the 70s: of Rive Gauche parfum(top left), Y (top right), Eau Libre (mid right) and Pour homme (mid left) from parfumdepub.