New face for Shalimar by Guerlain

One of my loyal and discerning readers, AlbertCan, informed me a few days ago that according to Forbes, Natalia Vodianova had signed with Guerlain (among others) to front products in their advertising campaigns. The news he scooped (and allowed me to elaborate on, bless his generous heart) are that she is to front their iconic oriental, Shalimar.
Perfume Shrine couldn't leave this without some comment, naturally.

Natalia is gorgeous, of course. And her rags-to-riches fairy tale life story makes for interesting reading, peppered with the touches of iconography that fans want their eponymous role-models to assimilate (charity participation, loving family of her own etc). Hailing from the historical Novgorod, a seat of medieval princes (later, under Soviet rule, named Gorgy in honour of the writer Maxim Gorky), she is now a princess herself, married to a Viscount no less. The Cinderella touch...
She even has something nice to say about all the photographers who shot her:

"Paolo Roversi is really Italian and makes you feel so beautiful. Mario Testino has that incredible talent of making not only you but everyone around you feel very special. Steven Meisel is so organized and focused, and he always thinks about you as a person and makes sure you're comfortable. Patrick Demarchelier is like a big teddy bear, and a really nice person. And Bruce Weber is like Father Christmas--he never forgets about you. He's very generous."

Where I am getting at?

Natalia's current image of super-polite ice-princess with a deer-in-the-headlights look somehow doesn't suit the idea of Shalimar as the uber-seductive, cunninigly selectioned potion in the galaxy of orientals; nor the brunette type of orientalised romantic ideal that Guerlain has been cultivating for years through the associations of the name with the Indian Gardens on which a great love story flowered. After Shalom Harlow and Fernanda Tavares, Natalia seems too blonde and too innocent(?) for this kind of job.
Additionally, there is also the issue of always choosing the whitest Caucasian women for big advertising campaigns of European houses, when it would be nice for a change if we saw a gorgeous black model or a Latina -I am not counting Tavares because she's not- for one of those brands (like Eva Mendes for Calvin Klein's latest Secret Obsession) or a genuine oriental type (remember Jasmin Ghauri?): if not for Shalimar, then for what? I am asking you!

On the other hand, some of the photos that Steven Meisel shot of Natalia for Vogue are definitely the stuff of oneiric gazing that doesn't involve labrador puppies and a house with a white fence in the suburbs... Nor does this one from French Vogue 2005. Same goes still for this photo-shoot for W magazine in 2006. Coincidentally, Paolo Roversi who is responsible for some of her most haunting portraits, has just shot the new print campaign for Shalimar.

Possibly, therefore, there are as many facets and as many pools of dangerous waters to a person as she is willing to plunge herself into!
I am thus eagerly looking forward to see how this advertising campaign for Shalimar featuring Natalia Vodianova will go. We will return with commentary soon!

EDITED TO ADD on 4th September:
An anonymous reader has been very kind in getting us a glimpse of the new campaign, so here it is:



Next we will be focusing on detail on the moves of the Guerlain brand, with an article that might instigate discussion.
And inspired by the new blood in the Shalimar project, we will be reviewing both the original and the flankers of this industrious and profitable for Guerlain monument of perfumery next week. Stay tuned!

Pic of Natalia Vodianova from Vogue. Pics of Shalimar ads (with Shalom Harlow and Fernanda Tavares) courtesy of parfumsdepub.

Secret Obsession by Calvin Klein: fragrance review

We had announced the news of the upcoming Calvin Klein fragrance back in May and with it a few musings on how these things work as well as commentary by its new face, sexy actress Eva Mendes; who (to her credit) had contributed a few words on body perception and beauty.
Now the fragrance rolled out to actually test it and the proof is in the pudding, so here we are doing a review of it, if only because we had always been great fans of the original Obsession, especially the one geared towards men.

"Secret Obsession explores the secrets that lie between love and madness. It's about being taunted with illicit thoughts and compelled with seeking pleasure.
The fragrance is an intoxicating floral oriental weaving together hidden fruits, exotic flowers and a sultry wood signature for a provocative and addictive sexiness.
Sultry. Addictive. Exotic."

The fragrance is presented as a floriental, created by Givaudan perfumer Calice Becker and art-directed by Ann Gottlieb who is responsible for many Calvin Klein successful launches. To me however it registers as fruity-spicy-woody, much like the latest Lancome feminine fragrance Magnifique, with which it shares many facets. Poised between Sensuous and Magnifique, along with its congenial sisters, it heralds the new vogue in feminine fragrances: namely, woody, duskier notes.

The initial impression of spraying Secret Obsession is rum-like boozy with an alcoholic hairspray blast petering out quickly, plummy and ripe but not overtly sweet (a good thing!), especially compared with the overall sweeter Magnifique.
In Secret Obsession there is a distinct phase in which the resinous, intense aroma of mace provides a welcome surprise as the fragrance opens up on the warmth of skin. In the first century A.D., the Roman writer Pliny described a tree, Myristica fragrancs bearing a nut having two separate flavors. Nutmeg is one flavour coming from the kernel of the fruit and mace is the other. Mace comes from the outer, "lacy" reddish covering of the Myristica tree fruit, but it has a more delicate smell in comparison with nutmeg.
On the contrary, floral notes do not register much, which is surprising given the intense character of the flowers listed (orange blossom, jasmine, tuberose). If I were hard-pressed to put my finger on one, I would offer jasmine or the similar, denser note of ylang ylang, but in no way is this especially pronounced in the scheme of things, nor classical in treatment. Its creamy manipulation takes its cue from Songes by Goutal, but whereas the intense ylang ylang and natural jasmine of the latter contributed to a narcotic, intensely heady feel of being on an exotic island's orchard, in Secret Obsession we are met with a postard from the tropics that bears the handwriting of a past love. Perhaps like the gold-flecks of Fragile by Gaultier are meant to represent the confetti remnants of tuberose festivities, we are left with a trail of something past, instead of a presence of the here and now.

The overall effect is tanned skin, cocoa-buttyric, pleasantly cedary-woody, much of it accountable to Cashmeran* and is less loud than the oriental monochromatic amber of the original Obsession by Calvin Klein or the fruity megaphones of Euphoria, but perceptible.
Secret Obsession has a linear development that doesn't change much as you wear it: the initial scent becomes warmer and duskier, but doesn't change significantly over time. I wouldn't necessarily deem it too sexy or provocative and would prefer to see it in a body oil concentration where its shady character would shine.

The advertising takes a page off the usual Calvin Klein style: provocation, even if leading to negative publicity, is ultimately good publicity. Censors in the US have banned the commercial and the brand has decided to fight that decision.
The furore caused by the commercial didn't raise my eyebrows: just a beautiful woman, actress Eva Mendes, wriggling in bed naked, supposedly only clad by a few drops of Secret Obsession; it's rather well-made, if you ask me.
"It really taps into the secrecy of a private moment - where it's clear that Eva is having illicit thoughts," Lori Singer, vice president of global marketing for the brand at Coty Prestige, tells WWD. "It's somewhat up to interpretation - because of how it's shot, and what you see and hear, and what you can't see and hear. You hear her voice, talking about having a sexy secret."
Judging by the advertising concept, Marilyn Monroe is still a very influential icon, if the notion that a woman wears nothing but perfume in bed can be traced back to her own statement of opting for Chanel No.5. However those were conservative times and such an oral, and nota bene non visual, statement had the tantalising advantage of making people imagine Marilyn preparing for a lover who would get to profit from her alluring presence laced with a few seductive drops of a fine fragrance. This kind of mythos cemented the reputation of No.5 as not only elegant and prestigious, but also as a weapon of attraction. Those times, however, are over for better or worse.

The main difference I perceive with the current advertising for Secret Obsession is that Eva is implied to be alone in bed: there is no hinted lover about to emerge behind the lattice, thus making the images take a rather auto-erotic turn which might have caught censors off-guard.
Personally I fail to see how a soupcon of nipple is provocative or contributes to moral destruction, especially when bombs are let free to explode on prime-time TV news and shows. Such sort of selective censorship reeks of hypocricy to me. But perhaps my European eyes have become jaded, living at a place when clothes drop unhesitatingly at the drop of a pin on national TV without the programme earning the label of X-rated, while violent scenes and films often equal delegation to the after-hours zone.

In any case, the Fabien Baron directed commercial is available for your perusal, so you can judge for yourselves.



Eva Mendes- Secret Obsession Banned Commercial



Official Notes:
Top: exotic plum, mace, rose Damascena
Heart: French orange blossom, Egyptian jasmine, tuberose, plum, woods
Base: cashmere woods*, burnt amber, Australian sandalwood


In the interests of disclosure, I received a free sample of the new Secret Obsession by Calvin Klein. No, not the bracelets they were advertising to bloggers! An actual decant (ie.hand-poured juice from a bigger bottle into a smaller one). Yes, you heard this right! Not a commercial carded sample, not a full bottle either (probably because I specify to anyone who asks that I need financial details so I can actually pay; that pretty much makes several of them vanish into thin air! The Calvin Klein people to their credit didn't.)
How to get hold of your own? Click here or here (and scroll)for your free sample of Secret Obsession.

Secret Obsession has just launched in Europe and is out on September 15 in the US according to the official info, available from major department stores in a brown glass bottle like a turtle's face, which tapers towards the top featuring an amber cap, sort of 70s retro.
Eau de Parfum 30ml/1oz, 50ml/1.7oz and 100ml/3.4oz. Satin Body Lotion and Satin Shower Gel in a 200ml/6.7oz tube each.
We're taunted to check out everything on it by searching "Secret Obsession Calvin Klein" on Facebook under the Pages tab and to visit the official Secret Obsession site.


*Cashmere woods or Cashmeran is a IFF patented, complex aromachemical that provides a beautiful, velours note with diffuse nuances of earthy-wood and spicy notes (pine, patchouli), fruits and flowers (heliotrope, red fruits, apples and jasmine) and is softly musky-vanillic. It's featured in Ysatis, Amarige, Michael, Lacroix Rouge, Perles de Lalique and many more.

Clip via celebriNet2/Dailymotion.com. Pic of nutmeg courtesy of mydiversekitchen.blog. Bottle pic via Osmoz

Due to the overwhelming participation in the latest draw for full bottles of Andy Tauer's new and as yet unreleased Vetiver Dance , I am extending the participation deadline till Thursday midnight. Winners will be announced at the end of the week.

Thank you for your hundreds of private emails on top of the multitude of comments: they took my breath away when I opened my inbox! So many to wave through! Have to get organised -not my strongest suit- I have lots of work to do, but your compliments and sincere support warm my heart. Rest assured you have been all included.

Optical Scentsibilities: It's Not Just a Game!

Some things are destined to become classics:In more ways than one.
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), directed by Norman Jewison and starring Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen, is memorable for its tour-de-force of cinematography, split-scenes direction influenced by pioneer Canadian film In the Labyrinth and for being an all around high-class piece of entertainment. Not in its time though! Typical...
It also featured a masterful and infamous scene of chess-cum-seduction where chess pieces are used as metaphores, self-caresses as innuendos and the camera swirls around them in the longest kiss imaginable.



The advertisers of Hai Karate (you don't want to know how the name ties in) ~a popular aftershave product that was circulating on the cheap during the 60s and 70s in the US and UK~ got inspired.



If you can get past the bits of scatological humour and the wooden acting of Heather Graham, watch the Bond spoof Austin Powers, The Spy Who Shagged Me for a hilarious spoof of the above scene too.

The Thomas Crown Affair chess scene clip originally uploaded by erectushomo, the Hai Karate commercial from the 70s by fishnchimps on Youtube.

Perfumes the Guide gets supplemented!

It was with much interest that I just received news from Luca Turin that his ~co-authored with Tania Sanchez~ book Perfumes, the Guide, which Perfume Shrine had reviewed here, is getting supplemented. Apparently the questions of dr.Turin on what the fans would like to see had been aiming at providing reviews of more scents: which is good!

Not only there is a new site, with the beautiful Coques d'Or blue bottle by Guerlain magnified to its full resplendor, but there is also the prospect of a Newsletter, free for download from the site, issued quaterly: in September, December, March and June.
On the heels of that, we learn that the new edition of Perfumes, the Guide including the supplemented reviews from the newsletters is due in autumn 2009 for the US.
Therefore I do appreciate the fact that the supplemented reviews are free for download: I'd propose that it remains so for all four newsletters if possible.

Additionally, many readers felt that lots of energy had been spent on reviewing things that got off with a snarky (in many cases deserved) one-liner when there were significant fragrances that had escaped criticism or praise ~a weak point in the previous edition. So each newsletter is aiming to provide 100 new fragrance reviews, so that's 400 more in total till next autumn.
Some brows will get raised ("Aqua di Gio for men and Giorgio get 4 stars while Dolce Vita gets 2???" I can hear the echoes) and some heads will nod with appreciation (Del Rae Debut and Lutens latest exclusive El Attarine deservedly in my opinion getting 4 stars). And guess which controversial fragrance gets "explained" rationally.

Printers, you're on fire!! And might I also add: beatific enthusiasm and board dramas might also ensue soon enough.

And secretly, I have my own little reason for inward smiling.

Pic via Perfumes the Guide site. Commentary entirely my own (not via press release).