Chanel Les Exclusifs Beige: fragrance review

Beige evokes different things for different people: from the suave to the anodyne all the way to lackluster, it is a neutral nuanced enough to escape the unambiguous reactions to black or white. Although the adjective has degenerated into invoking a blah response in the current vernacular, beige can be approached with the silent admiration that a honey-blonde with golden skin clad in a basic trenchcoat and heels can provoke in those of us with an eye for such things. Beige is thus baptised the new fragrance by Chanel to join the upscale line Les Exclusifs, modern compositions that interpret the olfactory heritage of Chanel to varying degrees. In house perfumers Jacques Polge and Chris Sheldrake envisioned a litany of shades for a completely new interpretation of an old rarity: Beige by Chanel was one of the rare vintage fragrances that hark back to the days of Gabrielle Chanel herself and formed a holy triad: Rouge, Bleue, Beige, inspired by her collection of dresses in red/blue/beige in jersey but also echoing the triptych of the French flag colours.

Coco turned beige into a symbol of elegance: "I take refuge in beige because it's natural". I distinctly recall that over a decade ago, this was used in the advertising surrounding the release of Allure Eau de Toilette (a different composition than the monodimensional vanillic indulgence of the Eau de Parfum). Contrary to usual packaging practices at Chanel, the box was not in the traditional white of the numerotical fragrances No.5, No. 22, No.19 or of Cristalle. Nor was it the arresting black of baroque oriental Coco: it was beige! At the time the press release insisted that the choice had been made exactly to pay hommage to one of Coco Chanel's favorite colors.
Perhaps the most successful and discreetly seductive use of beige has been in Chanel's trademark two-toned shoes, originally conceived as slingbacks in 1957, which she called souliers. Raymond Massaro, the shoemaker attached to the house, along with his father, was responsible for production at that time. Beige provided optical lengthening of the calf, while the black, slightly sqaure toe shortened the foot, making feet look dainty. Their discreetly fetishistic sensuality is ladylike, alluding to nude smooth skin without any trace of vulgarity. It makes me think of images of Jean Shrimpton in Melbourne, ladylike prim in her minidress and two-toned Chanel flats, and the tactile curves of suave luxury cars. Exactly what Beige by Chanel is all about!

Hawthorn or aubépine, the leitmotif in Beige, is rendered synthetically in perfumes for several decades. Produced via anisic aldehyde* (p-methoxy benzaldehyde) it has been sublimely woven into the gauzy cloth of Après L’Ondée by Guerlain (where it sings along with heliotropin), which Beige indirectly references. The fluffy, almondy "note" is also used in many contemporary fragrances, from the top note allied to violets of Paris by Yves Saint Laurent to niche offerings L'eau d'Hiver by F.Malle and Daim Blond by Serge Lutens. This shady, dusty smell that borders on a wistful gourmand resembles the tender caress of a godmother fulfilling much anticipated wishes. Much like the latter fragrances Beige resolutely eschews retro allusions to enter the territory of modern compositions. Sketched around this core the sparkling, fresh, lathery ambience of a note that resembles lily of the valley synthetic approximations and the discreet garland of tropical blooms frangipani and ylang-ylang -alluding to No.5 Sensual Elixir- reveal a creamy sensuality gaining momentum slowly.

But the most surprising effect of Beige (and I am astonished I am the first to notice it) comes when you have waited for it for a couple of hours to dry on skin or blotter: the final accord is very much that of Infusion d'Iris by Prada! The woody powdery effect resembles Ambré 83, a sweet base produced by Laboiratoires De Laire that focuses on benzoin, vanilla and honey, diluted five-fold. De Laire, founded in 1878, is famous for producing among other things the bases Prunol, Bouvardia and the infamous Mousse de Saxe for parfums Caron. Ambré 83 is the perfect bridge for perfumes with rich floral parts, such as L'eau de Circé by Parfumerie Generale and sometimes contributes to the linear effect of fragrances. Beige sustains the powdery woody effect for a long time, although it might benefit in terms of initial emotional response if made into a denser concentration, such as extrait de parfum.

If Chanel aimed at providing an instantly approachable, modern and restrained fragrance, they have undoubtedly succeeded. Much like Infusion d'Iris, with its feminine flounces coupled with masculine sparsness, Beige will appeal to women and men alike, floral-lovers as well as floral-haters and will prove to be a best-seller. Personally I would have liked if it included the black toe of the Chanel shoes that provides the arresting counterpoint. But for that I can revert to the more individual smokiness of Sycomore.

Official Notes for Chanel Beige: hawthorn, freesia, frangipani, honey.

Beige bu Chanel comes in the austere bottles of Les Exclusifs, in 200ml of Eau de Toilette. It's currently a Saks exclusive but later will be featured in all the usual places where Les Exclusifs are exclusively available.

*Anisic Aldehyde results upon oxidation of anethol which is contained in anise oil, star anise oil and fennel oil. It's also present in the extract of Tahiti vanilla and in Roman and French cassie blossom oils.

Photo "Beige Swede against beige wall", courtesy of Trudy/flickr. Pic of Beige bottle via press release. Pic of Chanel two-tone Mary Janes through Ebay.

The elusive Seraphim by Ormonde Jayne: the What, the How and the Why

Today I am trying to disentangle the thread of the elusive Seraphim by Ormonde Jayne and to clear misunderstandings: surely such an elusive fragrance should have something important to say instead of putting question-marks all over the place. Surely some segments of additional info could surface and on occassion of my conversation with perfumer and founder of Ormonde Jayne, Linda Pilkington, I set out to shed light indeed into the mysterious web of luxury and exclusivity that Seraphim has weaved.

Seraphim was developed for the art concept store 20 ltd , a design house with pieces from famous and upcoming designers such as jewler Solange Azagury Patridge (of the modern demi-chypre Cosmic) and fine art photography. Seraphim, the fragrance by Ormonde Jayne was issued in 2007 in only 50 bottles: the lucky club of owners would be allowed to get refills from Ormonde Jayne (for £270), but that would be it! The bottle, with its beautiful abstract design and its antique gold ribbon around the neck, rests in a box lined with black velvet whose outercase is hued matte gold.
The price tag at the awe-inspiring £450 for the original 50 ml bottle (about €628) is probably enough to deter a blind purchase. And yet the uncompromising attention to quality standards that Linda keeps makes one daydream and wonder...

But why the elitist approach in the first place? Linda was gracious enough to reply in detail: "Ormonde Jayne has many customers that have ordered bespoke scents over the last decade, individual clients who want their own perfume, as well as clients such as Anouska Hempel and Chanel who have commissioned exclusive scented candles or perfume for a special event. As a perfume house, "exclusive" ends up being inevitable at some point, although the vast majority of our work is for the Ormonde Jayne boutique. Also, we saw it as a good opportunity to introduce Ormonde Jayne to an international market, and perfume lovers that might not be familiar with Ormonde Jayne".

Since this explains the exclusivity clause better than any hypothesis on our part, my next question inevitably centered on the price tag. "It was a commission for 20Ltd and my sole duty was to create the perfume and design a bottle and box that was different to the rest of the Ormonde Jayne brand. The price for Seraphim was decided by 20 Ltd, but there were three factors that made it much more expensive: The first was the actual formulation, ingredients like Iris are very expensive. The second was the very small run - just 50 bottles. As the look of the bottle had to be different from the Ormonde Jayne range, we needed to pay for the services of two different brand designers - one for the bottle itself, and one for the box. This involved sourcing velvets and new papers and producing the actual bottle. Now these are the sort of costs which if you are producing a few thousand balance out, but if you are only making 50 bottles, it makes the unit price shoot up. 20Ltd took it from there and were entirely responsible for the next stages, including marketing and advertising. They set the price and they received the money. It wasn't my duty to advertise it all and this is why it doesn't appear on the Ormonde Jayne site".

Which brings me to my last tentative question: who bought it? "I am under the impression that a small percentage of the clients were the perfumistas of the world, however I believe that most of the perfume was sold to the client list of 20 Ltd."

At this point dear readers you would be dying to know my impressions of it. Wish I could give you that pleasure, but I am lamentably not in a position to do so. Perhaps someone of you will reveal that they are! For those of you who are simply curious or toying with the idea of investing, you can see and order the fragrance clicking on the 20ltd page

Notes for Seraphim:
Head notes: (Fresh flowery notes) Bergamot, Rosewood, Ylang Ylang
Heart notes:(Powdery) Rose, Violets, Iris
Soul notes: (Sensual) Musk, Amber, Madagascan Vanilla, Coumarin

Pic through 20ltd

Jitterbug perfume oil from Opus Oils: fragrance review

"Plants that wake when others sleep. Timid jasmine buds that keep their fragrance to themselves all day, but when the sunlight dies away let the delicious secret out to every breeze that roams about." It is in those enraptured words that Thomas More spoke of jasmine, the king of flowers, the narcotic essence emitted under the cloak of night seizing the senses and the imagination. For me it is the blossom of utter surrender, the very essence of feminity. It was not accidental that I devoted the Jasmine Series to an in-depth appreciation of this small white flower. Jasmine is the memory of summer evenings in the Mediterranean under a lush trellis, its sweetly intense, heady aroma putting a spell on me, filling the air with longing and the deep yet melancholic satiation that comes from realising that this is our one and only life and there won't be another...

We had announced the opening of Jitterbug Perfume Parlours by Opus Oils some time ago and it has indeed opened its doors a few days ago. Their Signature Fragrance is "Jitterbug" and if you are even marginally interested in jasmine, it is a must-try. At first I was rather sceptical: could an oil blend really capture jasmine the way I know it from the quality essential oils I collect and alternatively the jasmine fragrances I adore such as the indolic A la Nuit, the purple-hued Sarrasins with its civet whiff, the individual, spicy Jasmin de Nuit or the Venus flytrap that circulates under the name Jasmin Full by Montale? Yet, Jitterbug, without being as animalic as the above, weaves its own sweet web of seduction.
Lush, full-bodied, with the sweet interlay of what reminds me of exotic ylang ylang and a round sweetish finish of the gingerbread goodness of sandalwood, it is predomintantly about the king of flowers: jasmine in its heady glory.

"Jitterbug" the name can be used as a noun to refer to a swing dancer or various types of swing dances but also as a verb to refer to a dancer of swing. It comes from an early 20th-century slang term used to describe alcoholics who suffered from the "jitters". Cab Calloway's 1935 lyrics to “Call of the Jitter Bug” clearly demonstrate the association between the word jitterbug and the consumption of alcohol.
Kedra Hart, the perfumer responsible for the Opus Oils fragrances, must have been inspired by concepts of euphoric consumption of heady liquor that puts your mind in a spin and excites passions, but also of the novel by Tim Robbins Jitterbug Perfume in which jasmine plays an essential part in the creation of a perfume fit for the bucolic (and animalistic goat-shaped) Greek god Pan. Whatever it was, it made for a successful fragrance.



Jitterbug perfume, a rejoice for jasmine lovers, includes notes of jasmine, honeysuckle, lemon essence, orange blossom, beach found ambergris, blond tobacco and sandalwood.
The sample I got was in oil form (essences mixed in fractionated coconut oil) which lasts rather well and has average projection ~certainly better than most oils. It also doesn't stain which is a plus. Although I am not generally an oils type (I prefer the refreshing "swoosh" of a sprayer) oil lovers should definitely give it a try! It also comes as an Eau de Parfum spray which is tempting me as we speak for autumn and winter days when I want to recapture that summer evenings feeling.
Jitterbug is available online at OpusOils.com (click the picture under the "new release Jitterbug" on the home page), JitterbugPerfumeParlour.com or at Opus Oils’ Jitterbug Perfume Parlour located at 4959 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90027.
The signature fragrance retails for $30 - $120 & comes in various sizes: 1 Dram airport travel size roll-on, 0.5oz/15ml roll-on, 1oz/30ml & 2oz/60ml Eau de Parfum sprays, 3.3oz Bath & Body Oil, 6.7oz Body Lotion, 8.5oz Dead Sea Bath Salts & 8.5oz Body Butter.

Just because I was so pleasantly surprised by Jitterbug, I plan to review some of the other naughtily-named lines (Burlesque, Fetish, Absinthe) of fragrances by Opus Oils very soon!

Clip of Nina Simore singing Screaming Jay Hawking's hit "I put a spell on you" originally uploaded by Jamyginga on Youtube. There is also an interesting (and totally different) interpretation by Marilyn Manson too: click here to listen!
Pic of Eva Green courtesy of Makeherup.

Interview with a Perfumer: Linda Pilkington of Ormonde Jayne

Talking to the woman behind the heady array of exquisite scents circulating under the brand name Ormonde Jayne proved to be not only deeply stimulating but also utterly delightful. Linda Pilkington has the well-bred, kind voice that matches her tiny attractive physique and her romantically auburn hair and she has all the charisma of someone who is pursuing her high standards with conviction and confidence in pursuit of elegance and quality. Becoming a mother for the second time recently, she radiates the warmth and –dare I say- the slight panic that such a position unavoidably entails, yet her generosity with her time was enslaving. Her honesty is palpable as she admits to me that all this attention from the Internet community is something new and exciting to her, as she has been so late in computerizing her business (only about 2 years ago) which retains the artisanal character that has helped made it a sensational underground success. “We learned the hard and slow way”, she laughs heartily. Indeed her reception of the Internet perfume community boom has been one big surprise, as she reflects when asked her opinion on how the market has changed in the last few years thanks to online criticism and discussion: “There I was making the first tentative batches of Orris Noir and a lady came into my shop and tried it on herself. She loved it and then went on to Makeup Alley and talked about it, how it was so wonderful and very new. At the time I knew nothing about this. Soon after I was getting calls asking about the new scent and I was going crazy: 'But how did they know? It hasn’t been featured anywhere yet!' It was only later that people began to tell me my fragrances were talked about online and I became aware of how truly changed the market has become”.

So, why Ormonde Jayne? Linda explained to me that “Ormonde Studio has been my first laboratory’s name and when I thought about creating my own boutique 6 years ago I found it rather daunting to have to go into a shop that bore my own name on the ledge every single day. So I picked Ormonde and Jayne which is my surname and thus emerged Ormonde Jayne”. This is such a British attitude, that my Mediterranean ears have a difficult time grasping, especially when looking at Ormonde Jayne’s revamped boutique look, fascinated by the vibrancy and the drama: Black glass chandeliers hang decadently from the ceiling, while the ivory stone floors welcome the weary traveler into a haven of luxury contrasting beautifully with the black shagreen perfume boxes in mandarin-colored packaging, tied with black satin ribbons. And if you’re tempted to look in the hidden drawers, little treasures shall reward your curiosity. The Ormonde Jayne store features wonderful candles and bath products, one of which is the indulgent Parfum d’Or Naturel (a gel-like mix of natural sugars, oils and finely milled gold leaf), as well as traditional extrait de parfum and parfum concentrations. Indeed Linda was first noticed for her intensely fragrant candles, a faithful client of which is Annouska Hempel who uses them for both her home and her hotels. Her first commission on such a candle came from another house, namely Chanel, through a long-time friend who wanted a candle to burn in their boutique interiors. This got her noticed, as she was previously working at Nihon Noyaku, a London-based agrichemical company and soon after the vision of her own business started materializing.

Going now through my notes kept during our conversation I can’t help thinking that her dedication to traditional values translated in a modern way is exactly what is needed in an oversaturated market. I was eager to find out how she positioned herself as almost everyone is doing their own version of niche now. She quickly elucidated that “Although there are lines with products that have a very limited distribution, such as Armani (Privé) and Prada (exclusive blends), they mainly work from a marketer’s angle, especially since they have to ultimately answer to big conglomerates. We, on the other hand, place 95% of our budget in the ingredients; there is only one person, Sarah, doing our marketing. I don’t have my hands handcuffed by accountants who want to produce something to please everybody and thus we can also use more exotic raw materials. And because we’re such a small company we have no problem locating small-yield, erratic supplies of rare and unusual oils, such as the black hemlock which we get from a Canadian supplier. We are therefore able to use 3 to 4 kilo of compound for 150 bottles (25% essences in Eau de Parfum and 30% in extrait), where for the same amount of oils bigger companies {she names a huge one here which I won’t repeat} produce millions of bottles! This makes a great difference in the finished product’s quality. Some people laughed when they heard we used black hemlock for our signature perfume Ormonde Woman ~but that’s the secret of our success: daring to go where no other perfumer has gone before”. A tireless traveler, Linda has fostered relationships with growers all over the globe from Laos, Madagascar and the Philippines to Morocco and France, gaining her remarkable access to the most exquisite oils. Ormonde Woman, whose fans include broadcaster Susan Hitch, features black hemlock: a femme fatale ~ black feathers, felt capes and illicit affairs aplenty. Tai’f is the combination of rose with precious saffron, dates and luxurious orange blossom absolute while Osmanthus features the precious absolute and doesn’t merely claim it as a “note”. Tolu featuring real civet tincture in a market full of the ersatz ~as does Orris Noir as well~ is an amalgam of animalic warmth and come-hither radiance.

This brings us to the perennial discussion of how tastes and perceptions shape our choices: “We don’t always reveal everything, because ladies buying fragrance might not like knowing that [civet] is the animal’s anal glands’ produce that we put in the mix, but the effect is there. Some materials are not used for their own smell per se, but as a way to open the bouquet, to let it gain in depth and texture, like with wine”. To the question of whether the mainstream cult of “clean” or the resulting antipode niche snobbism of embracing “dirty” notes has affected her vision, she does not have an answer: she strikes me as someone who doesn’t even let herself be influenced by trends and she tries not to smell the competition, so as to keep her integrity as much as possible.

Origins and background play a big role in our olfactory profile. Linda’s interest in smells has been active since childhood: she used to gather herbs and oils from around the world, growing flowers from seed and collecting perfumes, some from big houses like Guerlain or Dior: one of her favorite combinations a long-time ago was layering Eau Sauvage with Diorella, two of Roudnitska’s cool masterpieces, making her “feel extremely sophisticated”. Little by little her interest took a more formal path, engaging in one-to-one tuition in perfumery and collaborating with a German perfumer by the name of Geza Schoen (of Escentric Molecules), whom she met years ago through their combined love of Iso-E Super, an aroma chemical patented by IFF which has a complex odor profile of woody, floral and ambergris notes, used as a supreme floralizer. Geza didn’t have a laboratory at the time, Linda had the equipment, so she asked him to come onboard and allowed him use of the facilities and welcomed his acting as a consultant. “He really gave me some great advice, I remember. He vetoed one note I wanted to include in Frangipani and he turned out to be right. Reversely, he OK-ed the use of pink pepper, which proved to be very successful”.

Linda was also preparing delicious chocolates and immersing herself into the world of a full-blown foodie all the while. As I also am a fellow cuisine enthusiast, I couldn’t help asking her what her favorite culinary aroma is to receive an immediate and startling in its candor answer: “It has to be basmati rice! I find it so nice, so warm, so cozy! I was living with Chinese neighbors who prepared it and the steam of it wafting through the windows smelled like coming home. So it brings me comfort...” No wonder her post-modern gourmand for serious perfumephiles is Champaca, entwined with the unusual trail of a plate of hot basmati rice steaming up. And that was before anyone even thought of putting rice notes in a fragrance! It is with some distraught that she divulges that Space NK, the mega-store of beauty owned by the Gap, has just launched a fragrance also named Champaca; which of course is rather unkind, seeing as there was already her own successful fragrance on the market. It is the way of “big fish eat small fish” again and this casts a slight gloom at this part of our conversation. I can see that it’s not possible to copyright such a generic term as “Champaca”, the name of an exotic flower, but still it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Another incident which aggravated her was the claim posted online that her body products had not been tested for risks of allergy, a claim that she is adamant is completely inaccurate and damagingly false although it was retracted later on in light of the facts. But this is where the responsibility of a perfume writer comes in, I guess: doing one’s research, corroborating facts, asking for data verification...

To revert to our previous, happier subject of favorite smells Linda also admits a predilection for truffles, the intensely fragrant mushrooms that have me enraptured too; their shreds on any plate give a heavenly aroma of earthy delights. “I also tremendously enjoy the deep, liquorish smell of the very green, very wet odor of a vast, dense forest, like those I walk in in Bavaria, Germany and Austria”. Another one of her favorite smells she hasn’t ingrained in her line is gardenia, her absolute favorite blossom: “The best gardenia I have ever smelled was in California during a trip. You know how Americans try to do everything bigger and better! Well, this was an amazing, envelopping smell. I know there is a very costly and limited supply of natural absolute and I have found a supplier {which I can’t divulge}, so options are open. And prepare for a new men’s fragrance which Nick Foulkes, a loyal customer and friend, is about to write on”.

But perhaps the most interesting and entertaining anecdote about the Ormonde Jayne fragrances was the following, which I leave you to savor through the witty wording of Linda Pilkington herself: “Some years ago, Tattler magazine asked us for samples of some of our fragrances for a 4-page story they were doing. It turned out they did an evaluation test featuring Dr.Luca Turin, in which he was supposed to pick his top 3 favorites out of 63 presented fragrances while blindfolded! The definition of a blind test, so he wouldn’t be influenced by brands and names. He picked up one of the Joy fragrances (I don’t recall whether it was Eau de Joy or EnJoy) and another mainstream fragrance from Guerlain. And the third one was my Frangipani! The rest-as they say- is history”.


Ormonde Jayne has been chosen by The Walpole (the trade body that represents British luxury goods brands) as one of the six Brands of Tomorrow and the masculine Isfarkand has been awarded Wallpaper’s "Best Scent". Linda Pilkington is opening a second perfumery in Dubai's shopping emporium, Boutique 1. For now Linda's fragrances are exclusively available through the Ormonde Jayne boutique at 28 Old Bond Street in the Royal Arcade, London (map image here), or through the Ormonde Jayne website.

Pics provided by Ormonde Jayne, not to be reproduced without permission.

Roja Dove's New Book at a Discount for our Readers

Roja Dove, for years "professeur des parfums" at Guerlain and mastermind of Harrod's Haute Parfumerie in London (a Mekka pilgrimage for any perfume afficionado) has written a new book, The Essence of Perfume. What is it about?
"Dove leads us on a fascinating journey through the world of scent, from Ancient Egypt, where myth has it that the fragrance Kypi induced mass surrender, through to the 1920s, when Jean Harlow's husband--maddened by his love and frustrated by his impotence--drenched himself in his wife's perfume before ending his life. We read about the bitter rivalry between Coco Chanel and "that Italian", Elsa Schiaparelli, and how this inspired some of history's most iconic scents. The Essence of Perfume is the first book by the world's only Professeur de Parfums, and it is as captivating as it is informative. Beginning with a comprehensive discussion of the sense of smell and the materials of the master perfumer, The Essence of Perfume goes on to celebrate the great classics, the makers who brought them to life and the designers who gave them shape. In an age where the methods and motivations of the original perfumers are all but forgotten, Roja Dove unfolds the gripping story of scent with all the passion and devotion of a true artist".

Like Hannah Betts of the Sunday Times said: "If there's a perfume that Roja doesn't have an anecdote about I have yet to discover it. Talking perfume with mr.Dove is as rich a pleasure as it is a priviledge."

Published by Black Dog Publishing, its official issue date is 28 October 2008.
Hardback, 288 pages, 350 b/w and colour illustrations
ISBN: 978 1 906155 49 0
UK price £40.00

However, apart from pre-ordering at Amazon, you can get a 40% discount on the retail price by contacting Jess Atkins at jess@blackdogonline.com stating "Perfume Shrine discount" in the title of your mail.

Pics through Black Dog Publishing, not to be reproduced without permission