Hilde Soliani News: More Exclusive Stuff Available in NYC Now

You might remember that we had reported and reviewed the new exclusive niche line by Italian jewelry and fragrance designer Hilde Soliani. The magnificent Bell'Antonio, a fragrance focused on multi-nuanced aromatic tobacco and dark roasted coffee, and Vecchi Rosetti, a fragrance inspired by the Parma theatre with its waxed wooden floors and the backstage smelling of old-fashioned makeup, are now available in a few limited bottles only in New London Pharmacy in New York City. (The store also stocks the previous line by Hilde Soliani, La Mia Daisy, comprising 5 scents named after flowers and re-interpreting them in new interesting ways, which Perfume Shrine had reviewed a while ago).
I suggest you get your bottles while stocks last!

Shopping Guide:
New London Pharmacy, Inc. 246 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10011
212.243.4987 800.941.0490 Fax 212.243.7110
You can also reach New London Pharmacy with your queries on Bell'Antonio and Vecchi Rosetti using the contact form here.

Notorious by Ralph Lauren: new fragrance and commercial

“The roles have made me famous, but my life has made me Notorious,” says Laetitia Casta (does she realise the ambivalence of the term, I wonder!), iconic French model and budding actress who stars as the sultry face of Notorious , the new Ralph Lauren fragrance in a new advertising campaign by Michael Thompson that will debut in September 2008. Renowned director Wong Kar Wai (also responsible for the magnificently gothic commercial of Midnight Poison) exhibits his film-noir side in this black & white short film that takes its inspiration from Golden Hollywood heroines such as Lauren Bacall from "The Big Sleep" and even Faye Dunaway from "The Thomas Crown Affair". But the name "notorious" evokes most strongly the eponymous 1946 psychological thriller by Alfred Hitchcock starring Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant. Then again, the featuring of poison in that film should better have escaped them...the associations with a liquid product could become unfortunate.

Perfumer Olivier Gillotin created Notorious, a sparkling spiced oriental, "of timeless intrigue and boundless desire" as the ad copy claims, to be as provocative and commanding as the woman who wears it.

Notes:Top: Black Currant, Spicy Pink Peppercorn and Italian Bergamot
Middle: Chocolate Cosmos*, White Frost Peonies, Fiery Carnation
Base: Patchouli Musk, Vanilla, Orris

Laeticia, all page-boy hair mysteriously falling over one eye, is wearing -what else?- Ralph Lauren clothes at some of Paris most striking endroits: a cafe beneath the Palais de Tokyo, at the Théâtre des Variétés and on Pont Alexandre III bridge over the Seine. Music score is aptly chosen: Miles Davis' "Maids of Cadiz". We're proud to feature it first. Please enjoy!



And if this has whetted your appetite, here is the "making of" as well:



Notorious will be available in Eau de Parfum spray 75ml/2.5oz.($85), 50ml/1.7oz.($65) and 30ml/1oz ($45), Body Lotion(200ml/6.7oz. for $45), Shower Gel(200ml/6.7oz for $40) and Body Crème(150ml/5.3oz for $70) at ralphlauren.com and major department stores.

*{Chocolate Cosmos, a decadent, chocolate-scented burgundy flower, is said to be used for the first time ever in Notorious, suppossedly evoking floral decadence in the mid-notes}.

Clips originally uploaded by RLTVralphlauren on Youtube.
Pics and info on scent via press release

Travel Memoirs: Paris, part 1 ~Guerlain Boutique & Museum, Caron Boutique, Fragonard Museum

introducing guest writer Elysium

There might be doubts about which perfume is the most beautiful, but there is no dispute about where the Mecca of fine fragrances lies. Paris, La Ville-lumière, is the place where people from all over the world gather to obtain a piece of genuine French chic, let it be an Hermès scarf, a Chanel dress or a bottle of Guerlain perfume. During my latest trip to Paris I had the chance to visit a few Parisian perfumeries, and here are some memories from that delightful trip.

Coming back from Paris, none of my perfume friends asked me if I climbed to the top of the Eiffel Tower nor if I saw La Joconde, all of them asked only one question: “Did you visit Guerlain?” Indeed, in the universe of perfumistas the grand boutique on 68 Avenue Champs-Elysées is something special, as soon as you enter the green ornamented doors you enter a world of elegance and magic. Don’t be fooled by the ordinary assortment you see on the ground floor, it is the second floor that vaults the real jewels and earned the fame of this boutique. Taking the stairs up, one immediately gets welcomed by a room decorated by golden mosaics from ceiling to floor; can it be more glamorous than this? Yes it can, how about a whole wall full of bee bottles in all sizes that can be imagined, or a gigantic chandelier holding the most classic Guerlain perfumes? {click to see the pics in larger format}

Here one finds beauties from the past like Candide Effluve and Sous le Vent standing side by side with the latest offspring like Quand Vient la Pluie and Cruel Gardenia; all these are free to be played with without the risk of being followed by any over-enthusiastic boutique staff member. The staff is very friendly nevertheless, answering all my questions even though I did not purchase anything. The most funny to the verge of being ridiculous experience inside the boutique is smelling inside the “microwave ovens”, containing sample smells of a few real old classics including Kadine and Ode: unfortunately the odors are very faint and not much can be perceived. Except for perfumes there are also one section dedicated for room scents and one for makeup. With the feeling that I have just visited a perfume museum rather than a shop I went out into the sunlight again.




Having quenched some of my thirst inside the Häagen-Dazs on the Champs-Élysées, I walked with steady steps towards Avenue Montaigne. Squeezed between the ultra expensive fashion boutiques I found the place I was looking for, Caron - the boutique with a golden label. This is how one imagines a perfume shop would look like in the eighteenth century, everything touched by one's eyes screams style. Gilded boxes, ornamented glass bottles, fine milled powders and classic smells, you name it; nothing is too elegant or too feminine for the Caron shop! But of course, nothing beats the perfume fountains (urns), containing the most precious drops bearing the label Caron.



While sampling in leisure my eyes set upon a basket filled with the softest swan dune powder puffs in all imaginable colors. As soon as I took one in my hands it was impossible to put it down again; although the price was pure robbery, I walked out happily clutching a Caron bag.



The last classic perfume house I visited in Paris was the Grasse-based Fragonard. The former Napoleon III town house on Rue Scribe holds a combined shop with a tiny museum. The museum was really not more than a three room apartment, but nevertheless my two enthusiastic and friendly guides made the visit very enjoyable. Inside the museum some instruments used in traditional perfumery were displayed. As we were looking at them the guides briefly explained the different extraction techniques like distillation, maceration and enfleurage. The following room housed a collection of perfume bottles and other bathroom accessories from ancient times to today; the highlight was the complete presentation of an antique vanity case, which basically was a moving makeup desk. The last part of the museum was dedicated to raw materials used in perfumery; there were a few samples available for the visitors to play the smell and guess game. A beautiful perfume organ marked the end of the tour, showing the path leading to the Fragonard shop. Everything in the shop is at reduced factory prices; especially the cute sample packs make a great souvenir from Paris!
Here ends my small tour of perfumeries with great history in Paris, coming up next are the inventors of niche fragrances.

Thank you for your reading and stay tuned for Part 2: Serge Lutens, L’Artisan and Frederic Malle

Shopping Guide:
Guerlain SPA & BOUTIQUE 68, Avenue des Champs-Elysées 75008
Paris Tel. 33 1 45 62 1121
Caron 34 avenue Montaigne 8th Arrondissement, Paris 75008 Tel. +33 01 47 23 40 82
Fragonard 9 rue Scribe 75009 PARIS FRANCE Tel. +33 (0)1 47 42 04 56

See a Google map of perfumeries/perfume & beauty shopping in Paris on this link (printable)

All pics copyrighted by Elysium, not to be reproduced without permission.

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