She Spoke about Perfume in a Very Unconventional Way

The Chanel commercial we have been waiting and commenting on previously is finally here, the magic enfolding aboard the Orient Express en route to Istanbul. Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, starring French actress Audrey Tautou and mole model Travis Davenport on the soundtrack of Billie Holiday's "Im a fool to want you".
Please be sure to check out the official link of Chanel as well as it presents the back-story and the details on the making of as well as commentary by Taurou and Jeunet.



According to the director Jean-Pierre Jeunet:
"I've always loved night trains and their magic: its the perfect opportunity to create an encounter in suspended time. I really liked the idea of a woman meeting a man. They both think about each other, but continue on with their own lives, left with the regret that they didn't make contact with the other person. I love to play with destiny and coincidences... I knew that the story would revolve around the mesmerizing effect of the scent in the womans wake. We had to give voice to the intangible."

Excellently done and we will return with another Chanel post with commentary very soon!! In the meantime, you can read more on Chanel on Perfume Shrine following this link.


Clip originally uploaded by ROPtv on Youtube

In Which I Fragrance Consult

I don't mean professionally this time (although it has been done); this is about a spontaneous and completely monetarily-disassociated consultation with a young woman I casually met at Sephora. (Contrary to my uncanny instincts and my hard-earned experience I continue to do this sort of thing when I see an aimlessly wandering soul amidst the aisles of department stores: When will I learn??) But it's a fun little story and worth mentioning in detail to illustrate a point or two.

Sephora happened to have a 20% sale for select VIP (?) customers and yours truly was invited through a post-office delivered mail:"Only for you and only for two days, everything 20% off, blah blah blah". My default question on examining such a proposition up close is "What ISN'T discounted?" I reckon eliminating all the non-possibilities makes for an easier list than trying to retain all the discounted brands info. The one brand that features on each and every one of those "Isn't-on-sale-despite-all-others-being-so" lists is Chanel (along with -brace yourselves- Mugler and Miyake: I attribute the latter two to the extreme popularity of their bestselling perfumes in my local European market). This time the reply from the SA was rather suprising; and probably borne out of a meaningful roundtable discussion concerning the economic recession and the repurcussions on the average Sephora-maniac's purchases at some central branch office of the esteemed firm. "EVERYTHING is discounted at 20% for you, EVEN Chanel!" she emphasized. Hmm...it was getting rather interesting!

Intent as I was on securing any batch of older Chanel's fragrances I could find still tucked away in some of those deeeeeeep drawers full of old stock they have at Sephora I came across her: She was a slip of a girl, a very young woman in her early 20s, skin to paint a Boticelli with, natural honeyed curls in a messy cute updo, casual attire that showed some care (a military pair of trousers with a neat, khahi T-shirt and a nice white denim jacket on top). The "wall" of Chanels above me loooked particularly enticing to her and I don't really know whether the VIP invitation reverberated in her pocket as well with the dire command "use me for something good!" or not, but she seemed intent on finding a Chanel for herself. Usually I don't really pay attention and I only notice such things as an inward nod to the power of successful marketing. Someone who is obviously ignorant of how things smell at Chanel, is clearly being led by her eyes, not her nose...This time was different, though and I was soon to find out how.

Spraying a bit of Chanel No.19 on those paper strips, she instantly exclaimed "Ewww, that's AWFUL!" with such passion in her grimace that it was hard not to take notice from 10 paces away. I feel such occurences literally beg to be addressed (and not just because I love No.19 to bits) if only to show what a profound difference the whole testing experience makes when one actually tests things the proper way. So lo and behold I stretched my crouching self and replied confidentially "Oh no, that's their very best" with a tone that implied I was at the very least sharing Pentagon secrets. It was completely understandable that she belonged to a generation who had been raised on Light Blue and Burberry Brit, while her mother would be probably still wearing L'eau d'Issey, so embarking on a diatribe on the matter of good taste or art would be sorely wasted; plus it was plainfully obvious No.19 was as completely alien as if she was given to taste Pluto-dust-laced dirt-balls. After all, I don't believe good taste is a generational thing and art is too often non quantitative. So I chose not to embark on such diatribe.
Apparently the trick of laconic pronouncement caught on: She paid attention and looked at me with quizzical eyes. "You just need to give it lots of time on the skin to mellow out the bitter start, it becomes very sensuous...", I quipped with almost a wink. Thus appeased she showed some signs of recognition of someone who really appreciates perfume.

Confidences then gust forth with all the gusto of Perfumistae Anonymous. She was emotionally tied to Bulgari Omnia Amethyste (I'm afraid she got a blank stare from me at this profound confession despite my best effort to look deeply engaged), but she was "so bored with all the perfumes on the shelves", she liked to change perfumes all the time, never sticking with anything for long because "they often got on her nerves". Clearly the customers are not complete morons, do note, dear perfume companies; by the end of a bottle of current juice they come to realise just how bad and utterly trite it was, not wanting to replenish ever again!

Sensing she was desperate for iconic black-and-white austerity, bearing cross-stiched glamour CCs (aka Chanel) I suggested Cristalle Eau de Toilette (this is usually a perennial safe bet on blind tests I conduct with friends from time to time; no one seems to hate it) , as well as hastily suggesting No.5 Eau Premiere, when I saw her tentatively reaching out for that bottle of No.5 Eau de Parfum. (I swear I didn't want to embark on that "old lady" conversation this time, I have heard arguments from both sides so many times and I disagree with each and every one of them). My recs rested on two salient -in my humble opinion- points: 1) Summer is coming and 2) Modern tastes like lighter juices. "This is quite modern, young, optimistic", I said. Although she showed signs of mild interest, I couldn't see her too impressed by either and she did test on skin this time. I fear that teenagers and people in their early 20s have been sadly conditionned to expect instant gratification that surpasses even the speed of making an instant Nescafe (that is nanoseconds to pour cold water on the granules, btw)! How low can you go, right?

Still, as a dare, I suggested Lolita Lempicka L Fleur de Corail, a floriental variation of the original and lovely salty-sweet L de Lempicka, which nevertheless left me rather cold personally, but which I could use as a litmus test regarding sweet-teeth-factor. I even mentioned how it is a "gourmand" with a nod to gustatory delights. Foody is a big word with very young people judging by what they buy and I was honestly curious to see if her tastes ran to the sweet-and-fatty despite her lithe physique. Apparently, there's hope yet. With a disenchanted look she dismissed it as "too sweet for her", almost apologetically, changing stance however when her eyes lighted up upon recalling "But I adore Lolita Lempicka in the purple, apple-shped bottle for the winter!". Brava Annick Menardo, I inwardly thought, but time was ticking away for me and we left it at that.

She didn't seem like she found the Chanel she was looking for on that day. But I came out feeling that young women are not complete airheads and just because they don't know how to properly test fragrances (and who is there to teach them anyway?) and they often can't seem to find a Chanel to claim as their own, doesn't mean they should be relegated to wearing something by Paris Hilton. Perfume people, present them with something really good to wear for a change!

Emma Watchon photographed by Karl Lagerfeld from Crash magazine. Photo by Steven Meisel (2007) via fashionmag.com

Roundtable discussion with perfumer Sophia Grojsman

Check out this link for a roundtable discussion on Perception and Imagination: Masters of the Senses, which engages Greg Calbi, Sophia Grojsman, Mark Mitton, Nils Noren, Philip Pearlstein, and Frank Wilson, from The Philoctetes Center.
Their other related links are also quite interesting!

Uploaded by philoctetesctr on Youtube

One to One with Kilian Hennesy at Saks

Saks Fifth Avenue at San Francisco, the byword for taste and elegance, invites you to meet and greet Kilian Hennessy Creator of Kilian Parfums and receive a personalized fragrance consultation next Saturday, May 9 from 11am to 5pm.
Saks 384 Post Street San Francisco , CA 94108. (415) 986-4758

For more information, please call 415.438.5367

Distant cousins: Lily of the Valley & Lily~part 1: Lily of the Valley

Although in nomenclature lily of the valley is easily confused with lily and its own varietal richness, the two are completely different flowers and in this scent guide I will try to analyse their olfactory differences, their participation in the bouquet of classic and modern fragrances, the materials used to render them in perfumery as well as a list of perfumes that highlight their graceful beauty. The first part deals with Lily of the Valley or Muguet, while the second part will deal with Lily.

The raindrenched earth after spring showers and the wet foliage remind me of the lyrics by songwriter George Brassens:

"Le premier mai c'est pas gai" / "The first of May isn’t cheerful"
"Je trime", a dit le muguet / "I slave away", the lily of the valley said
"Dix fois plus que d'habitude" /"Ten times more than usual"
"Regrettable servitude" / "A regrettable encumbrance"
Muguet, sois pas chicaneur / Lily of the valley, don't be a quibbler
Car tu donnes du bonheur / Because you make people happy
Brin d' muguet, tu es quelqu'un... / Nosegay of lily of the valley, you’re somebody...

~Georges Brassens, Discours Des Fleurs

May 1st has been inexctricably tied to Francophiles’ minds with one of the loveliest spring blossoms and its neo-Victorian image: lily of the valley (Lys des vallées) or, as the French commonly call it, muguet (pronounced mygɛ). And it’s for a reason: it’s the traditional flower offered on this day and one can routinely see street vendors selling nosegays on the French streets. The tradition goes back to Charles IX who on May 1st 1561 inaugurated the custom.It is also a symbolic gift for 13 years of marriage and is traditionally used in bridal bouquets thanks to its enticing scent.

Etymology and symbolism

The etymology of muguet is said to derive from muscade (nutmeg), since the smell of the flower has an indefinite nuance reminiscent to it, which became mugade, and finally muguet. A lucky symbol ~it means “return of happiness” in the language of flowers~ the delicate beauty of lily of the valley is however poisonous (especially its reddish fruit) due to convallatoxine, convallamarine, and convallarine; a brave irony on the part of Creation!
Lily of the valley/muguet (Convallaria majalis) is a herbaceous perennial plant prevalent in Asia, Europe and the Eastern USA, with characteristic bell-shaped little flowers, hence its other name May Bells. But its alternative names "Our Lady's tears" and "Male Lily" are more poetically evoctive: Legend wants Eve to have shed bitter tears after the Lapse from the Garden of Eden which falling onto the ground transformed into the white little blossoms. Another medieval legend wants Saint Leondard de Noblac, a knight in the court of Clovis I (of the Limousin region of France) and patron saint to prisoners of all kinds, to have battled with a dragon (a common medieval theme) in which his shed blood trasformed into lilies of the valley. But although one usually associates the delicate green floralncy of its aroma with females now, the term "Male Lily" has another explanation: It has been a favourite perfume for men ever since the 16th century, to the point that up till the 19th century the term muguet was linguistically used to denote an elegant young gentleman!
Another legend wants the Greek God Apollon to have tapestried the mount Parnassus with lilies of the valley so that the Muses wouldn’t hurt themselves if they fell...Classical antiquity paid great attention to the seasonal celebrations of nature and the zenith of the Roman celebrations of Flora, goddess of flowers, culminated on May 1st.

The role of lily of the valley in perfumery and construction of the accord

Lily of the valley is technically a green floral with rosy-lemony nuance*, whereas lily is a white, spicy floral. The former has known a profound and extensive use in perfumery, despite its resistance to natural extraction methods which yield a very miniscule amount of no great significance. Apart from soliflores (fragrances focusing on highlighting the beauty of one kind of flower), the lily of the valley accord has been adequately used in classical fragrances as a catalyst to “open up” and freshen the bouquet of the other floral essences in the heart, much like we allow fresh air to come in contact with an uncorked red wine to let it “breathe” and bring out its best. The effect is wonderfully put to use in Chanel No.19, Guerlain’s Chamade and Jean Patou’s L’Heure Attendue. Its lack of sweetness is also an important aspect in the creation of masculine fragrances: witness Chavelier d’Orsay, Équipage by Hermès, Insensé by Givenchy and Riverside Drive by Bond no.9 to name but a few.

The reconstitutions of lily of the valley note are based on either combinations of natural essences (usually citrus with jasmine, orange blossom or rose and green notes such as vetiver) or more commonly on synthetics. The classical ingredient is hydroxycitronellal, as well as the patended Lyral and Lilial, all coming under the spotlight of the latest restrictions on perfumery materials {you can read all about them here}. Lilial has a cyclamen facet to it, used in good effect in Paco Rabanne pour Homme. Super Muguet is another lily of the valley synthetic which surfaces in Marc Jacobs for men, as a clean facet under the figs. Kovanol is very close to hydroxicitronellal, which is interesting to note. Restricted by IFRA is also the newest Majantol {2,2-Dimethyl-3-(3-methylphenyl)-propanol}, while Muguesia or Mayol are also used to give this green floral smell of muguet. The name Mayol has an interesting background: it’s a nod to comedy singer Félix Mayol who put a boutonnière of the muguets he had been offered by his girlfriend Jenny Crook instead of his usual camelia on the 1st of May of 1895 before going out to sing!
Phenylethyl alcohol and benzyl acetate (the former rosier, the latter jasminer) as well as dimethylbenzenepropanol also contribute in the creation of bases which are used to render lily of the valley notes. It all depends on which impression the perfumer wishes to convey!
The clean, almost soapy nuances of lily of the valley has been traditionally exploited in soaps, which is why all too often lily of the valley as a fragrance note reads as “soapy” in your perfume. It’s also why it’s terribly difficult to render a convincing lily of the valley fine fragrance that does not evoke functional cleaning products, due to the exagerrated use they make of this aroma in that sector of the industry.

Iconic Lily of the Valley fragrances

The definitive lily of the valley fragrance used to be the masterful Diorissimo (1955) by trismegistus Edmond Roudnitska who is said to have planted a bed of them in his garden, so as to study the smell attentively and to evoke the indefinable atmosphere of spring. Lily of the valley used to be the lucky charm of Christian Dior himself, who always sew a twig into the hem of his creations to bring them luck. The juxtaposition of virginal, celestial greenness in the lily-of-the-valley crystal tones of Diorissimo with only a hint at improper smells through the deep, warmly powdery aspect of civet and indolic jasmine in the dry-down is nothing short of magical. Alas, the latest formulation of Diorissimo has taken away that animalic warmth, leaving it with only the clean facet.
Roudnitska himself however had been quite appreciative of the pure and delicate innocence of Muguet des Bois (Muguets of the Woods) by Coty (1942). Guerlain’s seasonal limited edition of Muguet is a rich, sweeter rendition that is partly inspired by the original Muguet of 1906, while Le Muguet by Annick Goutal (2001) is an ethereal and sharper interpretation, quite true to the blossom, if only rather fleeting in Eau de Toilette (alas the only offering). Début by parfums DelRae is an intensely lovely and sylphid-like lily of the valley composition by Michel Roudnitska, which shines like ivory pearls on a long smooth neck. For those who prefer a soft and creamy treatment of the note, I suggest they try Muguet de Bonheur by Caron (1952).

Fragrances with prominent Lily of the Valley notes (in alphabetical order, click links for reviews):

Acaciosa by Caron
Anais Anais by Cacharel (along with lily)
Antilope by Weil
Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca by Guerlain
Aqua Allegoria Lilia Bella by Guerlain
Be Delicious by Donna Karan
Capricci by Nina Ricci
Chamade by Guerlain (along with hyacinth)
Clair de Musc by Serge Lutens
Climat by Lancôme
Dazzling Silver by Estee Lauder
Début by DelRae
Dior me, Dior me not by Dior (limited edition of 2004, along with sweet pea)
Diorissimo by Christian Dior
Eau d’Argent by Montana
Eclipse by Parfums De Nicolaï
Envy by Gucci
Helmut Lang Eau de Cologne and Eau de Parfum (discontinued)
Jessica Mc Clintock by Jessica Mc Clintock
Koto by Shiseido
Laura by Laura Biagotti
Lauren by Ralph Lauren
Le Muguet by Annick Goutal
Le Muguet de Rosine by Les Parfums de Rosine (discontinued)
Lily by Dior (limited edition of 1999)
Lily of the Valley by Crabtree and Evelyn
Lily of the Valley by Floris
Lily of the Valley by Penhaligon’s
Lily of the Valley by Taylor of London
Lily of the Valley by Winds of Windsor
Lily of the Valley by Yardley
Miss Dior by Christian Dior
Miss Worth by Worth
Mughetto by L'Erbolario
Mughetto by Santa Maria Novela
Mughetto di Primavera by I profumi di Firenze
Muguet by Cotswold Perfumery
Muguet by Guerlain (limited edition, launches for May 1st only each year)
Muguet by Molinard
Muguet by Slatkin
Muguet de Bois by Coty
Muguet de bois by Yves Rocher
Muguet de Bonheur by Caron
Muguet de Mai by Roger & Gallet (discontinued)
Odalisque by Parfums De Nicolaï
Remember Me by Dior (limited edition of 2000)
Sampaquita by Ormonde Jayne
Tiare by Chantecaille
Urban Lily by Strange Invisible Perfumes
W by Banana Republic
XS pour Elle Paco Rabanne

*In a study on the headspace of lily-of-the-valley flowers using GC-MS and GC-sniffing/GC-olfactometry techniques, Brumke, Ritter and Schmaus from the company Dragoco (today Symrise, Germany) identified some 23 compounds contributing to the lily-of-the-valley fragrance, among these several newly detected trace constituents. The odorants could be divided into floral-rosy-citrusy notes: citronellol (9.6 %), geraniol (8.4%), nerol (1.3 %), citronellyl acetate (1.1 %), geranyl acetate (3.3 %), geranial + benzyl acetate (0.96 %), neral (0.02 %), benzyl acohol (35 %), phenethyl alcohol (0.78 %), phenylacetonitrile (3.0 %), farnesol (1.9 %) and 2,3-dihydrofarnesol (0.88 %), green-grassy notes: (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol (11 %), (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate (7.8 %), (Z)-3-hexenal (trace) and (E)-2-hexenal
(0.18 %), green pea and galbanum-like notes: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (trace) and 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (trace), fatty, waxy, aldehydic notes: octanal (0.15 %), nonanal (0.1 %), decanal (0.07 %) and fruity, raspberry notes: beta-ionone (trace). In another study of lily-of-the-valley, phenylacetaldehyde oxime was identified (source Bo Jensen).

Muguet pic via mes-passions.over.blog.net
Adrien Barrère, illustration of F.Mayol, chromolithographie via imageandnarrative.be, Diorissimo bottle via Dior