For all you Guerlainomaniacs and some fact-checking

There is a tribute to Guerlain vis their 180 years of history (we talked about Chanel's 100th anniversary the other day), posted in Vanity Fair, in which Naomi Kaplan takes us through the history of the house with beautiful photos to illustrate the heritage.
You can read the article on Vanity Fair online.

Myself I was a little critical upon reading, catching a bit of dubious detail here and there: Mitsouko "a pleasantly simple fragrance, with woody base notes and a peachy top note" really doesn't begin to describe it, for me at least. Do you find Mitsouko pleasantly simple, regardless of whether you hate it or love it? On top of that the Tortue re-issue bottle pictured was actually holding Parfum des Champs Elysées, an old start-of-20th-century violet-ionone leathery fragrance, and not Mitsouko. I do like the inclusion of this tidbit from Jean Paul Guerlain on Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus: “Mitsouko is really a masterpiece,” says Jean-Paul. “I did not want to betray my grandfather’s, so I added a freshness to the scent with spices and white musk to give a modernity to it without changing the original scent.”

Also if I am not too mistaken, Eau de Shalimar is not this spring's launch (after all we had reviewed it back in September 2008!), but this spring it was merely granted a special limited edition bottle as we discussed here. The bottle design of L'Heure Bleue is only reminiscent in shape to La Petite Robe Noire and one might be confused by the phraseology used which suggests the design and hue were crossovers, especially since everything seems to be perpetuated on the Net and gains credence through repetition. Not to sound too harsh or anything...

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: the Guerlain series.

Miss Dior Cherie L'Eau by Christian Dior: fragrance review

It's not often that I am caught completely off-guard and totally surprised by something. Usually my instincts and my (hard-paid for) experience guide me through most eventualities with assured steps. Yet the latest Miss Dior Chérie L'Eau managed to make me do a 180 degree turn! Not because it is a masterpiece. Far from it. But because I was fully prepared to absolutely hate it, just because I have been alienated by the sugary, patchouli, fruity spin of Miss Dior Chérie, a scent that is completely different than the classic chypre Miss Dior from 1947 (Dior's first scent) of which you can read a review here. The shared name makes one think hard on how much travesty one can stomach.

Furthermore, the developments at Christian Dior for some years now have been quite unsettling as the whole image has been cheapened and ultimately vulgarised. Not to mention that the very latest observations I made regarding reformulations afoot to all their classics, from Diorissimo and Diorella onwards ~signaled by cunningly new-old looking packaging only~ has left a bitter taste in my mouth... So a testing at Sephora just because it was the latest thing provided a rather pleasant jolt out of the doldrums of contemplating on "what Dior had been"...
According to its creator François Demachy, "Miss Dior Chérie L'Eau is not a complicated fragrance". Imagine a freshly scrubbed young lass, put a headband on her bouffant long hair, a mock pout with no depths of murky sexuality à la Catholic girls and you're basically got your sanitized BB.9
(ie. Bardot version 2009) ~a product of bourgeois paternalism and market satiation! Yet, didn't Bardot herself began her career posing for bourgeois magazines and studying ballent under Boris Knyazev?

Demachy has been instrumental in the creation of Aqua di Parma Colonia Assoluta, the re-issue of Pucci Vivara, Fendi Palazzo and a pleiad of scents for parfums Christian Dior (he almost seems like in-house perfumer at this rate, which I m not sure how to interpret!): the newest Dior Escale à Pontichery which we recently reviewed, as well as last summer's Escale à Portofino, Farenheit 32, the masculine Eau Sauvage Fraicheur Cuir and Dior Homme Sport, the Dior numbered Passages special collection of scents Collection Particuliere, Midnight Poison, Dior J'adore L'absolu...

Vogue.co.uk describes Miss Dior Chérie L'Eau as "a sparkling and distinctive floral scent blended with notes of tangy yet spicy bitter orange, Gardenia and white musks that aims to sum up the certain 'je ne sais quoi' of the ultimate French girl. Pretty in every detail - down to the bottle's iconic bow - this lighter, François Demachy-designed adaptation of the original perfectly fits a long-standing perfume brief from Christian Dior himself, "Faites-moi un parfum qui sente l'amour" (make me a fragrance which smells of love)."

I don't think Miss Dior Cherie L'Eau quite captures all that (especially the amour part), but it's not typical of the myriads of fruity florals on the market: First of all, the scent is decidedly floral for a change, but with a certain modern translucence and a lightl dewy feeling that makes for a refreshing take on green florals. The direction is "muguet"/lily of the valley "clean" (the lucky charm of Christian Dior himself) but done via a green, budding gardenia accord; which might be replicated by jasmolactones, if the eerie feeling of familiarity with Pur Desir de Gardenia by Yves Rocher is anything to go by, although the Rocher one is much more gardenia-oriented than this one. A small facet of the pleasantly bitter citrusy touches of Escale à Portofino and Mugler Cologne is also hiding in there with a very soft powdery drydown, fluffy like an air-spun macaroon with green filling and a little laundry-day feel. The girl wearing the John Galliano dress in the shade of candies, model Maryna Linchuk shot by Tim Walker, is perky, and innocently upbeat in a 60s kind-of-way (hold the orgasmic cries of the original Bardot song that accompanies the commercials shot by Sofia Coppola,; this one is a pouting Bardot seen through unknowing ten-year-old eyes!). The blotter beckons me from the depths of my old, ivory LV Monogram Vernis handbag: should I give it one more chance?

Notes for Miss Dior Chérie L'Eau:
bitter orange, gardenia accord, white musks

Miss Dior Chérie L'Eau has just launched widely, in amounts of 50 and 100 ml (1.7 and 3.4 oz) for 59€ and 85€ respectively.
If you have a few moments to kill, the Dior website for the fragrance is fun!

The rather confusing Miss Dior Chérie line comprises so far:
Miss Dior Chérie Eau de Parfum 2005,
Miss Dior Chérie Eau de Toilette 2007,
Miss Dior Chérie Eau de Printemps 2008(limited edition),
Miss Dior Chérie Blooming Bouquet2008(exclusive aimed at the Asian market),
Miss Dior Cherie L'Eau 2009.

Last but not least: For those of you who might as well get a dose of the old standby classic gardenia chypre of Miss Dior, there are some bottles over at Fragrancenet.com as well as the standard Miss Dior Chérie. Using code SHRINE saves you a further 10%!(offer good throughout May).


Related reading on Perfumeshrine: the Dior series

Pics via punmiris.com and imachildofthemoon.blogspot.com

Free Agent Provocateur Scent

From now until next Wednesday, if you spend $150 on beauty products at the boutique of Agent Provocateur online, you'll receive an Agent Provocateur Signature Fragrance Purse Spray ($55) for free! Sound nifty, huh?

News via Bella Sugar

Kenzo Les Eaux de Fleur Collection trio: Silk, Tea and Magnolia

Everyone is coming out with a "collection of scents", so why not Kenzo?
The new Kenzo Les Eaux De Fleurs Collection includes three floral fragrant waters inspired by Japan and created upon silk-tree flower, tea blooms and magnolia blossoms, called respectively Eau de Fleur de Soie (silk), Eau de Fleur de Thé (tea) and Eau de Fleur de Magnolia (magnolia). The plan is to add a new flower each year. What ties them? An ethereal floralcy, delicate transparence and subtlety. One might call them inoffensive. Also, they're by no means soliflores (ie. fragrances which focus on replicating the smell of a single flower). These limited editions are available in transparent bottles of a uniform design presented in different colours: pink for silk flower (as the flowers indeed resemble pink ventailles), green for tea flowers and whitish-yellow for magnolia blossom.
They all cost 52 euros for 50ml of Eau de Toilette at Sephora which is where I tested them myself.




Eau De Fleur de Soie (silk-tree blossom) is created in cooperation with perfumer Jean Jacques as a velvety, nonchalant floral-fruity of silk blossom with fruity accents in the heart of the fragrance. Very light and airy, it progressively becomes a little "thick" with an orientalised wink.

Eau De Fleur de Thé (tea blossom) is created by perfumer Aurélien Guichard and is the most unisex of the lot. The tea blossom is garlanding a heart of bitter notes of inky tea, finishing on a musky trail. It seem to be inspired by two of Bulgari's tea fragrances: Eau parfumée au thé vert (green tea) and Eau parfumée au thé blanc (white tea). The tea note eschews the green apple variety "green tea" accord which floods the market, but instead has a realistic tannic, a little inky green tea leaves tonality complimented with lime and white musk.

Eau De Fleur de Magnolia (magnolia blossom) is created in cooperation with perfumer Francis Kurkdjian and marries citrus, non-sweet accents to the complimentary radiant lemony facets of creamy magnolia blossoms, giving off a posh soapy feel. The lingering note is one of woodiness, when the floral notes have but vanished into thin air.

None of the above wowed me beyong the "perfectly nice, if rather unmemorable", which is a shame really, because I quite like the Kenzo portfolio on the whole: Kenzo Summer is a delicious and sensual creamy mimosa and milky musks concoction to dispell any dark thought with its bright yellow halo. Kenzo Jungle L'Elephant is a trusted spicy-fruity oriental that sets one apart. Kenzo Parfum d'été had been the green aqueous floral of one of several summers ago spent on Cyprus island. Kenzo Flower is a best-seller for a reason: it re-introduces the violet and powder note to an audience who is urban and quirky; not exactly the Victoriana envisioned by other traditional brands. Its spins (Flower le Parfum and Flower Oriental) are rather interesting as well! Kenzo Amour captures the comforting scent of a rice milky pudding tasted after reading bed-time stories. Even Kenzo Homme has something about its aromatic woodiness in the midst of vast spaces of water that keeps my interest for a little while.
The new collection Eaux de Fleurs should provide enjoyment to those who want a pretty spring or summer fragrance with a soft ambience about it without requiring further thinking on their part. If pressed I would choose Eau de Fleur de Magnolia for its creamy touch bearing a slight wink to Santa Maria Novela's individual Calycanthus refreshing élan, with Eau de Fleur de The as a second choice for its bitter accents although all three are quite pleasant.

They are all available at Amazon now: Eau de Fleur de Soie, Eau de Fleur de The, Eau de Fleur de Magnolia for 55$.

Pic via Kenzo

The Year of Chanel?

2009 has been in many fragrant ways so far a marked year for Chanel, due to their 100th anniversary: what with the new Chanel No.5 campaign which prompted us into an images retrospective, the new Cristalle Eau Verte and the wider distribution of Les Exclusifs Beige online. But it's shaping up to also be a heavily charged optical year for them as well!



The famous photographer Douglas Kirkland was commissioned in summer 1962 by Look Magazine to follow and photograph Gabrielle Chanel for a story on her. Initially sceptical, later enthusiastic, Chanel posed for a series of classic photos that are now shown in a rare exhibition between May 9 to June 6 (Mon-Sun 11am-7pm) on the third floor/ VIP Salon of the Honolulu Chanel Boutique in Hawaii (2116 Kalakaua Avenue), curated by James Cavello of Westwood Gallery, NYC. The choice isn't random: The Honolulu boutique, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, was the first Chanel boutique to open on American soil. The special occasion will be marked by an exclusive preview display of the Paris-Moscou collection and the creation of a limited edition J12 white watch with blue sapphires. 10%of the proceeds from photo purchases will be donated to the Hawaii Children's Cancer Foundation. So if you happen to be on Hawaii in the course of the month, you know what to do.

For those ~like me~ who appreciate the artistry of a good arts coffee-table book in all its glossy paper glory, a new issue is celebrating Coco Chanel, the myth, as well: Called Mademoiselle Coco Chanel Summer 62, it is written by Karl Lagerfeld and featuring the photos of Douglas Kirkland taken in the summer of 1962, as decribed above. Soon widely available. You can pre-order through Amazon!



Additionally, Chéri, the novel by Colette (written in 1920) recently filmed starring Michelle Pfeifer and Rupert Friend, has been one of Karl Lagerfeld's much prized books. Thus it formed the inspiration behind the photography behind the 2009 Spring Summer Accesories Catalogue for Chanel. The novel describes the love affair between an older former courtesan, Léa de Lonval, and her younger lover, Fred Peloux (affectionately called "chéri", ie.sweetheart) to whom she passes all her experience only to be disillusioned when he ultimately abandons her to marry the very young daughter of one of his mother's friends. The two lovers are incarnated in the campaign by Jerry Hall and Baptiste Giabiconi, shot by Karl Lagerfeld. The social mores of La Belle Epoque, known to Mademoiselle Chanel herself, are beautifully illustrated, none the less so in these exclusive images for Chanel.



And a funny interlap for the grand finale: The face of the upcoming Guerlain feminine fragrance, Idylle, singer and actress Nora Arnezeder, has been photographed by Karl Lagerfeld himself for the May issue of American Elle magazine in a story called "Karl's Diary", from where this dreamy black & white photo.



Related reading on Perfumeshrine: Two biopics on Coco Chanel, Interrupted by Death: The Lost Chanel, Chanel Les Exclusifs