How much love kills?

I'm a little rushed today so there's no review, but in the spirit of keeping you on your toes and allowing you more airtime with your comments I included a clip of one of my favourite films, "Romeo is bleeing" (1993) with Gary Oldman, Annabella Sciorra, Lena Olin, Roy Schneider and Juliette Lewis. It's much darker than it looks from the following clip with the romantic "Too Much Love Will Kill You" song by the Queen, be warned.
So please be my guest and free-associate: Have you ever been in a comparable situation? Were you wearing something scented in particular? Would you have thought of something in particular as fitting? Or simply state what you think the characters should wear. The ball is in your park!



The draw for the Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus is still open and I will accept all comments till midnight. Hope to announce the winner by Monday.

Clip originally uploaded by GOFoxy on Youtube

Neil Morris new Vault fragrances: fragrance reviews

It's not customary for me to review several fragrances in one go, but seeing as I was sent some new Vault samples from the trismegista Ida/Chayaruchama and some others from a representative of Neil Morris, the temptation to group my thoughts on these was immense and I couldn't resist. Days of consecutive testing left me with the impression that people who are very much attuned to the richer, ambery and woody end of the spectrum in fragrance preferences should have no trouble at all finding something in the extensive Neil Morris portfolio to fall in love with. I found some surprising hits and some misses myself where I didn't expect to, so sampling is the only way to go (as if this needed further insisting upon). This last May they were celebrating their one year anniversary of the introduction of Vault fragrances and I am at a loss on how they could manage to have so many there already! (For what is worth I always loved the wondrously leathery Gotham from his Signature Collection)

But who is this ultraniche artisanal perfumer, Neil Morris? According to Where Magazine, he "takes the cake as Boston’s resident fragrance artiste” and I admit I can't think of anyone else hailing from this untraditional locale (which evokes universities and the rare urban deliquent or two to my mind). Can you? It might sound superficial, but knowing the good, trusty relationship that Ida has had with self-taught Neil over the years has feeling sympathetic to the man through reflection of Ida's wonderful warm personality, even though I don't even know him! I also appreciate the fact that in times of recession he's trying to accomodate perfumistos and reduces the size and accordingly the price of his creations. He's on top of a trend obviously and more people in the business should pay attention to their audience! And I love that I have been twice given the chance to sample compositions that were custom-made for a friend: first Le Parfum d'Ida which has entered the mainstay collection at the Vault (and it's highly recommended to sample this!) and then Rêve Foncé, translating as "dark dream", a leathery smooth potion containing no aldehydes to her specification.

The newest 2009 Vault fragrances have something for everyone it seems.
Rumi, inspired by the Persian mystic, poet and philosopher, literally took me by surprise with its warm rosiness and incandescent resinoids. I had decided not to read any notes before sampling so as to have my mind free of associations, but if the ouris in Muslim heaven wear this, the promised rivers of milk are guaranteed to run forever. It's so delectably ambery, with a powdery veil of golden warmth, its core vibrating with good rose absolutes that I stand corrected in not usually liking roses. I love this one! Considering I have been impressed by Andy Tauer's Une Rose Chyprée lately, it looks like I need to devote some airtime to rose fragrances in general.
In that vein Vanille Rosé was a posteriori another surprise: This one is taking the other road of rose, the traditional rose of yore, a Tudor rose so to speak. It reminded me of something my mother wore beautifully in the past, which I couldn't place, until I realised it was a simple but pretty rose essence she had received from South of France from a poet friend residing in Marseilles. There is a beautiful vanilla tonality that lasts well in the perfume and I detect a citrusy touch which highlights the more crystalline, fruity facets of the rose. While I am usually leery of roses which never quit, I satisfyingly wore this the whole day and with the leaping realisation we get when we catch ourselves in a mirrored door in the background: "Hey, stranger, who is this? Oh gosh, it's me!!"

Maria in her laconic Midnight Forest review stresses its "touch of magic, but no monsters" and I can't but agree. The initial blast of galbanum, bowlder-like bitter, has an intensely bell- pepper green aroma which took a couple of prisoners along the way and I admit I was hesitant, but the drydown is resinous woody with a delectable myrrh trail that provides a mystical touch of vielle église.

Red Sky begins with an intense, piquant lemongrass note that petters out to a resinous background, meant to evoke the Southewestern sky at sunset. Mystic Dragon on the other hand, inspired by a Chinatown walk during the Chinese New Year's celebration, utilizes a mixture of cocoa absolute ~which smells uncanningly like real melted chocolate (and will give you ideas, but sois sage!)~ and warm patchouli, its natural chocolate-y facets complimenting the absolute. Both fuse into an amalgamation of beckoning sweetness on the skin. A little too sweet for my personal tastes, but I can see it becoming popular with folks.
Mariner is a standard masculine around citrusy, rosey and woody notes, which is pleasant if not too distinctive and I would have liked it to be more wistful, like it fits those who go down the sea in ships.
In Vapor Neil Morris took a risk: The fragrance feels like a ball of almondy pastry suspended into an invisible veil of pincushions all around, its sharp opening tingling with frost, giving way to the resinous-ambery base that Neil Morris so loves.

I was more impressed overall by City Rain, the first tentative drops on the hot pavement and the creosote slowly becoming an enveloping sensation when you think you're in a viridian whirlwind travelling at God-speed towards a hidden cool colliery where the sun only tentatively shines. And if that whirlwind accidentally gushes you in a terrain where exotic blossoms raise their heads from enchanted pits that whisper to you to lean and see the darkness up close, then you're face to face with Prowl which is as prowl-worthy as its name. The soiled white-floral ache is meowing through the tall grasses.

Regarding Neil Morris for Takashimaya, Chandler Burr described it as "luxury retro with power and a high-gloss, premodernist effect. The scent is purplish fruit, big pinot noir and dark ripe plum, plus the scent of a 1930s boudoir: the fragrances of the old-fashioned creams and makeup and the scarlet velvet drapes thrown in". The fragrance is full of dark fruits drenched in pear eau de vie and is intended for the hedonists among you.

Notes for Neil Morris Vanille Rose: Orange blossom, heliotrope, green tea, red rose, dark vanilla, musk.
Notes for Neil Morris Rumi: Ylang ylang, rose, benzoin, patchouli, amber.
Notes for Neil Morris Midnight Forest: Galbanum, redwood, dark musk, nagarmotha, oak, myrrh, and myrtlewood.
Notes for Neil Morris Mystic Dragon: Jasmine, amber, patchouli, smoke, cedar, chocolate.
Notes for Neil Morris Mariner: Italian bergamot, Damask rose, geranium, white musk, cedar, sandalwood. Notes for Neil Morris Red Sky: Lemongrass, lavender, narcissus, delphinium, oakmoss, amber, black musk.
Notes for Neil Morris Vapor: Aldehydes, water lily, tonka bean, heliotrope, frankincense, amber, musk.
Notes for Neil Morris City Rain: Green tea, ozone, heliotrope, honeysuckle, blue musk, green patchouli, earth note, golden musk.
Notes for Neil Morris Prowl: Black pepper, honeysuckle, jasmine sambac, tuberose, patchouli, oakmoss, amber, civet.

The Neil Morris Vault fragrances can be purchased directly on the official site , 70$ for 1oz/30ml and they ship internationally. They also offer generous samples for 5$ each.
More info: Neil Morris Fragrances, 221 massachusetts avenue, suite 501, boston, ma 02115 tel 617.267.2315

Joseph Mallord William Turner painting Peace via funeralatsea.com. Illustration Voyager by Chris Moore via angelart.com. Pic of Neil Morris and client via his site

Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne: new fragrance

The newest feminine fragrance by Yves Saint Laurent is officially corroborated as Parisienne and will be fronted by Kate Moss. There had been a photoshoot with Craig McDean by the Eiffel Tower a while ago and Kate seemed so in love with the couturier's smoking jacket she refused to let it go for days later. Right when she's ready to launch her own celebrity fragrance, Vintage, after the commercial success of her first eponymous scent Kate Moss, there rolls this new contract!

Parisienne will launch next autumn and will be encased in a bottle that is eerily reminiscent of the diamond-cut one of the original Paris. [click for a review]
Judging by the roses that accompanied the photo-shoot (and which perhaps not coincidentally perfectly match the shade of the bottle and juice) and by the optical resemblance of design to Paris fragrance, it's safe to assume that rose as a note or perhaps a central diva will be featured in the newest feminine fragrance by Yves Saint Laurent, composed by perfumers Sophia Grojsman (the nose behind the original Paris) and Sophie Labbé. Also the name, a variant denoting the citizen of Paris, the city, alludes to some relevance with the classic rose-violet perfume by the master couturier. The alleged vinyl top note comes with all the modern clin d'oeil to a younger generation who might have grown up with Paris being worn by their mothers, so it's natural they want to strut their own way in pleather slim-pants much like their idol, fashion-plate Kate Moss.

Parisienne will be available in 30ml/1oz, 50ml/1.7oz and 90ml/3oz of Eau de Parfum for prices between 51 and 90 euros and it will be accompanied by ancillary products, such as body lotion, shower gel and deodorant spray.

A perceptive reader of mine notified me at last Monday that the new fragrance is already featured slightly discounted on an online store in the Netherlands, from which comes the pic of the bottle, but the articles are not yet available for sale.

Update:
Official notes for Yves Saint Laurent Parisienne:

Top: “vinyl accord (evoking metal gloss and varnish)”, cranberry, blackberry
Heart: Damask rose, violet, peony
Base: patchouli, vetiver, musk, sandalwood.

The teaser ads, tagged "Qui est Parisienne?" (Who is Parisienne?) are playful, to the accompaniment of bass riffs.
Qui est Parisienne ?

Watch more on www.ysl-parisienne.com/fr and take the fun test to win a week being Parisienne! (take the test clicking here)

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Yves Saint Laurent series.
Pics thanks to Modelinia.com and parfumerie.nl, video Dailymotion.

What do you find irresistible?

Liv Tyler looks all fetchy, hot and silly insouciant in the latest Very Irrésistible commercial for parfums Givenchy, shot aboard a motorboat on the river Seine and its ponts in Paris. I can accept the bare back dress (although it does get chilly in the evenings on the Seine), but if you have ever driven a motorboat you know it speeds so fast you need to have your hands on the steering wheel at all times or you might bump into something in such an enclosed space as a city river. Stilettos are also a no-no for any deck involving wood (the owner would sledgehammer you if you dared step a foot on it with anything pointy!), but I realise I must be splitting hairs and it's all in the name of le glamour. At least she has an acceptable accent on the French part of the name!
The jazzy tune was composed especially for the ad by Nicolas Errera.



I think I prefer the original Very Irrésistible 2003 commercial with Liv. It's more playful somehow and suits her to a T...You can watch it clicking here.

Check back later for reviews of the newest Neil Morris Vault fragrances!

Clip originally uploaded by modelstvcm2 on Youtube.

Guerlain Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus: fragrance review

Take a room that appears goldenish baroque in its ambience, but actually comprised of little, aptly chosen, dramatic furniture and saturate it in the cool and bright light of the North on a salubrious day and you have the latest Guerlain, Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus. Tentatively smelling it, convinced I'd absolutely hate it, it gave me the testing whiplash of my life: It isn't half bad! Aesthetically it is as successful in its modernisation as Eau Première is to the iconic Chanel No.5 (I wish I could say that for the latest Cristalle Eau Verte).

The introduction of a Mitsouko flanker, and what's more a watery Mitsouko in a mouthwash-tinted bottle, initially sounded as mind-numbingly sacrilegious as Regan impaling herself with a crucifix in one of the most brilliant scenes of William Friedkin's 1973 thriller "The Exorcist" would look to the Pope. However Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus reminds me of another William Friedkin heroine, this one more mature, sexier and tamer than the possessed child Regan; namely, Trina Gavin in 1995 "Jade". Not exactly Ai-no Corrida material, the passions are contained, but still an involving character.

The original Mitsouko by Jacques Guerlain launched in 1919 at a time when women rediscovered luxury and all things Eastern and it subtly unveils its peachy-fuzz chypre heart amidst a spicy, smoky mossiness that creates the feeling of decadent and, at the same time, wistful opulence. Jean Paul Guerlain rightfully decided not to mess up with perfection and merely injected an airier lotus blossom note which uplifts and mollifies the composition into a brighter, lighter plane.

“Mitsouko is really a masterpiece,” says Jean-Paul.[1] “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.”

Jean Paul Guerlain is according to Thierry Wasser (new resident nose at Guerlain) "the Indiana Jones of fragrance" [2], such is his galivanting the world in search of new and exciting raw materials; and lotus blossom is a traditional essence of the East which seemed very fitting to what is essentially an Eastern inspired composition in the first place.
After the initial acqueous and rather green jasmine-like impression the unmistakeable palpability of Mitsouko comes through while the progression surprisingly takes Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus into more hesperidic (the lotus), cooly powdery tonalities (some cardamom?) with a slight sprinkling of clean sweeteness instead of the butyric lactonic richness and almost burnt peachiness of the original. And since the classic Mitsouko can be worn by men too, I see no real problem in the newest version being co-operative on a man's skin if they generally like softer fragrances. Be prepared for a short-lived experience however: The lasting power is nowhere near the tenacity of the classic in either of its concentrations.

If you love the original Mitsouko enough, the new Fleur de Lotus variant seems like a redundancy. If you do not, it is doubtful whether you will find something seismically different that would make you do a 180 degree turn. As March put it: "You can hear the right chords being played, but they’re in the background. Somewhere down the hall, but still there. I wouldn’t say, precisely, that it honors the original, but it doesn’t diminish it, either.". Nevertheless, people who might have objected to either the latest botched reformulated Mitsouko with its bread-like top note and its long finish of treemoss instead of oakmoss, or people who longed for a twist in the classic recipe like one less olive, one dash of vermouth less in their martini glass, might find in Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus a fragrance to successfully claim as their own. For my vintage collecting self it simply isn't a necessity, which affirms the thought that this is an attempt to grab new audiences, not established ones.

Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus is available in 60ml/2oz bottles of Eau de Toilette, whose design reprises the classic inverted heart bottle with a degradée of bright blue-ish shades and a white label. It retails for $100 at Guerlain boutiques exclusively and Saks Fifth Avenue NYC, Bergdorf Goodman NYC, Waldorf Astoria, Neiman Marcus at San Francisco, The Bellagio at Las Vegas, the Epcot Center at Orlando and The Breakers at Palm Beach.

One sample will be given to a lucky reader! State your interest at the comments, draw open till Friday midnight.


Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Guerlain series, flankers, Chypre series.

[1]Quote via Vanity Fair [2]Interview of Wasser and JPGuerlain at Wallpaper.
Pic of Linda Fiorention from the 1995 William Friedkin film "Jade" via L'internaute