Les Parfums de Rosine: fragrance history & Hymn to the Rose

Today's piece of fragrance history was prompted by an article in the Jakarta Post, dedicated on the creator of niche line Les Parfums de Rosine, Marie Hélène Rogeon, the woman who reintroduced the brand originally masterminded 80 years before by her antecentant, renowned couturier Paul Poiret for his beloved daughter Rosine (He established Les Ateliers de Martine for his younger daughter in the same year, 1911).

Rogeon established herself at Les Jardins du Palais Royal in Paris before Serge Lutens, in 1991 and they co-exist happily side by side ever since, a visit garlanded with memories of girly romanticism stacked against mystical opulence. Many of the original Rosine fragrances were created by legendary perfumer Henri Alméras, the composer of several legendary Jean Patou fragrances {click link for reviews} as well as Emannuel Bouler and Maurice Shaller. François Robert (for Rose d'Homme), Pierre Bourdon (for Roseberry), and Camille Latron (for the newer releases) have all contributed to the re-issued portfolio of Les Parfums de Rosine. The compositions follow a simple rule: They're above all dedicated to the kind of flowers, the rose, in various guises and manifestations. From the traditionally powder puff of iris-ladden Pousierre de Rose to the creamy, bright explosion of a pas de deux between rose and sandalwood in Rosa Flamenca through the lemony-tea infusion of Zeste de Rose and the mischievous spicy flirt to dirt of Diabolo Rose, Les parfums de Rosine offer an embarassement of riches for rose-maniacs.

"Paul Poiret was a ground breaking designer that freed {sic} European women from their corsets. He launched a perfume line called Les Parfums de Rosine in honor of his deceased daughter Rosine {sic}. Rogeon's grandfather was commissioned to manufacture fragrances for him but did not create them himself. Later the great depression and war came, and production ceased. Poiret came back after the war only to find himself being replaced by new fashions like Coco Chanel and his fashion house disappeared. The perfume bottles disappeared too. Rogeon, though, met them really early in her life - in her grandparents' attic. "My grandparents kept some labels and some old bottles in their attic... unfortunately the perfume was sold out - there were only labels left," she said. "I realized also during my studies that this range of perfume was really creative because Paul Poiret just wanted to use some geraniums, nobody else used it before," she said. The creativity amazed her and prompted her to revive the manufacturing. She does not follow the original bottle design but kept the logo and the tassel, and the fragrance expected of de Rosine.
She has gone beyond the resurrection of the old fragrances - with some tweaking to follow modern safety regulations. She has come out with her own blends of rosy scents - for men and women - drawing her experiences from different cultures. In her hands, a rose is no longer about a rose. Rose blended with a musky leathery mix in Rose d'Homme, for example, brings out elegant masculinity in men. Rose Praline is like having a tint of chocolate herb tea while rushing through a rose bush, bringing that playful but yet not girly feeling. Rose Kashmirie is a garden of roses and Chinese peonies in one place. La Rose de Rosine combines ylang ylang, jasmine, iris and tonka beans in the same flower beds."

You can read the interesting article here. A list of the vintage Parfums de Rosine can be found on Perfume Projects.

Les Parfums de Rosine are available in Paris, at Barney's, at Rosenstein in Montreal, Canada, at Galleries Lafayette, at Body n'Soul in Athens, Greece, at Mecca Cosmetica in Australia, online at their official site , Beautyhabit & at Aus Liebe Zum Duft (First in Fragrance), and at the newest boutique at Papillion 2, Plaza Indonesia, in Jakarta.

If you have a favourite Rosine, come out and let us know which and why you love it!

Pics lusciouscargo and perfumeprojects.com

Emma Watson for Burberry, not Chanel

Last year, at about this time, there were rumours flying that Emma Watson would front the new Coco Mademoiselle ads for Chanel and we had discussed a bit on the possibilities here. Later on the Chanel publicists shot this one down and we retracted. And if our article on the new Coco Mademoiselle print ad with Keira Knightley hasn't convinced you the above scenario is not in the cards, I don't know if this snippet will; but news on the block say Emma Watson, the Hermione character in the Harry Potter franchise (and a lovely little lady, if you ask me) is joining forces with Burberry. The info is official and she will be featured in the autumn-winter 2009-2010 advertisements, shot by Mario Testino in Westminster, London.

Emma Watson is thus succeding Kate Moss, Agyness Dain and Rachel Weisz. Considering that the latter had been the face for the Burberry London floral fragrance for women (20007), perhaps we might see the cute face of Emma peeking through our latest Vogue issue with fragrant strips soon. It remains to be seen.

I wonder what Karl Lagerfeld who used to dress her in Chanel has to say about this. Probably not much!

Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman: fragrance review

"The Chevalier stops, dazzled, at the door: the mirrors covering all the walls multiply their reflections in such a way that suddenly an endless procession of couples are embracing all around them". ~Slowness, Milan Kundera

If you asked me how I knew that the initially named "Ormonde" would be one of my favourites in the Ormonde Jayne line, then I'd tell you that having sampled the lot of them, its languid decay and bittersweet melancholy stood out in my mind for weeks to come and all of a sudden I realised I had to have it! Its dichotomy startled me: Was it dicepherable as that rare genus of a dry woody originally aimed at women (yet men are welcome to borrow) or was it a Sibyllic opaque alloy of contradictions? Ormonde Woman exemplifies admirably what Chandler Burr described: "Ormonde Jayne has created a collection that possesses the quality I most value in perfume: a wonderful and mesmerising strangeness". Pretty, beloved notes take on a grotesque façade that makes them appear convulted in the most arresting way, like figures seen in profile at the mirrors chamber of some far away fun fair through the convulted lens of David Lynch.

A peppery green whisper of Ormonde Woman on a summer day makes me appreciate its haunting, eerie beauty even more, reeling me from the dreary conventionality of mainstream releases into a subtly wicked fairytale. Though woody fragrances are typically pigeonholed in the cooler season, I like to bring out the most understated among them for reveling in their sophisticated embrace even on the sunniest of days. Brooding claustrophobia where no sunlight can penetrate seems to engulf you when woody fragrances unfold in the snow and sleat, and yet wait and luminosity cuts through the enchanted cobwebs, making them sparkle like jewels when cast under the bright morning sun.

The rooty, piney and spicy opening of wet earth and sinister anthropomorphic grasses mingles with a sweet, almost licorice-like violet delicacy in Ormonde Woman's heart, uplifting the composition into a sophisticated enigma; one which cannot be dissected into sexual temptation and loss of innocence, yet one feels they're all there, under the trampled leaves like a not-so-innocent adult Red Riding Hood who strayed off the path to become a she-wolf. The poison cup offered comes in the dangerous guise of black hemlock absolute, a rare essence that the founder Linda Pilkington utilises in rarely foreseen quantities to concoct just the right hypnotic spell. A tireless traveller, Linda has fostered relationships with growers all over the world from Laos and the Philippines to Morocco and France, gaining her remarkable access to the most unusual exotic oils. The drydown of Ormonde Woman bears facets of a dry, non-sweet amber that peters out inivisibly. Fabric Magazine said it well: "Her signature scent Ormonde Woman made from black hemlock is a real femme fatale, all black feathers, felt capes and illicit affairs"

Notes for Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman: cardamom, coriander, grass oil, black hemlock, violet, jasmine absolute, vetiver, cedar wood, amber, and sandalwood.

Ormonde Woman can be purchased directly from the official Ormonde Jayne website or at their London boutique.

For our readers an amazing offer: Mail sales@ormondejayne.com with "Perfume Shrine Ormonde Woman" in the title to receive 200 complimentary deluxe samples of Ormonde Woman! The 201st person will get an Ormonde Woman Bathing Beauty Gift Box!!

Clarification after a question to OJ: The new packaging in the square rather than oblong bottle has been raised in price due to costs involved: the costs of essence oils have risen, the caps are in glass instead of plastic and the whole presentation has become even more luxurious!

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Ormonde Jayne news, interviews and reviews

Painting Anansi & death by Johanna Uhrman via jonnakonna.com
Mirror picture via guardian.co.uk

Fille en Aiguilles & Fourreau Noir: First Images & Associations of the upcoming Lutens fragrances

The new fragrances of Serge Lutens, which we had announced on this article a while ago, will soon debut (Fille en Aiguilles comes out on July 1st!) and the speculation on what they entail is high: The Lutensian cosmos always produces something of an enigma, a riddle that necessitates multiple solutions like a geometry problem that can be approached in different ways, still all of them resulting in the concentrated essence of a new look to our world.


For Fourreau Noir Lutens takes a sartotial point of departure to narrate a tale of mystery.
"Two white hands emerge against the light, moving so slowly that they redefine the shadows, making them look darker. The contours of the body, illuminated by a gleam of light seeping through an open door, offer contrast. She moves forward, trampling the stairs beneath her feet, her smile broadens. With all the virtue of vice, this tight black dress had such a fluid shape that I could revel in its language..." Serge's fascination with the juxtaposition between black and white is infamous. Serge Noire was also alluding to it with its smoky trail and controversial press-release and the Japonesque fascination with the painted white skin is something which haunts the creative imagination of Lutens for long.

The limited edition bell jar (a special presentation of the Paris exclusive regular bell jars for collectors) is positively kittenish; perhaps the most playful flacon to ever come out of Les Salons du Palais Royal with its cat sketch seen from the back, gazing at the stars suspended in the lightly rosey-purplish juice.
The mysterious juice takes another incensy trail, the one left over by the more ecclesiastical and spicier Serge Noire, which took the hardened path to cloth, the one of utilitarian dress, while Forreau Noir denotes more luxury with its silky body-conscious aura. The lavender is diminuated, in order to let hay/tonka bean and incense do their thing, so we should expect a more feminine and less traditional composition than the typical masculine fougère.

For Fille en Aiguilles, Serge is playing with us: "Under a sunshade, the reckless cicada begins to sing. What a silly thing. A truly fatal hymn! Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick.
Telling us what makes Paris tick..."
I do notice however that the French text utilises the phrase Une fille à aiguilles en quelque sorte (a girl on needles of some kind) which could imply either simply stiletto points, or her disquetitude of being "on needles". Of course the pine resin which is the obvious association of the pine resin in the notes is not to be missed. While at the same time the press release ends with "Le dernier cri de Paris", which translates as "the latest vogue". Is it because it picks up a trend that hasn't been noticed up till now or does it hope to introduce a trend in itself? Deciphering the riddle posed is never conclusive. After the conventionally pretty Nuit de Cellophane, shall we expect a flamboyant firerwork like the sublime El Attarine? I fervently hope for the latter result, at any rate!

You can read notes and preliminary assumptions based on them on this article.
For the time being, the only full reviews online are those by Elisabeth de Feydeau in French on this link.
We will return soon with our own, starting with Fille en Aiguilles!


Click on pics to enlarge!

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Serge Lutens scents & news, Upcoming releases

How to deodorise the cat litter box & get decants for summer

"Recent record-breaking rains are dampening more than just New Yorkers' moods and shoes -- those of us who live with cats are experiencing litter overload.[...]Poof, a mint-scented oil spray designed to make a human's bathroom atmosphere more pleasant, has the same effect on a litter box (poofdrops.com). Poof also makes a Magical Deodorizing Spray for use on dogs, but it's a dogsend for kitty's box, too (available at PetSmart stores)".

This and other tips on how to combat the litter box aroma of your domestic feline are suggested in this article on the New York Post.

Online decanters on the other hand get a nod for their contribution on this article on
The Atlanta Journal Constitution by Nedra Rhone:

"With more than 500 new fragrance launches a year, it’s hard to know which of the magical potions is well-composed and which ones you should leave behind. Six years ago, Atlanta fragrance lover Diane Weissman began decanting perfumes into small vials or bottles that she would sell on eBay to customers who wanted to sample fragrances. “I love scents, but not in the way most people wear perfumes,” said Weissman, of East Cobb. “They have to spray it all over themselves… . I don’t want anyone to know what I’m wearing unless they are very close to me. It is my little mood lift.” Two years ago, Weissman and three other decanters joined forces to launch ThePerfumedCourt.com (a reference to Louis XV)".

Might as well mention one of them, Patty Geissler, is involved in the Perfume Posse blog, a fun read!