Jo Malone Vanilla & Anise: fragrance review

In contemplating the newest Jo Malone fragrance, Vanilla & Anise, one reverts to an overview of the brand, originally founded by one resourceful English woman and now owned by the gigantic Lauder group.

One of the ~superficial, you might judge~ attractions of the Jo Malone brand for me personally has always been that delicious waffle-toned packaging with the black, scented tissue paper and the matching ribbon-tied rectangular boxes: pure class and understated luxury at the drop of (the exactly right) panama hat. No big logos on the carrier bag, no glaring exhibits of glitz. The stacked-up bottles in the boutiques (like the one I had visited in London) make for the deeply satisfying feeling one gets when they manage to uniformly bind a collection of books in personally initialized leather: arguably my own library needs some work towards that end, as only a fraction has received that treatment yet, but I live in hope! Still Jo Malone's library of fragrances presents the same expectations: classy exteriors with contents to be savouringly explored.

The line has so far presented a division of sorts in its pleiad of offerings: there are the Jane Austens, full of sunlight, social banter and light character studies (French Lime Blossom, Lime Basil and Mandarin, Jasmine & Honeysuckle); and there are the Dostoyevsky-wannabes (Pomegranate Noir, 154, Wild Fig & Cassis, Nutmeg & Ginger). Unfortunately sometimes the latter resemble The Gambler, a dare of the Russian master to write up a novella in a month while simultaneously immersed in his famous masterpiece: they take place in Roulettenberg! Vanilla & Anise is placed someplace between the two: its intentions and onoma allude to the latter while the scent itself to the former.

Vanilla as a note seems to be experiencing a revival in niche and upscale brands with the innovative and ultra-luxurious Vanille Galante by Hermès {review link}, along with the newest Havana Vanille by L'Artisan {info here}, a reworking on their vanilla notion, many years after the candy-cotton ethylmaltol innovation of their ice-cream cone hologram Vanilia. I am saying a revival in the niche and upscale brands specifically, because the mainstream sector never abandonded their romantic notions of vanilla being an aphrodisiac; a snowballing concept to be brought to its rightful source: Guerlain and their great classics. The rewoking of vanilla in modern creations is a fresh approach of cleverly interwoven cool and warm facets, resembling changeant fabrics and eschewing the simplistic ice-cream flavourings that have occupied the lower end of the market for more than a decade now.

Per Jo Malone Vanilla & Anise is intended to “transport you to the floral valleys of Madagascar the moment that vanilla orchids bloom at day-break” since regardless of the fact that the vanilla orchid originated in Mexico, it is Madagascar which is today’s largest producer of vanilla. Curiously enough the scent isn't dominated by either vanilla or (star) anise, no matter the gourmand allusions these two might insinuate by their culinary proclivities. The surprise hiding under one of Malone's most successful creations, Lime Basil and Mandarin, has always been the peeking of an unexpected edginess under the greeting familiarity and this element has sneaked its way in Vanilla & Anise as well. In this case it is the bittersweet effect of the oleander note (and perhaps coumarinic accents) alongside the intense citrus touches (bergamot, neroli) clearly discernible, giving a decidedly summer feeling of vacationing at a resort someplace warm. If Hermès hadn't already issued the magnificent Vanille Galante one season ago with its predominatly lily-esque petal softness, I would have been marvelling at the new approach and applauding the delicate, meringue treatment rendered here, all crispy exteriors and airy insides. Nevertheless, given the fact that they already have in a most successful way artistically, I am less impressed the second time around.
Still, Vanilla & Anise should please those hankering after a luminous, air-spun lightly sweet fragrance with discreet floral touches, especially if they nostalgise about summery pleasures in the heart of winter. Those who prefer their vanillas folded into Dr.Oetker baking mixes or alternatively those who want them smokey-eyed and showing some hint of tushie beneath black see-through should go look for something else.

Notes for Jo Malone Vanilla & Anise:
Top Notes: Sicilian Bergamot, Tunisian Neroli, Wild Fennel Flower, Star Anise
Middle Notes: Oleander, Tuberose, Frangipani, Purple Vanilla Orchid
Base Notes: Madagascar Clove, White Amber, Vetiver Bourbon, Vanilla Bourbon Absolute, Tonka.

International launch for Vanilla & Anise is expected in September, but the scent has already reached Nordstorm, the 100ml costs £64, 30ml is £32. Visit the official Jo Malone site here.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Anise, wormwood and absinthe series

Painting by Colette Calascione via formfiftyfive.com

Keira shows some breast instead of chest for Coco Mademoiselle

What is Keira up to now? Ooopsie, doopsie, she's baring a breast or two, nicely plumped through Photoshop of course (a repeat actually), if Internet candids are anything to go by, in order to sell a unianimously best-selling fragrance by Chanel, Coco Mademoiselle.

A photo that looks like a spin on an already artistically successful print campaign which we analysed in detail in our "In a Suspender State of Mind" article. Why? I mean...what's the point? The advertising image was plenty sexy without showing any inch of skin before and although I am no prude, it somehow doesn't need it. Did we give them ideas with our Charlotte Rampling in "Night Porter" references in the above article? Let's not "eulogise our beard" just yet. It would be super neat if big companies listened to perfume writers such as myself and many others, but we're a long way from influencing campaigns, alas.


So what's new? That the behind the scenes shot shows more ribcage or that there is the mysterious double standard that reminds me of the duality of European and American versions of the Tom Ford masterminded Paris menage à trois shoot for Yves Saint Laurent some years ago? (contrasted here on this article) And Tom Ford and Keira have conspired on a nude picture before for Vanity Fair. Hmmm....

What do you think? Do you like it? Do you prefer the more covered one? Why/Why not?

Images sent to me by a valued friend, unacredited. They seem to appear on the Examiner (not any more!) , hollywoodgossip and showhype.com

Kasia Smutniak fronts the upcoming Idole d'Armani

Recently we had speculated whether the face of the upcoming feminine fragrance of Giorgio Armani would be Angelina Jolie when news of an agreement between the uber-mom and the designer had hit the newstands. Backed with the collaboration with David Beckhman for the eagerly expected advertising campaign we had even composed a collage for a prospective naughty shooting idea! Yet the reality as hinted by one of our most clever readers was different: it seems like the powerful celebrity duo will front another franchise in the Armani perfume-brand, especially since Victoria Beckhman has ended her one-year contract with the designer for the brand's Emporio Armani (but her husband has not). The news is that Idole will be fronted by Polish actress Kasia Smutniak.

"I chose Kasia to be the face of my new fragrance, Idole d'Armani, because she has a fresh and modern appeal which combines true feminine sensuality and rare beauty with inner strength of character. She embodies the spirit of the Idole d'Armani woman perfectly", said Giorgio Armani. {source} Judging by her model looks (look at her prominent bone structure!) I don't see many women identifying with her really, nor do I see anything distinctive and out of the expectedly pretty as proposed by the art directors, but maybe I am overpicky visually or premature in my impressions... And with a name like Kasia, I would have loved for the fragrance to be cassia-based. Oh well...

Idole d'Armani will be available in stores worldwide from September 2009 and you can read an article with preliminary (and perplexing I might add) quotes from mr.Armani on this link and some info on the juice and the bottle on this link.

Related reading on Perfumeshrine: Upcoming releases, Advertising series, Armani news and reviews

Pics of Kasia Smutniak via fashionindie.com and shoppingblog.com

Serge Lutens Fourreau Noir: fragrance review

Noir this, noir that...What is it about Black that makes it creep up on you with the silent force of a nidja? After Serge Noire [click for review] which was inspired by the black serge material used for clothing for so long, now comes Fourreau Noir from il maestro Serge Lutens and his sidekick Christopher Sheldrake. I was lucky to preview it before its official release (next month) and its perplexing attributes have me pondering on its retro ambience.

The name means "black seath", but also the petticoat garment that was used to make dresses with lower-body volume stay crisp is referenced, as staying even today in fashion parlance "en fourreau pleats". The desire to allude to timelessness is evident and one could liken it to perfume companies' desire to present a hint to the classicism of their compositions not destined to be ephemera (although Guerlain's La Petite Robe Noire was nothing but!)
The coumarinic, benzopyrone tonka bean note laced with only a hint of lavender appears fougère-like (hold the moss, please) in Fourreau Noir with a musk bottom that is between proper and improper; an allusion and wordplay almost, between the Latin lavare (to wash, to clean) of lavender and the intimacy of warm caramel-rich musk ~of which Lutens has cornered the market with polar opposites Clair de Musc and Muscs Kublai Khan. If Encens et Lavande and Gris Clair are intensely about lavender, but of the smoky kind and respectively warm and cool, Fourreau Noir is not predominantly about lavender but tips the hat to the extrait de parfum version of Jicky missing its intensely animalic vintage character (ie.civet).
Fougère ("fern-like") forms one pillar of the modern perfume classification, usually masculine-geared, originally founded by the legendary Fougère Royale for Houbigant which was composed by renowned perfumer Paul Parquet. The main accord of this fantasy scent ~ferns don't really have a smell of their own~ includes a bright top note of lavender and sensual base notes of oakmoss and coumarin, with a popular subdivision being "aromatic fougères" which include herbaceous notes, spices and woods.

Atypical for Lutens arguably to go for an overt masculine smell in any of his fragrances, championing the reign of the unisex so far most vehemently (even the virile-looking Vetiver Oriental is more oriental than vetiver in fact!). Yet in Fourreau Noir, the "black sheath" is more of a throw-back to 80s bachelor silk boxer shorts, encasing "peau de mec" (guy's skin) meant to hint at the seductive stakes of a rich playboy that undulates between Bret Easton Ellis heroes ~ Less Than Zero debutants and American Psycho's gang of lawyers~ splashing a bit of Gaultier's Le Male without any inhibitions as to its perceived gay quota, with a hint of patchouli. Contrary to the cocaine-sniffing which such associations would bring to our vortex with the haste of lightining, there is a discreet and revisionistically pleasant whiff of marihuana-incense plus caspirene (the later reminiscent of a gigantic feminine bestseller, can you guess?). Tonka beans also pledge their allegience with hay, vanilla grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum) and sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata) while coumarin, the main component, derived through the cyclization of cinnamic acid, bunches them up all together for the sweet picking. Suffice to say the intemingling is evocative of closely-shaven cheeks (no three-day stubble from this guy!), topping expensive Cerruti suits, dancing dangerously close to yours.
My friend Denyse first mentioned dihydromyrcenol, a synthetic note which Chandler Burr describes as an abomination ("sink cleanser spilled on an aluminum counter"), included in several masculine fougères and aquatics of the 1990s (Drakkar Noir, Cool Water, Aqua di Gio, CK One, YSL Nuit de l’homme, but also Coco Mademoiselle!!). Dihydromyrcenol as a raw material does smell harshly of lime-citrus with a metallic yet also aromatic edge and is very fresh (interpret this as you'd like). However the effect at least when dabbing Fourreau Noir on the skin is not as harsh as all that to me personally, aided by the mock bravado displayed by the sweeter aspects of the composition no doubt, such as a bittersweet myrrh inclusion, a nod to the majestic Lutensian opus La Myrrhe (to which I will revert soon) as well as the other elements mentioned above (impressions of patchouli, ambery hints).

While Fille en Auguilles (the latest export Lutens fragrance, reviewed here) has unlocked precious memories for me, this one has not produced the same reverie yet, perhaps because that dizzying lifestyle hasn't been mine. If he offers Fourreau Noir, with a handheld velours compact hiding an expensive jewel but shutting swiftly before you touch it as a joke, question yourself about accepting: are you frizzily-haired Pretty Woman enough for it?

Serge Lutens Fourreau Noir notes: tonka bean and lavender, with musk, almond and lightly smoky accents.

Fourreau Noir officially debuts on 1st September 2009 as an exclusive to Les Salons du Palais Royal in Paris (75 ml, 110 €) in the familiar bell-jars that stack up on the purple and black shelves. The picture depicts the Limited Edition bottle which is in total disaccord with anything opulently Lutensian so far: I am perplexed but also intrigued despite myself!
Edit to add: People have been wanting that kitty bottle. Might I point out that it is only the Limited Edition bottle and those go for 850 euros each :-(

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Serge Lutens news and reviews, Paris shopping


Pics Less Than Zero via pastemagazine.com, Pretty Woman via blog.jinni.com.

Back from holidays.....

And preparing several surprises for you, including a new Series on an important Material, exotic treasures and corresponding pictures as well as news and reviews of forgotten classics and new releases.
But we will kick off the bat later today with a sneak preview of the upcoming exclusive Lutens fragrance, announced previously on these pages!



In the clip Charles Castronovo sings Nadir's aria from Georges Bizet's "Les Pecheurs des Perles" (The Pearl Fishers), a magnificent opera set in ancient Ceylon, which perfectly captures the sweet nostalgia the passing of these holidays is already producing in me.

"Encore je crois entendre encore caché sous les palmiers
Sa voix tendre et sonore comme un chant de ramiers.
Oh nuit enchanteresse, divin ravissement.
Oh souvenir charmant, folle ivresse, doux rêve!
Aux clartés des étoiles je crois encore la voir entr'ouvrir ses longs voiles aux vents tièdes du soir.
Oh nuit enchanteresse, divin ravissement.
Oh souvenir charmant, folle ivresse, doux rêve!"

"I still believe I hear, hidden beneath the palm trees, your voice tender and deep like the song of a dove.
Oh night enchantress, divine rapture,
delightful thought mad intoxication, sweet dream in the clear starlight
I still believe I see in between the long sails of the warm night breeze.
Oh night enchantress, divine rapture.
Oh charming souvenir, delightful thought, mad intoxication, sweet dream!"