Enrique Iglesias for Azzaro Homme: new face, new campaign

Azzaro pour Homme, the fougere classic from 1978 is gaining a new spin, that of the seducteur (a womaniser), in the face of Enrique Iglesias (full name Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler).

The son of Spanish legend Julio Iglesias is a singing star in his own right: Recognised at numerous awards (including Grammys, American Music Awards and the 2008 NRJ Music Award for Best International Masculine Artist) the top-selling Spanish-speaking singer worldwide according to data as of this minute, Enrique is successful, handsome and the "exotic" yet approachable type that would have consumers sit up and take notice. Enrique Inglesias's own track record is impressive with liaisons with Sofia Vergara, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Shannon Elizabeth, Samantha Torres, and the ex Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

The press release is quite clear-cut into what they are aiming at: "It takes a certain kind of man to personify the distinctive style of this iconic fragrance: the eternal charmer, a man who loves and respects women. The proverbial "tall, dark and handsome"… good looks, unmistakable, innate sensuality, a magnetic personality and energy… "

Enrique is all that and we're elated he isn't lending his pretty mug for a celebrity scent now. His previous take on celebrity endorsement included a stint for Tommy Hilfiger's True Star (Refresh your memory with this). Under the auspices of Michel Mallard, Artistic Director of the new Azzaro pour Homme campaign, and with Steven Klein behind the lens at the Pier 59 Studios in NYC, the fragrance which was previously positioned as the professional type of the 80s overachiever is coming into a new image.

The new campaign for Azzaro pour Homme is set to roll this coming October and looks like it will entice a younger wave of wannabe "Latin lovers" into trying this woody classic. Good job, Azzaro team!

Cacharel Scarlett: fragrance review

It is with a sense of disillusionment that I encountered Scarlett by Cacharel while perusing the aisles of Sephora in search of a gift. The brand has something of νόστος, of L'Éternel Retour for me: Anais Anais with its funeral parlour lillies (no offence inferred) always attracted me with its subtle autumnal romanticism which so contrasted with our innocence of the times; Loulou has been a sweet memory of long-ago, a shadowed Lolitesque reprise of L'Heure Bleue behind the parapet of a circus (and it still has devoted fans); Cacharel pour Homme was rampant in school, even though it probably didn't merit quite such a popularity; Eden and Eau d'Eden had the merit of being completely individual in their own little way (a wet wools fruity-oriental and a watermelon ozonic that didn't hiss at you, respectively); Noa is a pretty white musk with a powdery little whiff that can be an office-friendly scent that's not completely trite thanks to a hint of coffee; and Gloria was ~before its unexplained discontinuation~ a pipe-tobacco dream on the lips of a modern young coquette posing at some night-club wearing a pailleté top and licking Amaretto off her lips.
Then they started producing über-sweet fruity stuff that was mediocre at best: Amor Amor, Promesse and Liberté seemed like efforts to tune in the craziness of everybody else issuing fruity florals with intense sweetness on a bed of cleaned-up patchouli, no doubt hot on the heels of Coco Mademoiselle's commercial success: efforts with results hard to deferentiate between and ultimately forgettable. Along with a pleiad of flankers that didn't shine any too brightly in the galaxy...

Scarlett goes even lower, reminding me of a deodorant mist or a shampoo more than a perfume and it really pains me to say so. Composed by such experienced and talented perfumers such as Honorine Blanc, Olivier Cresp and Alberto Morillas, it's probably a testament to the rush of companies to issue new things at a breakneck speed giving them about a week to come up with something. Or alludes to the desire to adress a pre-nubile audience raised on Japanese-style erasers and soapy non-perfumey "perfume" on their mothers: If you're brought up on Amazing Grace, anything more smelly than a bar of soap just might trip you into sensory overload. "Soapy" isn't necessarily bad, if done right: Great aldehydics of yore as well as modern musky florals prove it can be pleasant and even refined. The wrong kind however can tilt the scales into floor cleaner, deodorant cream and the laundry cupboard.

Scarlett starts on fresh pears that hint at the lightly gourmand and innocent opening of Petit Chérie by Annick Goutal and continues on girly transparent (and completely artificial, detergent-style) flowers, while vaguely being reminiscent of Juicy Couture overall only less polished. It completely belies both its wonderful flacon ~designed by Christophe Pillet~ and its fiesty name that would allude to passion and sensuality (this is neither O'Hara, nor Johansson). And just because someone had it phrased so very wittingly I am borrowing their words for once and quoting: "If Scarlett had worn this, she could have stopped the war all by herself. The yankees would have suffocated on their approach to Atlanta, and Rhett Butler would have donned a bonnet and crinoline and danced with Ashley Wilkes rather than endure our whiffy heroine".

But its invitation is so short-lived that a testing spree shouldn't leave you with too much to wash off, so do give it a try when you approach a department store and see if you think differently. I thought it wouldn't work too great on blood stains anyway...

Eau de Celebrity: Waning, waning...?

In the last 10 years everyone who is recognised a bit more widely than their schoolmates, their own mother and possibly their hamster seems to have issued a fragrance bearing their name in gilt lettes on bottles produced by Parlux and Coty (mainly). The phenomenon nicknamed "celebrity fragrances" had accumulated epic proportions in the last couple of years when even reality game players had their own eponymous scent on the market (no disrespect to poor late Jane Goody), adding to a massive churn-out in the class of the hudnreds. Thankfully (to many, ourselves included) it seems that, despite Beyonce, Kim Kardashian and Peter Andre all having a scent in the works, the trend is on its waning phase.

"[...] it has recently been revealed by retailers that these products don't have the longevity of classic fragrances and that customers actually don't want to smell like someone off Big Brother after all. Jason Zemmel, founder of online discount store halfpriceperfumes, said: “It’s a fickle market with celebrity scandals and poor album sales having a direct effect on sales of celebrity scents. It used to be the biggest stars that brought out a scent but we now have all manner of C-listers churning out fragrances whenever they have something to promote.”

Adding that:

“Whilst some, like the Britney Spears range sells well, we’ve found many have shunned the scents of lesser known celebs. We’re now seeing resurgence for classic scents such as Christian Dior, Elizabeth Arden and Chanel, that have been around for years,” said Zemmel.

Parlux is on record for losing $4.3m last year and a reported $2.5m loss in the second quarter of this year. Whether the economic recession is having any relation to the buying patterns of consumers who would rather spend their money on something they really perceive as necessary (or as prestigious, when they do spend over budget)is not accounted for. It does seem that overexposure to specific names has created satiation and boredom and that only strong names are surviving, such as the Jennifer Lopez empire of scents or the Beckham duo.
Shall we all heave a collective sigh of "oh good!" and forget about the overexposed faces that greet us with their candid shots on the front pages of Hello magazine? Here's to hoping! Or at least that from the collective stink only the nice fumes (no matter how few) will surface victorious and sustain their life on the shelves.

Read the full article on Body Confidential.

Victoria Beckham pic courtesy of American Elle magazine.

The winner of the draw....

.....for the complete set of Essentially Me fragrance samples is Flora/Donna.
Please email me your information using the addy on my Profile and I will have these out to you in no time.
Thank you everyone for your enthusiastic participation and stay tuned for the next one!

New Exhibition and Books on Perfume: Annick le Guerer & Pierre Dinand

Annick Le Guérer, historian and no newcomer when it comes to fragrance and smell writing, is coming out with another exciting tome, titled Quand Le Parfum portait remede (When fragrances produced a cure), reprising the title of the exhibition she helped organise at St.Antoine L'Abbaye (June 14th till November 11th 2009).
The exhibition proposed a new approach to the prophylactic and therapeutic use of scent, going back to the beginnings of materia medica, when smells were considered to serve as remedies to a pleiad of ailments. Discovering the Medieval scented waters which were recreated in the 19th century, its distillation found way into the glossy pages of a book by Annick Le Guerer and (hold on to your seats, this is exciting!) olfactory illustrated by perfumes which have been rejingled by master perfumers Daniela Andrier and Dominique Ropion of Givaudan and Internation Flavors & Fragrances. Visit the official site for more info.

50 Years of Design reprises the work of acclaimed flacon designer Pierre Dinand, the man who almost single-handedly has optically enriched our appreciation of fluted crystal and innovative shapes appearing on our vanity cases and in our bathroom shelves and a living legend. His creations are too many to list in their entirety since he was producing half the bottles produced in the last 30 years, (well-known triumphs include Opium, Calandre, Eternity, Ivoire, Fendi, Madame Rochas, Obsession, L'Occitane bottles, the Mure et Musc limited edition mure flacon...) but after so many years in the industry he now dedicates most of his time to sculpture. His work can be seen at the Oita Kaori-no Mori Perfume Museum, Kiushu, Japan. The book will feature illustrations, photographs and stories about some of his most aesthetically triumphant and commercially successful work for perfumery. To be eagerly anticipated this coming winter.

Pics via lesamisdu7.com and Pierre Dinand site.