CKfree Bottles Giveaway

We are hosting a giveaway of two full bottles of CK Free, the newest Calvin Klein fragrance, courtesy of their promo company. Simply enter a comment you'd like to be included and we will pick two winners. (Contest is reserved to US residents, only*)

If I were to review the brand, Calvin Klein fragrances have gone through an arch, I notice: from the provocative/innovative (Obsession for men and for women, CKOne and CKBe, last one my personal pick for great visuals and nice musk scent) to the mainstream (Contradiction, Euphoria, Crave, CKIn2 and their respective progeny), all through the surprisingly nice (Truth).
These are seperate continents with nothing but vast expanses of water to separate them: There is no cohesive glue sticking them together, no matter how acute your Magellan abilities are. Simply put, there is no single "Calvin Klein style"(no Calvinade, if you please) which makes every one of them something of a bet when choosing. I have noticed that Europeans have a higher regard than Americans for the brand, probably due to the syndrome of "no one's a prophet in their homeland", which is interesting to think about. Then again they did combine innovation and surpreme marketability in their CKOne more than a decade ago, got to give them that, I suppose. Since Calvin has disassociated himself from the house the path has been taken from the off-piste to the middle of the road.

The newest CKFree is a guy's scent for guys who don't really want to be edgy or provocative, just smell nice and fresh in the "just showered" sort of way with a splash of cooling spicy/gin&tonic accent in there. There is also a microscopic smoother woody element, which is completely inoffesive. If you're after an office scent or a gym scent or a scent for whatever activity will have you around other guys who want to smell nice and are appreciative of that quality on their peers, then you're set.

The scent is fronted by model Jaime Dornan (who also starred in Dior commercials, I'm reminding you) and well...with a face like that, one can recite off the telephone book and someone somewhere is going to pay attention! (Good choice marketing & advertising team guys!) I wish they'd go back to the agent provocateur visuals which we had celebrated in our Advertising Series here, though...Oh and nice packaging from what I see.

More information clicking here (the playlist includes such classic favourites as It's a beautiful day by U2 and Freedom by George Michael ~all with the word "free" in the lyrics in there, someone was toiling on Lyricsfreak for this). In classic high-tech age mode there is also a Twitter page, for those interested. But the catch in my humble opinion is this feature on the website which allows you to see the best places "to live free" via Google Maps.

Notes for CK Free:
Top: Thailand star anise, jackfruit, absinthe, juniper berry
Heart: suede, tobacco leaves, coffee absolute, South African buchu
Base: patchouli absolute, oakwood, texan cedarwood, costa rican ironwood


*NB the bottles will be sent to winners directly from the company in the USA and not myself, as I am stationed in Europe.

The winners of the draw...

...for the Le Cherche Midi gift set of candles is Samantha D and for the Le Cherche Midi complete fragrances samples set is Zazie. Congrats and please mail me using the email on profile with your shipping addresses so I can send these out to you!

Thanks everyone for the participation and till the next one!

Hello Kitty Woman: new fragrance (or Embracing Your Inner Child)

Fans of the definitive girly brand Hello Kitty by Sanrio ~and there are many~ will be delighted to find that after children's fragrances and millions of accessories, a new (pink) juice for adults (debatable...) under the name Hello Kitty Woman is launching under the aegis of Koto Parfums. Composed by Corinne Cachen, this new gourmand is based on the preference of the creator on candied red apples: The glossy sugar exterior hiding freshness inside, created by hesperidic notes of grapefruit, is also featuring notes of licorice which remind Cachen of her childhood, as well as raspberry and musk.

The kawaii packaging in white and rose will have Japanese young ladies all amok, I predict! Just what we needed I guess, another pink fruity floral! But well, fans of the kitschy kitten aren't to be trifled with. Have you seen their guns???

Available in 50ml/1.7oz and 100ml/3.4oz for 48 euros and 68 euros respectively at 80 Marrionaud in France, whereas beginning of December 2009 Hello Kitty Woman will expand into larger international markets.

Frederic Malle’s New Madison Avenue boutique

With personal objects from Malle's collection and art deco exteriors hiding the futuristic "smelling columns" that were popularised for the ultimate sniffing experience in his other shops, the first free-standing F.Malle boutique in New York is reality. His 18 fragrances composed by some of the star-perfumers of today along with his new home fragrances collection (which we highlighted previously on this article) are waiting for the takers.

"Frédéric Malle’s new Upper East Side store — his first free-standing location in the states — is much like his fragrances: refined and multilayered. Nestled in a former doctor’s office at 898 Madison Avenue, the jewel-box boutique was designed by the French architect Patrick Naggar, who drew inspiration from the building’s storied Art Deco exterior."

Read the rest of the article on The New York Times clicking this link.

Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, 898 Madison Avenue; (212) 249-7941.

Pic by Frances Janisch

Ormonde Jayne Tiare: fragrance review

Radiant, yet weightless, Tiare radiates the sharp, bright light one notices reflected on sunny days in the northern extremities of the Northern Hemisphere rather than the tropical beaches evoked by the name (coming as it does from the national emblem of Tahiti). Possessing an arresting optimistic streak of intense hesperidic notes ~lime and mandarin~ along with shimmering, diamond-like florals in the heart, the composition of Tiare projects with an unexpected verdancy and a scintillating aldehydic shimmer akin to sipping champagne on ice. In its way a discombobulating fragrance, but all in the best possible sense!

With the citrus touches, the (unmentioned) lily of the valley sweetly-piercing floralcy, and the delightful white florals (green jasmine and a subtle budding gardenia/tiare note) underpinned by a mossy-woody base I feel I ought to be out hopping along in a brightly reddish-coloured tartan skirt, getting the kind of frivolous and topsy-turvy fun we see in 50s and 60s black & white photographs that requires a cunningly naughty (gay?) male friend, a well-decked bank account and a big dollop of sentir bien dans sa peau. The amazing thing about Ormonde Jayne's Tiare is that it manages to give that feeling even if you do not possess any of the above, instantly putting you in the brightest mood as if the world is your personal buffet and you're choosing your hors d'oeuvres with gusto!

Linda Pilkington, the founder and creator of Ormonde Jayne, has used Tiare Absolute from Tahiti (extracted in Tahiti, refined in the US and furthermore in France before it reaches the OJ studio in London). The process is labour-intensive: the Tiare flower is hand picked whilst still unopened and laid in oil for 15 days to extract the fragrance. “From the moment I first encountered Tiare, the search was on to find the purest oil extraction. Tiare is a flower that doesn’t give up its secrets easily and it took many different incarnations, finding a subtle progression from citrus to flower, before I felt that we had an exceptional perfume.[...] Like the woman who wears Tiare, this is a perfume that totally ignores seasons and the time of day, a perfume so artfully blended and infinitely refined... but with a dash of scintillating appeal".

While talking with Linda, among other fascinating stuff, she had intimated that in her youth she had been an enthusiastic perfume wearer who mixed Diorella and Eau Sauvage. With such illustrious specimens as amulets, it's not hard to see how the best elements of both have sneaked their way into her latest creation. The initial impression of Ormonda Jayne Tiare is similar to the one I get when spraying Cristalle by Chanel, the folding of mossiness and cool grass into hesperidia. The kinship is more pronounced with Cristalle's Eau de Parfum concentration, in which the floral heart shimmers underneath the sharper elements, lending creaminess and descreet sensuality. In Tiare the gardenia, ylang-ylang and jasmin take the role that in the former was reserved for honeysuckle, imparting a mild sweetness that never becomes too much. Another example of the delicious champagne-bubbles-feel I am getting would have been Miller Harris Fleur du Matin and lovers of either scent are strongly urged to sample Tiare. You can thank me later...The lasting power is beyond amazing, which is usual with Ormonde Jayne scents (if you notice they tend to leave a tad oily film on the skin which proves just how generously rich they are in pure essence).

What is most impressive however is that despite Cristalle's pedigree it can often come across as bookish-secretary-in-a-sterile-office which limites its romance-wearing after-hours potential, but somehow, someway Ormonde Jayne managed to bypass that and combine both worlds: the intellectual and the sensual, the upbeat and the romantic; in a word, I'm hooked and my dithyrambic isn't at all misplaced! Tiare could be panseasonal, easing its way from the coolest of winter to the humid days of summer. In fact I long to wear it on the brightest snowiest morning when all the world looks like a tabula rasa for my writing, under the silent blanket of white...

My credit card trembles with fear at the prospect of having fallen hard for its charms. So should yours!

Notes for Ormonde Jayne Tiare:
Top: Mandarin, Orange Flower and Sicilian Lime
Heart: Tiare, Freesia, Water Lilies, Jasmine, Orris and Ylang Ylang
Base: Cedar, Vetiver, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Moss and Musk

Prices: £68 for Eau de Parfum 50 ml spray bottle and £ 180 for pure Parfum (50 ml with stopper). Available from The Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond Street , London W1S 4SL and Ormonde Jayne at Boutique 1 Jumeirah Beach , Dubai as well as online at Ormonde Jayne (worldwide shipping) from November 19th.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Ormonde Jayne news & reviews.

Photo of model Suzy Parker and Robin Tattersall in Scottish tartan wear by Richard Avedon via schukina/photobucket. Art photography by John Ralwings for Vogue (March 1943) via vsnrydrmr.com. In the interests of disclosure I was sent a sample vial from the manufacturer.