L'Eau Serge Lutens: new fragrance, l'anti-parfum

If cleaninliness is next to godliness in Anglo-Saxon cultures, then Serge Lutens, the maestro of conceptual orientalia with plenty of "dirty", cuminy sprinkles along the way, re-introduces the idea with the moniker that cleanliness is next to luxury. His motto for his upcoming release leaves little doubt: "La propreté est une luxe!" Cleanliness is a luxury. Serge Lutens presents L'Eau Serge Lutens, "L'Anti-Parfum": "le savon le plus cher du monde" (i.e.the world's most expensive soap), that is to say a perfumer's idea of "clean", conceived alongside his long-time collaborator Chris Sheldrake. Testament to his path till now is Clair de Musc with its transparent, crystalised musk, the idea of a cozy second skin which breathes and lives with you. Or perhaps Nuit de Cellophane, an atypical floral Lutens based on osmanthus and light honeyed notes that crackle under the crispness of cellophane and the night.

Indeed Lutens had been thinking about the notion of "clean" and how to interpret it for quite some time now, it's not just a sudden break with his previous portfolio. The avant-garde painter Francis Picabia (1879-1953) had interestingly proclaimed between 1912-1920 that "la propreté est le luxe du pauvre: soyez sale!" (i.e. cleanliness is the luxury of the poor: be dirty!") Certainly with the increasing commodities in plumbing and indoors water supply, the urban lower classes, for centuries destined to live among filth, suddenly had access to the elements of hugiene, equating them in outer appearence at least to the upper classes. This elitist stance by Picabia is echoing in my ears as I open the new promo material by Lutens: Could it be that Serge is having a good laugh on us all? It wouldn't be the first time he employs a healthy dose of humour in his opus (see Fille en Aiguilles, Tubereuse Criminelle, Mandarine Mandarin...).

The new offering is the upcoming international release for next spring (March), although it will be available in Europe from February 1st, and be part of the export line of fragrances aimed at both sexes. The promotion text is talking about this new diametrically antithetical stance which deviates from the opulent orientalia of plush woods and spices. "This creation is my response to a world that is overscented... I might even say 'embalmed'... in the sense that the ritual of wearing perfume is no longer about romance but part of a meaningless ritual." [quote] Stopping to think about the oversaturation of the market with several hundreds of intrusive perfumes that are screaming "me too" mentality about its wearers, he's got a point! Certainly the playfulness with which he has been handling his eponymous line in both concepts and names is a sign of his full grasp of how the discerning customer wants to distinguish themselves.

"Une chemise blanche, fraîche, à l'instant où on la passe. Une fraîcheur qui pursuit les heures. Une page blanche.": A clean white shirt at the moment one puts it on. Freshness which persists hour after hour. A blank page. Perhaps the real meaning lies at this last phrase: The new anti-perfume serves as a canvas on which to graft one's own personality. The whole notion of an eau (scented water) is a priori a study in lightness but also of tautology: "comme le chat s’appelle le chat!" (the way a cat is called a cat!). Lutens doesn't like cologne, so this is not following the Eau de Cologne genre. Therefore we have a composition which should be diaphanous (but not aquatic!) and easily lend itself to the personality of its wearer, projecting a clear, distinct message. Perfume historian Elisabeth de Feydeau, who was present at the presentation, insists on the complexity of its accords built on well-known notes: bracing hesperidia for the opening, magnolia with its waxy, paraffin-like aspect highlighted in the heart, soapy background of notes that recall the hermine furs that hide behind the royal personages of France's history. How ironic that this royal heritage is intermingled in a "parfum pauvre" if we are to take Picabia's quote to heart!

L'Eau Serge Lutens is presented in a very artistic, conceptial video on this link. Serge is seen smoking (there goes the French idea of "clean"), going up and down the elevator, contemplating with his usual philosophical attitude, the camera zooming on his shirt and tie, his hands, his gaze... I wouldn't expect anything less.

The new L'Eau Serge Lutens is embottled in a longer, even more architectural flacon which reminds me of the first cosmetic preparations by Shiseido and is perhaps a hark-back to those days of Eudermine, the beautifying lotion-cum-aromatic in the long red bottle. Its white, spartan looks suit the idea of "clean" admirably and it has something of an understated luxury about it. After all, "porteriez-vous des bijoux sales ?", would you wear dirty jewels?

The concept of perfume as parfum bijou is at the heart of the Lutensian mentality and finds us very simpatico. Perfume to be seen as luxury has to be seperated from both its status-symbol placement (so bourgeois! so nouveau riche!) and its use as a habitual gesture, like brushing one's teeth or applying face cream, mechanical moves that comprise the grooming routine. It needs to be savoured fully on the appropriate occasion. As he has intimated in a previous interview "I am not one to go for perfume wearing for every day, like a commodity. But when I do, I am not miserly, I use it with abandon..."

L'Eau Serge Lutens Eau de Parfum 100ml, 100 euros availalble next March everywhere the export line of Lutens is sold.

Related reading on Perfumeshrine: Serge Lutens news and reviews

Please visit Elisabeth de Feydeau, and journaliste.overblog and grain de musc for more impressions.

Hilde Soliani Ciocospezissimo & Ciocorosissimo: fragrance reviews

It was with delight that I had introduced perfume audiences outside Italy to the cosmos of Hilde Soliani niche Italian scents and it is with immense joy that I can continue to feed your appetite for her pleasing wares: Her two latest fragrances, Ciocospezissimo and Ciocorosissimo, which we have the exclusive preview of here on Perfume Shrine, are part of her Profumo e Gusto in Libertà lineup [click for more reviews]. They're totally scrumptious and every lover of good gourmands should try to get hold of samples.

The names are Italian superlatives of their respective chords: chocolate and spice for Ciocospezissimo, chocolate and rose for Ciocorosissimo and have been inspired by Hilde's love for Italian gelato (which comes in the most sophisticated flavours imaginable, such as Boccalone Prosciutto or Carrot Cake).

Ciocospezissimo starts with a whirlwind of a delicious gingery zing which twirls around the note of dry cocoa. The two are perceptible at all times, in reality however the peppery bright buzz is really basil, that green curly-looking little bushy herb that we usually use in our pasta with pesto al Genovese. Or with our lime sorbet. In perfumery basil is often wrapped around grapefuit, complimenting and contrasting the sulfur elements of the citrus peel aroma. Well, guess what, like another green hot-cool herb, mint(I bet it would really go well after a decadent bath in Mint Chocolate bath), basil has the green pepperiness that goes really well with chocolate. Generally chocolate performs well with peppery-biting stuff, for instance try milk chocolate with black peppercorns, it's utterly magnificent! In that vein people with a desire to find a little zing, a little edge in their chocolate will find Ciocospezissimo easy to like and easy to wear.

Ciocorosissimo took me by total surprise. I usually don't like obvious roses in fragrances because they can evoke too closely for comfort those aged, wilted pot-pouris that hide into really old aunts' closets or the cleansers that are put besides the Porcelain Goddess...Not exactly my idea of sexy! And we've mentioned this here before. But in Ciocorosissimo, Hilde Soliani had clear instructions which paid off: The rose is delicious, rich, melodious; three varieties from Bulgaria, Morocco and England conspire along with pure absolute of cocoa and toasted chocolate to produce a mouth-watering yet also fresh scent! If I had to put a classification on it I'd opt for woody floral, never mind the gourmand associations of chocolate.
The process of creation is rather fascinating: The finished perfume is kept in an oak barrel, just like a good wine, so it gains in complexity, mingling with that lovely woody aroma and it comes out unfiltered and ready to seduce you. like it did to me. The ritual of picking fresh rose petals from the garden, dusting them with cocoa from Indonesia and then using them in desserts is finding its apotheosis in this trully lovely fragrance. The notes pop in and out, always discernible, yet at the same time in synergy, like those changeant fabrics which take on a different hue where the light hits them. If you like those patchouli-shaded roses like Voleur de Roses or Lady Vengeance, don't miss a chance to try Ciocorosissimo as well.

Both Ciocospezissimo and Ciocorosissimo come in Eau de Parfum concentration with 10% essence and they last quite well. Available through Lyckyscent soon they were launched on the 26th of November at the Suendhaft Press Conference event.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Hilde Soliani reviews (click the links below):
1) Il Mio Daisy/Ti Amo Line (Tulipano, Iris, Margerita, Anemone, Ortensia),
2) Teatro Olfactiva line (Bell'Antonio, Vecchi Rosetti, Stecca, Mangiamo dopo Teatro, Sipario),
3)Acquiilsssssima, Doolciiisssimo, Freschiiissimo, Saaaliiisssiimo.

Pic via sexylingerie10/photobucket.
In the interests of ful disclosure I gained access to two samples via the manufacturer<./span>.

"New" Dior fragrances? Les Creations de Monsieur Dior

Browsing the aisles of my local Sephora today I came across two new bottles of Christian Dior fragrances which made an impression. They're both decidely not new, but they were clearly presented as "new" with the matching light blue tags that Sephora puts on their just-arrived merchandise on the shelf. What's up? I decided to investigate.

One of them (and perhaps the most interesting) is the classic 1953 Eau Fraîche [click for review] of which Edmond Roudnistka himself had attributed as the ancestor of Diorella (Although popular notion wants Diorella to be the feminine version of the masculine Eau Sauvage)

It's intriguing to note that it never went away but it had become a scarce "secret" commodity to be shared among cognoscenti. Roudniska's agility in creating magnificent citrus scents (see also Rochas Moustache for its use of lime) is evidenced in the classic mandarin and rosewood accord of the original, and unfortunately the newest version is not quite it what it once was in its murky depths of chypre tonalities (The background of oakmoss has been cleaned up a bit). However it still radiates with a pitch that is both melodious and crystal-clear from both blotter and skin and is one of the best dry citruses on the market currently, so I cannot be but rather pleased for reasons I will elaborate on a bit.

The mania for Eaux Fraiches has taken the market literally by storm with Dior themselves (and therefore in essence ~no pun intended~ the giant LVMH) issuing an Eau (very nice) spin on Miss Dior Cherie, an Eau Cologne Florale version for their best-selling J'Adore and two classic Eaux, inspired by exotic locales: Escale à Portofino and Escale à Pondichéry. Several other brands, Hermès among them, also issue Eaux with increasing tempo, with Chanel Cristalle Eau Verte trying to inject a new classiness which ~surprisingly~ Dior just outbid! Clearly the market for eaux is thriving: My sunny Mediterranean soul cannot but applaud this rekindling of this centuries-old tradition of singing citruses from Sicily & Calabria which brings back to mind memories of my mother drenching my little hands with Eau de Cologne on just about any occassion, casual and formal alike.

The other bottle I noticed is the Forever and Ever, a limited edition sweet floral from a few years back re-introduced in 2006 in pink packaging. Its notes encompass ivy leaves, freesia, water jasmine, rose, almond blossom, geranium, vanilla, musk and ambrette seed.
This one remains as I recalled it.

So what's the deal?
The whole Dior line of classics is rejingled as Les Créations de Monsieur Dior with new packaging and apparently even newer rearrangements of the juice inside. I had predicted the reformulation hiding between such a move as far back as last spring (when there was ever so slightly a re-arrangement of the packaging) and here we are faced with it most decidedly. In the case of Diorissimo, Dioressence and Diorella (to a lesser degree, thank God) it bears rather ominous results, their complexity alightened. But at least not all is irrevocably lost!
Interestingly, François Demachy, head perfumer at Dior, has reorchestrated the classic Diorissimo into a new version of Eau de Parfum (to the original Eau de Toilette and parfum, latter of which is rarer and rarer) touted as "richer, deeper and intense, with a dominant jasmine floral heart note" (Without a doubt the IFRA restrictions on natural jasmine quota hint at the synergistic use of several synthetic alternatives.Both of the "new" fragrances are below a little 80 euros and come in big 100ml/3.4oz bottles, revamped in outer packaging, a uniform look which is the newest "dress" for all Les Créations de Monsieur Dior products (a niche "collection" idea): The box is all white with a big oval of gold circling the name in pink for Forever and Ever and in acid yellow for Eau fraiche. The bottles, coloured accordingly, are a slight twist on the classic bottle which houses the older fragrances of the house (Diorella, Diorissimo, Dioressence) and exhibits a faux threading in silver on the bottle neck which is quite elegant! This would be also quite handy when later on collectors will want to date their Dior bottles. Mark the year: Les Créations de Monsieur Dior came out in late 2009...

Addition: The line includes Diorama perfume in the same design, issued in 2011, and will include Diorling in late January 2012 as well.

Pics via Dior.com.

Frequent Questions: How to Open a Stuck Perfume Bottle?

You've seen it happen and cursed under your breath: Your favourite bottle of fragrance on your dresser, or the precious vintage perfume you bought from a collector or unearthed from granny's attic, is hopelessly stuck; its stopper or the sprayer doesn't seem to work; nothing, rien, nada... No amount of pulling, tagging, cursing, or praying has yielded any results yet and you're desperate to pry open and have a go at the fragrant insides. First of all, don't despair, it has happened to us all...
Usually the culprit is just dried-up perfume that needs to be either mechanically or chemically removed/dissolved in order for the cap to resume its original function, i.e. keeping the contents air-tight and not playing with your nerves-strings. Secondly, here is a handy guide into opening stuck bottles of fragrances and extraits, techniques depending on the type of flacon and age of fragrance.

• If the bottle is a modern splash bottle with cap/stopper

First of all try using a rubber band twisted a few times around the stopper might do the trick: it gives you better grip, so you can magnify your strength's effect.
If it doesn't budge try running the bottle's neck and stopper under some hot water: the difference in temperature will create convulsion and have the cap loosen. You can also try this with salty hot water, it's even better. Then taking a kitchen towel and twisting a bit you should be done. Try again and again if it doesn't work the first time around.
If unsuccessful, another version would be to take the bottle in the fridge and let it sit for a little while (around a quarter of an hour should be enough). Again the difference in temptrature would do its trick. Last but not least the more sophisticated version involves microwaves: Take a paper towel, wet it, put it in a microwave oven for a few seconds, wrap it around the neck of the bottle in question, hold it there a few seconds with another towel over it, then twist gently. It does not affact the bottle or scent at all.

• If the bottle is a vintage, old splash bottle with stopper

You wouldn't want to get a precious vintage bottle under the tap because you risk wetting and smudging the label, which is part of the vintage perfume's value. Neither would you want to refrigerate it, because the glass due to old age can become brittle and break or snap.
Instead get pure-grade alcohol (90 proof and upwards) at the chemist's ~usually these are stored alongside 70% isopropyl. Take a very small piece of cotton wool, 'string it out' a bit and saturate it with alcohol. Place it around the stopper above the neck and squeeze a few drops out so that they seep down around the stopper, then pack the cotton round it. Wait a few minutes to sit, allowing the alcohol to dissolve any hardened residue and then carefully try to twist the stopper.

• If the bottle is a modern/vintage Spray bottle

Sprayers sometimes get stuck. It's a fact of life: Anything mechanical is prone to the occasional glitch. That does not mean that once it's stuck it's stuck forever! I have had sprayers which I thought were stuck for all eternity to magically revive themselves without any external intervention later on. This was attributed to good Karma, divine providence, changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure disloging the mechanism and other crucial factors beyond our control. What is within our control is the following:

First of all you need to ascertain whether it is a refillable sprayer or not (Not immediately obvious in some bottles). If the former, then it's a piece of cake unscrewing the whole mechanism of the sprayer and simply using the fragrance as a splash version or decanting it into another atomiser.

I deduce the problem is in the latter category where the spraying mechanism is securely screwed on the glass bottle forming a uniform entity. In that case, you need to first remove the small cap that is on the pumping mechanism: you will see a small "rod" inside protruding from the mechanism. Sometimes gently pushing this down a few times with your finger will yield results. If it starts to leak on your fingers eventually, it means it's unclogged and you can put the little metallic cap on and spray again, mission accomplished! Sometimes however you won't be able to resume the sheer phhhhhssst of the original sprayer and it will be reduced to a small stream of juice. Consider yourself lucky anyway, you're still able to use your fragrance.

Other times you will need to additionally saturate the little protrusion with alcohol or a little oil and then alcohol, so as to dislog the remnants of aged juice that have clogged the mechanism in the first place. And other times still, none of these methods will work and you will need to actually remove the whole sprayer: Cut the metal very carefully at the bottom side with a sturdy pair of scissors for garage work first and then using a pair of pliers gently elevate the sprayer while holding the bottle with the other hand (You want to be very careful not to drop the bottle or spill the contents and also to avoid having the pliers and mechanism bounce back at your face). This method renders the original bottle useless of course, but I assume if you're intent on opening it you're mainly interested in using the scent, right? You can decant the contents into a new atomiser and use it as such. Don't forget to put a label on it so you know which scent and batch it was.

Best of luck with your bottle adventures!

Pic of Parisienne bottle via katemossfashion.com Pic of "Le Secret de Dieux," a Baccarat perfume bottle for Yardley, circa 1913 via scentss Perfume bottles egg presentation from the Barcelona perfume museum via nogoodforme

Andy Tauer Advent begins

Andy Tauer the niche Swiss perfumer of Tauer Perfumes is holding 24 days of giveaways for Advent this year starting today and running up till Christmas. Please check back at the Tauer site every day through 24 December, there are prizes to win! And we will be hosting a lucky draw with his generous sponsorship later on too, stay tuned ;-)