Neil Morris discount

Neil Morris mailed me with some info on a special discount they're offering for ALL their full bottles scents (including the Vault ones!) as a thank you to customers which made 2009 the best year for the Neil Morris line so far. The discount is 15% off listed prices until 31st January 2010 and the code when checking out on the official site is THANKS.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Neil Morris scent reviews

Hair Fragrances: the New Frontier

Starting with the mention of the unusual notes of white chocolate and orris root in Catwalk Your Highness Elevating Shampoo and Nourishing Conditioner by TIGI and the blue hyacinth of Philosophy's Field of Flowers shampoo, a New York Times article by Hilary Howard notes that hair might be the new frontier when it comes to fragrance.

Aficionados who read this blog might recall that we had proposed that a way to bypass the latest perfumery restrictions would be for companies to really exploit that segment of the market. One might not be able to wear oakmoss-rich scents on the skin, since oakmoss above a certain level can be a skin sensitiser, but our dead cells growing out of our heads (yup, we're talking hair here) are imprevious to those risks!
Indeed several companies, Chanel (Allure, Coco Mademoiselle), Thierry Mugler (Angel) and Narciso Rodriguez (Narciso For Her) and even Aquolina (Pink Sugar), among them have products called "hair mists" in their range, long before such concerns became prevalent among our community core. These are products which act as a veil of fragrance meant to be used on our hair itself, often labelled "parfum pour les cheveux" or simply "hair mist" or "hair scent". The compositions usually hold scent well, they are almost identical to the scent of the regular Eau de Toilette or Eau de Parfum whose range they compliment and they contain no abrasive alcohol so as to leave hair supple. And best of all, they can be used on body and clothes, just as easily as a regular fragrance. And who can forget the Guerlain "stillboide" products? They were light oily-lotion type products meant to be used for hair, to impart sheen and a delicate scent. Luckily for us, they can be used on skin as well.

Still, hair products bear their own stigma, it seems: Yves Durif,of the Yves Durif Salon (in The Carlyle), expresses doubt in the above article about saturated-with-scent hair products, while any “nice perfume, which can be sprayed into the hair, should not have to compete with hair products. You can make perfume for each individual, but hair products need to please everyone,” he said. “They can’t be individualized.”

pic via evecare

Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Aromatics Along the Silk Road

The American Museum of Natural History will be hosting Adventures in the Global Kitchen: Aromatics Along the Silk Road, featuring renowed natural perfumer Mandy Aftel, which we have hosted on our pages in the past.
Frankincense, myrrh, patchouli, and jasmine were among the valuable commodities traded along the ancient Silk Road , and they are still prized today. Renowned perfumer Mandy Aftel, the nose behind Aftelier perfumes, will awaken the senses as she leads visitors on an aromatic journey.
Attendees will learn about the fascinating world of fragrances and have the chance to sample authentic and pure essences during a discussion about aromatics’ history. This program is part of a series of tastings and lectures for adults and educational programming for children that are being offered in conjunction with the exhibition Traveling the Silk Road : Ancient Pathway to the Modern World, on view until August 15, 2010.

WHEN : Wednesday, January 20, 6:30 pm

WHERE: Linder Theater, first floor
Enter at 77th Street

HOW MUCH: $20

You can purchase tickets online on this link.

Kim Kardashian: the "Voluptuous" New Ad

After bootylicious star Beyonce with her Heat, another celebrity (albeit famous for less creative endeavours) debuts her eponymous celebrity fragrance (will there be no end?), named after her: Kim Kardashian and developed by Lighthouse Beauty. Between that and Carl's Jr salads commercials, the starlet famous for her Keeping up with the Kardashians participation hasn't been idle.

The advertisment has the booylicious Kim dressed in vintage pink lingerie (the push-up bra being a little too modern maybe) and a marabou coat, swinging from a circle-trapeze burlesque-style. I personally think her best feature (her warm softness) is traded for some "hardened" glam-shot in which her face appears a little too austere, perhaps in an effort to lend some retro high-cheekbones and dark-lips-on-white-canvas drama. The trapeze mirrors the smoky bottle ~with some necessary pink on the neck, let's not forget~ bearing her initials; one K mirrored-into the other like the two faces of Janus. On a sidenote, funny how all the Kardashian sisters have names starting with a K! It would be hard to position themselves if they all started producing their own fragrances, but anyway.
Kim Kardashian the fragrance could have been a bootichouli: After all, who better nowadays than realistically curvaceous women to bring back those unabashedly feminine compositions. But no, it will be a white floral instead (yawn?) with a sensual soft base, encompassing jasmine, tuberose and gardenia at the heart and tonka bean coupled with sandalwood for the base. Sounds rather nice, if a little "been there, done that", no? Prices will start from super-affordable $16 for a 0.33-oz. rollerball and up to $65 for a 3.4-oz. spray bottle. The Kim Kardashian fragrance debuts in February, exclusively at Sephora.

What do you think about the advertisement?

Pic courtesy of Stylewatch.

Gap Close: new fragrance

The American giant, Gap, is presenting their new fragrance, Close. Designed by Patrick Robinson of Gap, Givaudan perfumery and the Interparfums group, Close is a casual fragrance which aims to be "sexy, sensual and pretty". Close to your object of affection? Possibly.
Notes for Gap Close include almond blossom and salty hesperides for the top, freesia, jasmine, daphne and stephanotis for the heart, alongside sandalwood, musk and a touch of vanilla for the warmer, sensual base. I admit it doesn't sound half-bad, although of course a list of notes is usually nothing to depend on.

The packaging reprises the egg-shaped tactile feeling which helped make Agent Provocateur a success, but in white and with a brushed silvery cap, to evoke "a pure sensuality and modern simplicity".

Aiming at the casual customer who scent-shops alongside their clothes, Close is positioned at the lower end of the market: 24 euros for 100 ml, 17 euros for 50 ml and 6 euros for 10 ml at Sephora and the Gap boutiques network starting January 19th.