Update on Lutens discontinuations

A sense of panic ensued when we broke the news of Serge Lutens discontinuations the other day and quite justifiably, I'd wager. It's not everyday that an iconic niche line known for their attention to detail needs to halt one of their lauded fragrances. I feel like I need to assuage the fears a little bit and at the same time implement the news with something a little disheartening again, since another source (thanks!) informed me of the following interesting facts:

The discontinuations are planned for the export line only, meaning it's basically a US-discontinuation (my original source was of American interests): the four export fragrances will revert to their alma mater, Les Salons du Palais Royal, thus becoming Paris exclusives (much as Miel de Bois currently is) but the important thing is that apart from Miel de Bois, Chypre Rouge, and Douce Amère the fourth is Santal Blanc and NOT Clair de Musc! This puts a new spin on things, as Clair de Musc had us all wonder why it was getting axed. Of course in a way this last bit of news is even worse, as Santal Blanc is a seriously lovely, quite underrated fragrance and one which cannot be easily found on other price points... Luckily the discontinuations will take place at a further date (supposedly next year), so there is still time to stock up if needed.

Ayala Moriel Launches Frangipanni Gloves to Benefit Bloedel Floral Conservatory

On 01.02.2010, Ayala Moriel Parfums launched Frangipanni Gloves, a limited edition natural perfume, in honour of Bloedel Floral Conservatory.
Three bottles were donated to Rumble in the Jungle Gala, organized by Friends of Bloedel on January 30th, 2010.
The Story of Frangipanni Gloves:
Ayala Sender, chief perfumer and founder of Ayala Moriel Parfums, tells how the perfume came to be: "It was one of those indecisive April days, alternating between cloudy and warm, and pouring rain. For a while, I sought refuge inside the glass dome that housed tropical birds & flowers, and that's where I found a blooming fangipani tree in Vancouver for the first time". It is thanks to this tropical gem at the heart of Vancouver that Ayala was able to find a real, living frangipanni flower for reference, and was able to recreate the scent of fragipani flowers using pure botanical essences.
Frangipanni Gloves* is a perfume that layers a whiff of frangipanni flowers with the leathery-powdery undertones of suede perfumed gloves of Victorian era. This tropical white floral perfume has an intoxicating yet delicate aroma, sweet and humid, underlined with suede-leather nuances and a hint of spice.
The City of Vancouver has cut its funding to sustain the conservatory and it is scheduled to close March 1st, 2010. This will leave tens of tropical birds and plants homeless, and is a huge loss for the people of Vancouver! Proceeds from sales of Frangipanni Gloves go to the Bloedel Floral Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver: When you purchase Frangipanni Gloves (click the link) you are also helping this cause: Ayala will be donating $50 for every 9ml bottle and $30 for each mini bottle to the conservatory in hopes that it will prevent it from shutting down, so that you too can enjoy the scent of the living frangipanni flowers.

* "Frangipanni" was a name of a mid 19th century Italian marquis who invented the method to perfume gloves. The Frangipanni gloves were soft suede gloves and became very popular among aristocrats in Victorian times. They were scented with a blend of various spices, flowers and roots (orris, jasmine among others) . It was only later on that the flower with the same scent (Plumeria alba) was discovered in the South America by Franciscan traveller Charles Plumier.

info via press release, pic by saunderse at flickr, some rights reserved

Joan of Arc & Egyptian Mummies: Tied by Scent

Some of the most fascinating scopes of the smell-study do not revolve around commercial fragrances at all. One area which provides us with phenomenal and astounding observations on the role of smell is history & archeology; especially when it has to do with legendary figures.
Dr Philippe Charlier, a paleopathologist (that is, a medical expert on the ailments of prehistoric times) and medicine historian at Lille II and Paris VII universities as well as a forensic scientist at the Raymond Poincaré Hospital in Paris, has come up with an astonishing revelation: That the last remains of Jeanne D'Arc or Joan of Arc, preserved by the church as holy relics, were a hoax: in fact the lot consisted of the remnants of an Egyptian mummy!

The discovery dates to April 2007 actually, but the more impressive point is the way in which he came up to this conclusion: through smell. The scent of the remains and the essences used to embalm the dead in ancient times gave priceless clues.

A group of 20 researchers examined the reputed Joan of Arc remains at Tours (Indre-et-Loire) for months: There was a piece of a human rib ~ blackened on the surface as if charred, minor bone remnants, wood & solid matter and some linen tissue measuring 15cm. The lot surfaced in 1867 in a jar in the attic of a Paris pharmacy. They were labelled "Remains found under the stake of Joan of Arc, virgin of Orleans" and were later officially recognized by the Vatican as being authentic. What put the team of researchers into the right track nevertheless were some smart observations.

First, the remains did not appear burnt but rather embalmed. Microscopic examination revealed several pine pollen stigmata (of a type not inherent in Normandy) which are a common occurence in the resin used for embalming in Egypt. The linen tissue was chronologised via the Carbon-14 method (a destructive method, said in passing, hence its use only on the piece of linen) to the Upper Egyptian epoch of 3rd to 6th centuries BC.
Furthermore, one of the bones was actually a cat's femur. Now cats were sacrified in the pyre alongside witches during the times of witch-hunting, but they were also embalmed alongside their owners during the Egyptian times! Another clue was the labeling itself: it recalled the style and syntax patterns of the 19th century, not the 15th century when Jeanne's remains would have been amassed and preserved after her cremation at Rouen in 1431. This coincided historically with the rediscovery of the myth of Joan of Arc which happened around 1867; up till that point she had been neither canonised nor were she acknoledged as a national emblem. The supposed discovery of her remains gave substance to the legend in an era of fervent French nationalism.
The objects could have been amassed easily indeed within the inventory of a Parisian doctor or apothecary of the 1860s. Powdered mummies were routinely prescribed ever since the Middle-Ages for all sort of ailments, from stomach aches to pain due to menstruation. Even the king François 1er was known to be carrying a bit of the powder in a locket around his neck for emergencies. The cat's femur could have been a fraud on its own: an apothecary trying to pass an embalmed cat as part of an Egyptian human mummy worth its weight in gold!

Therefore, the seed of the idea that the lot was actually a major historical hoax was firmly planted. It remained to be amply justified and proven.
To that end a novel approach was opted for: "We wanted a professional nose to confirm the smell [of the relics] and identify what molecules [the smells] might be," Charlier said. Fragrance experts Sylvaine Delacourte, of Guerlain, and Jean-Michel Duriez, of Jean Patou, were called for, seperately*, to determine by smell what were the essences used and to compare and contrast with known substances at the laboratory of Dr Philippe Charlier.
According to Sylvaine Delacourte, who publicized this magnificent adventure on her blog in French, the adventure was originally aimed for something completely different: Smelling the embalmed hearts of French kings at the Basilique de Saint Denis so as to determine the essences used, but when permission was not granted for that, the mission turned to other relics to which access had been granted: Those of Jeanne D'Arc! According to mme Delacourte, the specimens smelled for cross-comparing purposes for this mission were: *Ashes of Agnès Sorel (smelling of vanilla) *hair lock from a necropolis at Ica in Peru (which smelled of licorice!) *hair lock from a woman of a Beauvais convent *remains of an Egyptian mummy and *the supposed remains of Jeanne D’Arc/Joan of Arc.

Both Sylvaine and Duriez identified soft, balsamic odours emitting from the remains. Specifically there was clearly identifiable vanilla and burnt plaster (made of sulfate of calcium), both of which coincided with the hypothesis of Dr.Charlier. Vanillin (a constituent of vanilla) is a common smell produced by corpse decomposition ~hence the "sweet smell of death"!~ and is routinely witnessed in Egyptian mummies, but it is never a product occuring in victims of pyres. The burnt plaster on the other hand seems to have been a deliberate "planting": Joan of Arc was reputed to have been cremated tied not to a piece of wood, as was the custom, but on a piece of plaster so as to prolong the agony...But it was the vanilla that didn't fit!
Anastasia Tsaliki, an expert in ancient diseases at Britain's University of Durham, said she was impressed with Charlier's detective work: "It is a fascinating project and shows how forensic methods can be combined with tools used in archaeometry [the study of archaeological materials] and archaeobotany [the study of ancient plants] and osteology [the study of bones]," she told the journal Nature. [source] And archeo-sniffing I might add. Sometimes smell really is a forgotten sense!

What is even more promising is that mme Delacourte was invited on another such expedition, this time involving headspace technology, which she promises to recount to us soon. Can't reveal more, but it is sure to amaze just as this one!

*According to the article on Future Sciences recounting the results, while according to Sylvaine herself she had the idea of inviting Duriez because they're friends and she trusts his expertise.

Part of the info comes from Jean Etienne's article, appearing on Future Sciences. Translation by Elena Vosnaki @ Perfume Shrine.

Painting Joan of Arc in Prayer by John Everett Millet. Jean d'Arc remains via Futura Sciences. Egyptian mummy via the Smithsonian blogs

Optical Scentsibilities: Beyonce chanelling Cindy Crawford?

Beyonce is directed into emulating Cindy Crawford (and a crop of other top models who appeared in George Michael's Freedom along with the heat and fire visuals) in this commercial for her first celebrity fragrance, Heat by Beyonce.
Compare with the original video-clip below (especially around 2:58 and onwards) and...go have a lie down.

How Much Will the Niche Market Bear?

The news on the discontinuation of some Serge Lutens fragrances we broke on these pages as well as the Guerlain discontinuations we also had the honerous duty of introducing to you a while ago have prompted me to think long and hard about the fragrance market and its trajectory ever since the Internet became a major player from 2000 onwards; first with budding perfume discussing fora and later in 2005 with the emergence of the first fragocentric blogs. Nine years and counting later things have profoundly changed and the scenery is altered.
Everyone jumped on the bandwagon of niche perfumery and with aspirations of artsy-fartsy pretence about how "perfumery is an art too" (Chandler, if only you knew what a monster you created!) they have been indundating the market with overpriced dreg ever since. There is simply TOO MUCH JUS OUT THERE!! Whether it's for the best or the worst I am leaving this up to your intelligent discussion in the comments. But first let me present some facts and some trivia for your consideration.

First there were the Hermessences in 2004: A major luxury player who was active on the fragrance sector as well decided to do the unthinkable ~present an exclusive line of top-tier scents reserved for their interior boutique only circuit. Guerlain had their own plan upon refurbishing their flagship store in 2005, plans which materialised and some which were almost cut mid-stream (Il Etait une Fois reissues, I'm talking to you!). Soon enough ~it seemed to me before the word Hermessence had dried on the staff memo~ Chanel pulled an Hermes as well, 3 years ago almost to the day, with their Les Exclusifs to be sold exclusively at Chanel boutiques. The two luxe lines were received with accolades, enthusiastic bises in a very European manner and profound respect from the whole perfume community, even if there were a couple of critical voices on the concept and coherence of the thing.
Just last year both "exclusives" were renegated to online shopping, making the acquisition of a coveted haute bottle approchable at the click of a mouse to anyone in upper Minnesota who had the requisite checkings account. Where's the exclusivity factor?

Several established brands followed (Dior Prive, Lancome La Collection, Tom Ford Private Blend, Lauder the Private Collection Line fragrances trio), and the few remaining ones came out just recently with their own "exclusive" sub-line within the line, cashing in on the hen who lays the golden eggs (or so they thought): Cartier Les Heures de Parfum, Van Cleef & Arpels Collection Extraordinaire, Dolce & Gabbana Anthology. They employed top tier perfumers, they advertised intelligently by word of mouth, they even brought original "ideas" for inspiration. (The Tarot deck for D&G, for Chris's sake. What's next? The Mayan calendars of doomsday?) The results? Rather lukewarm reception to varying degrees of temperature nuance. Even though there are a few specimens in there which are indeed great (especially in the first two brands), the idea seems tired, been-there-done-that and the audience doesn't seem to go back for much more... Not at those price points in this economy at least!

Uber-luxe brands positioned themselves in a place of de juro superior price point (often with the corresponding quality in the formula): Amouage and By Kilian are good examples. Recently By Kilian has introduced the smaller traveller bottles and the refills in order to appeal to the less cash-flowing clientele. Smart move! Still not every release can be received with enthusiasm. Writes Pam from Olfactarama regarding their latest Back to Black, giving it 2 stars out of 5: "A combination of pipe tobacco, cherry syrup (maybe cherry pipe tobacco?) and vanilla. After 2 or 3 hours only vanilla; after six it's a generic heliotrope/vanilla with a slight Play-Doh note. I don't know what all the fuss was about". One can re-invent the wheel so many times, I guess.

Several smaller players emerged lately as well, often with erratic results: French niche line Ego Facto from Pierre Aulas debuted at Marionnaud in France with 7 perfumes: 4 for women and 3 for men and even employed acclaimed nose Dominique Ropion for their Poopoo Pidoo fragrance (inspired by Marilyn Monroe no less) as well as other famous perfumers for the rest. One of my online friends with a discerning nose, who also posts on several fora & blogs, TaraC proclaims: "I just tried all 5 of the Ego Factos yesterday and didn’t like any of them. They all smelled like generic commercial synthetic swill on me… I guess I’m not the target customer!"
Smell Bent on the other hand is a new LA-based indie niche line, which deputed with 10 fragrances (!) at a low price point. A NST commentator calls them "pretty gimmicky too". MakeupAlley reviewers and regulars have varying opinions on them.
What's up? Are then people able to judge independently of the price asked? Big surprise, I guess they are! On an interesting spin of events a graphic outlining perecentages (according to a Sanford C. Berstein survey of 834 U.S. consumers conducted over a two-week period in mid-December) of people who have traded down in various consumer product sectors appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Some include: 34% traded down in laundry detergent, 31% traded down in kitchen paper twoels, 15% traded down in toothpaste & what is within our scope...14% traded down in perfume/cologne! Fascinating, no?

Please nota bene at this point that I have not (yet) smelled any of these fragrances from the two companies above so I cannot form a personal opinion on them. But the saturation of the market does leave a perfume writer with something less than frenzied desire to sample the latest thing, doesn't it? A sense of boredom sets in and samples lie there untouched. But let's forget for a second that this is a second job here, what about the average perfume lover who isn't necessarily writing about perfume: Can the market bear so many lines, so many brands, so much jus? Niche was the only sector in fragrances to show a slight increase amidst the recession. However this is slowly changing, exactly because the consumer is catapulted with "news" and "launches" daily. And the general trends direction isn't sounding too good either.

According to reportage by Jason Ashley Wright on Tulsa World "2010 is the year of the celebrity fragrance, said Megan Hurd, a beauty expert for Amazon.com. Not only is Kim Kardashian’s anticipated first scent hitting shelves this month, so is Halle Berry’s orchid-and-citrus- inspired scent. Others include Beyonce’s (in February) and Sarah Jessica Parker’s third fragrance, SJP NY (early spring). People are gravitating toward lighter, more airy scents, said Pat Hudelson, a fragrance expert at Saks Fifth Avenue in Utica Square. Last month’s deep-freeze temperatures “kind of put everybody in a depressed state,” she said. “Everybody needs something new and kind of fun.”
Some show increase in their stakes even amidst the lagging economy: "Inter Parfums Inc. announced that net sales for the fourth quarter were about $113.6 million, a 13% increase from $100.4 million in the prior year quarter." (to note they distribute Van Cleef,Burberry, Lanvin, and will be collaborating with Montblanc soon). They're bringing out Burberry Sport fragrance line this month and Oriens, a female fragrance line by Van Cleef & Arpels this coming March, so obviously the Van Cleef brand needed some reboosting. (Amazing if you think of it, since La Collection Extraordinaire practically just launched, it was only last autumn!).
Some show decrease and pleas for help: "Mr. Burkle's investment firm Yucaipa Cos. bought up a large chunk of Barneys' debt late last year and has offered to invest at least another $50 million in the high-end fashion chain via a loan deal that would leave him owning 80% of Barneys' common equity. The remaining equity would be held by Barneys' current owner, Istithmar World Capital, the investment arm of state-owned Dubai World" [...]The move is the latest play for Barneys, a swanky New York apparel retailer that has struggled since being taken over by Istithmar just before the recession hit".[source] And some propose a completely different approach still: "Some luxury brands are finding that single-sex boutiques boost the bottom line. While it's not exactly a man's world on Main Street, luxury brands are increasingly offering greater exclusivity in men-only shops" [source] Cherchez l'homme!

So what "fruits" will the future of perfumery, especially niche, bear? Let's hear it from you!

Photo of Audrey Hepburn by Richard Avedon via manishtama blog. Still from Greek film "Rendez-vous at Corfu" (1959) via grcinema.wordpress.com