Ormonde Jayne Perfume Portraits

British niche firm Ormonde Jayne is introducing a new service, aimed at providing clients with the tools and techniques to choose their perfect scent: a journey through the aromatic raw materials themselves, thus guiding them into choosing and setting aside ingredients! And the best latest shopping tip? Ormonde Jayne is being introduced to Harrods, for all you UK-based people. But how does the Perfume Portraits service work?

Seated at a beautiful bespoke testing table, trained staff take notes about the client’s likes and dislikes, favourite perfumes and other aromas. The customer is then invited to smell three raw ingredients from seven different families; hesperedic, light floral, intense floral, balsamic, oriental, woody and atmospheric. The scent of each raw ingredient is embedded in a unique black and gold ceramic stone especially created for Ormonde Jayne’s new Perfume Portraits.
At this stage the client is only asked to say if they like the aroma or not, and not to try to relate the scent to a perfume they might wear. Perfume Portraits is simply about letting personal taste be guided by your mind’s limitless scope to decipher the aromas around you.
Concluding the experience, two or three Ormonde Jayne perfumes that may suit by summarizing the favoured oils are recommended. Again, the favoured perfumes are presented on a second collection of black and gold ceramic stones. The client will then choose the perfume they like best. Sometimes this could be two or three perfumes and the chosen perfume is sprayed onto the wrists.
Discussion of their personal Perfume Portrait is possible too and yhis is something they can take home and keep for future reference while an archive is kept for those who want to drop by and need to rejog their memory on what they chose in the past.
Perfume Portraits is available at the flagship store in The Royal Arcade, 28 Old Bond Street and at the new Ormonde Jayne counter in The Perfume Hall on the ground hall of Harrods (click to also watch some videos with founder Linda Pilkington).

You can read an article by Lucia van der Post in the Financial Times supplement How to Spend It following this link.

Paco Rabanne Lady Million: new fragrance

Puig, the Spanish company behind the Paco Rabanne fragrances portfolio, is launching a new fragrance, rumoured to be the feminine equivalent of the commercially successful masculine One Million, mistakenly reported as Swinging Paris (the mistake according to official info from Puig headquarters was due to a press release that mentioned the words, but in another context). The name will be presented in the press on May 25th, when the official launch will happen. Edit to add: The name is officially confirmed as Lady Million.
Fronted by Dree Hemingway, Mariel's daughter (who is in turn Ernest's grand-daughter), it will be aimed at the hip generation embracing modern aesthetics and fashion consciousness. You see, Dree is model du jour in the runway world (having participated in such prestigious shows as Valentino, Jean Paul Gaultier and Gianfranco Ferré) and hasn't been "burned" by overexposure just yet.

Paco Rabanne intends to present their latest feminine fragrance Lady Million, as the female alter ego to their recent masculine release, One Million. The scent was supposed to be available in July 2010 according to one source ~while Puig swears the launch will be in May (see above)~ and they continue: “Humour, gluttony and seduction,” will be characterised in the campaign, which will highlight the allure of the blonde ‘rocker.’ For the label Paco Rabanne, “the audacious Dree Hemingway personifies the glamour of today’s ‘femme fetale.’” No words on "notes" yet, but we will supplement as soon as available (something tells me we're faced with a fruitchouli?) Edit to add: It's a fresh woody floral with notes of citron, raspberry, neroli, orange flower, jasmine, gardenia, patchouli and honey and is composed by Anne Flipo, Dominique Ropion and Beatrice Piquet.
On a related note: Is the girl a little too thin for comfort or is it just cranky ol' me talking? Anyway...

Paco Rabanne is nowadays more fondly remembered for their classics (the lovely, easy-going Calandre and the cool Métal from the 70s as well as the animalistic La Nuit from 1985) rather than their modern offerings (Ultraviolet, XS, XS Black etc). So a major feminine release is in many ways a bet for the brand. Let's see what happens!

pics via models.com & fashionindie.com

Michael Kors to receive Hall of Fame Award from The Fragrance Foundation

The Fragrance Foundation just announced that Michael Kors will be honored with the Hall of Fame Award at the 2010 Fragrance Foundation FiFi® celebration on Thursday June 10th, 2010. The Hall of Fame award is voted on by The Foundation’s Board of Directors and is presented to an individual who has brought extraordinary ingenuity, creativity, dedication and inner resources to bear, not only to their company’s success but to the fragrance industry as a whole. We are hereby reminding you that the recipient of the award for last year was Marc Jacobs, by the way.

“Who exemplifies these criteria better than the brilliant, funny and daring Michael Kors?” observes Rochelle Bloom, President of The Fragrance Foundation. “His extraordinary, sophisticated fashion vision promises a fabulous jet-set lifestyle to women everywhere at every age. His successful wardrobe of fragrances complements the sleek, the polished, the glamorous look he so effortlessly creates season after season. We are honored to present him with the Hall of Fame Award.”

Michael Kors has three successful fragrance franchises. The first, which debuted ten years ago, is his signature fragrances for men and women, “Michael Kors” and “Michael Kors for Men”. The second, “Island Michael Kors”, aims to capture a vacation in a bottle with each new limited-edition fragrance that launches, from Fiji to Capri to Hawaii. His third fragrance franchise, “Very Hollywood Michael Kors” most recently debuted to wide acclaim.
In Michael’s own words: “Fragrance is probably the most intimate thing I will ever create. It’s my fingerprint, so I am deeply honored that The Fragrance Foundation has chosen to recognize me.”

How does Michael link his fashion to his fragrance and what inspires him? “I think about fragrance the same way as fashion; it should be treated as a wardrobe. My signature Michael Kors fragrance is the little black dress, chic and timeless. The Island scents are your crisp white shirts, the feeling of relaxed luxury. Very Hollywood Michael Kors is the gold dress. It’s all about that super glamorous, indulgent moment.”
Michael Kors is recognized as one of the world’s preeminent designers for luxury accessories and sportswear. His namesake company, established in 1981, currently produces a range of products through his Michael Kors Collection, KORS Michael Kors, and MICHAEL Michael Kors labels, including women’s and men’s ready to wear, women’s handbags, small leather goods, shoes, eyewear, watches and fragrance.

Michael’s fragrance philosophy? “The ultimate accessory is a divine fragrance that lifts your spirits and gives you a spritz of glamour.” As Rochelle Bloom succinctly puts it “what more could any girl ask for!”

info via press release

Small Miracles

Fingers are still prickly from the odd thorns of flower picking at Grasse and hair bears the salty air from the boat ride from Boulevard de la Croisette in Cannes, overlooking the Lerin islands; the chime of the clock of the hôtel de ville singing the hours is still audible in my mind's ear... It's hard to re-immerse oneself in the routine of the everyday, as one must.



The following posts will tackle a travel memoir of the glorious Grasse trail, the perfect nose training session with perfumery raw materials firms and museums highlight;, cultural notes & musings on the scent traditions & perfume wearing of the French in situ; an in-depth perfumery material post on mimosa; as well as culinary aromatic delights coming from the South of France with lots of fragrant surprises for our readers as always: à très bientôt!

Off for a while...

Same destination as those dapper people and a discovery of the aromatic capital of the south, albeit almost certainly with less glamour. Oh well, c'est la vie!
Have a happy Easter everyone, will be back with surprises for you soon!

Photo of Greek actress Melina Merkouri and her husband French director Jules Dassen from 1960 Festival des Cannes via Lastscan.