Penelope Cruz for Lancome Tresor

Lancôme has signed Penélope Cruz , as the brand's third superstar spokesmodel, along with Julia Roberts and Kate Winslet. According to the official Lancôme blog she "will be the ambassador of Trésor, our iconic fragrance".
This piece of news at first surprised me, as it was so recently that we had raved about the choice of Kate Winslet for the 1990-launched classic of the house. I believed it would have been for another fragrance, probably the not so pushed Miracle Forever, previously fronted by Shalom Harlow. But no, after all, you can't get more official than the company's own blog, these days!


The new Trésor ads were shot in Paris starting April 29th with Mario Testino (and coinciding with her 36th birthday) and they will debut sometime this autumn. As you can see from the pics, Cruz is wearing an elegant one-shouldered black dress standing on the balcony at the Hotel Crillon.
The brand already has an all-star cast, with Julia Roberts, Kate Winslet, Anne Hathaway, Daria Werbowy, Ines Sastre, Arlenis Sosa and Elettra Wiedemannm alongside Sandy Linter and Michelle Phan. The Spanish-born actress is now joining them. Muy caliente!

Photo credits: KCSPresse/Splash News Online, Popsop.com

Serge Lutens Boxeuses & Bas de Soie: new fragrances

The brand which cemented the notion of niche in our minds, Serge Lutens, is coming up with two new fragrances due to launch soon: ‘Boxeuses’ and ‘Bas de soie’.

Boxeuses (pronounced box-EZh) is the Paris exclusive edition that plays on notes of leather and skin. The name means "women boxers" (as in athletes of box), so what else but the taut skin of boxing gloves and the glistening vision of copious amount of skin on display could it evoke?

Of course there is already a leather fragrance in the Lutens portfolio, the orientalised floral-accented Cuir Mauresque and a softer suede-jasmine in Sarrasins, but Boxeuses promises to be more suave, softer, with facets of prunes and licorice evoking gourmand delights, juxtaposed to the dry and smoky notes of a traditional leather; and amidst all that a rich woody note recalling oudh! Boxeuses launches in September 2010, 110 euros for 75 ml.

Bas de Soie (pronounced BA-de-SWAH) is destined for the export line that gets distributed to the US and is continuing on the playful theme of baptizing fragrances with tactile, fabric-reminiscent names, as was Serge Noire and Fourreau Noir. In this case the name is erotically charged as it translates as "silk stockings". Of course from someone like Serge Lutens we wouldn't expect a literal or banal interpretation of tired clichés, which makes it all the more intriguing. I personally prefer to think of it in the terms of the silken gams of Cyd Charisse and the 1957 musical Silk Stockings in which she starred. The core of the fragrance oscillates between hyacinth, deprived of its green facets in favour of powdery touches through the synergy of precious iris. More feminine than Boxeuses but still presented as a potential unisex. Bas de Soie is launching in June 2010, 79 euros for 50 ml.

Last but not least, the limited edition Paris exclusive set for release in the export bottles at the end of 2010 will be Cuir Mauresque!
There is also a slight reworking of the labels on the bottles which you can see from the pic.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Serge Lutens news & reviews

Notes via osmoz Thanks to my special source for the heads up!
Actress Clara Bow, the 'It' girl, poses on Malibu beach, on Jan.1st 1927 in boxing gloves. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images). Photo of Cyd Charisse from Silk Stockings via Classic Forever

BCBG Max Azria & Patricia Pepe: new fragrances

The popular fashion Group BCBG Max Azria is signing a licence with New Wave Fragrances for the launch of a feminine fragrance named after the brand (BCBG Max Azria) and set to launch in March 2011. New Wave Fragrances, founded in 2007, currently makes and distributes Ed Hardy, True Religion et Christian Audigier fragrances. The immersion of Max Azria Group (counting 20 brands in its portfolio) in the fragrance market isn't new: There were attempts with Hervé Léger designer fragrances and there are others plans for the future as well, but for the moment the company wants to concentrate on this upcoming feminine perfume. The fragrance itself is going to be developed by perfumers at Givaudan.
Distribution is going to include the brand's boutiques as well as big department stores as well as specialised beauty parlours such as Sephora, while the launch will be of rather global reach with availability in Europe, USA, Canada, South America, the Caribbean, Korea, Japan and Australia.

On the other hand, the Firenze based Italian fashion house of Patricia Pepe is also embarking on launching an eponymous fragrance. The deal is being striken with Beauty San (who is responsible for the Costume National portfolio of scents). Patrizia Bambi, artistic director, announces the plan as the fruits of a long process that was at the back of the mind for many years. It should be "a dress that will reveal my creations and myself in more detail", Bambi concludes. The launch is scheduled for the end of the year, while the international distribution is set to be handled via selected doors.

Photoshoot of SS08 campaign of BCBG Max Azria starring Karen Elson shot by Patric Demarchelier, via fadpaigns
Advertising photo of Patrizia Pepe fashions via Ermou Mag

Guerlain Shalimar Charms & Eau de Shalimar Charms

Two new limited editions from Guerlain are launching:

Guerlain Shalimar Charms Eau de Parfum Spray 75ml for £71.50 and Guerlain Eau de Shalimar Charms Eau de Toilette Spray 75ml for £62.00

"The desire to experience sensuality, feminity, mystery...to succumb to SHALIMAR ÉDITION CHARMS, whose bottle decorated with Oriental motifs, evokes the splendours of India. Slender arabesques unfurl their delicate volutes over the bottle and box.

They are inspired by the motifs on the rings worn by Indian women on every occasion, along with the embroidery admired on the shimmering colours of ceremonial saris. A blue silk thread is wound around the neck of the bottle, holding the famous golden "signet" engraved with the double G."

Obviously the new limited editions pay homage to the origins of the history of Shalimar and its story about being inspired by the famous eponymous gardens. Pretty stuff, no doubt! The juice is exactly the same as the regular editions of each perfume.

Breaking the BONDs

I was fully prepared to write a long post about the latest business practices of Bond No.9 (i.e.opposing the selling of decants of their fragrances through the reliable services of The Perfume Court) after a long hiatus on the brand's news due to the somewhat non-diplomatic (for lack of a harsher word) handling of internet fragrance-camaraderie-politics on the whole (see their handling of the name "Peace"). But thankfully State of the [Car]nation beat me to the punchline with his great post BONDage and Dominance, which is highly recommended reading!

For what is worth, I have given every benefit of a doubt to businesses such as this one in the past, maintaining that they are within their rights to oppose all sales that might pose a threat to the integrity of their wares even inadvertedly ~and if we're all maintaining that perfumery is an art, then how can reselling it piece by piece not lessen that, even if it suits our pocketbook? Same is true for any perfume company (see the ceasing of decant selling on Ebay) and I can see their point. Yet somehow it's the MANNER something is handled that makes all the difference in the world: "Cease and desist" via Twitter messaging somehow appears like a calculated risk that a three-women-operated internet business (all decent ladies as far as I know) would rather drop the line off their stock instead of having to hire a costly attorney and take the case to court for years to come. So not cool!
Maybe we should all become fans of this cinematic reference "Piss on your peace..." instead? What do you think?



Brilliant (and highly educational) dialogue courtesy of the classic film The Lion in Winter with Peter O'Toole as Henry II of England and Timothy Dalton as King Phillip II of France (and Anthony Hopkins as Richard the Lionheart).