Mona di Orio "Les Nombres d'Or" ~Ambre, Musc & Cuir: new fragrances

Mona di Orio, the author behind an eclectic and quirky collection of individual scents, among which the stellar, intimate Carnation, is launching a new trio of fragrances centered on three emblematic notes: amber, musk and leather. Mona di Orio was inspired by a mathematical concept, the Golden Rule, for her new creations, saying following the rules of proportion was result in a harmonious melody and naming the collection Les Nombres d'Or (Golden Numbers). The notes for the new Les Nombres d' Or Ambre, Musc and Cuir are as follows:



AMBRE – Les Nombres d’Or: Atlas cedar, Comores Ylang ylang concrete, benzoin, Tolu balsam, Madagascar vanilla absolute.
MUSC – Les Nombres d’Or: Neroli, angelica, rose, heliotrope, Tonka bean absolute, musk.
CUIR – Les Nombres d’Or: Cardamom, artemisia, leather, cade oil, opoponax, castoreum.

notes & pic via extrait.it

Issey Miyake A Scent Eau de Parfum Florale: fragrance review

When a scent gains a flanker in the guise of just a different concentration (Eau de parfum vs. the original Eau de Toilette) you know you're in for a bumpy ride on some level, to quote All About Eve. Either one will be vastly superior to the other (see Allure, Opium), or there will be confusion among consumers (see Narciso, or Bandit) or both of those things.

Issey Miyake had launched A Scent last year: an ascending, airy green fragrance which impressed me favourably with its polished technical merit and re-introduction of green notes into the mainstream (a trend which one might argue was not pioneered by it, but to which it contributed positively). Imagine my disenchantment upon testing A Scent Eau de Parfum Florale by Issey Miyake and finding out it is not only ghastly but boring to tears as well!
Merely an alcoholic-ladden, light, ~almost to the point of insubstantiality~ floral scent with an aromachemical woody-amber base (Ambrox) for a little anchoring (they might as well not bother, it's fleeting on both blotter and skin). After this strong alcoholic blast passes, a diaphanous peony-jasmine accord (with a hint of peachy sweetness) that is more spectral than real.
I haven't been really scathing while reviewing on the whole, apart from a few atrocious cases, but this time I think it's needed. Eau de Parfum Florale seems like a marketing turn of phrase in the mould of "let's do a pink floral version for the heck of it, it will sell on the heels of the previous model" . No, dear marketing people, it won't, unless you suggest the formula goes into shampoo or liquid detergent (Personally I would prefer to just wash my hair with bar soap instead of this, but let's not pre-empty other people's preferences lest we're called names). What's happening? The Miyake company people weren't that cynical from what I recall. Pity on the perfumer who was given the brief: Is this why they do not reveal his or her name?

Yes, the new Scent is really different from the original as the sales assistant was quick to point out without any prompting. Yes, it's encased in the same (genius) bottle design that recalls sliced plexiglass bricks. Only in PINK! I have probably said the magic word that shutters all expectations for serious perfume lovers and just chimed the "abandon all hope ye who enter here" for those who read. Run for the hills. Run for your life. Run Lola, run! You might be inwardly protesting by now "oh but I like pink fragrances, they're so girly and cute!". Let me circuvent this thought, in case anyone thinks I am being snobby, aloof, or pretentious in saying so: No, do yourself a favour and get some really nice "girly and cute" pink juice: like Miracle So Magic, Kelly Calèche , Guerlain's Insolence or Gucci Eau de Parfum II in that paper-weight heavy bottle. They do exist. Just not into the cubicle-farm of A Scent Eau de Parfum Florale...

Notes for Issey Miyake A Scent Eau Florale:
Top: Jasmine petals, hyacinth
Heart: Galbanum, ylang ylang, rose, peony
Base: Patchouli, amber, moss

Available in 40ml and 80ml in major department stores.

Aftelier Perfumes Giveaway!

Mandy Aftel is the perfumery guru and pioneer who managed to alight an all naturals aromatics Renaissance with her body of work and especially her seminal book Essence & Alchemy, the cornerstone on which the naturals movement has flourished; absolutely delightful and all around highly recommended reading. She has just revamped her Aftelier Perfumes site into a friendlier and prettier format, including many rare vintage photographs. To celebrate this launch she asked us to host a Giveaway of some of her products.

There will be four winners in this drawing, and each winner gets to pick out one of the following: a Face Elixir, a Bath Oil, a Body Oil, or a perfume Mini of their choice (except Parfum Privé).
You need to do something to be entered, so read carefully!

1). Go to the Aftelier website and give a little feedback in your comment here about the new design.

2) You need to see the visuals on the store website to answer this question: What flowers are shown growing on the vintage postcards from Grasse on Mandy's site? (Except on the Samples page) Clue: They're four of them and they're extremely popular perfume notes! Include the answer in your comment here.

Bonus points if you follow Mandy at Facebook or Twitter. (just click the links and leave some feedback if you like)

The winners choose their own perfume Mini gift from this page and the next one!
DRAW is open till Friday 2nd July midnight.

While you're at it, don't miss the new samples page as well as the solids, the traditional liquid perfumes of course, my favourite new feature: the chef's essences (for adventurous cooks!) and the perfumed teas.

Other giveaway hosts: Scenthive, Cafleurebon, The Non Blonde, Now Smell This.

Parfumerie Generale Musc Maori 04: fragrance review

Pierre Guillame, the young and charismatic perfumer behind the Parfumerie Generale line, composed an unusual gourmand musk with subtle animalic vibrations beneath, like a male lion heard from a distance, which gives pause to think: Is it foody? Is it in dried fruits & wood Lutensian territory? Is it powdery musky? What is it exactly? There's nothing more exciting than a perfume that throws all caution to the wind and perplexes.

The opening of Musc Maori is as promised a strong, sweet cocoa note (juiced over by bergamot & orange) and with the smell of planked woods on which a subversive non homemaking type is preparing chocolate-chip cookies with a dash of Tia Maria coffee liqueur. Yet the aroma of chocolate slowly dissipates and we're experiencing the rise of a powdery, warm, almost clean musk with vanilla in the background, as if the person in question is slowly heating up in that enclosed space of the kitchen, "cooking" alongside the cookies, revealing the fleur de peau note that musks are famous for. After all, musk (like patchouli) does have a natural aspect of cocoa, so it makes sense to pair the two. A hint of floral (jasmine?) wrapped up in cellophane is peeking through, there is a rubber, dusty wood-glue note which is discombobulating. (Might I venture there is some Okoumal aroma-synthetic by Givaudan in there?)

Of course Tonka beans already have a chocolate facet, so coupled with a lactone and vanilla they would give this feel of chocolate being heated up. If it were naughtier, it would evoke bedroom play involving dribbled chocolate syrup, but it doesn't cross the line, even though it tethers there for a few seconds in promise. The overall impression is one of a linear, uncomplicated scent, which doesn't transform through distinct stages, but rather performs a diminuendo of its original motif.

You have to at least like gourmands to appreciate this one, although it isn't your typical Angel clone where the caramel and Caspirene glob you on the head, nor is it as dry and espresso-laced as the refined patchouli in Borneo 1834. The buttery, lactonic feel is reminiscent of Matin Calin by Comptoir Sud Pacifique, so those who like the latter and want a chocolate-milk version or one which reminds them of Palmer's Cocoa Butter Lotion should try it. The Non Blonde compares it to Lea Extreme without the almond-coconut tonality and I will take her word for it. I guess this makes it more feminine than unisex, although adventurous males with a sweet tooth might want to try it out. Musc Maori by Parfumerie Generale is something to be sampled for sure anyway: I can't think of a weirder, more kinky musk out there!

And since we're talking chocolate, how do you like yours? Dark, milky, in-between? With filling or not? Particular brands? I'm hungry!

Notes for Parfumerie Generale Musc Maori:

Bergamot, cocoa bean, Cumaru wood, coffee tree blossom, amber, Tonka bean, white musk.

Musc Maori 04 circulates as an Eau de Parfum which lasts for ages, in both 30ml/1oz, 50ml/1.7oz and 100ml/3.4oz sizes, available at Luckyscent, First in Fragrance and The Perfume Shoppe.

Photo of melted chocolate via lovecstasy. com

Come Again?

According to Net coverage, singer Peter Andre was envisioning ...leading man George Clooney when he was giving the directions for his male celebrity fragrance Conditional (I'm almost this close to saying "Conditionner", although I realise it's a quip to his female one called Unconditional)
'If you can imagine George Clooney walking down the red carpet and how he would smell. That's how I try to imagine this smell,' femalefirst.co.uk quoted Andre as saying. Eh....riiiiiiiiight!
Now, what's the use of issuing an eponymous celebrity fragrance when you're setting the notes, so to speak, for consumers to fantasize about another celebrity in regards to it...that beats me!!