Jacques Polge, Egoiste, Blue, Sex and Clean: an Interview

"Egoïste is about seduction. I have a funny anecdote about sex and smells. An American woman once asked me if French people took showers before or after sex. I answered, “After, of course.”

"Bleu is the opposite of Egoïste. Egoïste was inspired by a woman's fragrance* [Bois des Îles], whereas there is nothing feminine about Bleu. I wanted to do something very direct. You know, men's fragrances are still very linked with shaving. When I find myself in planes, at some point I always see those business men coming from the bathroom smelling of aftershave. So Bleu is spicy, woody, and dry. There is no fantasy."

"I started my career in the United States. Perfumes were then made of both good-smelling and bad-smelling ingredients. But the bad-smelling ingredients, when used in a certain way, brought something sensual and interesting to the final scent. The first time I arrived at work, they told me, “You want to work here? Then smell this.” They made me smell chives. With American puritanism, all these kinds of fragrances disappeared".

*Hence its original name, Bois Noir. Only offered in Chanel boutiques at the time, Bois Noir was in production for only a few months in 1987 before it was withdrawn from the market, later to be replaced with the more widely available Egoïste.

Thus reminiscences Jacques Polge, the master perfumer at Chanel since the 1980s and responsible for the marvel that is Egoïste. Read the entire interview following this link.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine:
Bleu de Chanel (new fragrance for men),
Pushing Boundaries in Perfume advertising,
Why the French grow up to love smells while Americans don't,
Top 10 Masculine Fragrances.

Link brought to my attention via nowsmellthis/twitter. Pic of Bois Noir bottle via basenotes, still from Egoiste ad from my archive

My Wife Smells Since Changing Perfumes!

"My eye tastes bad art the way a restaurant critic tastes boiled duck confit in an orange chipotle sauce, with revulsion and pure anger. My nose is even more refined, as it can smell burgeoning mould on a Njursholm moose milk cheese from over 30 feet away. So, when the second Mrs. Mullpenny, Margarette, started using a perfume that I deemed to be like apricots farting, I swung into action immediately.
As it was soon to be Navidad, I spent a considerable amount of money and bought everyone on staff at Mullpenny Manor bottles of that wretched parfum. When they began wearing it around the house while doing their duties, Margarette immediately deemed her scent to be pedestrian and switched to a more overpowering bouquet, so as to drown out the smell of our help."

In a hilarious article in the format of a 'Dear Abby' column, Steve Murray on the National Post {click the link} replies to a husband's query on how to solve the problem of his wife's body odour suddenly surfacing through her change of perfumes (a matter of body chemistry if you please, from the male perspective).

Definitely worth a read..and many (unfeminist) belly laughs!!

Photo via askaden

The Fascinating Input of Flavour: Vegan Meat and Yoghurt Flavourings

We know that taste is largely dependent on smell: The combined process has its own word in English, flavour. But have you stopped to think that the fragrance industry is taking the matter of flavour into a most sophisticated level? Apart from the rather standard flavourings one meets in beverages, canned foods, prepackaged meals and desserts, there lurks a whole fascinating world of unusual and as of yet uncharted territories of flavour ingredients and molecules which might give us pause for thought in the near future.

According to Datamonitor, Comax Flavors, a company with a strong presence in the industry, has launched a line of kosher vegetarian meat flavors for meat analogues from sources such as soy and wheat to serve the needs of vegetarians and vegans, an increasing percentage in the US, the United Kingdom and Asia, who do not consume meat products but -apparently- like the flavour of animal-sourced food. Faux meat if you please. The Comax products include roasted chicken, roast beef, bacon, pork, hot dog, turkey and roasted ham flavourings. The interesting bit is that flavors are available in a variety of permutations: natural and artificially flavored, oil soluble and water soluble, and liquid and powdered versions.
"To the casual observer, creating vegetarian meatless-meat flavors may seem like a relatively generic job for a flavor developer, but it actually holds its own special challenges. For instance, it’s very important that such flavors be strong enough to stand up to highly-absorbent vegetable proteins. Through the art of reaction technology, Comax is able to provide ingredients that replace and enhance the flavors of meats while still keeping the final product in line with vegetarian consumption. Applications where these flavors tend to be most advantageous are broths, sauces and marinades, but they come in handy for a whole range of other meatless products as well.” So say Gladys Slovis, applications lab manager.

But not everything revolves around meat either! Comax is intent on the marketing of coconut water flavours (due to the high potassium quota) and a pleiad of sweet & savoury flavourings to be used in Greek yoghurt, often reminiscing classical Greek delicasies such as baklava. The rest of the flavours include cinnamon bun, cucumber (obviously the prime ingredient in a good tzatziki, hold the garlic) and cherry black currant.
"With its unique body, silky mouthfeel and satisfying richness, Greek yogurt offers the ideal vehicle to showcase ... true-to-life flavors to suit a given product application," adds applications lab manager Gladys Slovis. "Even at 0% fat, Greek yogurts taste decadently rich.” We couldn't disagree, even though we prefer our baklava on the side.

Further reading: Bell Flavors & Fragrances present the 10 "trends" in the way of smells for 2010 (including grapefruit rhubarb rose, Seashore driftwood, White amber/patchouli, Mahogany vetiver, Absinthe, Mandarin/orange blossom, Mojito, Woody iris, Satinwood and Szechwan pepper. Now you know why your contemporary fragrance is smelling the way it does.

photo via seattleweekly blogs (possibly subject unrelated to Comax)

Roger Vivier and Ines de la Fressange: 5 new fragrances

"After shoes and bags, Roger Vivier, part of the Tod’s Group, present their perfumes for Autumn 2010 to be sold exclusively in their boutiques". (Today we found the video accompanying the news via dailymotion, see below)

Five new fragrances in extrait developed by Rami Mekdachi, lined-up like a niche line based on raw materials (La Rose, Le Sandal, L'Iris, L'Ambre, Le Néroli) & identical-designed bottles which are presented by former Chanel model in the 1980s and French "Marianne", Inés de la Fressange. She wanted a sultry signature fragrance and she explains: “Our goal was a perfume with personality, style and quality, not just a huge launch with lots of ads,” she says, “so we used very precious and rare ingredients, just like a couture collection.”
According to Modelinia: "The model turned purveyor of Vivier style has been working with Rami Mekdachi to distinguish just what the brand smells like, and found it absolutely impossible to narrow that down to just one aroma. So she decided to go with five different perfumes: which are set to hit stores in the US in October, just in time to update your winter fragrances. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time that Inés has put her nose into the world of scents. She has her own eponymous perfume". [correction: had, I believe it's discontinued]
The new fragrances will retail at 195$ a bottle debuting at Fashion’s Night Out on Sept. 10 at the New York boutique (750 Madison Avenue), and will then be available at all Roger Vivier boutiques in October.

Isn't it endearing that she says has "an old lady trapped inside her" and "luxury is about not having to scent"?



photo of bottles by Travis Rathbone via New York Times

In Memoriam: Corinne Day 1965-2010

Fashion phorographer, famous for catapulting Kate Moss's career and photographing her in raw, documentary style for fashion and perfumes.

photo of Kate Moss posing for Obsession by Calvin Klein ad shot by Corinne Day via simonrasmussen