Natalia Vodianova for Midnight Pearl: perfume video

Supermodel Natalia Vodianova, with her perfectly girly features, is advertising a new perfume by Swedish cosmetics company Oriflame, called -fittingly, since it comes with some natural pearls attached on the bottle- Midnight Pearl.
I think it's an impressive commercial. Enjoy!



The bottle, a collectable item, was designed by French jewellery designers Stephanie Bascou and Marie Cluzel, known for their collaboration with the world famous Baccarat brand for the crystal jewels. Their work was awarded in 2005 with the prestigious Tahitian Pearl Trophy for the most innovative design of black pearls.
Midnight Pearl is painted in a glamorous shade of dark blue, in heavy glass. There is a pendant in the form of black pearls at its neck, which can be worn on a necklace or a bracelet attached through a chain. The perfume name is engraved in the center and the flacon is refillable.

Midnight Pearl is a floral woody fragrance with opening notes of sweet pear, orange blossom and freesia. The heart progressed on frangipani, peony and jasmine, on a base of oriental-woody notes of oud, cedar, vetiver and patchouli. The perfumer behind the creation is Marie Salamagne.

Sartorial Scent Box from Penhaligon's

Penhaligon's had a smashing idea: Why not intoduce audiences to the actual building blocks of their newest masculine cologne, Sartorial? They are therefore introducing The Sartorial Scent Box, a hands-on experience which enables you to see and smell the raw ingredients and materials which inspired master perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour to create Sartorial. We had introduced the scent a while ago on this article.

There is something fascinating about getting to know the nuts & bolts of perfumery, as anyone who has followed our raw materials guides here on Perfume Shrine can attest.

The Sartorial Scent Box will be touring larger London Penrhaligon's boutiques this month.

Regent Street 11th - 18th October
EC4 18th - 25th October
Covent Garden 25th - 1st November
Islington 1st - 8th November

The Sartorial Scent Box is a unique and illuminating way to discover more about the formulation of Sartorial and the inspiration behind it: Visit one of the Penhaligon's boutiques to see and smell the ingredients such as Tonka Beans, Amber, Musk and Gurgum.

DelRae Panache: new fragrance

Parfums DelRae are launching a new fragrance developed by Yann Vasnier with the collaboration of Roth DelRae, the fruits of which will be certain to excite as much as previous releases have. The new fragrance by the San Francisco based niche perfumery is called Panache and is inspired by the famous character of Cyrano de Bergerac, the romantic French cadet with the big nose who contrasts the beauty of intelligence and his indefatigable spirit with the superficial beauty of his contesters and his friend Christian. His generosity, character and grace in the face of adversity are the elements which conspire for his beloved Roxane to finally fall in love with him. The name Panache comes from the final word in the play by Cyrano, which is indeed...panache; the driving force which defines his life and makes him unique. But which can also be an inspiration. Dramatic, complex, courageous and elegant...
Interestingly, Cyrano de Bergerac was a real person, but his fame today is based on an 1897 play, loosely based on Cyrano's life, by Edmond Rostand. Rostand's play spawned several film adaptations, an opera, a ballet, and is still enjoyed in performances all over the world to this day.

For the DelRae Panache perfume Yann Vasnier created a composition which begins with top notes of ambrette seed and delicious rum, progressing to vetiver surrounded by jasmine Sambac absolute, ylang ylang orpur*, cardamom and finally the foresty tones of oakwood extract. The base is warm with resinous notes of Somalian olibanum orpur and captive molecules of sophisticated musks (the magnificent Cosmone alonside Serenolide and Moxalone) with nuances of ambergris. The finishing off is played on notes of golden amber and white honey.

*Orpur is a term used for sophisticated pure naturals ingredients, comprising the best of the Givaudan aroma-producing company's portfolio.

Notes for DelRae Panache:

Top: ambrette seed absolute, baies roses CO2 orpur, Italian bergamot orpur, magnolia flower orpur, rum extract

Heart: Geranium Egypt orpur, ylang ylang orpur, jasmine absolute sambac, cardamom absolute, honeysuckle, orris butter, Haitian vetiver, cedarwood Atals orpur, oakwood extract

Base: Cosmone, Serenolide, Moxalone, olibanum Somalia orpur, golden amber, white honey.

The new DelRae fragrance Panache is presented in 50ml/1.7oz of eau de Parfum for 150$, available from their official site. Samples of the whole line can be purchases directly from the DelRae company on this link.

Creed Spice & Wood: fragrance review

Creed is celebrating 250 years of family business apparently and therefore have issued the Royal Exclusives line: Notice the cunning use of Royal accolades for something completely new which surely can't have been commissioned by any royal personage? Especially since this is a release for the American market who is dazzled by royalty. We, Europeans have a much different view on them, having known them from all the bad angles, I'm afraid... Anyway, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of marketing on the part of Oliver Creed, so I won't insist on this minor point.

So after Sublime Vanilla,
Creed Spice & Wood marries two of the favourite themes of many perfume lovers, thus also hinting at an "old school" thematology. Would the material be treated in a such a way?
The inspiration was reported to be the pairing of Antony and Cleopatra and I couldn't but recall of the line about Marc Antony's sexual tastes which leaned "more to the molded cheese than the pure one off the cheesemaker's" as jotted down by Octavia, his 3rd wife and antagonist of his GrecoEgyptian lover. I guess Creed missed that part.

So, is it? Is it not? Who cares...saying that a fragrance was inspired by some perfume that Cleopatra or Marc Antony wore, or from fragments of anything that belonged to them, might cut it with the average consumer.

What matters is the fragrance itself. And alongside the promised spices and woods there is a more esoteric accord, which runs through some of the Creeds, a bit metallic, a tad salty. There is also a touch of a Cuir de Russie pungency, thanks to white birch featured, but nothing out of this world. The dominant wood is cedar, both austere and a little sensual, with a bit of that petroleum note which it takes in many modern compositions instead of the pencil shavings that we're accustomed to think of when cedar is mentioned. The base overall has some similarities with Aventus, a previous Creed fragrance with which it shares notes on paper, as well as Original Santal (a modern offering despite the "original" in its tag line), differentiated by the spiciness ~nowhere near Baie de Genievre alas~ which comes across as peppery-clove-y (iso-eugenol) and an abscence of sweetness. Overall, despite the expectations, it's a subtle, delicately warm fragrance without old-fashioned richness, more transparent and modern than anything; like they're pulling an Hermes on us, only with royal insignia to boot. I guess it works for the intended audience.

Parthian shot: Is it very masculine, you ask? Creed says: "Spice and Wood is the luxury asset hand made for men -- but also intensely enjoyed by women". Two birds with one stone, but of course!

Notes for Creed Spice & Wood:
Top: bergamot, lemon, Italian Court Pendu Plat apples from Rome
Heart: angelica root, Luxor rose, clove, desrt pepper, patchouli, white birch
Base: Egyptian iris, cedar, oakmoss, musk.

Creed Spice and Wood is available in Eau de Parfum in a 250ml/8.4oz bottle made by Pochet et du Courval with a spray mechanism for 550$ from the Creed boutique and soon from retailers who distribute the line. Erwin Creed, 29, seventh generation of Creed and its future head, visits the U.S. in November, upin which occasion he will make public appearances at Bergdorf Goodman and select Neiman Marcus stores coast to coast, presenting the fragrance to the public for the first time and signing bottles. Please see all the dates and places of Erwin's US tour dates on this article.

Pic by Antoine Helbert via Chateau Thombeau

Gracing the Dawn

Gracing the Dawn is the latest fragrance by Roxana Illuminated Perfume, a small indie artisanal brand of botanical perfumes, which has occupied these pages before, and comes as a very pleasant surprise, as chypres haven't really been her "field" till now. But nothing is impossible when there is a will and fate takes you there.

A myriad of exotic essences are artfully woven in this traditional floral chypre composition, including Cestrum nocturnum, aka Night Queen from South India. The main notes in this botanical medley include violet, mimosa, wood, and Italian bergamot. Gracing the Dawn is a reference to the Three Graces from Greek mythology. "Fantastical butterflies sit on the bough of a tree with freshly opened blossoms just as the first light of dawn illuminates the sky". The perfume is part of a series titled Flowers of Fortune associated with artwork by award-winning artist Greg Spalenka.

Roxana Illuminated Perfumes are all natural, reflecting the philosophy and aesthetics of a true artisan, and there is no doubt one can smell that: There are the initial overwhelming notes which are so distanced from the mainstream synthetic fragrances which try to capture your attention by cueing an "instant gratification" process. No, these require a little patience, a little leaning on to appreciate the richness of the essences. There is a reconstruction of a purple violet in Gracing the Dawn which comes from a natural infusion of the little flowers and the synergy of other flowers (I detect mimosa? And a budding gardenia/hyacinth "note" with oily green facets). Like Green Witch, the green "perfume-y" effect of a classic chypre is evident. The unfolding of the notes in Gracing the Dawn follows a similar cadenza, the opening being light (and very, very inviting!) with citrusier facets oi of bergamot, while the violet heart alongside rose and jasmine/Night Queen unfold later on. If you have had the great fortune of smelling a bush of Night Queen you know it is a perfume in itself: heady, oleaginous, sweet with a bitterish aftertaste; truly intoxicating and filling up a room with its scent when cut. This memory of promenades in the warm night air was conjured up when I smelled Gracing the Dawn.

The fragrance's base is oscillating between a mossy-green velvet (bringing out the purple of the core character) and a light animalic touch (which could be augmented for anchoring, I think it would be very interesting). It's clear that lovers of classic floral chypres, such as the mountain-pure Ma Griffe, or maybe with an orientalised leaning, like Magie Noire, would like Gracing the Dawn. Recommended sniffing!

NB. The perfumer labelled this perfume as "natural" because there is a microscopic amount of Africa stone in the base accord (less than 1%). Africa stone is the fossilized droppings of a small animal (hyraceum) from Africa which has been distilled.

Gracing the Dawn can be purchased on this Etsy link and sampled on this Etsy link (1gram vial)

Image copyrighted by Greg Spalenka, used with permission.

Follow the rest of the participating blogs:
Beth at the Cleveland examiner
Lucy at indieperfumes

Trish at Scent Hive
Donna at perfumesmellinthings
and Roxana herself at journal.illuminatedperfume