Newsflash: L'Eau Serge Lutens in new size

The derisive L'Eau Serge Lutens (find our review and musings on these pages) now comes in a smaller size for those who want to try it or carry it on the go: 50ml for 69 euros.
Available online.

L'Osmotheque participates in Esxcence exhibition

The most important perfume conservation museum in the world, l’Osmothèque, founded in 1990, is going to be participating in Esxcence The Scent of Excellence 2011 this coming March (find more info on links below).
Initiatives and opportunities to smell some of the meticulously recreated masterpieces from the early 20th century history of perfumery will be available to the public. Among them, historic and extremely hard to find specimens of Houbigant's Fougère Royale (1882), Coty's La Rose Jacqueminot (1904), Coty's L’Origan (1905), Houbigant's Quelques Fleurs (1912), Coty's Le Chypre (1917), and Millot's Crêpe de Chine (1925). An opportunity not to miss!

Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin sing for Caron

When commercials and advertising jingles were tender and softly caressing, without crassness or hard sells...


Serge Gainsbourg, poète maudit of the 70s, and Jane Birkin, the siren-muse, sing on a promotional disc for the perfume "Pour Un Homme" de Caron, which was released in France on April 1st 1972 (it can be found here). The song is now on the official Caron site: Hit English and it takes you to the page with the free download, alongside a nostalgic vinyl disk turning). Or just play the clip right here on Perfume Shrine below. The little 45disk was offered to customers who purchased the cologne at Caron counters (how cute is that?)and has since made appearences on Ebay, hence the photo.
The Gainsbourg song is also audible on the Pour Un Homme page, allegedly "the secret of Serge's seduction". Like the lyrics say: "Je passe pour un homme, pas très beau garçon" (i.e. I pass for a man, not a pretty boy)
Of course Caron's Pour Un Homme is a true classic since its issue in 1934, its vanilla-laced lavender accord a dependable mainstay in masculine perfumery. Thanks to parfums Caron for starting the year in a nostalgic, truly lovely way!

Narciso Rodriguez Essence Eau de Musc: new fragrance

Narciso Rodriguez is crazy about musk, his fetish material...as we needed reminding. His eponymous creation (the many confusing concentrations broken down in this article) is full of the warm, intimate aura of a "clean" musk. For women who like musky scents as much in order to reveal the femininity inside every woman, Rodrifuez issues a new flanker to his Essence fragrance, called Essence Eau de Musc.

The new eau de toilette will be available from February 28th 2011 and is inspired by the house’s latest perfume, Essence (reviewed here), but introduces more floral-sparkling facets, highlighting the delicacy of the white musks trail. The heart allies the musky notes with bergamot and iris.
“It’s an airy and luminous fragrance that reflects a new energy and a lighter state of mind,” according to the official blurb. The mirrored bottle has gotten more slender for the occassion and the package has been updated, too. Narciso Rodriguez Essence Eau de Musc will retail from 49, 75 to 95 euros for 50ml, 100ml and 125ml respectively.

And Let the Seperation's Pain Sleep in the Heart

Clip from Ulysses' Gaze by Theodoros Aggelopoulos. The song is traditionally sung on New Year's Eve in Greek gatherings, while the time-play of the elapsing years in the film is a nod to post-world-war II Romanian history, in the greater Balkans cadre.

May history smile on all of us in 2011. Happy New Year!