Historical Smells Recreated in a Library of Scents at Osmotheque USA

"To put smells in a historical context is to add a whole dimension to how we understand the world. Boston’s Back Bay, for instance, has at different times been filled with the smells of a saltwater marsh, a cesspool, horses, and car exhaust. Some smells vanish, new ones arise, and some shift in a way that tells a cultural story. The jasmine and leather notes of a Chanel perfume from 1927 help us understand the boldly androgynous women of the flapper era, just as the candied sweetness of the latest Victoria’s Secret fragrance tells us something about femininity today."

To that end Roman Kaiser, a Swiss fragrance chemist, developed "headspace" (a method in which the air around an object, usually a living flower, is analysed and the scent recreated in the lab afterwards) while Christopher Brosius (of CB I Hate Perfume and formerly Demeter Library of Fragrances) has used that headspace technique to recreate more imaginative smells, such as fur coats or worn paperbacks. Others have made this an organized goal in the form of an archive, a veritable library of scents to speak, such as the Osmothèque, headquartered in Versailles, France, which keeps a collection of historically important perfumes, in their original formulas, chilled in aluminum flasks in argon, an inert gas that won’t react with the perfumes like oxygen does, helping them stay stable over time. "Laudamiel is currently spearheading an effort to bring some of these perfumes to New York City, and has created an Academy of Perfumery and Aromatics that will represent the Osmotheque in the United States."

Christophe Laudamiel, a renowened French perfumer who has a daring approach to fragrance and was responsible for the re-enactment of the smelly scenes of the novel Das Parfum (which materialised into a collector's coffret for Thierry Mugler),  is taking advantage of recent breakthroughs in historical exploration for his curating the US-based "library of scents", such as having McHugh of Harvard Universiaty turning on his list of detailed formulas of perfumes and incense encountered in Sanskrit texts; often to intriguing results, as the wealthy Brahmins who took notes on those scents described them in positive and occasionally in negative light. For instance, one of the fragrances Laudamiel has reconstructed contains notes of clarified butter, milk, mango blossoms, honey and sandalwood, while another reeks of rotting flesh, smoke, alcohol and garlic!

Perhaps the greatest challenge lies not in recreation however, but in context: How the people of the time experienced those smells, rather than how they smell to us today, as evidenced by the somewhat lacking recreation of smells in the Jorvik Viking Center in York, England, which takes visitors into the experience of smelling a fish market or a Viking latrine. The challenge of integrating the historical experience into smell recreations is what lies ahead.

data/quotes from Courtney Humphries "A whiff of History" in Boston.com. Read it in its entirety here.

photo of arc in Artemis temple in Jerash, Jordan via wikimedia commons

Chanel Coco Noir : new fragrance (rumour)

In the context of keeping you up with the latest, we often present fragrance projects by renowned companies before their launch is official. We classify these under "rumour" on Perfume Shrine and accept that the finer points may be swayed this way or that way later on. Today we have news on an upcoming Chanel fragrance! [We have updated with the official confirmation & pics below, scroll down please].

The thinking behind it all
Coco Noir is the official name, which stands for the new flanker to the original Coco fragrance from the 1980s. Coco Mademoiselle proved so popular that another effort in a similar vein might prove a treasure trove. After all since Chanel No.19 found a flanker, renewing the brand, in No.19 Poudré, why not Coco once more? After all, Coco Mademoiselle celebrates a decade on the market and a new addition to the line seems to prove it's considered a modern classic: if sales and promotion/advertising are any indication, it certainly is.

A "Noir"?
The Noir moniker suggests a composition that would depend on mystery, danger, adventure...There are hundreds of "noir" (or "black") fragrances on the market, from classics such as Narcise Noir and Drakkar Noir for men, to modern cults such as Bulgari Black, Japon Noir by Tom Ford, Black Orchid (again by Ford), Back to Black by Kilian, Orris Noir by Ormonde Jayne and Encre Noire by Lalique; or less challenging, tamer offerings such as Bulgari Jasmin Noir, Crystal Noir by Versace, La Petite Robe Noire by Guerlain. There's something for everyone, since noir holds powerful fascination in fragrances for consumers, as we have already discussed in detail.

My money for the next Chanel therefore is on sophisticated notes that are making a come-back in general, such as leather, tarry-phenolic elements, incense, and darker "woods" (not forsaking popular patchouli) with skin-scent musks etc. The concept of calling something "black" is aesthetically a by-word for grown-up and I can't possibly see how girly, frou-frou things (fruity florals, sweet vanillas) could evoke it sufficiently. Unless they've forgotten what they represent at Chanel, which I hope they have not.

EDIT TO ADD: Official confirmation coming from Chanel directly one year later than my original prediction(!): Coco Noir is a new perfume launching on August 14th 2012 in the US and then internationally in September 2012; an oriental poised between the classic spicy oriental Coco and the modern luminous patchouli-laced oriental Coco Mademoiselle. 
[See? I told you I was not bull-shiting you!]

The concept

“Why does all I do become byzantine?” — Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel

The concept of Coco Noir by Chanel is inspired by the past, traveling, the Baroque,Venice at night and the time Coco spent in the mysterious city....the idea of Venetian velvet is a recurring motif. 
The perfume is composed by in-house perfumer Jacques Polge.
"For Coco Noir, I thought of Coco and of Coco Mademoiselle too, because it’s also part of the history. I wanted to continue exploring an entire esthetic range of CHANEL perfumery, a range that distinguishes itself from the Florals, one that is illustrated by Bois-des-Iles and Cuir de Russie. I took it up with Coco. It’s what I like to call the CHANEL Coromandel culture, what you see and feel in her apartment. The night vision of the ‘Orient that starts and ends in Venice’ imposed itself upon me and that is where I wanted to go.”        
~Jacques Polge

Here is the bottle above and the fragrance notes for Coco Noir by Chanel:

Top: grapefruit, bergamot and orange
Heart: jasmine, rose, red geranium, Indonesian patchouli
Base: Brazilian tonka bean, Bourbon vanilla, sandalwood, frankincense and white musk.

Edit to add mini review:

Chanel's Coco Noir is like U2's song When All I Want is You, specifically the lyric "all the promises we break". It is no doubt a fragrance to suit contemporary sensibilities, what those may be, but its woody backdrop with lots of austere, somewhat masculine notes (which is not a bad thing in itself) is betrayed by the obiquitous fruity top which brings a jarring sour, garbage-y nuance. 

Venice by night....the inspiration behind Chanel Coco Noir

Ormonde Jayne on the Continent: European Shopping Destinations in Zurich & Brussels

Osswald Parfümerie in Zurich was chosen for the Ormonde Jayne’s first continental concession on the prestigious Bahnhofstrasse. Osswald is an exclusive third generation perfumery that Ormonde Jayne’ owner Linda Pilkington first visited as a customer thirty years ago. Osswald has created a special area for Ormonde Jayne’s full range of 12 exclusive Parfums and Eau de Parfums within their boutique and the Osswald staff are delighted with the new range.

Ormonde Jayne’s second European concession is due to open in ten days on July 17 in Brussels on Place Stephanie at Senteurs d’Ailleurs. This will be the largest haute parfumerie store of its kind in Benelux.

In an impressive expansion from the existing store on Avenue Louise, Senteurs d’Ailleurs will be opening their doors in the stunning new Art Deco building opposite The Conrad Hotel next week.

 Ormonde Jayne’s exclusive Perfume Portraits service that Linda Pilkington recently launched with also be available in Brussels. This is the complimentary service that helps customers find their signature scent by smelling the raw ingredients of the perfumes.

The two new European concessions follow on from Ormonde Jayne’s launch of the new flagship boutique in Sloane Square that opened in November 2010 and the staffed concession in Harrods Perfumery Hall in February 2010.

news via press release

Tauer Perfumes Pentachords ~White, Auburn, Verdant: fragrance reviews

Indie perfumer Andy Tauer gets inspired by music scales into arranging his newest line of fragrances we're exclusively previewing on Perfume Shrine today on pentachords, that is to say 5 consecutive notes on the diatonic scale. Pentachords® by Tauer Perfumes (White, Auburn and Verdant) are arranged as elusively simple, but not simplistic, harmonies resembling rather pentagram chords: the whole only becomes powerful when each part falls into place. Or think of a pentagram in the place of the classic French fragrance pyramid; "an accord that changes from one corner of the scent’s pentagon over time".

In a way it's minimalism and music theoretics pushed to an elegant extreme, a concept that is refuted by some; Tauer's bravura if successful, a big risk if not. "The compression and limitation an incentive" as he says. How many ingredients are necessary for a satisfying perfume? Tauer can whip up something with only five molecules and the results are satiating enough to fool you into believing there's more than meets the eye; kinda like full-cream premium ice-cream composed by only a handful ingredients, instead of tons of frilly additives.
Andy envisioned them (back in February 2009)  like "a fragrance built around 5 pillars. The line of thought moved on towards a pentachord fragrance. A fragrance, or an entire line of fragrances, built with 5 components only that are one chord, a pentachord." [...] "For me, this is art in its purest form: mirroring nature, bringing it into a concept, and by doing so thinking about it and invite others to think about it and enjoy it."

The long-lasting nature of the Pentachord fragrances (easily 10 hours or more) also speaks of picking elements with deft selection: sorting out the formula must be difficult when you have to ditch something that creates a striking effect, but doesn't translate well in structure or tenacity, and vice versa. You also have to choose good, expensive ingredients to yield their best properties into the concept. Lovers of the familiar Tauer signature will find things to like, especially in Auburn, which takes the ambery depths of his more resinous fragrances to date (Le Maroc pour Elle, L'air du desert Marocain), but I predict he will get new fans in Verdant and White which present striking effects poised between lightness and darkness. They both made an instant impression on me due to their juxtaposition of freshness against meaty earthiness.
All of them could be worn by either sex easily, though you'd have to like soft, gentle fragrances to appreciate White and to handle the metallic-woody top notes of modern masculine fougeres to unlock the secrets of  Verdant.

• White (a floral woody musk) is built on "the clear melody of royal Iris" and you do get it, but it's so much more as well. The concept of Pentachords White fragrance began while the perfumer was jogging in the snowy landscape of the woods near Zurich: "we thought about violet, orris root, ambergris, wood, vanilla", he admits. If this combination sounds inviting, the fragrance should get you all excited!
  The intense beauty of very expensive Irone Alpha (6-methyl alpha ionone) by Givaudan vibrates at the cusp of orris root and violet flowers, creating a silvery, expansive imagescape: A fragrance of either the crack of dawn or the crepuscular drawing of a prolonged cool afternoon, the contrast between light and shadow. The unusual element in the White Pentachord lies into manipulating the powdery, wistful and yet also "fleshy" character of orris into a fluffy embrace, in this case built on vanilla (methylvanillin to my nose, a phenolic aldehyde) and clean musk with a hint of ambergris/ambrox (a beloved "note" in the Tauer Canon for its skin compatibility properties): The subtle, gentle warmth of the latter elements balances the sadness and coolness of the former into an uplifting arpeggio, like the first or last rays of sun flickering on sheets of white. The sweetness of the fruity edges of the irone and the vanilla are most detectable in the middle of the fragrance's progression, while the more the fragrance stays on skin, the more the woody-iris facets of the molecule reveal themselves. It's innocent and supremely soft, but not maudlin. In fact it might have been inspired by a classic hazy scent which Andy loves to wear: Habit Rouge, a cloud transported from the skies on the wings of opoponax. Here Tauer substitutes the core opoponax for the amazing Alpha Irone which dominates the fragrance and creates a comparable "flou" ambience.
  Tauer's White has me hankering for things I did not know I had a hankering for: Jogging in the cold-ringing air at the crack of dawn trying to catch the first rays reflected in the white-spotted trees, warm milk in my thermos, or putting on warm pyjamas in bed, sipping violet pastilles and bringing down my teddy-bears again for a little cuddling session, years after they moved to the attic. It's a truly lovable fragrance that is sure to have many enamoured of it.

• Auburn (a spicy oriental) is presented as "the cupric warmth of cinnamon" and lovers of the compositions where Tauer smacks opposite his beloved mandarin citrus note resins (such as in L'air du desert Marocain, Une rose Vermeille, Incense Rosé) will smile with a smile of cognition: This is familiar ground, pared down to the necessities for this occasion. Amyl cinnamyl acetate gives a cinnamon note, while the amber-tobacco effect reinforces the oriental impression. It feels coppery and juicy. The citrus note is succulent, sweet rather than tangy, reminiscent of Orange Star, the heart sports hydroxycitronellal for expansion and a honeyed linden blossom note, while the background is deep, woody and ambery; a statement fragrance in the mold of modern orientals. Even though Auburn reads pleaurable as always ~Tauer is a master in arranging resinous, labdamum oriental accords~ it feels like already treaded ground and gives me the impression it was the last one to get developed; possibly as a need to tally the line into three different style offerings, or as a choice between some more additions that felt less representative of varying families and were thus kept for the follow-up. But that is only my guess and it does not detract from the fun that loyals to the "Tauerade" base will derive from it.

• Verdant (an aromatic green) represents "the lush green of ivy forests" and if you have ever dreamt of living in one of those country houses festooned with climbing ivy, shading it and keeping it cool, you're right there. The effect is photorealistic, from the water drops gleaming on the verdure, to the tangled growth & soil underneath replete with the gardener wearing leather gloves while trimming the branches. But what is most interesting to me in Pentachord Verdant is that in fact I smell an effect that strongly reminds me of woody vetiver fragrances: a nutty, oily rich, tobacco-laced earthy note which contrasts and compliments at the same time the greenery and grassy feel. It reminds me of Vertofix coeur (methyl cedryl ketone, a IFF ingredient) with its leathery vetiver facets, with an added sweet hay note of coumarin and rum-licorice which goes exceptionally well. The violet leaves come off metallic and bluish at the beginning, a tad sharp and androgynous (in the manner of Balenciaga Paris or Verte Violette), a jarring striking contrast, while the progression veers into warmer, ambery-leathery tonalities that create a warm pipe fantasy. If you like Vetiver Tonka and apreciate the sharp violet leaf freshness of modern masculines/unisex scents, this is a conversational piece to get you started in an engrossing discussion on modern perfumery. I find it a very interesting fragrance indeed.

The flacons for the Tauer Pentachords follow the pentagram design he already has introduced with Zeta, Orange Star and the rest of the latest releases, but in transparent glass with varying hues of coloured labels in white, copper and petrol green. The Pentachords line by Tauer Perfumes is only available at Campomarzio in Rome at the moment. They will launch more widely after the Pitti fragrance exhibition in September 2011.

Painting on top by Claude Monet. Pic of bottles via duftarchive.de In the interests of full disclosure, I got sent trial samples from the distributor.

Balenciaga L'Essence: new fragrance preview

The new Balenciaga fragrance is a continuation of their last year's best-selling entr, a flanker that is in fact a continuation rather than a new fragrance merely taking over the design and name of a successful launch: Remarkably close to the original with a more metallic freshness, the new perfume named Balenciaga L`Essence will appear on the market in September 2011. The new fragrance belongs to the floral green genre, as did the original, but is supposed to be a more direct, potent fragrance in Eau de Parfum concentration, turning the original bottle design transparent to cement the notion of "purity", of "essence" ~a fact that personally reminds me of the comparable approach by Narciso Rodriguez and his own Essence and Essence Eau de Musc. L'Essence by Balenciaga is again fronted by muse Charlotte Gainsbourg.

Neiman Marcus already has testers for sampling, though, so getting a preliminary test is within reach: According to that, Balenciaga L'Essence is remarkably close to the original Balenciaga Paris fragrance, focusing as it does on the fresh, abstract green of violet leaf (different than just violets which are usually sweeter and powdery) and cool woods with a nutty note, a unisex idea, almost androgynous. The drydown in a mostly linear fragrance is warm with skin notes. “Green fragrances are traditionally male, like eau de cologne. However the key to Balenciaga Paris is violet leaves. I wanted to draw on these almost conflicting inspirations, for women”. L’Essence is green because it is honest and vibrant, like the rustle of crumpled leaves. But L’Essence is green as if it were trying to hide the secret of its nocturnal herb scent…
L’Esssence is impulsive. L’Essence is unambiguous. On the skin, L’Essence is as pure as the searing honesty of short-lived flowers. Violet leaves are like a blast of woodland and their youthful energy stimulates the skin. Violet leaves are unfailingly honest and offer up their exquisite coarseness. Vetiver also takes the upper hand, wild, unruly and incisive… L’Essence engages and dazzles with its modulations. And the secret of the forest asserts itself… L’Essence, is also reminiscent of the mossy scent given off by forests at certain times of day, which emphasises the accent of conifers. It is like the fragrance of leather, but it expresses the intrinsic nobility of the organic world. L’Essence has a keen, intense scent. L’Essence yields and offers resistance. L’Essence, is also about living…"

Balenciaga Designer Nicolas Ghesquière and Charlotte Gainsbourg present the making of the campaign for Balenciaga L'Essence in the video.