Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum: new fragrance, shiny new ad campaign

Bottega Venetta, a luxe brand with minimal exposure to the world of beauty addicts, has braved the elements and launched its first fragrance: Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum. The concept? The usual: bringing in a new customer to the brand.

“Fragrances are generally brought to market to introduce the brand to a younger less affluent brand with the hope that someday they’ll be a brand enthusiast for other more profitable Bottega products,” Mr. Ramey said. [source]
Bottega Veneta’s namesake fragrance, created in a partnership with Coty, will be available globally in November. The fragrance was envisioned by Bottega Veneta creative director Tomas Maier, who "wanted to capture the sun and warmth of a Venetian countryside house and its library full of leather books", according to the brand. (Sounds good!)

The advertising campaign focuses on a video commercial, featuring model Nine D’Urso (daughter of Inès de la Fressange and Italian businessman & art dealer Luigi d’Urso) on the beach. The bottle contains the brand’s signature weave pattern with a smooth outside and intrecciato bottom.
“Video is a great way to create a compelling emotion for a new product,” said Chris Ramey, founder of Affluent Insights, Miami, who stresses it's not advisable to go on for too long.



Prices for the Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum range from $65 for 1 oz./30ml to $475 for the 60 oz. (!) bottle. Ancillary products are available as well: shower gel for $40, body lotion for $50, body cream for $95.
The Bottega Veneto fragrance will be sold exclusively in Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus starting in September. It will then be available at all specialty stores beginning in November 2011.

Tom Ford Violet Blonde, Jasmin Rouge and Santal Blush: new fragrances & initial previews

New Tom Fords fragrances are going to launch officially very soon: Jasmin Rouge, Violet Blonde, and Santal Blush. After a successful course and some discontinuations (such as the compelling Velvet Gardenia), Tom Ford continues to expand his line, this time in a curious mix of Anglo and Franco languages in their names; perhaps in the case of Violet Blonde the implied wordplay is it might look like "violent blonde" to the casual onlooker, thus instigating a second, closer look. Given the steamy ads for Neroli Portofino, a best-seller in the line with matching body products, the anticipation for the new images is palpable. But let's see how the new fragrances smell and take a look at their respective bottles.

Violet Blonde is a complex scent with a nuanced character, woody and vanilla/benzoin laced, without too much sweet violet notes, but rather the powdery, soft scent of iris. The bottle designof Violet Blonde is the same as Tom Ford White Patchouli in the transparent glass used for Tom Ford for Men bottles. The square Tom Ford gold name-plate is given a twist into a rectangular gold name-plate that stretches across the bottom front of the bottle (as seen in the photo of the ad below) and in each corner of the plate a small gold bolt is added.  
Violet Blonde is available in 30ml and 50ml of Eau de Parfum and is part of the regular Tom Fod line (alongside Black Orchid and White Patchouli), available at major department stores.

Notes for Tom Ford Violet Blonde:
Top: Violet Leaf Absolute, Italian Mandarin, Baie Rose
Middle: Tuscan Orris Absolute, Tuscan Orris Butter, Jasmin Sambac, Sampaquita
Bottom: Benzoin, Cedarwood, Vetiver Absolute, Musk, Soft Suede

Santal Blush and Jasmin Rouge on the other hand belong to the Private Blend line by Tom Ford with the hefty price-tags.
Tom Ford Santal Blush is a gorgeous, clean, dry sandalwood with an immediate message of sensuousness and no boozy aftertaste, beautiful and wearable, composed by talented perfumer Yann Vasnier. The bet wasn't an easy one: Composing a sandalwood fragrance evocative of the Indian splendors of the Mysore variety known from the past without actually using the raw material due to its regional restrictions on use. The result more than compensates, entering into sandalwood fragrances top list, always popular with perfume lovers. If you like Tam Dao, this is a refined take on that scented memory.
"Masala spices from India, Cinnamon Bark Oil Sri Lanka ORPUR, Cumin Seed Oil, Fenugrec Absolute and Carrot Seed Oil, are enriched by a floral blend of Jasmine Absolute, Rose Absolute and Ylang Madagascar. An infusion of richly textured Sandalwood captives, Australian Sandalwood, Benzoin, Agarbois and Skin Musks, transport the scent of Santal Blush to another level". It's highly recommended and I predict it will be supremely popular among the cognoscenti!

Tom Ford Jasmin Rouge is perhaps the weakest link, since it has a sweet character that can turn a bit plastic on some skins. Of all the jasmines I have recently tried it's the one that impressed me least because I had the highest expectations from. Still a new jasmin from a niche line always sends a kind of frisson down some spines!

Violet Blonde, Jasmin Rouge, and Santal Blush by Tom Ford are now available for testing at Saks New York and Bergdorf Goodman in NYC, though latter store mentions a September launch date for the US and a later date in October for the international market.The launch will coincide with the new make-up range and a new male grooming products launch.

images via basenotes and scents of arabia

Yves Saint Laurent Saharienne: fragrance review

If damning with faint praise is the modus operandi of the considerate critic, then I could say that the feminine fragrance Saharienne by Yves Saint Laurent is an inoffensive summer scent for days when you're bored to think of perfuming yourself. That wouldn't be right, though. Saharienne evokes so much fashion mythology with its name that expectations would naturally soar. Unfortunately, for a house with such clout in its history and at least two controversial scents in its archives (Opium and M7), plus many beautiful ones (YSL Paris, In Love Again, Rive Gauche, Y), Saharienne underwhelms.

A fresh "nothing" for summer that, while not unpleasant by any means, falls short of the stature of a true Saint Laurent fragrance. The promised "exotic journey in the wilderness" is just a stroll down the perfumery hall of an anonymous department store in Peoria.

When Saint Yves, fashion's true saint, introduced the saharienne "safari jacket" in the 1968, he envisioned a garment that would recall the best of colonial imperialism, in terms of stylishness that is, without succumbing to the demeaning elements herein.

The sharp, belted, pocketed jacket was compact and practical, but with an air of savagery as well, as though the wearer could brave sandstorms that would obscure the skies in torpedos of seemingly red particles attacking one's every cranial cavity.
The beloved garment of the white colonialist (Yves was of Algerian descent after all) looked ever so sexy on the leggy Veruschka (the aristocrat model Veruschka von Lehndorff, pictured here); cinched waist and  tight laces over bronzed breasts that were unencumbered by bridling bras. Saint Laurent's fashions made women look powerful, yet feminine! The Saharienne jacket (or the safari jacket) was no exception to that rule. Apart from a fashion milestone (no designer has been immune to its charms in the following 40 years), it also signaled a feminist one:
"By 1970, with the acceptance of trouser suits, the Western woman's silhouette accommodated bifurcation for the first time. Yves Saint Laurent, a designer extremely sensitive to social trends, responded to the May student uprisings in 1968 by creating a line of women's tailored trouser suits. Based on the "African" theme, he created a "Safari" suit for his spring/summer 1968 collection, transforming the functional hunting outfit into townwear for women". [source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ]

The muted bergamot "cologne" idea (taking a sharp, astringent, tangy flavour and blunting its edge with loads of Iso-E Super in modern perfumery speak) is not remarkably original; not does it serve any purpose as a stand-alone-trick beyond the blah. It's shampoo writ large. Nothing wrong with this, coming from a brand like Clean or Bath & Body Works, but there is some disappointment in the notion pervading Yves Saint Laurent. I detect no significant spice, just a flou idea of woodiness and "clean" musky backdrop.
If you're looking for a sparkling woody-faceted bergamot with great lasting power for that refreshing, insouciant grace of summer wear, when you don't want to look like you're trying too hard, grab Terre d'Hermes instead.

Notes for Saharienne by Yves Saint Laurent:
Top: lemon, Italian bergamot and mandarin
Heart: white flower petals, orange leaf, galbanum, black currant bud.
Base: pink pepper, ginger.

Mona di Orio Discontinuations: Waving Good bye

I don't know if writing has the power to change the world, but it might have the power to halt certain small enterprises from pushing product to interested members: Mona di Orio has been steadily producing fragrances that are really unusual and -many of them- beautiful, but after a long deliberation she has decided to stop her original line in favour of focusing on her new one, Les Nombres d'Or (Cuir, Ambre, Musc and recently Vetyver, Vanille and Tubereuse) . Therefore, if you have been a fan of Jabu, Chamarre, Nuit Noire, Amyitis, Lux, Oiro, or Carnation, you should hang on to your bottles. (My friend Gaia has posted reviews of almost the entire house, if you don't know anything about it)

The news come from the official Mona di Orio Facebook page and are uncontestable:

 "To be able to broaden the Les Nombres d’Or line in the future, to provide a service excellence and having the adequate stock levels we have decided, for the time being, to discontinue the Grey Collection and focus on the Les Nombres d’Or line. We hope and trust you will understand and respect our decision. We know we have to disappoint some of our loyal followers and believers since day one, but we are convinced that the new Mona di Orio fragrances will give you pleasure, passion and surprises. High Quality materials and a unique approach of classics in the perfumerie. We have stock of some references (not all) available for ordering, please check at your local retailer or at info@monadiorio.com for final deliveries."

The winner of the draw...

...for the Haute Claire mini bottle is Smartshopper2/Audrey.

...for the Valentino gorgeous bottle is Barbara Patty.

Congratulations to both! Please email me using the contact on Profile or About page with your shipping data, so I can mail/ have your prizes mailed to you soon.
Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic participation and till the next one!