"We Expect Sales to be Bigger in Asia": Fragrance Quote on New Luxury

'With the European and American markets teetering on the brink of collapse, global luxury labels such as Jimmy Choo are looking toward the Asian consumer for some salvation.
“We expect sales to be bigger here, since Asians are open to trends. And Filipino women are glamorous,” extolled Interparfums Managing Director Renaud Boisson. “Philippine girls have more character.”

~a propos the launch of Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum and Eau de Toilette in the Philipinnes (entire article in Business Mirror)

Best & Worst of 2011 in Perfume & Other Matters of Beauty

It's that time of the year again when we revise what went well and what went terribly wrong in the past 12 months in our small "pocket" of the universe. An Herculean task, nonetheless, so a ruthless elimination by the author and some lenience from you, dear reader, is needed. On the whole, 2011 was a good year for perfume; despite the hundreds of releases, there were interesting and well-executed offerings and perfumers seemed to be riding on top of the doom & gloom of the perfume community's Cassandras.

Personally it was a year of immersing myself into the artistic side of evaluating perfume, with collaborations with top curators, photographers, publishers and other media artists who helped me articulate my innermost thoughts on how perfume shapes our ethos. More on which later on...
But without more ado, here are my thoughts on the past year in hindsight. 

Best Mainstream Perfume Not Catering to Lowest Common Denominator
Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum
It's no wonder I coupled the review with a still from my favourite 2011 film, Drive.  This leathery fragrance is as danger-promising as a pair of gloves by a professional stunt driver, as soft as a genuine smile rising up from a non-tell-tale heart. I love it!

Other notable mainstream fragrances that made the cut are Elie Saab Le Parfum , Tom Ford Violet Blonde and Balenciaga L'Essence (the perfect office scent), plus the scent mentioned just below. 

Best Unadulterated Fragrance Fun
Prada Candy

Best Suave Niche Offering
Tom Ford Private Collection Santal Blush tie with Santal Massoia Hermessence
Both fragrances went for the creaminess of sandalwood, now that Mysore sandalwood is verboten. They both produced something more than what they were aiming for; former via ultra-refined silkiness, latter via coconut-greeness.

Best Hors Categorie
Puredistance M: Is this technically a 2011 release? Its leathery, soft and beguiling, beauty had me confused  (it launched in December 2010). Do you see a pattern here?

Best Masculine
Thierry Mugler A*Men Pure Havane

2011 was also a very good year for small artisanal, indie perfumers & entrepreneurs who proved quality and attention to your audience really pays off. I'm referring to Laurie Erickson, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, Ineke, Neela Vermeire and the perfumers mentioned below.

Best Surprise Attempt
Tableau de Parfums Miriam
A beautiful old-school feminine aldehydic from the Swiss perfumer who excels in woodies and mandarin-rich orientals in collboration with film director Brian Pera. A credible times-fitting specimen, but also curiously totally modern!

Best Ethereal Floral
Annick Goutal Le Mimosa. (I haven't yet tried Mon Parfum Cheri de Camille, a chypre from the same company, but will do so after all the raves). I also enjoyed Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria Jasminora and Cartier Baiser Vole (technically mainstream).

Interesting Project of the Year 
Brave New Scents initiated by Anya McCoy of the Natural Perfumers' Guild (see reviews of JoAnne Bassett Enchant, Anya's Garden Lotus Garden, Lord's Jester Hermes.)

Best All-Naturals Scent
Aftelier Secret Garden

Best Out of Budget Splurge
Armani Prive La Femme Bleue

Best Vintage Discoveries in 2011
Thanks to my collector friends, I experienced the amazingly rare Guerlain Cuir de Russie and the equally introuvable Guerlain Vere Novo. The stuff dreams are made of...

Shock of the Year
The untimely and sudden death of perfumer Mona di Orio due to complications of surgery. We will sorely miss her.

Premonition (or rather certainty) which Became Awful Reality
We had discussed how Amy Winehouse would be an intriguing candidate for a celebrity scent, but she kicked the bucket and died at 27. It's really sad...

Several other people involved in one way or another with fragrance & fashion died this year: Jean-Francois Laporte, Helene Rochas, Elizabeth Taylor, Evelyn Lauder, Loulou de la Falaise...A heavy toll 2011 brought along.

Yawn of the Year re: Fragrance Launches
Madonna issuing her Truth or Dare celebrity scent. Eons too late on the bandwagon, dear Madge.

Atrocities of 2011: There Were Many...
1) The mighty fall of John Galliano: Losing the Dior creative chair and his own label to an (incomprehensible) anti-semetic outburst? You'd think he'd know better than that.
2) In the words of Hermès CEO Patrick Thomas vis a vis the hostile take-over of 20% of his company by LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) president Bernard Arnault: "If you want to seduce a beautiful woman, you don't start by raping her from behind." The thriller took the length of 2011 and thankfully is over (as per Le Figaro). Phewwww...
3) Parfums Dior dropping the Chérie from Miss Dior Chérie, and altering the fragrance formula on top of that, thus utterly confusing the consumer into thinking they're buying something else. Sacrilege ~re: the seminal gardenia chypre classic from 1947, now called Miss Dior Original~ to say the least.

Perfume Ad Gone the Way of Je Bore (or Weird Traffic Generator of the Year)
I watched the new commercial film for Dior J'Adore with Charlize Theron. It didn't wow me, even though directed by one of my favourite film directors, and I explained the objective reasons why it's unoriginal and borderline tomb-raiding. It's garnered a heck of a lot of interest for that kind of post, none the less from PR damage control employees. Which makes me think perfume companies are used to getting a priori positive coverage, clearly a delusional expectation. 

Contradiction of the Year
Serge Lutens gave me pause for the first time (yes, I'm even bypassing the L'Eau horror). While his Jeux de Peau (export) is yummily sensuous with the toasted touch of pyrazines, his angular Vitriol d'Oeillet (export) and his dusty-clean yet funereal De Profundis (Paris exclusive) puzzled me. Maybe I will lose myself again to his upcoming release, L'Eau Froide based on cool, icy frankincense. I continue to wear his previous fragrances with the requisite awe and solemnity.

Scent-Related Laugh of 2011
Petite Mort by Marc Atlan tie with Surplus by Jammie Nicholas
When you need to put the pompous word "art" in there to make people sit up and notice, things are not looking good.

Let-Down of 2011
Chanel No.19 Poudre
Lukewarm, spineless, without much character to speak of.

Perfume Post I Promise to Revisit
The Vocabulary of Scent

Best Perfume Sprinkling in Written Material of Another Purpose
Damage Control by Denise Hamilton

Perfume Book to Savour
F.Malle On Perfume Making 

Biography of 2011
Lisa Chaney's Chanel: An Intimate Life (review coming up)

Beauty Trend I Liked
Deeep, creamy, navy blue for nails. I don't know, they just look totally cool. OPI Road House Blues especially.

Beauty Trend I Disliked
"Crackled" nails in shades of puke or asphalt. WHY??

Beauty Staples I Appreciated Even More This Year
Bioderma Sensibio Solution Micellaire
Chanel Vitalumiere satin foundation

Here's to a wonderful, creative, beautiful 2012 for all of you!!
And please share your own top perfume/beauty finds of 2011 in the comments.

Please visit the other participants to this project:

Another Perfume Blog

DSH Notebook

EauMG

Scent Hive

Smelly Blog

The Non Blonde

"Best of 201"  image by Roxana of Illuminated Perfume"

Nails pic via London Lacquer. J'Adore collage via fashionist.ca , A*Men pic via guiahombres.com

From our heart to yours...

I was touched to find these (decidedly American-accented) Greek folk New Year's Carols on Youtube featuring the TCWSH Bel Canto.

From the heart of Perfume Shrine to yours, we wish you a most merry New Year filled with creative outlets and loving occasions. Happy 2012!

Guerlain Shalimar Initial L'Eau & Guerlain Idylle Duet Jasmine-Lilas

As we discussed on our previous post with news on upcoming Guerlains, the French fragrance and cosmetics house is very busy issuing "flankers" for 2012. Two feminine ones will be issued in the following months, one a new unexpected spin on Shalimar Parfum Initial, the other a new duet of notes for Idylle.

Guerlain Shalimar Initial L'Eau

The commercially successful experiment of Shalimar Parfum Initial (2011), an introductory Shalimar for those consumers who knew the brand through their cosmetics and skincare or for the young clientele that always associated the classic Shalimar with older generations and longed for a version to claim their own (see also Shalimar Eau Legere/Shalimar Light and Eau de Shalimar for previous efforts into this arena). For 2012 Guerlain is planning on launching a flanker to the modernised Shalimar Parfum Initial version, this time called Shalimar Initial L'Eau.

Shalimar Initial L'Eau is both a lighter and drier new formula, not just a different concentration or new bottle edition (Shalimar in general knows more limited editions than it can possibly count). It takes as a point of departure a spring bouquet, comprised of bright, green-smelling blossoms of lily of the valley, freesia and hyacinth, to accompany the familiar warmth of the modernised Shalimar Initial. The new spin boosts the green freshness (like that in Miss Dior Chérie L'Eau) which was already an element in the Initial and adds neroli essence and grapefruit top notes.
The new version offers a refreshing take for warmer weather, without the pitfall of too much sweetness. The composition was arrived at by in-house perfumer Thierry Wasser and is set to launch in early 2012.

Guerlain Idylle Duet Jasmin-Lilas

After last year's Idylle flanker Idylle Duet Rose-Patchouli, centered on a classic combo of the velvety floral extended by the sweetly woody note of patchouli, which was in turn based on the Thierry Wasser original creation Idylle, Guerlain issues a special edition for 2012.
As evidenced by the name, Idylle Duet Jasmin Lilas focuses on spring blossoms of lilacs and the traditional white floral king of perfumery, jasmine. The result is vivid and fresh, deeply floral with the backdrop of lightly woody notes as in the original.
Guerlain Idylle Duet Jasmine-Lilas will launch on Valentine's Day, February 2012.

NB.Sources at Guerlain tell me that we're going to see an Idylle Duet version every year.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Upcoming releases, Guerlain news & reviews.

Guerlain L'Homme L'Eau Boisee & Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia

Classic French fragrance and cosmetics house Guerlain is busy issuing "flankers" this year as we will see on this and the next post. "Flanker" is industry speak for coat-tailing to a successful perfume launch with a new one that utilizes a very similar design and slightly differentiated name for a completely novel fragrance formula. For 2012 they're issuing a masculine flanker (Guerlain L'Homme L'Eau Boisée), two flankers to existing flankers in the feminine range (more on which on upcoming post on these pages) and an addition to the Aqua Allegoria line, Lys Soleia, as is customary every year.

Guerlain L'Homme L'Eau Boisée

Guerlain L'Homme L'Eau Boisée is Thierry Wasser's new spin on his original Guerlain L'Homme. Contrary to what one might expect the new edition is taking the direction of a woody chypre, but the effect is illusory: the backbone of the fragrance is vetiver, the exotic grass from Southeastern Asia.
Vetiver is well known among perfume aficionados for its refreshing boost in many classy and classic masculine colognes (from Carven to Givenchy vetiver fragrances and the brand's own classic Guerlain Vetiver) all the way to modern niche interpretations such as Vetiver Extraordinaire (F.Malle), Vetiver Oriental (Serge Lutens), and Vetiver Tonka (Hermessence).
In Guerlain L'Homme L'Eau Boisée the vetiver is well-behaved rather than raw and earthy, creating the tonality of a noble chypre fragrance with an underscoring of subtle smokiness (a desire to mimic Chanel's beautiful Sycomore?).
The tempered effect will make this new addition to the Guerlain stable a launch to be considered by the ladies for personal wearing as well.

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia

Guerlain continues to infuse precious flowers into producing a collection of introductory Guerlain fragrances for casual wearing and younger dispositions, the Aqua Allegoria line.

The newest installment in the series, Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia is centered around a transparent floral composition, which reproduces the sensuous aroma of oriental yellow lilies and the regal white lily. The base is airy and elegantly light, with clean musk and solar notes of ylang ylang.

My reader & friend Enrique tried the scent and comments: "[Guerlain Lys Soleia is] in the vein of Cartier Baiser Volé, but less fresh and more sensual. It has that slightly indolic greeness of fresh flowers that doesn't sound dirty or fecal, mixed with a more fresh and slightly citrusy side. It's a little bit sweet too. A great spring fragrance."
 The Aqua Allegoria line has produced some small gems over the years, notably last season's Jasminora and the older releases Flora Nerolia and Ylange & Vanille, so we can be relatively optimistic.

Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia will launch in 2012.


Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Upcoming releases, Guerlain news & reviews.