Versace Yellow Diamond: Fragrance Samples to Grab

Readers will have the limited-time opportunity to receive a deluxe sample of Yellow Diamond, the newest Versace perfume which we had announced on these pages a while ago.

Visitors simply enter their information into a form available on the Facebook page, and the boxed deluxe sample will arrive within 90 days. The Facebook page visitors will also find the official video campaign for Yellow Diamond, while connecting with other fans. Dedicated to providing Versace fragrance enthusiasts with a highly-interactive forum to discuss and engage with one another, the Yellow Diamond Facebook page puts the brilliance of the scent’s luminosity front and center on your computer screen.

Click on the Yellow Diamond Versace Facebook link and log in for a luxurious and one-of-a-kind experience brought to you by Versace!

 

Chronology, Comparison & Photos of Miss Dior (Cherie) Various Editions & Reformulations: How to Spot the One You Like

It was a few months ago I was venting on the reformulation and name change of a very popular Dior perfume, the coquette Miss Dior Chérie which became...Miss Dior, thus changing the course of history forever for the young generations. The issue is both puzzling and enraging enough and you can (re)read my previous article if you like, but I realized that what many people are asking for is how to differentiate between the various editions and how to spot the older Miss Dior Chérie from the reformulated one.
So here's a short guide with photos to help you pick the right one; the one you meant to buy.

First of all, according to the official claims the new version of Miss Dior (Cherie in parenthesis, because that's what it is a version of) (2011) is "subtler and more refined" than the original from 2005 created by perfumer Christine Nagel. If we're to do a Miss Dior Chérie 2005 vs. 2011 edition comparison, the new edition is credited to perfumer Francois Demachy and starts on a different premise: 'Dior's girl is grown up and is now a woman who loves' (instead of one who flirts, we're led to believe), fronted in the advertisements by Natalie Portman, but the truth is much of the character that made Miss Dior Chérie so much a love-it-or-hate-it fragrance is lost, the tart strawberry jam note and the caramelic pop-corn is watered down and all we're left with is a generic sweet top, a white floral note and sanitised patchouli. But that's just my own opinion; don't mind me too much, I always thought the old was rather unpalatable, though it possessed conviction & character. But what is now admitted officially, was a fact even before 2011! A while ago the Dior fragrance was already reformulated, even though it circulated under the full name (see below for photos and captions).

Miss Dior Chérie EDP (Christine Nagel 2005) will be available on the market while stocks las (the last reformulation before the 2011 one will be as well), and the new edition Miss Dior (Chérie) EDP (Francois Demachy 2011) will replace it completely.
The reason of course being that Miss Dior Chérie outsells the original Miss Dior by a wide margin...

click to enlarge

The rather confusing Miss Dior (Chérie) line comprises so far:
Miss Dior Chérie Eau de Parfum 2005 (Christine Nagel original)
Miss Dior Chérie Eau de Toilette 2007 (this version eventually obtained the white label instead of the silver writing on the bottle, like the later reformulated EDP)
Miss Dior Chérie Eau de Printemps 2008 (limited edition),
Miss Dior Chérie Blooming Bouquet 2008 (exclusive for the Asian market)
Miss Dior Chérie L'Eau 2009 (a completely different fragrance, a "flanker")
Miss Dior (Chérie) Eau de Parfum 2011 (Demachy reformulation)
Miss Dior Eau Fraiche Eau de Toilette (new flanker for spring 2012)
Miss Dior (Chérie) Le Parfum (August 2012)

Miss Dior Chéri EDP 2005

Miss Dior Cherie EDP reformulated 2008

Miss Dior Cherie~ L.to R: Eau, EDP, EDT 2008 presentation

Miss Dior (Cherie) reformulated 2011 "couture" edition

The confusion happens with the Eau de Parfum (EDP) mainly as this is the sought-after version. The older original 2005 bottles had a silver writing on the bottle, while the white label was introduced sometime in 2008 (as attested by the Maryna Linchuck commercials). Please be warned that a perceptable reformulation happened in 2010 to both EDP and EDT, when the Eau de Toilette version was remade in 2010.

Miss Dior Originale EDT 2011

The classic 1947 Miss Dior now circulates in Eau de Toilette (and extrait de parfum) as Miss Dior Originale. The extrait de parfum of the Cherie declination (now simply presented as Miss Dior as well) is thankfully distinguishable by the bottle design which is close to that of the pinkish Cherie juice and bears a ribbon bow. The body lotion comes in both the Cherie and the original 1947 scent, the latter distinguishable by the moniker "Diortendre" below the Miss Dior name.

Miss Dior Eau Fraiche edt 2012

Imagine the confusion when spring 2012 will see the introduction of Miss Dior Eau Fraiche by Dior, blending not only one classic fragrance in the mix but two! (Dior Eau Fraiche is an Edmond Roudnitska perfume composition from the 1950s).

Adding that August 2012 sees the introduction of Miss Dior ((Chérie) Le Parfum, an extrait version of the reformulated Demachy juice, fronted by Natalie Portman in the ads.
As you can see in the pic below the bottle is identical to the 2008 reformulated EDP but with Le Parfum written under the "Miss Dior" tag.

There's a circle in hell reserved for Parfums Dior for confusing us so!
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Related reading on Perfume Shrine: the Christian Dior fragrance reviews

You can also check PerfumeShrine's previous entries on the different flankers/perfume editions of Dior Poisons, the many flankers/limited editions of Dior best-seller J'Adore, the super confusing group of fragrance editions by Rodriguez Narciso For Her with their differences highlighted, the Etro Via Verri original and reformulated editions, the Shiseido Zen perfume editions, the several fragrance editions of Flower by Kenzo compared to one another (with pics) and Hermes Merveilles perfume range different editions.

some photos via sassisamblog.com

By Kilian Asian Tales: new fragrances

Kilian Hennesy of the niche, luxe perfume brand By Kilian is announcing a new collection of fragrances, codenamed "Asian Tales by Kilian" or L'Oeuvre Rouge because the familiar black-laquered boxes now boast a scarlet lining and a chinese coin on a red ribbon instead of the little key we knew from L'Oeuvre Noire. The new fragrance line comprises five fragrant editions that will recount the tradition of the Far East and pay homage to this great culture.

For 2012 two releases are scheduled, to be unveiled in Milano next March at the Esxence exhibition, both by perfumer Calice Becker who did the majority of the Kilian fragrances so far: Water Calligraphy is focusing on the artistic merits of eastern calligraphy and its rich tradition. Harmony Bamboo is inspired by The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, a Japanese folk tale.

Notes for By Kilian Water Calligraphy:

grapefruit zest, cherry blossom, water lily
magnolia, jasmine sambac
cardamom and vetiver

Notes for By Kilian Bamboo Harmony:

bright notes of bergamot, neroli and orange bigarade
white tea leaves, mimosa, illuminated by a touch of spice
rare essence of mate, fig leaves and oak moss

The rest of the Asian Tales by Kilian line will launch successively in the following seasons, inspired in turn by The Peony Pavillion (2013), The Peach Flowers Water Source (2014), and The Lotus Flower and the King Dragon (2015).

What Makes a Perfume a Classic?

What are the perfume classics and why are they classics? Do they have something in common that has made them "the classics"? What exactly makes something a classic? Like in other areas of art, there is a finite number of options.

*innovation/echoing the zeitgeist

*timeless beauty

*endurance/longevity, so that it becomes a reference point

An objet d’art should express its times (or pre-empty the future) with such tremendous force and conviction that it should be on the vanguard of an entirely new direction. This is usually done through technical and artistic innovation. For instance Coty’s Chypre [with its streamlined formula and the archetypal harmony of bergamot (a citrus) ~cistus labdanum (a sweet resin) ~oakmoss (a bitter, earthy lichen)], as well as Chanel No.5 (with its abstract impression and huge dose of synthetic aldehydes, unusual at the times) and Dior’s Eau Sauvage (a citrusy-mossy cologne for men with a floral heart of hedione, i.e.green translucent jasmine note) have paved the way for hundreds of upstarts, thus swaying the direction of perfume-making for decades. To bring a musical analogy: “The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band.”

Something could also be harmonious in an eternally beautiful way, pleasant to an 18th century patrician and a 21st century city-slicker alike, like a bust of Aphrodite. Like a concerto for violin by J.S Bach endures because it creates an inner sense of harmony with the universe, while a tune by Milli Vanilli is ultimately forgettable. Some fragrances possess a timeless appeal, removed from vagaries of trends. Joy by Jean Patou, predominantly built on the nectarous qualities of very expensive raw materials, the best rose and jasmine essences, is not particularly innovative, but beautiful all the same. The Jean Marie Farina Eau de Cologne formula is also such an example of timeless appeal. Simultaneously the Eau de Cologne is the mother-mould of all light, citrusy and herbal “eaux” to follow. Humans tending to find olfactory pleasurable what is familiar to them, the second criterion meets the first (innovation that gets imitated and therefore becomes familiar) and is interwoven with the third (market endurance).

Since perfume as a sold commodity has market considerations beyond the merely artistic, a perfume cannot survive the passage of time without enough people buying it in the first place. It needs a continued sustenance on the real market, and often a best-selling status as well, to establish itself as a true classic. Several of the classics we refer to as such nowadays, such as Guerlain’s Shalimar, Chanel No.5, Lanvin Arpège, Miss Dior, Nina Ricci L’Air du Temps, Lauder Youth Dew, Clinique Aromatics Elixir, YSL Opium, have been huge best-selling fragrances in their times and continue to circulate in one form or another to this day.
It doesn’t matter if Iris Gris by Jacques Fath or Nombre Noir by Shiseido might be more beautiful than L’Air du Temps (roughly contemporary with the Fath fragrance); precious few people have ever smelled the former two to establish them as a yardstick.

One thing we need to differentiate is between classic and dated: “Dated” is a fragrance that has ceased to be in dialogue with the needs and aspirations of the times. The violet and rose waters of the Victorian times now seem obsolete, simplistic and without touch with the zeitgeist. Some of the fragrances of the 1930s, like some in the Jean Patou Ma Collection perfumes series, are decidedly old-fashioned, with a retro halo. Sometimes a sense of nostalgia, or, more poignantly, the desire to nostalgize about that which we have not personally known, overwhelms the perfume lover who then explores these retro fragrances with gusto. It’s human nature: we always think the past held greater passion and glamour than it actually had.

What about YOU: What do you appreciate in a classic perfumes and what makes a perfume classic to you?

photo of Greta Garbo via planetsipul.blogspot , photo Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition

Optical Scentsibilities: When Perfume Becomes... Foundation

Homage or "clopyright"? [This is a pun from the Greek, from "κλοπή/clopy" -pronounced clo-PEE- which means...theft]. You be the judge, what do you think?