Maria Candida Gentile Hanbury: fragrance review

The mouillettes by Maria Candida Gentile have been lying on my desk for several weeks now, aromatizing the air with their delicious mélange, making me nostalgise about the mystical splendor of wintertime Venice. They all speak in mellifluous voices that you really want to follow into the echoing cobblestone alleyways, over the silent canals. Hanbury, arguably the most immediately feminine among the niche line, presented with no sex barriers, exudes the uniques of Calycanthus praecox, one of the few flowers in blossom during winter time in the North of Italy. (Indeed its other name Chimonanthus literally means "winter flower" in Greek)

Honeyed, rich, with an intimacy that is reminiscent of early childhood games discovering one's sensuality, due to mimosa's sweet muskiness, it nevertheless stands a little apart from both other calycanthus fragrances (Santa Maria Novella, Acca Kappa) or cassie ones (Une Fleur de Cassie, Farnesiana). Hanbury is its own thing, a staggering vista of a Mediterranean garden; sweetly citrusy on top, lushly floral and nectarous in the heart, wonderfully understated and elegant in its base.

The name of the fragrance derives from The Hanbury Villa in the northern Italy city of Ventimiglia, which lies by the blue sea that has seen pirates and sailors crossing it for millenia. As if it smiled through it all, its garden grows beautiful mimosas that scatter the landscape with yellow pop-pops of joy at the drawing of each winter into spring. The charming Dorothy Hanbury still gathers the flowers for precious essences production.

Signora Gentile uses a very high ratio of natural essences as a perfumer, no doubt thanks to her Grasse training which coaxes perfumers into appreciating the palette of superb materials produced there. These are vibrant, quality materials which bring on what the human nose can only recognize as richness, opulence, lushness and this is evident in her whole line, from the balmy woody amber of Sideris, to the spicy decadent rose of Cinabre all the way to the light-hearted vagabond heart with leathery nuances of Barry Linton, inspired by Thakeray's character. These fragrances shimmer and present rounded, masterful portraits, as if lighted from within.

The intensely femme blend of Hanbury, poised on mimosa and calycanthus, is taking honeyed facets, with a sprinkling of sweet hesperidic top notes and a tiny caramelic note, softly balsamic, kept in check by the deliriously happy, clean essence of neroli. Hanbury keeps the floral element into a lightly musky sostenuto, which persists for a very long time on the skin; almost as long as a Med garden is in bloom.

Notes for Maria Candida Gentile Hanbury:
top: lime, bitter orange and orange
middle: mimosa and white honey
base: musk and benzoin

M.C.G. besides her fine fragrances sold at her online shop is the creator of some really exclusive and rare fragrances. Among them the Pinede des Princes for princess Caroline of Monaco; the La Posta Vecchia signature fragrance for one of the oldest and most acclaimed hotels in Italy; Satine, a custom blend for the yacht of Tarak Ben Ammar (first president of free Tunisia) and a custom fragrance for the Eco del Mare resort.

pic via hortusitalicus.blogspot.com

Penhaligon's, Meadham Kirchhoff & The Chocolate Tree Collaborate on Multi-Sensory Experience

Meadham Kirchhoff’s multi-sensory shows have rapidly become the talk of London Fashion Week and Penhaligon’s is delighted to be scenting their A/W 2012 collection A COSMOLOGY OF WOMEN: CHAPTER 5 "He gave me Blue Roses, LIFE ! (vicariously)" in more ways than one. Meadham Kirchhoff, will probably surprise the visitors of their autumn/winter 2012 show most pleasantly, offering a special multi-sensory experience. Why? Because Penhaligon's fragrance Eau San Pareil was chosen to scent the show space as well as the models. But that's not all: Special chocolates were made for this very event only with the help of the chocolate specialists The Chocolate Tree.
Edinburgh-based chocolatier in East Lothian, The Chocolate Tree has marked its territory as purveyors of fine handmade organic chocolates and confectionary for any occasion.

"Penhaligon’s has worked with Meadham Kirchhoff and Edinburgh based chocolatier The Chocolate Tree, to create an exclusive Eau San Pareil confection, designed to be enjoyed during the show. The chocolate has been carefully created to reflect the notes in this season’s chosen scent Eau San Pareil. Opening with a giddy rush of sparkling fruits and sensual white flowers, Eau Sans Pareil is a shimmering chypre softened with sweet woods, elegant oakmoss and musks."

To be more specific Penhaligon's Eau San Pareil encompasses top notes of aldehydes, neroli, mandarin, bergamot, kumquat, raspberry, pineapple, cypress, pink pepper and tagetes. The heart rests on jasmine, rosa Damascena, muguet, orris, ylang-ylang, orange blossom, liquorice and clove. The base is warm with notes of patchouli, vetiver, cedarwood, oakmoss, musk, vanilla, cistus, labdanum, benzoin and amber.

images & info via Penhaligon's

Valentine's Day: Personal Perfume Picks for Different Looks

Classifying preferences in fragrances is relatively easy compared to classifying styles of romance. Everyone seems to pepper their behavior with a mix of the flirty, the sexy and the erotic (there's a difference, I swear) before they entangle themselves in the intricasies of the human condition that is. So contrary to yesterday's post about different styles of scents for St.Valentine's according to personality from nuzzling to naughty, I am now offering the theory none of us could really peg themselves a certain way all the time, all the way, with all our beaus over the years. We just want to smell good!

My personal picks for Valentine's Day Fragrances (os shall I say Valentine's Night) do not err much from the troden path of tried & true "recipes" working on my own man. So what follows here ~contrary to other venues where I might have suggested things to suit a multiple variety of taste~ is intensely personal. And illustrated according to my tastes. See if you agree or not.

Guerlain Shalimar Eau Légère is for winged eyeliner, scarlet lipstick and a proper guêpière.

Thierry Mugler Angel Innocent is for tiny whites which belie their womanly appeal.

Chanel No.19 (eau de toilette or vintage parfum) is for classic raincoats and vertigenous black stiletto heels.

Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman is for when you're caught in the rain. Damn transforms to wham!

Caron Tabac Blond is for androgynous black leather days.

Agent Provocateur Eau de Parfum by Agent Provocateur: This naughty rose deserves a red dress with a cinched waist.Chocolate nibbled on the bed can follow.

And finally the promising Flashdance sweatshirt invites the cozy appeal of Guerlain's Cuir Beluga.

What are YOUR picks for Valentine's Day fragrances??

pics via LA times magazine, thehairpin.com, cineacademy.blogspot.com, mindfood.com, pop-eat.com

The Avengers: Smell Like your Favorite Hero

To coincide with the release of The Avengers movie (scheduled to be open on May 4), JADS has teamed with Marvel Entertainment to bring out a line of colognes and perfumes inspired by the comic-book characters. The fragrances make their debut at the Toy Industry Association's (TIA) Toy Fair in New York City on Feb. 12-15.

"Everyone has a favorite comic book hero, right? Now fans can experience what they love about these iconic characters in a much more personal way," says JADS COO Andrew Levine to Digital Journal . JADS line for Marvel's The Avengers includes The Avengers Cologne Set, Black Widow Perfume, Infinity Formula for Men, and Mischief Cologne. "The scents are bold without being intrusive, distinctive and empowering,” adds JADS president John McGonigle.

Black Widow eh? I guess the trademark for the all naturals perfume by the same name has expired and someone grabbed it. 

Read the whole article here

pic via wikimedia commons

Valentine's Day Perfume Suggestions

"When I think of flirty scents, I imagine something that combines youthful innocence and purity with a more carnal sophistication. To me, that's what tuberose smells like. It's the Lolita of the fragrance world."

Revisiting some of the older Allure magazine articles I came across this interesting take on scents for Valentine's Day classed by their projected character (sexy fragrances, flirty scents, romantic perfumes, secure etc) by none other than Frederic Malle himself, of Editions des Parfums.

Of particular note is how he classifies tuberose as flirty (rather than femme fatale) and therefore recommends a liberal use of it, something with which many perfume enthusiasts might argue for or against!

Read the whole article here.

Also catch Allure's slideshow (with short descriptions of many fragrances we have reviewed on Perfume Shrine already) of the top 10 Sexiest Fragrances.

painting of Eros & Psyche by Jacques Louis David via wikimedia commons