Electron Rants: Niche Perfumes Quantum Mechanics

Not a day goes by that I don't get an offer of some sampling opportunity in the mail and in all fairness most don't create any bleep on the pond, audible, visible or otherwise. I suppose you're guessing that anyway. Considering that so much effort goes into producing a perfume in this industry, with months ahead of brain storming into how to present it, how to market it, and of course how to compose it -and I should know because I worked in launching a couple of things myself- it's perhaps no surprise that people come up with things more surprising than they truly are. I sympathise. You don't come across genius every day. But from genius to lackluster down to b-o-r-i-n-g, now there's a huge leap. And I'm surprised that perfume releases with no business being in the running in the first place are getting released at all, just because the fragrance market in niche and prestige is cannonballing along something fierce. To use a physics analogy, it's a sort of "Dirac sea", an infinite sea of particles with negative energy.

Read the NPD Group's findings, an acclaimed market monitoring tool:

"For prestige fragrances, the segment experienced the strongest dollar and unit performance in 15 years, coming in at $2.8 billion, which marked growth of 11%, while units grew 7%. Juices grew 14% for both women and men, driving overall fragrance performance of 11% growth for women and 12% for men. Fragrance juices priced at a premium of $100 and above helped to propel growth for the category with unit gains of 45% versus a year ago, and fragrance launches were up 21% percent overall, driven by women’s launches, which grew by 33%. Celebrity brands, specifically women’s, were the winners in 2011 with gains of 57%".

In short, don't expect fragrance prices to lower any time soon; as long as people buy these things at those exorbitant prices, upstarts and more established players will continue to think that we're just buying an aspirational thing; even if it has to do with the aspiration of connoisseurship and snob appeal.

A brand that has released other fragrances in elaborate, niche, graphic designed packaging with claims of novel effects and dubfounding results, and which will remain unnamed for reasons of courtesy (the Poirot types amongst you will deduce with accuracy I'm sure), has released the most generic clean rose fragrance possible, only it doesn't even contain one trace of rose essence in it I'm sure. Not only the real thing in terms of absolute, attar, pomade or essential oil is missing entirely, a fairly trained nose can't detect more than just a screechingly synthetic freesia accord that stands for "floral" and that dreaded aqueous/green tea/empty air perfumer's base that passes as "clean" or "fresh" whenever you hear about fragrant releases for spring and summer wear. This "electrically-charged" rose is cropping up with an alarming frequency: I recall Givenchy issuing one for their Very Irresistible franchise, so who knows what else might include it in the not too distant future.

The fact that this brand has been sitting on a table display at some exhibition alongside Serge Lutens and By Kilian is probably an infuriating testament to the reality that you can claim anything and then get treated as such, even by professionals in the field! (Are those professionals so jaded they don't give a sniff anymore, just nod their heads and grant royal rights? Are they so anxious to please everyone they feature just about anything? Are they just paid to act how they act? Who knows.).

My senses aren't shocked by this random new release. My intellect is. Houston, we've got a problem.

painting Woman with Claws by Paul Outerbridge via tumblr

Dark Passage: A New Fragrance Inspired by Film Noir

Andy Tauer and Brian Pera have announced another film-inspired fragrance, as part of their kickstarter campaign for the next film in the "Woman's Picture" series, Only Child. I remind you that their collaboration has brought such delightful fruits before such as the great aldehydic floral Miriam from their Tableau de Parfums brand. The new fragrance, Dark Passage, is the first in a new series in the Tableau de Parfums/Woman's Picture project: Snapshots.

The Snapshots fragrances will be packaged in 7 ml enamel atomizers and available as limited editions. Designed to be smaller in scale, this format offers Tauer and Pera the opportunity to experiment with new ideas. Miriam (and Loretta, which will launch later this year) are viewed "as portraits which capture the breadth of a life lived in full. The snapshot fragrances are handheld, and preserve fleeting moments in time."

Dark Passage is inspired by the Film Noir aesthetic, and is composed of bold contrasts that echo the shadowy black-and-white cinematography of these films. Tauer chose a patchouli that is earthy but refined, and which is further moved in interesting directions by the juxtaposition of birch tar and cacao.
The list of notes for Dark Passage includes: patchouli, cocoa, birch tar, vetiver, tobacco, and beeswax, but of course there's more in there that's hush hush like in the best film noirs!
The film, featuring Grace Zabriskie and Amy La Vere has a teaser uploaded on this link.

Designed as a unisex scent—"both femme fatale and private eye"—the fragrance "[evokes] the open road and the small town diner, steaming cups of coffee on a formica countertop, bright sun coming in parallel lines through window blinds, crisscrossing a dim room with their highly-keyed stripes."

The fragrance is available as a limited edition scent and only for the next few weeks, as part of the Kickstarter campaign for Only Child, the next film in the "Woman's Picture" series and a continued exploration of perfume as a central theme. Please visit the evelynavenue.com site for further details of the film. The Dark Passage fragrance is offered in limited quantities in return for a pledge on the pair's Kickstarter page.

In addition to the fragrance, Andy Tauer is also offering one of his handmade soaps (you know how good those are, don't you?) in return for a Kickstarter pledge. The scent of the soap, according to Tauer is floral-fruity with hints of his popular ambergris background: "The notes that I worked with are rose, a clean and almost citrusy geranium, Orange blossom, Tuberose, a hint of ripe fruits (plum), and a clean line of powdery and velvet like fruity ambergris."

Expect a review soon!

info via Andy Tauer

Perfumery Material: Cypriol /Nagarmotha

I never cease to be amazed by the rich variety that both the natural world and the labs delving in organic chemistry produce for our olfactory delight. The nuances of some exotic materials feels eerily familiar, yet at the same time foreign, exciting, enigmatic, especially when encountered in a list of perfume notes in a given composition. Such is the case of Nargamotha/cypriol (Cyperus scariosus).

Nagarmotha/Cypriol (also "nut grass" in English) is a plant of the Cyperaceae family, alternatively called Nagar Mustaka, which grows wild in the Madhya Pradesh region of India. It belongs in the papyrus family (Cyperus papyrus is the one used during the apex of Ancient Egypt) and grows in damp places in Bengal, Sundarbans, and Utter Pradesh, but also in Australia.

Highly-prized for its rhizomes, much like iris, cyperus scariosus is often used in compounding perfumes (especially since it acts as a fixative and is quite economical), in the manufacturing of soaps and incense sticks, as an insect repellent and for medicinal purposes. Associated with milkweed, Indian nard, jatamansi and fekhand, it appears in the spells of Vashikarana: It's said that a man applying it to his forehead is assured of a long series of successful love affairs!

Steam distillation of the tubers of cypriol yields 0.075-0.080% of an essential oil, the principal content of which is cyperine. The smell of nagarmotha is woody, earthy and quite lingering; it mostly conjures a hybrid between cedar, vetiver and patchouli, with fleeting touches of cinnamon and frankincense giving a churchy feel.

Tom Ford for Men was claimed to be the first to use cypriol: "that slightly dirty, sensual, sexy smell...It's not the same as natural musk used to be, but it has a bit of something that some people would think slightly dirty...I think it's warm and sensual." And yet Xeryus, a floral woody semi-oriental masculine by Givenchy, developped by Firmenich, launched in 1986! And if I am not too mistaken cypriol is contained in Eau d'Issey pour Homme too in as early as 1994.

Cypriol is featured in rather limited perfumes, but with the propensity to expand into more: There is a product by Innospec also called "cypriol" that gives the natural raw material a run for its money. According to Innospec itself (2008), Cypriol base hals a spicy floral fragrance and it was presented in a linden blossom room spray and peach base during the British Society of Perfumery symposium at Towcester, where it confered the rich, natural aroma of real flowers. "As well as offering good odour of its own, Cypriol [product] has a substantial floralising effect on any fragrance".Additionally, a new terpenoid extracted from the leaves of cyperus sclariosus promises new uses as well.

List of fragrances featuring cypriol/cypriol mimicking synthetics:

Amouage Library Collection Opus VI
Annick Goutal  Musc Nomade
By Kilian Beyond Love
Lancôme Magnifique
L'Artisan Parfumeur Dzongha
L'Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu 
Parfums de Rosine Rose Kashmirie
Tom Ford Tom Ford For Men

pic via http://indianflowersandherbs.blogspot.com

Jo Malone Peony & Moss, White Lilac & Rhubarb, Iris & Lady Moore (London Blooms collection): new fragrances

Spring comes as all gardeners know ushering showers and sun rays, clashing greeness against the budding petals, open to coolness and warmth, giving the promise of things to come. British gardens especially aim at the superficially haphazard, but nothing is really left to chance. Spring-like fragrances inspire us with their delicate grace and their emotional romance-leaning proclivities, but they have their own dare to contrast with the prettiness.
Jo Malone aimed to captured this juxtaposing elements mood in her new "London Blooms" trio of fragrances. The new Jo Malone scents are presented in a Limited Edition collection launching in March 2012, adorned by vintage-style botanical drawings, reflecting the spirit of modern gardens.

The London Blooms LE collection includes:

Peony & Moss
A contrast of the dainty and the dirty. Delicate peony, clad in the moist earthiness of moss. Laced with
cordial-intense cassis. Encircled with ivy. A fragrance of gossamer lightness, grounded in rich verdancy.

White Lilac & Rhubarb
A celebration of seductive contrasts beloved by modern gardeners. Tart-vibrant rhubarb cuts through
delicate florals. The softness of lilac. The femininity of rose. And the almond - scent of sun-loving heliotrope.

Iris & Lady Moore
A fascinating mingling of spicy-fresh, common-or-garden geranium and noble iris, powdery
and poised. Two characterful purple florals, rustling above an elegant dry-grass bed of vetiver.

Limited edition. Available from March 2012.

$110 US / $125 CAN for each 100ml Cologne.

London Blooms will be available at Jo Malone Shops, jomalone.com, Bergdorf Goodman,Neiman Marcus and select Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s, and Nordstrom stores nationwide.

Available exclusively at Holt Renfrew in Canada.

info on notes, availability & prices via press release

Maria Candida Gentile Cinabre: fragrance review

Much like Sophia Loren's is a spicy, fiery beauty that defies mere prettiness in favor of exquisite lines, panoramic vistas and hypnotic eyes, Cinabre by Maria Candide Gentile, a force to reckon with, is the type of Italian fragrance I love to love. There's just no way around it; this is a romantic, sexy rose perfume to turn even rose-dubious hearts fire-engine-red with desire!

Cinabre tricks one into thinking it is a cinnamon amber composition and even though there is the intense spice element present and the warmth of ambery resins indeed, one would be mistaken to view it so. Cinabre is a big, honking spicy rose the size of a house and gorgeous for it! Proper Italian fragrances have a sort of lived-in coziness, sunny and outgoing like their compatriots, appearing from a distance less distingué than an aloof French, but at heart they reveal an intricate, complex structure that can be even superior than their neighbour's.

The initial top note in Cinabre is intensely spicy in a peppery way, short and hot, and soon cooled by the more sophisticated touch of ginger (these are clearly sequential stages, pay attention and watch them deliciously unfold, as signora Gentile weaves them artfully into the plot). The rose is lush, all out, sensuous, a deep red rose that accompanies erotic messages delivered under the cloak of night. This sexy rose blend is no accident: it blends essences of many varieties, Moroccan Splendens, May rose absolute with vanilla and myrrh into an embrace that is strong, but a little dangerous at the same time. The resinous elements bring out an orientalized effect to the rose, eschewing the powdery or pot-pourri associations one might have with the rose flower.

This is a fragrance built italianate style, with corbels at every projecting eave and belvedere to calmly show off exquisite ingredients put to artful use. Bravissima, signora Gentile!

Notes for Maria Candida Gentile Cinabre
top: ginger and pepper
middle: opulent rose accord
base: opoponax, benzoin and vanilla.

pic of Sophia Loren via MaryLou.Cinnamon