Dior Escale a Parati: fragrance review & bottle giveaway

Dior doesn't get high points for originality or cultural authenticity, bearing in mind this new "port of call" in their summery Cruise collection is inspired by Brazil as announced a while ago on these pages. Escale à Parati  vividly recalls in the top notes the effervescent composition of classically French L'eau Impériale by Guerlain extended on the petals of (lots of) soapy & tartly clean orange blossom. 

The effect is pleasant, exhillarating, more specifically it's what the French call "pétillant", recalling the use of orange blossom in its "cleansed up", non indolic form in another summery, uplifting cologne Lancome's Ô de l'Orangerie (for a review and comparison of all the O de Lancome fragrance editions please refer to the link) but not as soapy as the limited edition from 2009 Prada Infusion de Fleurs d'Oranger .

The progression in Escale à Parati goes into predictably classic "cologne" notes in the mould of 4711 by Muehlens, uniting herbal and aromatic essences with a lightly sweet note (in the Dior it's tonka bean with its cut hay and lightly vanillic touch). Francois Demachy highlights the verdant tartness of the essence itself with the leafy scent of mint, arguably another trick in which Guerlain has paved the path in via their Guerlain Homme.

There are no discernible fruits to speak of in the mix nor the overt sensualism & sexiness associated with Brazilians (a most carnal people), which makes the whole Brazilian experiment sound more of a marketing positioning on the part of LVMH than an authentic pilgrimage to the vast culutral tapestry of South America. This in itself makes the launch (especially after 2 years since the last, as opposed to the annual churning out at the beginning of the series) rather incomphrehensible; one would think there are enough summery colognes in the Dior range already, why the need for one more? Undoubtedly because Brazil is an untapped market with the potential of exponential growth...

This particular Escale fragrance is fit for sharing between the sexes and the shade of the juice is really inviting, but the lasting power is comparable to the other Escales, i.e. not much. Nevertheless, when it's hot, one doesn't mind respritzing to feel the coolness of the citrusy breeze.

ior's Escale à Parati is meant to be shared between the sexes, providing a light air inspired by the Costa Verde and its atmosphere of fun, dance and music. The fragrance includes citrusy and woody notes of bitter orange (bigaradier), lemon, petit-grain, rosewood, mint, cinnamon, red berries and tonka bean.
Available as 75 and 125 ml Eau de Toilette from June 2012 at major department stores.  

One new bottle (from which 5ml have been decanted for reviewing purposes )for a lucky reader. Draw is open internationally till Monday 7th midnight. (draw is now closed, thank you)
Share in the comments to enter the draw, which is your favourite summery cologne and why? 

In the interests of disclosure, got the promo bottle through a distributor.  Collage by Eric White

Perfume in the Office: Uncharted Territory

"Moore, an evaluator with the Fragrance Foundation, says perfume is not the expression of power it was for women in the Eighties but has instead become part of the daily grooming routine ''and that's not about to change''. ''Wearing fragrance is quite acceptable now but there still have to be certain codes for work,'' she says. ''Fragrance is an incredibly personal thing - the olfactory memory is primal and how you smell fragrance is unique to you. Everyone has preferences and sensitivities.'' One women's Beautiful is another's Poison. Which is where the problems emerge at the office."

The environment of the office is a minefielf of potential faux pas of every conceivable magnitude. When fragrance, one of the most subjective and highly personal things a human being can use, mingles, the situation can be explosive. But is it better than body odour? In a turn of phrase that recalls Mad Men imagery, Natasha Huges writes: "There was a time when the office was a lot smellier - when real men didn't wear deodorant, people smoked at their desks, air-con was non-existent and dry-cleaning a luxury."

That time wasn't too far back. But that should probably not be carte blanche for overdousing with potent fragrances in the workplace; the only subtle point is there are no rules, so we make them as we go along.

Read the whole article on the Casey Weekly.

And you, do you have examples of toxic perfume (or BO) in your workplace? Please share them in the comments. 

cartoon via nextforwomen.com

Good News on the Regulations Front: Macrocyclic and Cinnamyl Phenyl Propyl fragrance Ingredients Proven Safe

"The Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, Inc. (RIFM) now has available, from its web site at www.rifm.org, human health safety assessments on Macrocyclic and Cinnamyl Phenyl Propyl fragrance Ingredients. Found in the Publications section of the RIFM site, Toxicologic and Dermatologic Assessments for Three Groups of Fragrance Ingredients: 1) Macrocyclic Ketones, 2) Macrocyclic Lactones and Lactides, 3) Cinnamyl Phenyl Propyl was published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, Vol 49, Suppl 2S, Dec 2011 and is already one of the journal's top ten downloaded publications. Included in the review of the three groups are 24 related Fragrance Material Reviews (FMRs).  Printed copies can be ordered from the RIFM Online Store."

These popular materials, used in different scented uses (fragrance, functional products, air care,cosmetics) and carrier/disolving purposes have proven to be "practically nonirritating, have a low sensitization potential, no genotoxicity potential and a low order of repeat dose toxicity".

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/01/4456540/macrocyclic-and-cinnamyl-phenyl.html#storylink=cpy

News via  The Sacramento Bee where you can read the whole article.

photo showing the hull of a boat that was painted with a coating containing macrocyclic lactones, with the exception of the stripe down the middle via gizmag.com

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/05/01/4456540/macrocyclic-and-cinnamyl-phenyl.html#storylink=cpy

The winner of the draw...

...for the Aftelier mini-atomisers is Coach Fabulous. Congratulations and please email me using Contact with your shipping data so I can have this in the mail for you soon!

Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic participation and till the next one!

May 1st: A Lily of the Valley Tradition

The charming custom of offering lily of the valley on May 1st in France dates further back than one might think: it was Charles IX who first offered these tiny bell-shaped and deliciously fragrant flowers to his mother, Catherine de Medici, as a good luck charm. The custom stuck ever since.
Happy May 1st!

For those of you so inclined, you can read about Lily of the Valley (or Muguet in French) in detail, its history, role in perfumery as a raw material, ways to render a synthetic LOTV note as well as a list of fragrances celebrating this green floral note consulting my older article: Lily of the Valley as Perfumery Material and Fragrances with this Note on this link.

 photo via hannasform.blogspot.com