Puredistance Opardu: fragrance review & draw

I am doubtful as to whether an elegant yet lush floral with woody undertones is really reminiscent of the opulence of the 1920s and 1930s. Historically, I know these were years when florals were given the sheen of aldehydes, transposing them from worlds of flower beds into vistas of abstraction (Je Reviens by Worth, Chanel no.5, Bois des Iles), and big profuse chypres, often with decadent fruity notes (see the pineapple in Colony by Patou, the peach-skin in Mitsouko by Guerlain et al) or leathery scented accents (Cuir de Russie by Chanel, Scandal by Lanvin for instance), reigned supreme. In that sense Opardu, the latest fragrance by Puredistance, is rather incongruent, but it is delightful all the same in its own genre, much like all the fragrances in the line have proven so far: from the smooth bravado of M by Puredistance to the nostalgic femininity of Antonia, the compact line is well thought of, evidenced by the lack of continuous releases heaping up like an avalanche on us -much like it happens with some other niche lines that shall remain unnamed.

via http://osullivan60.blogspot.com

No, Puredistance makes an effort and as soon as the first transparent drops of the new elixir, Opardu, landed on my skin I knew that this was another quality fragrance from them. My only complaint? For a parfum concentration, it seems weaker, less lasting than the others. But don't let that stop you from trying for yourself.

The inspiration
The word 'OPARDU' is a creation of the owner and creative director of Puredistance: Jan Ewoud Vos. "When he came up with the word OPARDU he felt that this word had always been there, in a mysterious way... evocative and strangely familiar" the official story goes. I can't say it means anything specific to me, yet it does evoke leopards, bringing to mind Visconti's glorious and utterly romantic Il Gattopardo in mind.

"It took more than a year to further work out OPARDU. Central to the 'feeling' of OPARDU have been the expressive paintings of Kees van Dongen, in particular one of his illustrations for the book 'PARFUMS' by Paul Valéry, published in 1945 in a limited edition of 1000. (Jan Ewoud Vos is the owner of book no. 429)." [according to this info]

 The bouquet in the middle below is an illustration of Kees van Dongen

The perfumer

When Jan Ewoud Vos showed this illustration of Kees Van Dongen - a rich and lush bouquet of flowers - to Annie Buzantian, the famous Master Perfumer from New York, she instantly fell in love with it. The first word that came to her mind was 'Opulence'. She also felt this nostalgic feeling for the early years of the previous century; the golden age of perfumery. And then her work began. As a starting point Annie used a reinterpretation of a classic carnation she had already created which was safely stored in one of her 'secret' drawers.

How it Smells 

To my nose the dominating sensation is not of a classic carnation (those tended to be clove-spicy affairs, like in Caron's Poivre & Coup de Fouet), but rather of lilacs; pollen-dusted and with nectarous facets that mingle with a smidgen of green, transparent gardenia impression and a hint of powder and cedarwood. These lilacs are divested of their more melancholy, rained-upon ambience that En Passant by perfumer Olivia Giacobetti for Frederic Malle's perfume line has turned into a cult. That was a passing impression of walking under an umbrella in the early spring just catching a whiff of white lilacs in the distance from some stone and cement-walled garden afar. Here, in Opardu, the purple lilac is trembling under the morning sun and the white flower notes (not especially indolic, but not sanitized either) provide a tinge of honeyed sweetness. The wink of a bit of spice could be said to evoke a carnation interpretation, though I'm mostly struck by the inclusion of the non mentioned powdery soft and woody-earthy garland of ionones (rendering a violet note) and what I could liken to a hawthorn/mimosa note with a little muskiness. If you have always admired Vacances by Patou (1936) but have been frustrated by its rarity (now that even the 1980s reissue is discontinued for so long), Opardu can provide a good substitute.
This delicate bouquet in Opardu makes for a very feminine and subtle composition that is graceful rather than opulent and restrained in very good taste. I would have loved it to be a bit more maxed out for the opulent effect and for greater tenacity, but that's just me.

Notes for Opardu by Puredistance:
Main notes in Opardu as announced in time of writing are: carnation, tuberose absolute, jasmine absolute and gardenia with a background evoking the gentleness of romance through soft powdery notes. (All notes will be officially revealed in the first week of November, when I will update).

OPARDU will be available in a 17.5 ml. Perfume Spray and a 60 ml. Perfume Flacon as pure Perfume Extrait (32%) only, in November 2012. Available at select carriers.

A sample of the as yet unreleased Opardu parfum will be given to a lucky reader who comments on this post. Draw is open internationally till Sunday midnight. Draw is now closed, thank you!

 Music: Φεύγω (i.e.I'm leaving...all those years I'm leaving) by Greek songwriter Orpheas Pieridis, adapted here & sung by Dionyssis Savvopoulos.

In the interests of full disclosure I was sent a sample for consideration.

Perfumer Portrait: Carlos Benaim ~A Sephardi Jewish Perfumer in New York Speaks

“Smells are things you treasure for a lifetime,” [Carlos Benaim] says. “As a young boy I would often accompany my grandfather to the marketplace in Tangier, and I remember the smells of the spices and fruits, oranges, peaches, melons and apricots — they are engraved in my memory.”

The Moroccan-born, Jewish Benaïm thus reminiscences of his childhood in Tangier before the Six-Day-War of 1967 made him move to Paris, then to Amsterdam and to Buenos Aires before finally settling in New York where he's still working today for International Flavors & Fragrances. His latest foray into cult fragrance is A Lab on Fire's "Liquid Night".

His appreciation of fragrances coupled with his knowledge of chemistry helped him establish himself early as one of the world’s leading perfumers with the classic masculine "green" Polo by Ralph Lauren bring his first breakthrough and popular commercial successes following; Flowerbomb for Viktor & Rolf, Giorgio Armani’s Code for women, Helena Rubinstein Wanted, Bvlgari Jasmin Noir and Yves Saint Laurent’s Saharienne among many many more.

An article by Jeremy Josephs which appears in The Jewish Chronicle online stresses his heritage: "He never has forgotten his Sephardi roots or the plight of Moroccan Jews who made their way to Israel rather than Europe or the United States. “They didn’t have the same opportunities as we were given,” he says. “To put it bluntly, Sephardi Jews in Israel were discriminated against in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.” "Benaïm’s response is to have become first a donor, and now chairman of the ISEF Foundation, which attempts to combat social inequality in Israel by offering funding for higher education to gifted students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It has awarded over 18,000 scholarships since it was set up in 1977. “Israel’s greatest resource is the minds of its young. Our approach is a way of protecting Israel — by developing its brain power,” he says.

Carlos Benaim has also received the Leon Levy Leadership Award during the events honoring Moroccan Jewry and their heritage as seen at the American Sephardi Federation.

 photo of mr.Benaim thanks to A Lab on Fire found with links via Facebook

Kenzo Flower, Flower Le Parfum, Flower Essentielle, Flower Oriental, Flower Tag & Limited Editions: Comparing Different Fragrance Versions (with pics)

Another article on the many different permutations of a popular and confusing fragrance: Kenzo Flower and its many concentrations, different editions and limited editions, dissected following the tradition on Perfume Shrine to guide you through the variety. [If you want to see more articles of this type, check the bottom of this post].

Flower by Kenzo is the original release from 2000, created by Alberto Morillas. The bottle depicts a poppy inside the cap of the bottle in various degrees of wilting according to the size of the bottle. The bottle is white with a red poppy painted on a stem.

Kenzo Flower Le Parfum is a "parfum"-like concentration of the original Kenzo Flower, issued in 2003, with boosted vanillic and powdery notes however which give it a different enough character. Three editions according to size with different names were issued: Satin Spray (75ml), Natural Spray (50ml) and Just a Drop (15ml). Kenzo Flower Le Parfum highlights the notes of opoponax resin, white musk, vanilla, almond and Bulgarian rose. The perfume is encased in a shiny red metal bottle and in a red box, again with the familiar poppy painted down the side of the box.

Flower by Kenzo La Cologne is the latest concentration in the "original" fragrance of Kenzo Flower, from 2010 and is presented in a homogenous style of bottle: again white box with red poppy, but the bottle is cylindrical with a metal cap that doesn't hide any flower inside and the box is similarly rounded to hold it. The piquant start of bitter orange (bigaradier) keeps it fresh, with a green-like note, and less powdery overall.

Kenzo Flower Oriental is a rather different incarnation from 2005: a patchouli-amber oriental fragrance in a bottle with a black poppy instead of red inside the cap and a subtle red script down the side of the bottle. The fragrance is distinctly different from the woody powdery of the original and should not be confused with it or Le Parfum. The addition of dense, smoky incense and pepper create a distinctly "orientalized" fragrance. The bottle is white with a black poppy painted on instead of red.

Kenzo Flower Essentielle from 2009 is composed of Damascus rose absolute and jasmine absolute, with the background notes of vanilla absolute, incense and three sorts of musk. The bottles shaped like its antecedents, with the poppy tucked inside the cap, are leaner this time and accentuate their graceful arc with a long body and a pronounced cap. The box is the same as the original release, so care should be taken to differentiate with the "essentielle" mention.

Kenzo Flower Tag is a fruity floral with a quite departed role in the line-up: the citrusy fruity touches are perceptible first as a more youthful approach to the classic woody-powdery violet of the original. Two editions are available: Eau de Toilette (2011) and Eau de Parfum (spring 2012), the latter adding more gourmand/foody nuances in the background with praline, patchouli and vanilla.
The bottle in both cases is red glass with black graffiti lettering on it down the side, while the box is also red with black "Tag" in bold lettering.

Several limited editions/flankers of Kenzo Flower (retaining the original composition smell-wise in the majority of cases, noted below if otherwise) have been issued through the years; the most remarkable optically is the 2006 Edition d'Artistes on which three acclaimed illustrators create an individual packaging on box and bottle (as shown on above picture):

Kenzo Flower Limited Edition 2004 (white box with white bottle, with tiny lettering delineating the outline of a poppy)
Kenzo Flower Edition d'Artistes (2006)
Kenzo Flower Summer Edition 2006
Kenzo Flower Summer Edition 2008
Kenzo Flower Summer Edition 2011
Kenzo Flower Winter Flowers (autumn 2008, a slight recalibration on boosting the white floral component, with an open flower in deep pink and peach lines on both box and bottle)
Kenzo Flower Spring Fragrance (spring 2009)

pics sourced via Google for educational purposes only

Related reading on the Perfume Shrine:
You can 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 variousreformulations/repackaging of Miss Dior Cherie, 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 and Hermes Merveilles perfume range different editions.

Bottling a Glass-Blower's Sweat

"The glass-blower's sweat and work is something that tourists appreciate when they come here [Rejmyre Art LAB in eastern Sweden] and look. So for me there isn't such a huge difference in selling the glass-blower's sweat and the finished glass," says Daniel Peltz, a conceptual artist from New York who is working in Sweden, to TheLocal.se.

via www.poweredupsystems.com

After an artist's feces bottled for your delectation in a "fragrant" dilution and the simulated scent of a woman's orgasmic ecstasy (by a top perfumer no less), the next project involves real sweat. Tamer, you'd say. Apparently not that original though! 

There's already a product sold (and another one) that mimics at least the look of sweat beads. Not to mention that we sometimes do drink a sorta diluted "fake-sweat" drink when engaging in sports. 

 Read the whole article about this sweat as art project here.

Oscar de la Renta Essential Luxuries: new fragrance line

Do you recall Oscar by Oscar de la Renta? The classic from the 1970s has lost some of its fans over the years (no less due to a reformulation that attenuated its incredible sillage), but with last year's lovely Esprit d'Oscar and a new collection of six luxurious fragrances, the St.Dominican born designer hopes to gain new ones, according to reportage on WWD.
 The new "niche"collection, Essential Luxuries, comprises 6 fragrances available in uniform bottles with a cap vaguely reminiscent of the curvy style of his classic Oscar allied to personal memories and stories, "inspired by the life and loves of Oscar de la Renta".

NOTES & INSPIRATION FOR OSCAR DE LA RENTA ESSENTIAL LUXURIES FRAGRANCES

Sargasso, reminiscent of De La Renta's home lapped by the waves of the Sargasso Sea, has fragrant notes of salty air, fresh citrus, seaweed and refreshing cucumber.
Santo Domingo, where the designer was born, has sweet and spicy notes of coffee and tobacco leaves tinged with spicy mandarin, coriander, and patchouli notes.
Oriental Lace, meant to reflect the colorful and luminous collections of the fashion designer, has notes of hoya carnosa flower, as well as honey, bitter almond, and dark cacao. 
Coralina, inspired by the semi-precious stone from his birthplace, is a mimosa, violet, and orris eau.
Mi Corazon, dedicated to his beloved daughter Eliza and sharing a precious memory with her, comprises notes of ylang-ylang petals mingled with touches of exotic peach.
Granada, inspired by a trip in Spain, has notes of jasmine, rose and orange blossom, reflecting the lushness of the gardens of the city.

All fragrances are available at 3.4oz/100ml at 150$ exclusively at Saks 5th Avenue, Oscar de la Renta boutiques and oscardelarenta.com