Thursday, November 22, 2012
A Season of Thanks
To all our American readers celebrating, happy Thanksgiving. It's nice to be officially reminded of all we should be thankful for.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Angel is Bubbles, Money, Glossy, while Prada Amber is Fog, Soil, Concrete...Perfume as Art
The Art of Scent has highlighted some of the aspects that make perfumery the engrossing, fascinating subject that it is. What can be communicated through scent that defies the breakdown of "notes" or even ingredients? Its artfulness can take many forms, none more so than evoking the stimuli that other senses would evoke in its place. The exhibition at the MAD Museum in NYC, curated by Chandler Burr, has opened to a great response and these are some photos to give you a glimpse of it...plus one pre-exhibition shot to show the space being prepared, pregnant with hope and expectations of history in the making...Enjoy!
Official photos by Ric Kallaher, courtesy of the > Museum of Arts and Design
click to enlarge
The catalogue of the exhibition including 11 essays by Burr and the vials of the collection can be purchased on the Musuem online store. Only 1000 copies are available, individually numbered.
Official photos by Ric Kallaher, courtesy of the > Museum of Arts and Design
click to enlarge
The catalogue of the exhibition including 11 essays by Burr and the vials of the collection can be purchased on the Musuem online store. Only 1000 copies are available, individually numbered.
Arabian Perfumery for Beginners: Mukhallat, Oudh et al
I have been fragrance consulting for a piece in Condé Nast's Traveler these past few days and it has come to my attention that the terminology of Arabian perfumery, despite its gradual seeping into the mainstream, is still elusive for many. So a few terms are hereby clarified for our readers.
One of the terms you often stumble upon is mukhallat/mukhallet/mokhalat. The term is rather generic to denote fragrance oil mix in Arabic. Oil form is prefered due to its sensual nature and because oil holds fragrance better. Seeds and leaves are grinded into powder to enrich those oils. Arabian women are increasingly appreciating the convenience of Western-style spray fragrances, emulating the Western ideal, yet there is also the belief those smell a little less beautiful due to the intense alcoholic blast out of the sprayer.
It's very common fragrance practice in the Middle East, therefore "mukhallat al...something" is a fragrance oil to be used neat on the skin with X ingredient highlighted. Alternatively you might see the brand's name placed beside the mukhallat term, to denote their own "blend" version. [That said, there IS a company simply named Mukhallat which has an online site selling fragrances of Arabic inspiration].
Mukhallat is not to be confused with attar, which refers to any fragrant essential oil distilled from flowers into a carrier oil (usually sandalwood). So you can have a mukhallat containing attar of roses for instance, but also musk, saffron, oudh, amber (itself a mix)...The variations that distinguish mukhallats are not only the ingredients themselves (i.e. the "recipe") as these tend to tread familiar paths, but also for instance the species of the particular flower used, the origin of an ingredient (such as Omani frankincense versus Somalian), plant or animal based musk, the amber-note recipe, additional oils and the quality and quantity of individual ingredients. It's here important to note that although mukhallat sounds like a mix of all natural essences, in truth this is often not the case.
Oudh/Oud/Aoud (also: agarwood or aloeswood) is one of the most common and confusing ingredients to be featured in Arabian perfumery. Common because there's a significant tradition of using this oleoresin in Middle Eastern rituals, and confusing because so many of the fragrance blends are not based on the natural oud essence for various reasons, as you can see here. Oud/Oudh comes in two commercial forms: den al oudh which is an oil produced via either distilling the wood chips of the Aquilaria tree (a more economical option) or melting a small amount of the resin produced by the tree into a carrier oil. Thus den al oudh can be used neat on the skin as perfume. The pure resin (to be further manipulated for fragrance purposes) is usually referred to as oud mubakhar.
Some of the companies that do quality Arabian-inspired or Arabian perfumery are (in no specific order):
Amouage, Ajmal, Aluwwah.com, Arabian Oud, Al Haramain, ASAQ, Al Rehab, Yas: The Royal House of Perfumes. Rasasi and Swiss Arabian are also credible, if less luxurious.
And of course there are less expensive Arabian fragrant mixes that can be no less beautiful in their own way.
via timeoutkl.com |
Mukhallat is not to be confused with attar, which refers to any fragrant essential oil distilled from flowers into a carrier oil (usually sandalwood). So you can have a mukhallat containing attar of roses for instance, but also musk, saffron, oudh, amber (itself a mix)...The variations that distinguish mukhallats are not only the ingredients themselves (i.e. the "recipe") as these tend to tread familiar paths, but also for instance the species of the particular flower used, the origin of an ingredient (such as Omani frankincense versus Somalian), plant or animal based musk, the amber-note recipe, additional oils and the quality and quantity of individual ingredients. It's here important to note that although mukhallat sounds like a mix of all natural essences, in truth this is often not the case.
Oudh/Oud/Aoud (also: agarwood or aloeswood) is one of the most common and confusing ingredients to be featured in Arabian perfumery. Common because there's a significant tradition of using this oleoresin in Middle Eastern rituals, and confusing because so many of the fragrance blends are not based on the natural oud essence for various reasons, as you can see here. Oud/Oudh comes in two commercial forms: den al oudh which is an oil produced via either distilling the wood chips of the Aquilaria tree (a more economical option) or melting a small amount of the resin produced by the tree into a carrier oil. Thus den al oudh can be used neat on the skin as perfume. The pure resin (to be further manipulated for fragrance purposes) is usually referred to as oud mubakhar.
Some of the companies that do quality Arabian-inspired or Arabian perfumery are (in no specific order):
Amouage, Ajmal, Aluwwah.com, Arabian Oud, Al Haramain, ASAQ, Al Rehab, Yas: The Royal House of Perfumes. Rasasi and Swiss Arabian are also credible, if less luxurious.
And of course there are less expensive Arabian fragrant mixes that can be no less beautiful in their own way.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Kati Nescher's Beauty Secrets
"In Paris I have two favorite addresses: Caron for the very feminine fragrances (153 boulevard St Germain 75006 Paris) and Colette for the niche perfumes (213 rue Saint Honoré 75001 Paris). And whenever I am at Cologne I always visit Apropos, a concept store dotted with quite the distinguished selection (www.apropos-store.com).
I don't like too loud fragrances. For me a perfume should be fresh, close to my natural scent."
Discover all of Kati Nescher's model-of-the-moment beauty secrets on French Vogue.
via blog.set-fashion.com |
Discover all of Kati Nescher's model-of-the-moment beauty secrets on French Vogue.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Art of Scent at MAD Museum Opens Finally & Pre-sale of Catalogue
‘The Art of Scent’ at the Museum of Arts and Design, delayed by superstorm Sandy by a week, is finally opening. Curated by Chandler Burr (well known to perfume aficionados so that he doesn't need an introduction), its aim is to place fragrance in a vision-free "zone" to be appreciated as pure art.“The fundamental goal of the department [of Olfactory Art],” mr. Burr said during a recent interview at his office, “is placing scent as an artistic medium alongside painting, sculpture and music.” For however “brilliant” or “extraordinary” the greatest scents may be, he added, “they’re not recognized as works of art, and the artists who create them are not recognized as artists.”
A gallery with 12 gently curved indentations in its walls was created by Diller Scofidio & Renfro. "Hidden behind each is a scent diffusion machine: a visitor who leans into the curve will set off an electronic eye, causing the machine to release a burst of fragrance calibrated to stay in place for four seconds, without spreading across the room (made by the German company Scentcommunication)".[source]
The catalogue of the exhibition is scheduled to be sold and ready to ship in about 2 weeks on the Store at MAD site here (check for pre-ordering). The catalogue includes essays on the fragrances, written by mr.Burr, referenced through art movements that correspond to the scents, and will retail for $250 and there are only 1,000 catalogues, numbered, 1 – 1,000. The catalogue will contain 11 of the 12 works of olfactory art that Burr is exhibiting —they haven’t been able to include Chanel N° 5 which will be exhibited in the show nevertheless. Each fragrance is contained in a Spartan 5ml vial of pure taste.
And the works contained are:
A gallery with 12 gently curved indentations in its walls was created by Diller Scofidio & Renfro. "Hidden behind each is a scent diffusion machine: a visitor who leans into the curve will set off an electronic eye, causing the machine to release a burst of fragrance calibrated to stay in place for four seconds, without spreading across the room (made by the German company Scentcommunication)".[source]
The catalogue of the exhibition is scheduled to be sold and ready to ship in about 2 weeks on the Store at MAD site here (check for pre-ordering). The catalogue includes essays on the fragrances, written by mr.Burr, referenced through art movements that correspond to the scents, and will retail for $250 and there are only 1,000 catalogues, numbered, 1 – 1,000. The catalogue will contain 11 of the 12 works of olfactory art that Burr is exhibiting —they haven’t been able to include Chanel N° 5 which will be exhibited in the show nevertheless. Each fragrance is contained in a Spartan 5ml vial of pure taste.
And the works contained are:
01 Romanticism
Jicky
1889
Aimé Guerlain
Lent by Guerlain
02 Abstract Expressionism
L’Interdit
1957
Francis Fabron
Lent by Givenchy and Givaudan
03 Early American School
Aromatics Elixir
1971
Bernard Chant
Lent by The Estée Lauder Companies and International Flavors and Fragrances
04 Industrialism
Drakkar Noir
1982
Pierre Wargnye
Lent by l’Oréal International Flavors and Fragrances
05 Surrealism
Angel
1992
Olivier Cresp
Lent by Clarins and Firmenich
06 Minimalism
L’Eau d’Issey
1992
Jacques Cavallier
Lent by BPI and Firmenich
07 Photo Realism
Pleasures
1995
Annie Buzantian, Alberto Morillas
Lent by The Estée Lauder Companies and Firmenich
08 Kinetic Sculpture
Light Blue
2001
Olivier Cresp
Lent by Dolce & Gabbana, P&G Prestige, and Firmenich
09 Neo-Romanticism
Prada Amber
2004
Carlos Benaïm, Max Gavarry, Clément Gavarry
Lent by Prada, Puig, and International Flavors & Fragrances
10 Luminism
Osmanthe Yunnan
2006
Jean-Claude Ellena
Lent by Hermès
11 Post-Brutalism
Untitled
2010
Daniela Andrier
Lent by l’Oréal and Givaudan
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