The winners of the draw...

...for the Banana Republic perfumes are tati (M) and Aline (W). Congratulations and please email me using Contact with your shipping data, so I can have this taken care of soon.

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

Guerlain Nerolia Bianca: new fragrance

The latest in the Aqua Allegoria line of Guerlain fragrances is Nerolia Bianca, a fresh take on the whole orange blossom tree, composed by in-house perfumer Thierry Wasser.

With a release date at the end of March 2013, this new Aqua is the annual addition to the "introductory Guerlains" as the Aqua Allegorias are known among perfumephiles. Nerolia Bianca contains extracts of orange, bitter orange, neroli, eau de brouts, orange blossom and petit-grain (if you don't know what some of these notes mean, please click on the link for their origin and differences), aiming to give an olfactory impression of the entirety of the bitter orange tree. The concept isn't new (several niche brands have ventured into the bigaradier tree -i.e. citrus aurantium- transliteration), but Guerlain might be trusted to offer the completist one, judging by the very lovely latest Aqua Allegoria fragrances, namely Jasminora and Lys Soleia. The upcoming fragrance reminds me of the much lamented discontinuation of a previous Guerlain take on neroli which was Flora Nerolia, a delightful white floral with fresh accents, built on the freshness of neroli essence on a bed of jasmine and a smidgen of incense. Let's hope that the substitute is no less beautiful than the predecessor.

Nerolia Bianca will be offered in the standard 75ml bottles with gold honeycomb of the Aqua Allegoria range. May I remind you that from the original line-up of Aqua Allegorias, only Herba Fresca and Pamplune remain, the rest being ephemeral editions.

L'Artisan Parfumeur Caligna: new fragrance

The name of the upcoming L'Artisan Parfumer fragrance, Caligna, comes from the Provençal word 'to court' or 'flirt', indicative of the concept of using local ingredients in the formula, such as clary sage and a special "jasmine marmalade" accord recalling a delicacy that perfumer Dora Bagdriche-Arnaud consumed locally. Caligna, the new perfume, is also using such Mediterranean-evocative notes such as fig, mastic, pine needles and oak notes.

Top notes
Clary Sage, Rose Bud, Fig, Mandarin tree Leaves
Heart notes
Clary Sage, Rose Bud, Fig, Mandarin tree Leaves
Heart notes
Pine Needles, Oak chips, Ambrox
 The promo will include images of dancer Gudrun Ghesquière, shot by American photographer Michael James O'Brien, for the first time.
Launch of Caligna by L'Artisan Parfumeur is scheduled for April 2013 and the concentration will be an Eau de Parfum 100ml.

Weekend Expectations

Bittersweet strawberry, marshmallow, butterscotch
Polar bear, cashew, dixieland, phosphate, chocolate
Lime, tutti frutti, special raspberry, leave it to me
Three grace, scotch lassie, cherry smash, lemon freeze

I wanna go to Marz
Where green rivers flow
And your sweet sixteen is waiting for you after the show
I wanna go to Marz
You'll meet the Gold Dust Twins tonight
You'll get your heart's desire, I will meet you under the lights

Golden champagne, juicy grapefruit, lucky Monday
High-school football, hot fudge, buffalo, tulip sundae
Almond caramel frappé, pineapple, root beer
Black and white, Big apple, Henry Ford, sweet heart, maple tear

I wanna go to Marz
Where green rivers flow
And your sweet sixteen is waiting for you after the show
I wanna go to Marz
You'll meet the Gold Dust Twins tonight
You'll get your heart's desire, I will meet you under the lights...

  ~John Grant - I wanna go to Marz

What are you all doing this weekend?

Banana Republic M & W: Fragrance Full Bottles Giveaway

Perfume Shrine is happy to offer another giveaway for its readers: Banana Republic is re-releasing
M & W, two legacy fragrances from their "iconic collection", scents debuting in 1995 and attracting quite a fan base which lamented their demise. So the company is catering to those fans and hoping to attract new ones in the process. I have a full new bottle of each fragrance to give away to two lucky readers. One masculine and one feminine, apart from being enjoyed by the respective sex, they'd make a great St.Valentine's Day gift for one's sweet one. So if you're interested, read on.

Designed to complement each other, M & W are the quintessential yin-yang fragrances to share with your significant other this season. W is a light, sparkling scent with citrus top notes built into amber and sexy musk. M combines sandalwood and white musk with lime and bergamot top notes. Though you've probably seen these notes mentioned numerous times before, they're both not bad at all actually! The W is a light "skin scent", i.e. giving the impression of warm clean skin with greenish, refreshing accents (some lily of the valley? plus some orange blossom for a soapy nuance?) and a good longevity thanks to the musk component. Wearers of Glow and clean floral musks might best appreciate this ambience. It embodies that feeling of just stepping out the shower, putting on fresh fluffy clothes and just having a pleasant buzz of serenity and casual cosiness around you, a smidgen of powder. I'd make a good everyday scent. The M is also fresh, though with a more pronounced citrusy tang and a more mossy background, wearers who like classic colognes in the style of Eau Sauvage and the colognes who follow this exhilarating mold would like it.
They'd both make for a shared scent; surprisingly the women's is very fit for being shared with a man, as there is no major floral component and it wears not very sweet or too powdery (which I understand most men identify as "feminine").

To enter the draw, please tell us whether you share fragrances with your lover (and if you have specific ones, do tells us about them) & why and specify if you're interested in the W (feminine) or M (masculine) fragrance. Draw is open internationally, till Sunday midnight.

In the interests of disclosure, I was sent the bottles via PR.