The winner of the draw...

...for the Caligna bottle is MariGo84. Congratulations! Please email me with your shipping data, using Contact or the address in my profile, so I can have this out to you in the mail soon. Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic participation and till the next one, very soon. ;)

Best-selling Fragrances in Brazil (2011-2012)

Brazil is an emerging market for the fragrance industry, what with niche brands catering to the country's tastes (see Batucada or Dior's latest Escale) that lean into a mix between sophisticated and tropical, and with prestige sector wanting to take over more than the little segment that they occupy compared to the local brands, such as Ó Boticario and Natura Cosmeticos. The reason for the latter is of course the high taxes imposed on the prestige perfumes which make purchases more difficult. Yet market forecasts which see Brazil as a major player by 2016 mean that the companies are focusing their undivided attention to this South American country and its olfactory preferences, in a way influencing the production of their fragrant launches internationally.


It's therefore interesting to see which are the prestige market leads in terms of sales volume (according to the NPD):

Feminine Best-Sellers in Brazil:
J'adore (Dior)
Carolina Herrera (Carolina Herrera)
Flower by Kenzo
Hypnose (Lancome)
Euphoria (Calvin Klein)
Dolce & Gabanna pour Femme
Lady Million (Paco Rabanne)
L'Eau d'Issey (Issey Miyake)
Ange ou Demon (Givenchy)
212 Sexy (Carolina Herrera)

Masculine Best-Sellers in Brazil:
Paco Rabanne pour Homme
Polo by Ralph Lauren
212 Men (Carolina Herrera)

As we can see, brands owned by Spanish group Puig are leaders. The style of feminine fragrances includes floral mixes with creamy and woody notes paired to powdery and vanilla accents, with the occasional gourmand touch (chocolate, coffee). Intense soliflores (such as white flowers) is also a big trend, according to experts Claudio Calvacanti (Orlandi's GO Sao Paolo) and Renata Aschcar (curator of the Brazilian Museum of Perfume), from comes the info. Masculine scents are perennially focused on the fougere structure, but sweeter and woody-ambery scents are on the rise.
Are you taking notes?

The Sounds and Fragrances Swirl Through the Evening Air

The prélude «Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir» by Claude Debussy (Préludes Book I, no.4) is the perfect musical piece to accompany my chosen scent for this weekend: Guerlain's classic L'Heure Bleue, itself inspired by the Impressionism movement and the beauty of the sky at the time that the French call entre chien et loup (between dog and wolf); a scent which conveys all the wistfulness of a gone pleasure and the anticipative mystery of the unknown ones to come.




The name of Debussy's prélude comes from a verse in Baudelaire, Harmonie du Soir:

"Voici venir le temps
ou vibrant sur sa tige
chaque fleur s'èvapore
ainsi qu un encenseoir
les sons et les parfums
tournent dal l'air du soir
valse melanconique
et langoureux vertige"

Krystian Zimmerman on the piano.
Enjoy and have a great weekend!

L'Artisan Perfumeur Free Perfume Bottle Giveaway

No long post today as I'm running, but a lucky draw not to miss: a small perfume bottle of L'Artisan Parfumeur's Caligna, their latest creation inspired by Province, France. You can find more info on these pages, as posted previously, when I broke the news, and there's this snippet from L'Artisan Parfumeur:

"Caligna – meaning to « court » in the local Provençal dialect – is in essence the story of an encounter with nature in this glorious part of France. This new woody-aromatic Eau de Parfum captures and brings to life different impressions of the Grasse countryside. It evokes a warm breeze blowing over the land, a sense of freedom in the wild open spaces, a lightness of being with laughter echoing into the distance."



Draw is open internationally; to be eligible leave a comment with some of your questions or musings on scent-related things and check back to see whether someone replies or has something to offer. Draw is open till Sunday midnight and winner will be announced shortly after.

Interview with a Niche Perfume Brand Owner: Fabrice Penot of Le Labo

My interview with co-founder of Le Labo, Fabrice Penot, has been uploaded on Fragrantica. I had given a glimpse (and an exclusive) a few days ago when he kindly answered my question on whether perfumery is an art or craft, but the length of the interview has more popular questions, juicier bits on perfume launches and clever quips by Penot himself, such as the following inimitable reply to critics.

"...it is pretty disappointing to see critics who have a public voice getting stuck in this rhetoric of, "Hey! Rose 31 does not smell like Rose so I don't like it" and witness them not being able to be just moved by the smell itself. I am not saying Rose 31 should move everyone, I am saying if you are a serious critic, there should be a better argument for or against this perfume than the relevancy of its name. Would you respect a movie critic who would say, 'Yeah, I don't understand all the fuss about Reservoir Dogs, I did not hear any barking in it?' "

Go read!