Jean Louis Scherrer: 1935-2013

The French designer is no longer with us. Dead at the age of 78 after a long illness, this dancer turned fashion designer, will remain etched in our memories as an elegant couturier (who started at Dior, worked for Yves Saint Laurent and then Louis Féraud before opening his own house in rue du faubourg Saint-Honoré in 1962) and the head of a perfume line of infinite grace and luxury: Jean Louis Scherrer pour femme, Scherrer II, Nuits Indiennes...

Stéphan Roulland said of him: "What Yves Saint Laurent stood for in Rive Gauche, Jean Louis Scherrer stood for in Rive Droite".

“It’s a beautiful brand and a prestigious house, with a fairly dramatic and very, very tumultuous history,” noted Didier Grumbach [president of the Chambre Syndicale, French fashion’s governing body] who detailed the house’s numerous changes of ownership in his 2008 book, “Histoires de la Mode.” “Despite that, he maintained a great reputation through his couture designs, which were pleasant, slightly bourgeois and less radical than those of Saint Laurent, with whom he worked at Dior,” Grumbach said. “The quality of the workshops was very well-known.”
[source] 

Repose en paix.

The winner of the draw...

...for the La Via del Profumo bottles is Matt. Congratulations and please email me -using Contact or email on profile- with your shipping data so I can arrange for your prize to get in the mail for you.

Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic participation and till the next one, very soon (and an intriguing one at that, stay tuned!)

FRAGments - Underground, Artisan and Indie Perfume Event/Collective

FRAGments - Underground, Artisan and Indie Perfume Event/ Collective will bring together olfactory and perfume artists from across North America in a gallery setting to present a curated selection of their work. The event will be the first in a series to be held in a unique space and coincide with the first Saturday of the season. Each event will feature a moderated salon discussion followed by a reception and exhibition where perfumer/creators will be able to present their work in a collective pop- up shop designed and styled by FRAGments.

The name for the series is derived from FRAGRANCE MOVEMENT and picks up on the slang word for perfume, "FRAG". While the event represents a collective, implicit is the recognition that independent, artisan perfumers are fragments of a whole that move in different directions. FRAGments seeks to celebrate these differences.

Artisan perfumery is a growing movement where individuals are exploring unique olfactory directions through a variety of fragrant media and palettes” says Maggie Mahboubian, founder and curator of FRAGments. “However, very few venues exist for these perfumers to present their handcrafted work. FRAGments will fill that gap”. She adds, “it will provide a small scale, intimate forum for artisan perfumers to interact directly with their audience”. Another unique aspect of this event is that it will define a community and spotlight the art of fragrance design through interpretive and experimental work.

The first FRAGments event will be held at MorYork Gallery in Los Angeles, the studio of eclectic sculptor, Clare Graham whose work visually embodies the spirit of this diverse group of perfumers, who create unique, multifaceted and experimental olfactory art. For more information about Clare Graham and this extraordinary venue please visit: www.claregraham.com

The event will begin with a salon-style discussion session moderated by Saskia Wilson- Brown. Ms. Wilson-Brown is the director of the newly formed Institute for Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles. The IAO supports the work of olfactory artists through grants, research opportunities, lectures, workshops and a materials library. For more information please visit www.artandolfaction.com

Event Details:
Summer Solstice Saturday, June 22, 2013
11am-12pm, Moderated Discussion Session with perfumers 12pm-5pm Pop-up Shop
The following artists will present their work at the 1st FRAGments event on June 22:

JK DeLapp, The Rising Phoenix Perfumery (www.TheRisingPhoenixGroup.com) David Falsberg, Phoenicia Perfumes (www.phoeniciaperfumes.com)
Amanda Feeley, Esscentual Alchemy (www.esscentualalchemy.mysupadupa.com) Lisa Fong, Artemisia Natural Perfume (www.artemisiaperfume.com)

Heather Kauffman, Jolie Laide Perfume (www.etsy.com/shop/JolieLaidePerfume) Maggie Mahboubian, Parfums Lalun (www.parfumslalun.com)
Christi Meshell, House of Matriarch (www.matriarch.biz)
Mik, MIKMOI San Francisco (www.mikmoi.com)

Ayala Moriel, Ayala Moriel Parfums (www.ayalamoriel.com)
Persephenie (www.persephenie.com)
Sherri Sebastian, Sebastian Signs (www.sebastiansigns.com)
Nikki Sherritt, Rebel and Mercury Parfums (www.rebelandmercuryperfumes.com) Meredith Smith, Sweet Anthem Perfumes (www.sweetanthemperfumes.com) Dawn Spencer-Hurwitz, DSH Perfumes (www.dshperfumes.com)

Laurie Stern, Velvet and Sweet Pea’s Purrfumery (www.purrfumery.com) Roxana Villa, Roxana Illunimated Perfume (www.illuminatedperfume.com) Shelley Waddington, En Voyage Perfume (www.envoyageperfumes.com)

Event Highlights and Notables:

*Persephenie will present an experimental olfaction project.
*En Voyage Perfume will be launching their new fragrance at the 1st FRAGments event. *House of Matriarch will spotlight their Blackbird fragrance which was just named a Top 10 fragrance for 2013 by Men's Journalmagazine, the only Indie fragrance that made their Top 10 list.
*Esscentual Alchemy will present “Moon Valley” - Featured in Vogue UK May '13 issue in their Natural Beauty Selections.
*Mario Gomez, Olfactory Ambassador will represent perfumers who are not able to attend event.

FRAGments - Underground, Artisan and Indie Perfume Event/Collective The 1st Event to be held on June 22, 2013 at MorYork Gallery, 4959 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA.

Perfumery Material: Beeswax, Sweet Animalic Intimacy

The note of beeswax is among the few natural "animalic" notes in perfumery that are totally cruelty-free, i.e. involving no harm to the animal from which they're derived. For this reason, beeswax absolute is among the most prized materials in the natural perfume palette, where the absence of synthetics can be a problem. With its naturally fixative qualities, it aids the anchoring of more volatile notes.
Beeswax absolute (Apies Millifera) has been taken from the actual beehive without disruption to the lives of the bees for a long while. For perfumery, the wax is taken from hives that have been used for more than 5 years, therefore the material retains the scents of honey, propolis and the smell of the bees themselves, which makes beeswax a pheromone-rich essence with all that entails.

photo collage: punmiris.com

The wax in the hive is collected carefully by hand and is then solvent extracted. The major countries producing beeswax absolute are Spain, France and Morocco where apiculture is ingrained in tradition, but California in the US is rapidly gaining momentum. The resulting essence is fully miscible in alcohol and dipropylene glycol, making it easy to work with.

The scent of beeswax absolute is a very pleasant, complex composite of both honeyed, sweet aspects (with floral facets) and of essences of a musky, intimate ambience reminiscent of sweet hay and cured tobacco. The essence of beeswax absolute is used in perfumery to render golden-ambery fragrance notes, and serves as a middle to base note. The honeyed aspect of the material with its background of hay serves as a good underpinning of lavender and rose and is great in juxtaposition with naturally bitter oakmoss.

Beeswax absolute has comforting, spiritually balancing and lifting, solar properties when used in aromatherapeutic blends and recalls the joyful activity of bees.

Notable fragrances with prominent beeswax absolute notes:

Annick Goutal Myrrhe Ardente
Chanel Antaeus
Demeter Beeswax
Dior Leather Oud
D'Orsay Tilleul
DSH Cimabue
DSH Parfum de Grasse
Hermes Caleche Fleurs de Mediterranee
Krizia Theatro alla Scala
L'Artisan Fleur d'oranger 2007 (limited edition)
L'Occitane Reve de Miel
Maria Candida Gentile Sideris
M.Micallef Charm
Ramon Monegal Cuirelle
Roxana Illuminated Perfume To Bee
Serge Lutens Chene
Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois
Serge Lutens Un Bois Vanille
Sonoma Scent Studio Nostalgie
Tom Ford Moss Breches

CB I Hate Perfume #610 Outside: new fragrance

Christopher Brosius of CB I Hate Perfume maverick brand launches his latest ready-to-wear fragrance, #610 Outside. Formulated by founder and perfumer Christopher Brosius, Outside pays true homage to his country roots; after one too many a run-in with mosquitoes in the family's Pennsylvania garden, Christopher designed this fragrance to be first and foremost, a bug repellant. It is a fresh, vibrant scent that has notes of Lavender and Oregano, among others - and with it's bug-repelling qualities - it's here just in time for those sweltering summer BBQs.

Christopher Brosius, a cult figure among perfume cognoscenti is a Fragrance Foundation award-winner and the first perfumer to ever be recognized by the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum for the way scent is designed. He has created countless groundbreaking scents and continues his work today through his namesake label, CB I Hate Perfume.

CB I HATE PERFUME #610 OUTSIDE
A sincere disdain for bugs, especially the flying variety, is the inspiration behind the latest CB I Hate Perfume scent, Outside. More than 10 years in the making, this bug repellant perfume has finally been brought to fruition by utilizing elements organically found in plant life, and it’s been well worth the wait.
“I hate bugs. Particularly mosquitoes. So this perfume began in 1992 as a bug repellant for me when I lived in the country. I knew from my research that one of the principal reasons plants produce their essential oils is to protect themselves from insects and I discovered several essential oils that were particularly effective to protect me from insects as well. The challenge then became to blend these various oils so that they truly smelled like perfume. Which, after a period of experimentation, is just what I did.”

So forever say goodbye to chemical sprays, creams and citronella candles and embrace CB’s latest Limited Edition fragrance that just so happens to keep you smelling lovely and bug-free at the same time. CB fans might remember an original version of the scent found only in the Gallery, but the new incarnation of the fragrance is more refined, and wears ‘deeper and richer’ than the original. OUTSIDE perfume is a refreshing, lively scent that contains notes of lavender, geranium, patchouli, bergamot and a touch of Oregano, among others. It opens with a burst of freshness, and dries to a ‘soft,’ slightly floral finish.
OUTSIDE is currently available in 15ML Absolute ($115) and a 100ML Water Perfume ($100) at the CB I Hate Perfume Gallery in Brooklyn and online at cbihateperfume.com