Aqua di Parma La Nobilita del Fare (The Nobility of Making)

In my -and many others'- mind, Italy has always stood as the archetypal bed for the blossoming of the arts: the country not only is a living and breathing museum, but also the fertile soil on which artisans and artists from the fields of painting, pottery, glassmaking, leather goods, music and perfumery, to this day produce objects and artifacts of high quality and that easy elegance which comes naturally to the South. Among them Acqua di Parma, revived thanks to the high profile business model opted for which helped consolidate it as a cult brand for perfume lovers everywhere.

 Acqua di Parma La Nobilita del Fare book cover © Giovanni Gastel

Now Acqua di Parma are launching not a new fragrance but a fragrance-related book for collectors: "La nobiltà del Fare” (The Nobility of Making) [editions Electra]. This prestigious volume features images from the great Italian photographer Giovanni Gastel, who tells a series of exceptional stories demonstrating the noble skills which Italy has mastered since the Renaissance. The book, with texts by Andrea Kerbaker and an introduction by Enrico Colle, will launch in New York on September 17th on the occasion of the American premiere of the “Roberto Bolle and Friends Gala”, produced by Artedanzsrl and sponsored exclusively by Acqua di Parma.

The book contains twenty-three stories selected from the most significant examples of Italian creativity, recounted through photographs specially taken by Giovanni Gastel, which express the essence and flavor of creativity, in the lightness of dance as well as the materiality of stone; images that explore intense faces, that reveal the secrets of ancient techniques, and tell of astounding artifacts. Artistic institutions of great international renown, academies and music conservatories, consortia and foundations, but also small workshops where master craftsmen create unique products that the world desires, fashioned in keeping with ancient methods of work: an exceptional variety of magnificent creative skills, whose common denominator is the noble tradition, the outstanding vocation, the age-old craftsmanship and passion for keeping alive the cultural and artistic traditions of the country.

Roberto Bolle photo © Giovanni Gastel

“A tradition of craftsmanship,” writes Enrico Colle in his introduction to the volume, “with a very high level of quality of execution coupled with an inspired use of widely available raw materials transformed by art. ... Italian craft production in all fields ... has been distinguished by ... the ability to create magnificent works in which the materials, subdued by art, are capable of arousing the admiration of both critics and patrons of the arts.”
Together with the photographs, the texts by Andrea Kerbaker lend a voice to the protagonists, who include Pinin Brambilla Barcilon, Renzo Piano, Marco Magnifico, Mimmo Paladino, Uto Ughi, as well as Maurizio Baglini, Daniele Gatti, Stefano Conia, the Marinelli brothers, Luca Litrico and many others.

Editions Electra, 332 pages with 280 illustrations, hardcover lined with jacquard silk & linen fabric by Rubelli. Available in Italian and English, retailing at 200 euros.

Elements Showcase 2013 Fragrance Highlights & Photos

August 19-20, 2013 saw the Elements Showcase holding their 6th edition at Skylight West 500 West 36th Street New York, NY with emerging and upcoming beauty and accessory brands. Two full floors were dedicated to the brands at the disposal of retail buyers' and members' of the press scrutiny. The white, crisp rooms were filled with high energy from product demonstrations, manicures, fragrances and innovation.

Fragrance brands ruled the event with offerings from Ego Facto, Olfactive Studio, Amouage (with their new Fate perfumes), Lalique, Histoires de Parfums, House of Sillage (with their limited edition bottles, the holiday scent one in a snow globe!) and Bond No. 9.
Leilani Bishop Fragrance presented 3 hand bag size roll on fragrances in sleek glass pen size containers holding perfume and fragrance oils in single note floral scents.

Launching later this year in the US is Dita Von Teese and Bat Man. Peter Schamberger from Luxess Group presented the fragrances and described how Dita has collected fragrance bottles for years and knows what she wants in fragrances.

Pozzo Di Borgo introduced 8 Mars 1764 that evokes the subtle aromas of a drop of cocgnac poured into a burning coffee, set on woody backdrop and 23 Janvier 1984 an intimate perfume that leaves a sensual and powdered trace on the skin yet is fresh and sophisticated. The scents are encased in a tall silhouetted flacon.

Memoire Liquide presented an assortment of the 150 specific scents that can be mixed to produce a tailor-made scent. The Bespoke line was originally launched in 1985 but was revived in 2007 for all those aficionados who were searching for something truly unique.

Perhaps the most innovative news of them all (replying to the eternal question How to Make My Fragrance Last Longer) was the introduction to the US market of Canvas & Concrete fragrance primer. How does it work? Spray a layer of Canvas (for women) or Concrete (for men) on your skin prior to your fragrance. The fragrance sits on top of the primer making it keep truer to the scent and last for longer. Cool!

assorted tips beautypress

Biehl Parfumkunstwerke GS03: fragrance review

GS03 for Biehl Parfumkunstwerke is the acronym for perfumer Geza Schoen's third composition he signs with his initials for the quirky and arty niche brand hailing from Hamburg, Germany by way of New York and more ways than one stands as the distilled signature of his mature work passed down in flying colors. Everything is there: the copious amounts of Iso-E Super (a synthetic material he is famous for using in his work), the airy modern feeling like ambient music, the legibility and at once the wearability of the composition by man, woman or animal (well, I made the last one up, but you know what I mean). The scent gains in warmth and sensuality as the body heats up, the hallmark of a good "skin scent". Like plexi-glass bricks letting sunlight traverse through them, it only looks artificial first time around; familiarity gets it ingrained fast.

photo of Geza Schoen provided for PerfumeShrine use

For Geza, a molecular wizard who questions the very nature of fine fragrance, scent works like an invisible mantle, at once enhancing the wearer's "super powers," the way Superman's cape allows him to reach his flying potential, and creating an enigma as to their definite source (May we recall here his infamous Molecule 01, "an agreeable ambient presence which plays peek-a-boo with my nose" as Katie Puckrik said). Schoen doesn't like the modern approach of mass fragrance anyway: "Fragrance these days is all about naked women on the beach, naked women on the sofa, naked women in the arms of naked men—it’s so boring", he states in no uncertain terms.

For GS03 the concept was a totally modernized, galvanized Cologne, not a rehash. The classic of old, the Eau de Cologne formula (citrusy effervescence with herbal-aromatic accents and a very faint musk in the base) stands for the contentment of cleanliness, since it is routinely splashed on after a bath, but also of exhilaration and total body & mind detoxing; a simple message printed in thick, header bold: spray it on and just feel good about yourself! With a history of more than 3 centuries on its back it also risks coming across as "granny-ish" or maudlin. To avoid that Schoen and art director Thorsten Biehl worked on incorporating contemporary elements and a modern structure. The result reads as unisex, because there are no traditionally very feminine, dainty, pretty-pretty notes, nor heavily burly chest-thumping and gravelly-voiced masculine ones.

pic of Geza Schoen & Thorsten Biehl at work, provided for PerfumeShrine use

The top note of Biehl Parfumkunstwerke GS03 fragrance is as clear as a church bell pealing on a mountain top in the Alps, but at the same time quite soft and soapy-smelling, comprised of a pink pepper note (allied to what can only come across as sweet lemon to my nose) which reveals a less sharp than citrus, slightly fruity-rosy scent carried far by the scent of the alcohol carrier. The rejuvenating scent of juniper gives an herbal accent that recalls the bracing feel of downing a good gin. The lemony touch just aids in bringing forth the herbal aspects of juniper berries. The trick of juniper is clever; it has provided that contented, in-the-know smile I recall from wearing Angeliques sous la Pluie (Jean Claude Ellena for Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle) and Juniper Sling (Olivier Cresp for Penhaligon's). The gin & tonic combination is as perennially pleasing as a button-down oxford shirt in white; it just works in any situation, on any wearer. It's also effortless, even if you're using Hendrick's. It seems to me that there is also a bitterish artemisia hint in GS03, a tickling of the sinuses which aids the pungent freshness (and some hedione); it would serve as both a contrast and a modifier, rendering the juniper fresher and the rest fruitier by contrast. The anchoring elements consist of the potent musky, cedar-like hum (Iso-E Super) which we have come to associate with Geza Schoen, with an added layer of castoreum, just enough to give interest.

pic of Geza Schoen & Thorsten Biehl provided for PerfumeShrine use

The projection of Biehl GS03 is mild: I catch whiffs now and then and if I lean over the spots I sprayed it's most definitely there, but it doesn't come across as "you're wearing perfume!" (Come to think of it, should anything?)

GS03 is available from the Biehl site, at Scent Bar and on Luckyscent.

In Love with Discontinued Perfumes: an Exercise in Masochism

"I don't know what possesses me, but I have a terrible tendency to fall in love with fragrances right before they get discontinued. I've just done it again. I need my head examined.

I've had a decant of Eau de Camille lying around forever, just finished it up this past spring. I've pondered a bottle off and on but never got around to it. Then I heard last week here on POL that Annick Goutal was discontinuing it, so I checked the site and sure enough, it's gone. This is where a sane person would sigh and shrug and decide it wasn't meant to be. I, on the other hand, said "Hey! Sounds like it's finally time to get that bottle!" Which I did (half price on Amazon, which didn't help).
And now it's here, and I can't believe how insanely great it is. Ivy! Privet! Grass! Stemmy green goodness with a hint of spring flowers! It's like a garden party in a bottle. Honeysuckle in the verge, croquet on the lawn. Playing amongst the hedges. It's much fresher than my decant, which makes me suspect it does deteriorate, and if course it's DISCONTINUED so I'll need to keep it in the refrigerator or something because I am a TOTAL IDIOT.

Anyway. It's a sweetheart of a fragrance, and hopefully I'll be sick to death of it before it runs out".

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

This is but one example (taken off my compatriot-in-fragrance Twitchly from the Perfume of Life forum) that shows as plain as daylight the sweet poignancy, the sheer masochism of loving fragrances that have been discontinued. The procastrinating until the very last possible moment. The panic, the excitement and mad folly when the opportunity comes, knowing full well, 100% consciously that this is doomed, that the pain is sure to follow. The savoring of the sensation when the prized moment comes. The sweet regret when distanced a bit from it. The realization that we're transient, just like perfume is...Oh yes, Bataille or von Sacher-Masoch would have a minefield with perfume lovers today. After all BDSM and perfumes aren't totally disjointed.

I'm in love with extreme mental torture.
I'm in love with the way you hold your head and just cry.
I'm in love with all these affairs of the heart.
There's no peace for the wicked.
Loud and clear. The angels tell me,
no peace for the wicked.

 ~No Peace for the Wicked, The Only Ones

I well recall my own days when I had first discovered Lanvin's seminal My Sin (Mon Peche), a long discontinued marvel allegedly composed by the "mysterious" and "exotic" Madame Zed (so much has this stirred the collective conscious that even entire chick-lit novels are built on this tidbit). The panic to secure every possible concentration (there's eau de toilette, extrait de parfum but also Eau My Sin, a slightly different proposition), the hawking over auctions, the frenzied correspondence with Swiss perfume collectors and finally the pain in using it in measured drops on my neck and behind my knees resembled Severin's unbridled desires for Wanda; or so it seemed at the time... That scent adventure was followed by many others over the years: limited editions of YSL Opium (such as the stupendous Fleur de Shanghai), the sweaty leathery La Nuit de Paco Rabanne, the innocuous but filled with memories Eau d'Eden, Guerlain's scarce Loin du Tout, the origami darkness of Shiseido Nombre Noir, Chanel No.46 and its troubled history, or the buttery softness that one would wish would come as luxe underwear for fetishists, Doblis by Hermès...Each and every one of them a doomed bond, a predestined to wither and die love affair; not because of anyone's fault...because that was the way it was meant to be.

And with the increasing axing of many of the classics, due to allergens, poor sales or impossible to serve financially formulae, the story only takes on additional chapters, like a mutant 19th century novel by Eugène Sue, serially published in sepia periodicals.

Let's be factual: Masochism is unique to man (woman); animals do not seek to get unaccomodated, only humans do (and with such fervor!) And since by its own definition masochism is pessimistic and realistic, as Gilles Deleuze showed in his brilliant reasoning, it's quite noble to fall for a lost cause. Thermopylae didn't get famous for being a victorious occasion after all.
In appreciating fragrance for its intellectual properties (its transient beauty, its capturing of the zeitgeist but also of a personal scent timeline) the direct object itself is desexualized, gaining heroic nuances that go beyond the carnal, into the spiritual, whereas the entire human history is sexualized, i.e. put under a new light because everything surrounding that experience gains an unforeseen intensity spanning the senses. Far from a libertine tittilation, indulging in a paradise lost is an exercise in banishing the role of authority, the paternal figure, in submerging oneself into a primal Oedipal status. Securing a discontinued perfume is defiance; revolt against the system; appreciation of what is (by now) forbidden to you. The quest becomes the hunt for treasure, the securing of the loot a prize in itself; the impossibility of refueling nevertheless means an acceptance of mortality. In a way, loving discontinued perfumes has helped me mature.

So go ahead and fall headlong with a discontinued fragrance, don't be scared! You will derive a poignant pleasure in enjoying what fragrance you have left in your bottle, each application all the more tinged with melancholy because it's running out. In a way, wearing a beloved discontinued scent is like finding a virtuous woman, prized above rubies. And the more gorgeous, the more artistically beautiful the fragrance is, the more elevated that experience is.

What about you? Do you feel that way? Do you love certain discontinued scents or do you just go on when something gets axed? Please share in the comments. 

Tocca Margaux: new fragrance

Feast your eyes on the gorgeous bottle of the newest feminine fragrance by Tocca cult brand, as it's so very beautiful as usual. Margaux eau de parfum, the upcoming feminine fragrance release, planned for October 2013, is a new proposition  in the line with a richer, more sophisticated scent than we've been used to previously (see Colette, Touch or Cleopatra by Tocca for instance).

via Perfume (Larie) pinterest.com

Fragrance notes for Tocca Margaux:
Top Notes: Blood Orange, Bergamot Blossom, Cassis, Green Gardenia
Middle Notes: Black Jasmine, Ambery Violet, Cashemere Woods
Bottom Notes: Warm Musk, Benzoin, Vanilla, Heliotrope

TOCCA Margaux Eau de Parfum (50 ml) retails at $68 at Sephora and Nordstrom stores nationwide and online at www.TOCCA.com, www.sephora.com, www.bluemercury.com and beauty.com beginning October 2013.