Paying Good Money on Shampoo-Worth Perfume Formula

The most spontaneous posts on Perfume Shrine often involve a small rant and this is one of them. The ideas for the rants also strike me as I'm going through the motions; no preplanned, big thinking dissertation projects, which is probably why they come out of the blue. The other day was one such day of an unwelcome epiphany, concerning several issues we have touched on this site before: similarity between current perfumes, recycling of ideas and ingredients while not revealing sources under penalty of Chinese torture, focus group practices that deprive any originality, pricing of fine fragrance at fine fragrance level while the perfume formula obviously costs as much as a mass-range shampoo... Unlike wanting to find a dupe for MAC Ruby Woo lipstick or DiorShow mascara, perfume stands for something that can't be irrefutably compared in qualitative terms by the average consumer. With cosmetics, it's right there in your face, you can't deny it. With perfume...not as easy to claim your case.

What made me have this light-bulb light up in my brain? Simple. Re-smelling the best-selling (or so it seems from the commentary and the numerous flankers) Chloe Eau de Parfum, the re-orchestrated one from a few years ago.

It smells like -effing- L'Eau d'Issey! 

Now, the two fragrances, L'Eau d'Issey (feminine) from 1992 and Chloe Eau de Parfum (2008) share no common notes apart from rose I believe (which scent doesn't, you ask). You can compare their respective fragrance notes pyramids here and here. Of course seasoned readers of this blog already know notes do NOT correspond to actual ingredients in the formula; they're meant to convey an olfactory impression. But still huge numbers of people review Chloe EDP as rosy, as well as soapy (and it is sudsy in a very sharp, shrill way most definitely, as I had said in my fragrance review of reformulated Chloe eau de parfum, comparing it with the vintage ). The same doesn't happen for the modern classic floral aquatic by Miyake of course, people view it as watery, aquatic, white floral; no rose, no powder, no soap.
In fact I see that I had already mentioned that the Chloe EDP opening reminds me of L'Eau d'Issey all those years back when I first wrote the review in 2008. Can't be blamed for a reformulation, then.

But wait a minute. Are people that suggestive, then? Not quite.

Here is one reviewer of Chloe on Fragrantica, blurting it out in plain sight:

wooedwithpeonies

I must say I was a bit disappointed with this perfume. Only because I was really expecting a super floraly rose. But I got none of that. Instead on my skin it's a fresh fruit with the tinest hint of something floral. On my skin it smell exactly like bombshell from Victoria's Secret. I got no hit of anything rose and the peonies only stuck around for about 5 minutes. The search for the most Rosie perfume continues....

And even though there are tons of other reviewers insisting on the classiness or uniqueness of it (and they do have a perfect right to like it and wear it in good health), I strained my eyes to find someone hinting at what I had perceived at of the blue.
In the end it does seem I am not alone, nor mad at feeling the similarity.
Here it is:

calma

The shared name of this distinguished fashion house,
together with its exquisitely designed bottle,
would make you think that what´s inside holds at least some of the same quality.

Not so.
This is actually one of the greatest disappointments
I have come across, if I may say so.
The fragrance itself reminds me of the crude 'aquatic'
(based on the note of Calone) Issey Miyake L´Eau d´Issey.
With added cheap cotton-candy-ingredients for a more 'feminine' style.
Clean? Well, like a chemical lab I suppose.
Easy to sum up for me; a dull, generic, all-synthetic-'muguet-rose' made by some team who doesn´t care one bit about perfume.

The most fascinating part of it is Chloe EDP smells identical to the cheap chemist's dupes of L'Eau d'Issey sold in plain glass bottles for a buck! Even the formula of the Miyake is considered "expensive" nowadays? 

This valuable lesson also teaches us something important: Familiarity is of paramount importance in perfume tastes. We like what we're familiar with. If an idea has worked once, it will work again, assuming the time lapse is just right; too soon and you risk being called out as derivative, too long and you risk being considered as moldy as an attic full of mothball-preserved clothes.
This is why the industry churns out endless variations on a known theme. And when the theme is considered somewhat passé, they recycle it under a different campaign, a different image and a different set of notes. But it does smell very, very similar all the same.

Consider where your buck flows to.

For those reading Greek, please consult my article on Perfume Sameness on this link.
Next, we will have a niche samples giveaway, stay tuned!

Whiffs of Heaven and of Hell: The Scents of Sanctity and of the Devil, a Historical Exposition of Myth and Reality

I have been having a bit of trouble with putting in comments lately, Blogger acting up or something, so please excuse my delay in responding to you. I hope the problem gets fixed quickly.
Meanwhile I have published two of my most interesting, if I say so myself, articles involving a controversial topic that intermingles religion, culture, history, myth and ever present smells and fragrances. Not everything is coming up roses, but some things apparently are?

One if called A Saintly Aroma: Scents of Heaven, linked here, and its companion is called A Diabolical Whiff: Scents of Hell, linked on this link.

I hope that you will enjoy them as much as I enjoyed myself while researching and writing them. As always, please free to comment and agree/disagree either here or there.

A Glimpse of Spring Amidst the Snowzilla

The snow has taken New York by storm if Instagram is any proof of that, but do not fear. Here we can bring the crocuses from under the stony frozen rock in our imagination. In an effort of some welcome diversion of spring-time thoughts, before any floral prints erupt happily on our dresses and pink suffocates our makeup routine like there's no tomorrow (not that it happens in my routine, but you know how things go in the press) there's a Fragrantica collective article with spring scents.

Best in Show: Welcome Spring (hit the link please to read) features one choice by yours truly (scroll to find it in the middle of the article) as well as other worthwhile choices by our editors. Enjoy reading and please share what scent/smell makes you think of springtime in the comments.

An Interesting Statistic: Most In Demand Niche Fragrance Launches for 2015

This comes from one retailer of niche fragrances (it might be different on another) and it also reflects only the brands they carry but the interest that people showed for these launches in the previous year might be of interest to the careful collector of market trivia, the luxury market observer and the antagonizing companies vying for attention.

So without further ado this is what most people bought samples/bottles of from Luckyscent during the past year:

4160 Tuesdays - Maxed Out
A Lab on Fire - Mon musc a moi
Andree Putman - L'Original
DS & Durga - Debaser
Eau d'Italie - Morn to Dusk
Naomi Goodsir - Iris Cendre
Parfum d'Empire - Tabac Tabou
Papillon Artisan Perfumes - Salome
Penhaligons - Ostara
Shay & Blue - Framboise Noire
Slumberhouse - Kiste
Stephane Humbert Lucas - Mortal Skin
Tauerville - Rose Flash
The Beautiful Mind Series - Precision and Grace

A bit like with hot trends in fashion trickling down to mass market brands in a year or two, they're work checking out to see where the interest of the perfumephile lays.

Related reading on PerfumeShrine: 
Best-selling Fragrances Lists per Country and per Year

Chandler Burr's Untitled Series Back at Full Swing

The Untitled Series
A specific fragrance, chosen by author and critic Chandler Burr and presented anonymously, allowing you an uninfluenced opportunity to smell, guess, and discuss, before the name is ultimately revealed.
The ongoing saga is documented on Luckyscent where you can purchase decants in unlabelled vials from.

For S02E08 Burr writes:
"There is a damp cold that England seems to specialize in, but this cold doesn’t lower the level of scent, and the air was filled with brackish water, wet green grass, damp cement, a few traces of car exhaust and ozone. The wind shifted, and I smelled her perfume...Suddenly there was a completely different green: a spring-twig green, filled with sunlight and mixed with freshly cut grass. A handful of fructose was tossed into the scent along with a few peonies. Then pieces of cool pink fruit. I felt exhilarated. During that moment—maybe five or six seconds—the Newcastle clouds were gone.
I asked her what it was. It’s in these bottles. I imagine most of you will be as surprised as I was to hear her answer."

Reveal date is set for 16/2. Good luck in the guessing game!