L'Artisan Parfumeur La Collection de Grasse: new products (inc. scented gloves!)

L’Artisan Parfumeur looks to the roots of perfumery for its new collection: La Collection de Grasse (The Grasse Collection). In recent years, exotic travels have fed the creativity of L’Artisan Parfumeur and its perfumers, now the French perfume house returns to the mythical home of fragrance. The collection will debut this October with two stunning candles - L’Automne (autumn/fall) and L’Hiver (winter). In parallel, L’Artisan Parfumeur will launch a truly luxurious and surprising new product: scented leather gloves, perfumed with its iconic Mûre et Musc Extrême fragrance.

L’Artisan Parfumeur was inspired by Grasse, spiritual home of perfumery, and most specifically by the Grasse “arrière-pays,” or back-country, where mountains and Mediterranean meet. With the passing of the seasons, this fragrant landscape is alive with colours, and fleeting emotions. This new collection is also L’Artisan Parfumeur’s celebration of French artisanal heritage.

L’Automne and L’Hiver candles:
These two L’Artisan Parfumeur candles transport you to the Grasse back-country, creating a warm and cosy atmosphere for your home, redolent of the seasons. For the Grasse Collection, L’Artisan Parfumeur imagined a new handmade vessel to house the candle, and sought out other artisans, ceramic masters from the other side of the world, based in the Chaozhou region of China.
Available in two sizes 200gr (for over 60 hours burning time) for 55GBP and 1.5 kg (for over 100 hours) for 220GBP.
Spring 2013 will see the release of two more candles: Le Printemps and L'Ete. 

L’Automne A stroll through the wild landscape surrounding Grasse, where leaves and nuts fall onto the humid earth.
This candle recreates this special muffled atmosphere, where leaves on the ground soften the sound of footsteps. The air is getting fresher, and more humid, the light is getting paler, comforting as the wind picks up. At first, we detect a lavender note, which carries us into the countryside, then chestnut, caramel and blackcurrant notes. Finally, a cedar and lichen accord brings to a close this promenade in the Grasse back-country.

L’Hiver A gathering around the fireplace, surrounded by the comforting scents of smoky woods and pine needles.This candle is highly-evocative. Imagine being by a burning fireplace, safely tucked-up inside, when all outside is cold and dark. At L’Artisan Parfumeur, the winter season is often a time for reunions with those you love, moments filled with emotion. So, the ingredients were chosen with great care: clary sage, married with notes of pine and fir tree from around Grasse, to create this welcoming wintry scene.

click to enlarge

The Scented Gloves

The scenting process
The process of ‘scenting’ the leather was developed after extensive research by L’Artisan Parfumeur. The leather (the ‘raw skin’) is soaked for four hours in a very specific mixture of nourishing oils and the specially-developed Mûre et Musc Extrême concentrate. This process softens and scents the leather. The leather is then removed from the mixture and placed in a special drying-room, to be left to dry overnight. The mixture of oils and the Mûre et Musc Extrême concentrate results in the leather of the gloves being elegantly perfumed for around three years. The gloves can also be re-scented using the Eau de Parfum Mûre et Musc Extrême, without staining the leather.

The House of Causse. The savoir-faire of the glove-maker
The history of the House of Causse is closely entwined the glove-making workshops of Millau, in the South of France. The expertise of these workshops has ensured that Millau has become the glove-making capital of France. Causse is officially celebrated as an “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant” (a company seen as part of France’s cultural patrimony). Causse gloves are still designed and made locally, by hand, with the same love and attention to detail. Far from being anachronistic, this painstaking artisanal work has found new meaning with L’Artisan Parfumeur and relevance to contemporary perfumery.
The beautifully soft black leather gloves, available in fours sizes (XS, S, M, L) fit your hand perfectly. The kid leather, of French provenance, is of outstanding quality, perfectly supple and soft to the touch, offering great comfort, as well as that certain French elegance. When you remove the glove, your skin is delicately scented, impregnated with your favourite fragrance. The Mûre et Musc Extrême scented gloves, lined with natural silk arouse the senses of both touch and smell.
Only 100 pairs are produced, available from October 2012 in selected L'Artisan boutiques for 320GBP. This year, with L’Artisan Parfumeur, Mûre et Musc Extrême will fit you like a glove!

To discover the ‘making-of’ candles video, please click on this link:

http://youtu.be/wXHJSk144FI

In the same vein, please click through the below link to discover the ‘making-of’ video of the scented leather gloves

http://youtu.be/_iHRnPn9RMo

  info via press release

Parfums Lingerie: Scents as Delicate & Alluring as Feminine Underpinnings

An angel lay on the mattress and spoke of history and death
With perfume on her lingerie and whiskey on her breath 
~"Resurrection" by Ray Wylie Hubbard


Though not a technical term in perfumery jargon, contrary to for instance "animalic scents" or "soapy scents", there really isn't there a more to the point reference to what certain fragrances evoke: the delicate lace of a sexy ivory basque worn with silken garters, the smoothness of pink satin tap pants with matching camisole on spaghetti straps,  retro merry widows in black, or chiffon baby dolls puffing under heaving bosoms...the whole accessorized with pearls and marabou-trimmed slippers with a heel!

Kirsten Dunst seriously glam-ed up!

"Parfums lingerie", a self-coined term, therefore denotes in my mind a category of fragrances that exude romanticism, with a wink of eroticism, drawing as they do from the rich pool of traditional feminine accouterments (including cosmetics) and at the same time a sense of insouciance and nonchalance like the very vest pin-ups images has taught us to expect. Fun as the lingerie is to wear and fantasize, alone or with the company of a loved one, these perfumes are even more fun to don! You don't have to eschew your feminist ideas one iota, as perfume is such an insubstantial entity with no visual cues to not get attached to excessive baggage, and you can wear them in public without blushing a single bit. But the wondrous, stimulating effect of knowing you're wearing a "parfum lingerie" underneath it all very much resembles the tangible frisson of wearing exquisite underwear under your prim clothes.

You can of course turn to established lingerie brands offering their own fragrant interpretations: Agent Provocateur has the killer sexy Agent Provocateur chypre fragrance which is naughtier than whatever I had in mind (but really fabulous too!) Chantal Thomass, Fifi Chachnil or Sonia Rykiel who know a thing or two about intimate apparel all have their own perfumes out in the market (Love many of them personally, especially Rykiel's Woman, Not for Men and Fifi by Chachnil). Or we have Josie Natori suggesting her Natori Eau de Parfum, a most agreeable floriental with an ambery, soft-spoken background of powder and wood. But there's no need to pigeon-hole. Let's be creative, shall we?

Classifying "parfums lingerie" we come across several common traits in their technical make-up. These are usually fragrances with demure and elegant floral notes of a retro vibe, such as violet and rose, a romantic combination that also brings to mind cosmetics. But in parfums lingerie the effect isn't waxy or sticky (such as in F.Malle's Lipstick Rose for instance, the reference for lipstick scents) but rather airy, like a chiffon camisole that doesn't stick to the body, with an added soupçon of defiance and more emphasis on the violet and the ionones than on the rose. 
Rice-powder is a retro reference that can't but bring to mind glamour images of yore when actresses and opera divas were shown in front of their over-lit mirrors applying face and décolleté powder with fat, goose down puffs in pastel colors, dressed in silky robes. The fragrances that exude this powdery heaven are more delicate than the typical "powdery perfume" with orris notes combined with a little white floral (such as jasmine), a hint of vanilla and sometimes an actual rice whiff.


 Last but not least, whisper soft musks carefully poised between "clean musk" and "dirty musk" (none of the piercing laundry detergent type, nor the Lutens Musks Koublai Khan skank); sometimes with a heavier leaning into one or the other direction yet never overdoing it. These musks can employ the added softness of white flowers, tactile woods and a little billowy vanilla. These scents can play the seductive game of acting like virtual lingerie...even when you're wearing none!


Here is my selection of "parfums lingerie". I love wearing some of them when the mood strikes. All the while imagining myself a more alluring subject than I am...

Violet-laced Scent Underpinnings
Love, Chloé by Chloé
Drôle de Rose by L'Artisan Parfumeur
Météorites by Guerlain
Flower by Kenzo
Balenciaga Paris L'Essence by Balenciaga
Violet Blonde by Tom Ford
Violette Precieuse by Caron

Musky Charmeuses
Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker
Noa by Cacharel
Clair de Musc by Serge Lutens
Bois et Musc by Serge Lutens
Narciso for Her Eau de toilette by Narciso Rodriguez

Rice & Powdery Chiffon Scents
Cashmere Mist by Donna Karan
Kenzoki Rice Steam Sensual by Kenzo
Sophistique by Mark
Sake and Rice by Fresh

Which are your own favorite "lingerie fragrances"? Let me know in the comments.


pics via Pinterest.com/hercourt originally uploaded from freshpair.com, suicideblonde.tumblr.com, photoshootbloger.blogspot.com.au

bottle pics via girlwiththecuriousnose.blogspot.com & shoppingheavendotnet.blogspot.com

The Smell of Clean Comes from What? What your Floor Cleaner isn't Telling

"Estée Lauder Cos.' fragrance Calyx has influenced many complex cleaning scents, as has Dior's J'adore, she says. Ralph Lauren's Polo Blue is another big force. "You get this marine smell of fresh air, with a touch of lavender and woodiness," Ms. Betz says. "Those notes are very desirable in cleaners."[...] "Naming cleaning-product fragrances can be as nuanced as concocting them. Consumers tend to love hints of banana in their cleaning products. "But if you put it on the label, it doesn't work," says Steve Nicoll, an IFF senior perfumer. "Papaya is the same way. It's so unexpected that they can't accept it, yet the smell they like." Lavender works in reverse: "People like the idea of lavender but don't tend to like the real thing," says Ms. Betz. Most of the lavender-scented products are actually lavender "fantasies," an industry term for a hint of a scent that is combined with others. Lavender is usually combined with fruit, floral, woody or vanilla notes, she says."

Just two of the most interesting (amidst an article with lots of interesting info appearing in the Wall Street Journal by Ellen Byron) on how functional perfumery -i.e. fragrance created to aromatize functional products, such as laundry detergent, cleaning fluid, window pane sprays etc.- really works.
The preponderance for "fresh" and "clean" takes on many guises apparently, with not only labels just hinting of the truth inside, but also the sector being inspired by such -unlikely at first glance- things such as fashion trends, colors du jour, even food! (Behold the evidence of cookie-scented detergent on the left!)

A serious point is made on how the "trickling down effect", that is to say the trajectory effect from fine fragrance (i.e.perfumes) into functional perfumery is increasingly shortening, making the transition quicker and quicker all the while. So when your favorite fragrance starts smelling pedestrian, or you find yourself pining after a specific cleaning product like a homing pigeon, you know why. After all, niche perfume brand Tocca was there before!

There's also ample proof in the info by the industry professionals cited in the WSJ article that it all relies, much like with fine fragrance, on fantasy...As if we ever doubted it.

BTW: Another interesting article by the same author tackles the issue of overuse of detergent by American housewives. 

 pics via purex.com and globalgiants.com

Natalie Portman for newest Miss Dior commercial: Revisiting Black Swan & La Dolce Vita

Natalie Portman after becoming the face of the ~recently renamed and revamped~ Miss Dior (previously Cherie) fragrance in a commercial that drew upon every French cliché possible (little black dress, check; pout and sunglasses à la Nouvelle Vague, check; romantic affair in Louis XVI decors, check) is turning now to other inspirations; or rather the people at LVMH do: American ones, such as her hit role in Black Swan, and Italian, as in the classic of classics by Federico Fellini, La Dolce Vita (incidentally the name of another Dior perfume!) There the truly voluptuous (especially as compared to slight Natalie) Anita Ekberg, starring as the Swedish-American actress, is frolicking dramatically in the Fontana di Trevi.

What's up with Dior using every bit of cinema history, especially lately, to promote their products? Are they really that out of new, original ideas? I understand when a movie is making a meta-comment on another movie, such as Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) recreating the frustration of the original actress in another heroine's (Catherine's) frustration with people and things in her own life and her childlike desire to infuse all with fun and love; but in a perfume commercial? That just comes across as lazy...
Natalie is fine on her own, you don't need to turn her into the "copy" of another actress, people!

Besides this "homage" comes as a totally misguided point, in my opinion: The Trevi Fountain scene comes as the apogee of an -at heart-frustrating night between Marcello Mastroyianni and Ekberg, showcasing the realization of Mastroianni being a victim, of searching endlessly for happiness which won't come; not this way at any rate. He idealizes Sylvia, the character played by Ekberg, into what is escaping him; the woman, no, the Woman, the out of reach mystique which would make him happy if only...
But glamorous and passive-agressive to men as this might seem (always a sort of secret fantasy for some women), in La Dolce Vita Sylvia isn't happy either. She howls back at dogs. She gets slapped. When she anoints Marcello, there is a mirror-scene where a parallel with the Virgin Mary is made, another woman thought of being capable to bestow happiness by just being and ending up disappointing the men who put hope in her. The dawn of that night just brings the shattering of hope...
How is this a favorable thought for actually buying a perfume, the premium product of escapism, especially a perfume that stands for girly fun and playfulness, the one which a few short years ago championed stuffing yourself with macaroons, dressing in all colors of the rainbow and bicycling through Paris letting off red balloons ? Is the concept of Miss Dior shifting dramatically, to follow the haughtiness of the new formula itself?

But then, it finally came to me: iconic as the images from the Fontana di Trevi scene may be (not a single soul hasn't seen them printed/uploaded someplace, they're part of our pop culture semiotics), I am willing to be that the viewers who have watched the original Italian film are far fewer...Could it be -horror of horrors- that even some at the creative team haven't really watched the film more carefully? Are they confusing glamour with happiness?

Perhaps I'm overanalyzing and everything is about the image pure and simple without no subtext behind it. According to the Daily Mail:"Standing in the middle of a fountain swathed in a stunning black strapless silk couture gown, the star [Natalie Portman] looked gorgeous and graceful as did several poses for the camera. The new advert is centered around the famous fountain scene from Frederico Fellini 'La Dolce Vita'. With her arm stretched out into the air towards the sky, Natalie looked dramatic and dreamy against the backdrop of the picturesque setting". Right.



pic collage via julesfashion.com

Marilyn Monroe and the Unknown Perfume She Favored (Not the Chanel!)

Is there a single soul who hasn't heard the famous quip of Marilyn about wearing a few drops of Chanel No.5 in bed? I happen to know from reading biographies that she also kept a bottle of Joy perfume by Jean Patou, which is just as well. A recent Salvatore Ferragamo exhibition in Florence (Marilyn was an avid fan of the Italian shoemaker) alongside the 50th anniversary of Marilyn's tragic death in August 1962 revealed however an altogether unknown love for another perfume; quite different to the previous two, one which we wouldn't quite have pegged to Marilyn! Goes to show you how much we have made up our minds on how we view the iconic blonde...

Floris on Jermyn Street receipt ~click to enlarge

The evidence is rather conclusive (?)  A receipt from Floris on Jermyn Street in London during a dipping into the archives of the British brand -founded by Juan Famenias Floris of Spanish extraction in the early 19th century (1830 to be exact)- came up stating a purchase of six bottles of Floris Rose Geranium eau de toilette in 1959 under the alias of Miss Dorothy Blass, Monroe's personal secretary. Much as the name might mean nothing however, the bottles were to be sent to the Beverly Hills Hotel in Hollywood, California, where Marilyn Monroe stayed during the filming of one of her most celebrated films, Some Like it Hot. The hand-written "correction" striking out the Dorothy Blass name from the printed form to replace it with Marilyn Monroe Miller is telling. I don't know whether Floris is intent on resurrecting this fragrance based on this "leaked" info; if they did it might hint at other machinations behind it, but that remains to be seen.

Although quite different from the intimately sexy character of the Chanel (lots of sensuous musk and civet under the sweet jasmine and ylang ylang), Floris Rose Geranium does have some common thread with her other proclaimed love, Joy: the celebration of rose takes a quieter, more retro interplay with geranium (which is rosy in itself but somewhat more masculine than rose), sharp lemony citronella and the milkiness of sandalwood.

Perhaps it's just as well: Chanel got its most famous unsolicited endorsement through Marilyn (to the point that even rival brands today, such as Dior, try to gnaw on some of this Marilyn perfume legend) but the woman kept a secret as to her more private choice of fragrance, a tiny reflection of her inner maze. Or so it seems, at least for now.

Pic of Floris receipt via dailymail, pic of Marilyn putting on makeup via aranthasgourmetbeauty.com

Limon Kolonyasi: Turkish Lemon Cologne or Multi-Purpose Wonder

The small alleys of Izmir, languid by the sea that floats endlessly under the afternoon silvery sun rays, and the cobblestone maze of Istanbul, hide in their bowels a fresh, zingy and insouciant smell of innocent childhood. Beneath the ubiquitous sardines's salty aroma, the syrupy seker pare desserts offered on large trays in the street, the numerous Döner kebab joints and the fermented bulgur boza drink, one might bypass the simpler but happier smell of Limon Kolonyasi, a prevalent clean lemony scent emanating from seeimingly everywhere: closely cropped napes, kid's small hands under white, school-uniform collars, tabletops and plastic overlays, linen drying in the sun. The Ottomans had an established ritual of cleansing with lemon-scented alcohol; since they didn't drink it they found other uses for it. And from there on, the habit travelled to Europe and to the world...

Though not Turkish, but drawing upon the rich pool of the Eastern Mediterranean, I well recall my own mother, same as lots of men and women in my culture, used to carry a small splash bottle of fragrant alcoholic “eau” in her purse at all times (usually 4711 or Roger & Gallet), to refresh her hands or handkerchief during the day with a swift and effective “pick me up” and to even quick-cleanse mine in the absence of water and soap as a small child, thus killing two birds with one stone: eliminating some bacteria from casual contact with dirt and making me a fragrance aficionado ever since! Although she kept her precious exotic perfumes at home, the bergamot, lemon or even pine-infused eau de Cologne travelled with her, refreshing many a time a weary travelling companion and alleviating a stuffy atmosphere of a couped-up car on a long drive across Europe. The citrus base of such waters has left an indelible mark on my conscious; the scent of relief, of purity, of making things right. 

the Passaport sea front at Izmir via balkantravellers.com

Limon Kolonyasi is arguably an even simpler recipe than a traditional Eau de Cologne, but its infusion of essential oils of lemon and fragrant lemon blossoms into pure, clear grain alcohol makes it an ubiquitous addition to the mundane, elevating it into an everyday celebration of happiness: obviously refreshing, less obviously exhilarating, tingling the nose with its tartness and leaving a faint impression of purity and the sense that everything is as it should be. What's more priceless than that? 

One of the first things that makes an impression upon being greeted to a Turkish home or having a shave & hair cut at a Turkish barber's is the use of Limon Kolonyasi. Hosts offer you this tangy, zingy liquid, usually from a gigantic bottle with a blue or green label, to put on your hands like a runny disinfectant (instead of the gel-like substances full of triclosan and other dubious ingredients so popular in the west). You might also spot huge 1 LT plastic bottles shaped like laundry detergents at Turkish bathrooms and wonder if these people consume it by the gallon in secret. The Turkish, you see, not only use it as a general purpose mild disinfectant for their skin (as it is 80proof alcohol after all) but to wipe clean anything from toilets and sinks to bathtubs and tiles as a finishing touch of freshness, after a soapy lather, instead of the artificial potent scent of the cleaning fluids advertised on TV. This simple aroma is also unisex and fitting for summer and hot weather, making barbers finish off a session by splashing a generous amount on the nape of the neck, so that some of it is caught by the hair, which retains an intense freshness. And whenever you finish a meal at a restaurant or a street corner joint, there's some offered to refresh afterwards, either in the form of mini bottles or limon kolonyasi infused little towels. It's a delightful custom. 

One brand which makes a great Limon Kolonyasi is Duru. There is also Bogazicki Turkish Cologne which is recommended for after a wet shave and Selin Lemon Cologne. There's plenty for sale on Amazon too.

  I have been rubbing down with the Selin cologne after a shower (and following with whatever perfume took my fancy; both chypres and orientals went very well with it) for a couple months now and I'm running out. Till next time I'm at the land of the Ottomans...