"I simply am not there"

"There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman. Some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me. Only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours, and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable, I simply am not there".

Quite a few products and scented things in his cabinet in this infamous scene. Care to identify them?

Perfumery Material: Lactones and Milk Notes

The subtly sweet, cozy, comforting scent of milk is a prized note in perfumes. Not only does it create a regression to childhood, welcome solace, but it enhances floral components and matches the sweeter elements really well. White florals and classical chypres often exhibit "milky" notes, due to added lactones, components whose name derives indeed from the Latin for milk; this is because in nature tuberose, jasmine and gardenia do contain lactones among hundreds of other molecules in their chemical makeup. And so do certain fruits which find themselves recreated in fruity chypres, such as plum, peach and apricot. Their infamous skin compatibility (bordering on the naughtily cuddly) isn't such a mystery; our bodies decompose proteins breaking them up in analogous materials, therefore lactones stick well on skin.

The recent rise of the gourmand fragrances sub-group (classified within the Oriental fragrance family) exhibited lots of fragrances that take milk notes as a departing point: either as wholesome as milk itself (notably in Matin Calin by Compotoir Sud Pacifique) or reminding us of milky desserts, such as rice pudding (as in Kenzo Amour), the condensed milk used in sweet tea (Jo Malone Tea Collection Sweet Milk), or crocus-tinged milk puddings (L'Artisan Parfumeur Saffran Troublant).

Source: l99.com via Lin on Pinterest

Retro and vintage fragrances are often described as "lactonic" when they exhibit milky facets, in contrast to contemporary fragrances under the gourmet umbrella; that's because lactonic although derivative of the Latin word for milk (lac, hence lacto- etc.) is a very specific perfumery jargon term denoting the conscious use of lactones, which was especially common in older fragrances. Lactones are cyclic esters uniting an alcohol group and a carboxylic group in the same molecule.

 The most usual lactones used are peach lactone (which has a milky peachy underone like in Caron's Fleurs de Rocaille) or milk lactone (Mugler's Dis-Moi Mirror has it). You can find lactones in infamous examples such as Le Feu d'Issey or Rush by Gucci. An unusual lactone emerging in a contemporary perfume is massoia lactone in Santal Massoia by Hermes., but the evocation of sandalwood and fig sap is possible because the materials themselves possess a milky facet.

Although milky notes smell similar to the drinkable variety, in reality the actual nourishing substance isn't used. Milky notes are rendered through illusion, via other materials, such as vanilla or sandalwood very often (as in Santal Blanc by Serge Lutens). These materials naturally have a "creamy" facet, a smooth, sweetish quality about them which can be interpreted as "milky" in compositions. Other materials such as musk from angelica or the resin benzoin have a fluffy ambience which can come across as milky in the right context.



The use of lactones (see above) is a shortcut into putting a milk note into a perfume: the effect can be creamier or peachier or woodier depending on the calibrating of proportion and context. The effect of lactones into boosting the creamy facets of white flowers is the main reason why they were used so frequently in the past.

Milky notes seem to hit upon a sensitive nerve in perfume lovers and consumers in general. Almost as if going on a Jungian archetype they evoke a sense of fulfilment, sustenance of the body and the soul, a comforting elation that pampers the emotions when in stress. The popularity of milky notes is only set to rise as the times get tougher.

Roxana Illuminated Perfume Figure 1: Noir : Fragrance Review

The darkness of the night descends on the village, its tall chimneys and church bell tops eclipsed by the long shadows cast by primordial spirits, by wraiths, the flashes of strange illuminations marshaling the nighttime sky like snuffed pyrotechnics. The earth below, seemingly barren, hides in its gut an untrammeled secret, a secret with long tentacles creeping beneath soil and rock.



This Figure 1: Noir, this study on the inherent darkness of patchouli essence and of unusual herbal aromatics has an intoxicating effect, the murmur of perverse sweetness traveling on the wavelength of a morbid longing. What is it that makes these chthonian vibes rebound in one's heart of hearts? What is this calling, this piper who promises a golden lair and the forests echoing with laughter? There are things which we do not speak of. There are emotions we cannot put into a defined shape, marking the outline separating inner from outer world. Similarly, Figure 1: Noir sparked that eternally unfulfilled curiosity, that desire to capture the uncapturable, swirls of low earth rising for the skies, flesh vying to become spirit.

Figure 1: Noir is an intriguing all naturals perfume oddity, deep and resinous with a loamy plume of botanical musk featuring harmonious notes of patchouli, green vetiver, Mysore sandalwood, orris and valerian juxtaposed with the pungent tartness of buchu leaf, black cumin, green cognac and davana. The effect is as intimate and universal as human skin with an unsettling wild animalic shadow.

Available by Roxana Illuminated Perfume at Etsy in both liquid perfume and solid. (Image illustration by Greg Spalenka)

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!