Perfumer Maurice Roucel Appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres

“We chose Maurice Roucel to receive the order because we were deeply impressed by his olfactive creativity over the last four decades. During this time, he has developed his own way of creating remarkable scents by combining his unique inspiration and profound knowledge,” commented Frédéric Mitterrand on the decision to appoint Maurice Roucel Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is a French award from the Minister of Culture and Communication and was instituted on May 2, 1957. President Charles de Gaulle included it as part of the Ordre National du Mérite in 1963. It is awarded to people who have made significant contributions to the arts, literature or the advancement of these fields. The recipients are not exclusively French nationals.

Maurice Roucel looks back on 40 years of creative work in the perfume industry. During this time, he has worked for many renowned manufacturers of fragrances. In 1996 he joined Symrise and has since created many signature scents for the fragrance house. Among his most successful creations are Be Delicious by Donna Karan, Guerlain's Insolence and L' Instant, 24 Faubourg by Hermès, L by Lolita Lempicka, L'Onde Mystère by Armani, for women as well as Hypnose for men by Lancôme, Kenzo Air for men, Pleasures Intense by Estée Lauder, Musc Ravageur and Dans Tes Bras for F.Malle, Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens and many more... (K de Krizia perfume anyone?)

Maurice expressed his gratitude: “I feel very proud to have been made part of the order for my work as a perfumer. It’s always a challenge to find a way to express your individualism and at the same time meet the expectations of your customer and to give the consumer what they desire.”

A decision that surely leaves perfumery with an enhanced significance in the field of the arts. 

Read an interview with perfumer Maurice Roucel on this link.

Scratch & Sniff Jeans: Get your Posterior to Smell Like Raspberries

Blowing a raspberry might get a brand new meaning if you're wearing the new Weird Guy Scratch n’ Sniff Raspberry Scented jeans from Naked & Famous! This Canadian brand boasts of using only raw denim manufactured at a traditional mill in Japan, so quality shouldn't be a concern, but are you ready for having your bottom smelling like raspberries every time there's friction?

How it works? Raspberry perfume was coated all over the denim, hundreds of tiny micro-scent capsules that break when you scratch the surface (that's the same technology employed for scent strips for magazines) and then baked into them. Naked & Famous claims that the scent can last up to five washes! If you go as far as washing once every 3 months as recommended by some ~hard-core, surely~ jean purists (so as to supposedly preserve color & texture), you'd be set for aromatic wearings for 15 months!
The jeans retail for €150 ($165 USD) and are available for purchase online at Colette .

Big Fragrance Companies Condemned for Fixing High Prices: Perfume Cartel Bust

Thirteen leading fragrance companies have been sentenced to a total of more than 40 million in fines by the Court of Appeal of Paris for price fixing leading up to an oligopoly/collusion.
The Court upheld a decision by the Competition Authority ruled in 2006 against thirteen major names in luxury and three distribution companies of perfumes and cosmetics, for fixing a retail price of products to standardize prices up , as the Court viewed by AFP.

The condemned perfume brands are: Chanel, Beauté Prestige International (Jean Paul Gaultier and Issey Miyake fragrances), Clarins Fragance Group (including Thierry Mugler perfumes), Hermès Parfums, Parfums Christian Dior, Elco (Clinique and Estee Lauder), Guerlain, L'Oreal, LVMH Fragance Brands, Sisheido Europe, and YSL Beauté. The condemned distributors are retail sales giants: Marionnaud, Sephora and Nocibé.

What was this all about?

The luxury groups in question locked a "street price" of products and the discount rate than they were allowed to practice with their distributors in order to level up prices to the detriment of the consumer, as the Competition Council established in its first decision in 2006.
They also accused the suppliers of establishing a "price police", in other words, price controls, pressures and threats of trade retaliation vis-à-vis the recalcitrant distributors.

The history of shame
The story isn't entirely new. An alleged cartel between 1997 and 2000 was what prompted a particularly long legal battle, as this is the third time the issue is examined by the Court of Appeal, the two previous decisions being challenged before the Court of Cassation. In both cases, the senior judges had asked for a retrial on appeal. You can see the newspaper clipping depicted from 2006 (click photo to enlarge)

Interestingly, the amount of the total fine now was reduced from 46.2 million euros to 40.20 euros.

photo clipping and article in full linked here

Hermes to Join Donors at The Department of Olfactory Art at The Museum of Arts and Design

Good news for the inclusion of know-how and artistry in the olfactory art exhibition at the NYC Museum of Arts and Design. Hermès has become a 2012 Major Donor to The Department of Olfactory Art.

Hermès’ gift is earmarked for the exclusive use of the Department of Olfactory Art and its activities. To quote Chandler Burr, the curator of the exhibition: "As you all know, I’m particularly familiar with Hermès Parfums’ in-house artist, Jean-Claude Ellena, and am extremely happy to have Hermès, this great house founded in 1837, as a donor."
Like The Estée Lauder Companies, P&G Prestige, Chanel, and Guerlain, Hermès will have a seat on the Department of Olfactory Art’s Advisory Board.

Perfume Quotes: Habit Rouge [Genre (tres) masculin]

Promotion for fragrances don't have to involve much to be suggestive and to stir the imagination. Forget bimbos rolling on the bed, blinged out couples coupling amourously and lots of skin display; forget long tirades extolling the virtues of precious ingredients and mellifluous emotion. A mere suggestion and a quote from a legendary celebrity saying they found a fragrance to have an influence in their lives is enough.

Behold a photo shot by Peter Lindberg for Guerlain's classic masculine fragrance Habit Rouge, genre: (tres) masculin. [translation: Gender: (very) masculine].

Habit Rouge refers to the red riding jacket donned by gentlemen in equestrian days. Of course!

And then you have Keith Richards, of Rolling Stones infamous celebrity, reminscing in his memoirs about choosing Guerlain's Habit Rouge as his signature scent [Mick Jagger prefers Chanel Cuir de Russie]:

"One minute no chick in the world. No f*cking way, and they're going la la la la la. And the next they're sniffing around. And you're going wow, when I changed from Old Spice to Habit Rouge, things definitely got better."
 ~Keith Richards, 'Life'

quote thanks to yum_yum/mua

L'Artisan Parfumeur Love Messages: Have a Tree Planted, Win Perfume Bottles

L'Artisan Parfumeur fragrances are designed to arouse emotions and the company would like you to express yours as part of the new LOVE MESSAGES ‘happening’.Visit L'Artisan in their boutiques and corners from January 30th, pick up paper hearts and compose your heart-felt or amusing love messages, then place them in the giant bottles. The more the merrier; as for every 20 love messages received, a tree will be planted in Mali. And by the way, you will also have the chance to win fragrances! (for yourself or loved ones.)

Again this year (2011 saw 500 trees planted!), L'Artisan Parfumeur is working in partnership with TREE AID, an NGO that supports development and reforestation in Mali. The company chose this West African nation in honour of the iconic fragrance Timbuktu: this warm, sensual and bewitching elixir was inspired by Bertrand Duchaufour’s journey to this fascinating country.

Love messages event runs from: January 30th to March 30th.
Leave your love messages in the boutiques and on the L'Artisan Parfumeur Facebook page.
PS: Fragrances to be won for the most original messages...