All American Stetson: Let the Games Begin!

You can't get more All American than the hunky quaterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots or Stetson, the synonym almost for cowboy hat for over a century and the emblem of cinematic hero Indiana Jones! All American Stetson tries to combine both in one in a fragance bottle. Tall order!

"All American Stetson is a fresh, modern, new addition to the Stetson fragrance family. Best described as an aromatic woody fragrance, All American Stetson features notes of black suede (spokesman Tom Brady’s self-professed favorite), cedar leaf, ginger, musk, and fresh water ferns. Developed by master perfumer Harry Frémont of Firmenich, All American Stetson is for the fun-loving, athletic, adventurous and rugged "All American" guy". The fragrance is available now at mass retailers and retails for $14.50-$26.00.


To support the launch of All American Stetson, Tom Brady and Stetson have also collaborated to create Tom Brady's All American Stetson Challenge. It’s a fun, interactive online game that lets guys compete head-to-head with Tom in extreme sports, including Kayaking, Motorcross and Snowboarding. The top scorers can win a dream 3 day adventure trip packed with horseback riding, rafting and a Hummer 4x4 excursion, plus autographed Tom Brady memorabilia, and of course, All American Stetson! You can check out the game at allamericanstetson.com/.

Official press pics

From March....."August"~ an explosion of mouthwatering vitamins!

In Robert Graves's historical novel "I, Claudius", the ill and eldely emperor Caesar Augustus ~commonly referred to as Octavian~, suspicious of his conniving and megalomaniac wife Livia finally trying to make away with him for the benefit of her son's from another marriage succession to the throne (the emperor to follow, Tiberius), adjusts his diet into relying on the sole consumption of fruits cut straight from the tree. Those cannot be tampered with, he falsely reckons!

My thoughts revert to the Roman emperor as I contemplate a Greek proverb denoting the quick passage of time, one which involves the month to which he gave his name: "From August winter and from March summer". Although the former I can assure you is not climatically sound for this part of the world (winter doesn't really hint at its arrival till the middle of November!), the latter part is certainly true. As sping-like and summery thoughts have been crossing my mind these sunny days when the temperatures are often reaching 18-20 Celsius and bergamot and citrus fruits have occupied these pages, I remember a scent named August which I ironically discovered in the heart of winter.

August by Erik Kormann is a very refreshing, simple and uncomplicated summery splash to enjoy while staying in the sun under an umbrella, or when donning a big staw Panama on your head, traipsing along bazaars, in the search for the ultimate teakwood jewel-case with the just right marqueterie. It's so refeshing that it's like a drink that is succulent and full of vitamins! It's very fitting to call it August, but since the main notes are fruits that I usually consume throughout autumn, I think it's not bad for the colder season as well, to which it brought many moments of pleasure. I seem to get a HUGE note of mandarin/tangerine out of it initially, an orange rind that wraps everything in its bright halo. A slightly bitter note of petitgrain (the steam-distilled essence from the leaves and twigs of bitter orange tree, ie. citrus aurantium) provides a counterpoint of balance into the succession of greener floral notes (hedione) foiled in warm sandalwood and an abstract veil that radiates from the inside. I admit I don't get base notes per se: the oils last well, which means they're anchored with something which is not surfacing through by itself, nevetheless. The basic ingredients to do that are a light "clean" musk (Galaxolide) and a woody synthetic aromachemical (the ever popular Iso-E Super). And the lasting power is exceptional!

If my own bottle is any indication, you can see I have almost exhausted it... August is so deliriously happy and optimistic it would be excellent with matching body products to complete the vitamin-infused experience. I think Erik should definitely think about introducing them!

August is available in Eau de Parfum in transparent bottles with a Chinese ideogram on the front and the digit 8 (symbolising the 8th month in the year, which is indeed August).
Available at:
1001 Seife, Xenia Trost & Erik Kormann, Rosenthaler Straße 36 - In den Rosenhöfen, 10178 Berlin
Telefon: 0049. (0)30. 28095354
Fax: 0049. (0)30. 28095355

KOPFARBEIT, Haltenhoffstr. 28, 30167 Hannover, Germany. Telephone: 0049. 511. 18838

Bad und Balsam, Jägerstrasse 11, 14467 Potsdam , Germany. Telephone: 0049. 331. 2701064
More info in German here

One sample will be offered to a lucky winner!


Painting Mandarins with Waterfall by Natalie George. Pic of August bottle copyight ©Helg/Perfumeshrine.

New Frederic Malle scent by Dominique Ropion: Geranium pour Monsieur

"A new fragrance named Geranium Pour Homme has been created for niche brand Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle by perfumer Dominique Ropion. It is expected to be available from Frederic Malle stockists, including Les Scenteurs, later on this year", according to today's Basenotes reportage by Danielle Cooper. Update 1: Later confirmation from Malle representatives corrects the name as Géranium pour Monsieur and sets the launch date in May.

Geranium is a rosy note distilled from the leaves of the plant and is traditionally used to render rose notes in masculine and unisex fragrances instead of more opulent rose essences traditionally considered more feminine. "An adventurer who abandons himself to instinct, Ropion is on a quest to create new, harmonious accords by pairing ingredients which are extreme opposites. His work is special because of the tension between precision and freedom." If indeed we take into consideration how Ropion usually works with his materials, we can expect a counterpoint of tense antithesis or the exagerration of the essence into its most baroque interpretation.

Update 2~"Now, after 18 months of "editing" with three-time contributor Dominique Ropion, Editions is poised to release an eighteenth scent, Géranium pour Monsieur. Though the perfume business is drenched in tradition, and there are plenty of flower petals where this one came from, make no mistake: this is a modern operation. Malle and Ropion used state of the art technologies to assemble an unlikely blend of raw Chinese geranium extract, mint absolute distilled at the molecular level, and cinnamon extracted with CO2.

"It's exactly like Photoshop," says Malle of his scientific manner of "amplifying" scents. A female friend of mine described Géranium pour Monsieur as smelling like a "cozy fireplace with fresh mint and licorice thrown in." Which is pretty close to the effect the two were going for. "It's super fresh, but it evolves to something warmer," says Malle, who will release Géranium in June then open his first stand-alone stateside boutique on Madison Avenue later this fall. [...] We came up with this idea by looking at toiletries from the 1920s. They all had mint in them, geranium, anise. When you think of mint you usually think of gum. These scents are associated to other things, but they're also truly pleasant. My son who desperately wants to be a playboy thought it was an asset, and he was wearing it the whole time we were designing it.[...]It's like a Darwinian chain. [The ingredients] all share things in common. Geranium and mint have things in common, mint and anise work together, anethol works with mint, and floralozone works with anethol. Then there's another facet—the cinnamon, clove, sandalwood, and incense—which creates warmth."

(via Interviewmagazine.com)

Notes for Géranium pour Monsieur by F.Malle include: mint, Chinese Geranium, Rhodinol, Anéthol, cinnamon, clove, white musks, floraozone, incense, and benzoin.

Might I remind you that Roaster by Cartier was one successful launch of the previous season.

Dominique Ropion began his training at the acclaimed Roure Bertrand Dupont laboratory, later going on to work with Jean-Louis Sieuzac (the creator of Opium among other gems). Some of his most famous creations include Amarige, Ysatis (both for Givenchy), Dior Pure Poison, and Calvin Klein Euphoria. Ropion had been outsourced for the Frédéric Malle brand for exceptional and striking creations such as the masterfully realistic tuberose Carnal Flower, the wet cobblestones of Vétiver Extraordinaire and the deliciously animalic, meowing floral Une Fleur de Cassie. Ropion currently holds one of the major creators' seats at International Flavors and Fragrances.



Pic via F.Malle

Iconic Chanel in the Power of Two

On the heels of a telefilm by Christian Duguray starring Shirley MacLaine as Coco Chanel after the War, two cinematographers are very busy into their own visions of how the eternal Mademoiselle of fashion built her fascinating life from her humble beginnings of being raised by seamstress nuns and her iconic career ~her indomitable perfumes forming a large part of her glory and occupying a place at every perfume lover's collection.


Coco Avant Chanel is the first one, set to screen on 22 April, and it stars Audrey Tautou along with Benoît Poelvoorde, Marie Gillain, Alessandro Nivola and Emmanuelle Devos. It is based on the book by Edmonde Charles-Roux's "L'irrégulière/mon itinéraire Chanel ". Directed by Anne Fontaine, the film examines the life and career of the renowned fashion designer in her formative years and early triumphs, leaving the darker Nazi collaboration and espionage charges which were at the nick of time alleviated with the help of Churchill and the Royal family as well the difficult return after years on the fashion scene left unsaid.


The focus of the biopic Coco avant Chanel as might be surmised by the title seems to be the modernisation of design and the liberation of women from the constrictions of La Belle Epoque mind-sets. I am proud to present you the trailer and preview pics.






On the other hand, the second film named Coco Chanel et Igor Stravinsky, is centered around a six-week period in which the renowened designer and the iconoclastic composer were believed to have had an affair.

Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky is starring Greco-French actress and Chanel model (you should have seen her in the Allure Sensuelle ads) Anna Mouglalis with Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen as Stravinsky. The film will open in autumn 2009, but these photos are meant to give you a little amuse bouche!

Which actress do you prefer for the role?



Pic svia allocine.fr, vanity fair via screeninglog, lightcamerahistory.wordpress.com and fashionfork.blogspot.com

Bulgari Omnia Green Jade: fragrance review

Much as I haven't been personally impressed by the Omnia franchise at the respected Bulgari brand ~despite liking many of their other perfumes~ I am forced to assume that it has been quite successful commercially in its Vulcan-knot bottle, since not only I constantly see it prominently featured at my local Sephora, but it seems to produce a descendant almost each subsequent year since its initial birth in 2005!

Omnia Green Jade is thus the third flanker to follow the original Omnia by Bulgari in its ambery flacon, the one which created questions as to how to spray it among first-time users due to its unusual design. The progeny had been Omnia Crystalline (in frosted glass) and Omnia Améthyste (in a violet flacon), both echoing other gemstones of different colours. Perhaps at the stem of my antipathy, or -to put it more accurately- indifference, is the -to me- ackward and hard to handle bottle design despite its poetic evocation of unbreakable bonds of love. On the contrary, I love the house's design in any other area and often shop there for trinkets, jewels, gifts and accessories at their luxurious boutiques. For those wondering, Bulgari is pronounced BOOL-ga-ree and is alternatively spelled Bvlgari, as if written in classical Latin characters since the founder Sotirios Vulgaris (VOOL-ga-rees) was a Greek goldsmith who took residence in Rome a couple of generations ago where he founded the eponymous house. The rest if history, as they say.

Omnia Green Jade (the green moniker surely a little redundant as jade is a specific shade of green gem anyway) was introduced as

"a new, precious, joyful fragrance inspired by the enchanting and sophisticated aura of the Jade gemstone. This crisp, floral green scent arouses a spirit of fresh floral emotions and embodies the natural, distinctive young woman seeking a sensual signature essence as pure and enticing as the first spring blossoms".

The demographic aimed at is "a little younger" which also seems a little redundant as the franchise is aimed at young women anyway. The new fragrance was officially presented at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes, France, last October and launched worldwide last February.

Despite the description of greeness as well as the corrreponding packaging and advertising (featuring a delicious pair of Bulgari earrings in fat drops of jade), Omnia Green Jade is traitorous to its name, being rather a subdued floral musky-woody in the style that has been well established for some years now. Perfumer Alberto Morillas, responsible for the original Omnia as well, has been playing these releases like sharply tense violin strings at the twist of his experienced graceful fingers, much like he recently did with Essence for Narciso Rodriguez, but with somewhat predictable results.
For this one “I thought of its colours, green with white shadows, of the energy of this millenary gemstone, symbol of the good, the beautiful and the precious,” explained Alberto Morillas. “I have built the scent around a white petal cascade and a vivid freshness, combined with the rare and mystic texture of white wood and exotic musks.” The promise of spring-time in this transitory phase in which the first buds are tentatively raising their heads beneath the still cold air is enough to have us on pins and needles for the full blown effect of spring's arrival and usually a little spring-like fragrance is very much desired, nay craved, at this particular time of year. Imagining green fragrances I often revert to sharper impressions of tangy, crushed lemon leaves like in Ô de Lancôme, of galbanum sharpness of the vintage Vent Vert ; I crave warmer weather vetiver offerings, little spring bells of white as the lily-of-the-valley of Diorissimo and the elegant insouciance of Chanel No.19. Omnia Green Jade is light and ethereal, but not particularly reminiscent of spring's blossoms nor its green grasses. Its feel is abstract and subtly musky-woody, meant to correspond to modern urbane environments rather than rolling on the knolls of some Tuscan countryside. The pistachio note (which sometimes alludes to lentisque, commonly known as mastic) is not quite as discernable in its oleaginous, fluffy vibrance as I would have wished. If anything, there is a subdued floral note of transparent peonies, coy unsweetened violets and "clean" lily of the valley in its hidden core, quite toned-down, soft and timid and foiled in blonde, pale woods, tea-like and subtle clean-skin-musks. The overall impression is of a competently-made office-appropriate scent that does not create ripples on the pond, jade-hued or otherwise.

Notes for Bulgari Omnia Green Jade
Spring Water, Green Mandarin, White Peony, Nasturtium, Pear Tree Flower, Jasmine Petals, Fresh Pistachio, White Woods, Musk

Bulgari Omnia Green Jade is currently available at major department stores in Eau de Toilette concentration in sizes 0.84oz/25ml, 1.32oz/40ml and 2.2oz/65ml and in two ancilary products: 200ml shower bath and 200ml body lotion.

Ad pic via bluebellgroup.com. Pic of jade earrings via morethanscentsable.com