Friday, March 7, 2008

Kings & Queens

Perfume Shrine likes to look at new things and when a favourite brand branches out, here we are following the trail like a scenthound. Korres, the Greek skincare and makeup line that has taken the world by storm has launched a separate new body care line, named "For Kings and Queens".The idea behind it is to link specific royal persons with scents associated with their life and beliefs. Naturally, Perfume Shrine's interest was piqued!

Perusing the line there is a wealth of famous people inspiring shower gels and body creams. Beginning back in antiquity, Caspar is associated with Myrrh (it smells somptuous!), the fragrant gift of the Magi to baby Jesus, while Nefertiti takes her bath in Honey. Her name means "beautiful woman who has arrived" and it is inferred that her beauty rituals were complimentary to her loveliness.
Queen of Sheba inspired Pistachio (an unusual choice, don't you agree!) because she was so mad about its taste and aroma that she ordered the country's crops to be solely distributed to her Court.
King Solomon gave the inspiration for Cedar (a very smooth, austere yet sensual smell). The king of Israel, responsible for building the first Temple of Jerusalem used almost only cedar for its amazing properties of resisting decay and smelling fragrantly pious.

The exotics are well taken care of: King of Ceylon has a penchant for Cinnamon, a product accountable for the antagonism of the Dutch, British and Portuguese fighting over control of the island.
Indian Maharajas opt for Mahogany, a woody fragrance inspired by the reddish timber. The King of Sumatra is tied to Pepper and Bergamot : pepper was the most highly prized spice till well into the Middle Ages due to its admirable hot aroma that helped fight bacteria and repel insects which might tamper with food. In Sumatra black pepper has become the stuff of legend with pirates and colonialists fighting over loads of the black gem in merchant ships. The composition is complimented with a classical Mediterranean citrusy tang of bergamot.
Pre-Colombian Aztek Kings are catered for by a spicy Vanilla Pear blend which derives its popularity from its purpoted aphrodisiac properties, accounting for its extensive use among the kings and their wives (along with cocoa). The composition is complimented with a tinge of fresh pear.

Some unidentified Princess of China goes for Jasmine: that one predictably did have me sniffing and resniffing and the association is a particularly dreamy one: since jasmine is such a potent love potion for the mind that awakens feelings of love and passion, she had ordered her gardens to be solely planted with jasmine so that her lover would never forget his vows. A wonderful choice for spring and summer!

Reverting to Europe, I really liked the aroma of Tobacco, associated with Tsar Peter the Great, who actually did favour the habit of smoking himself and encouraged it during his reign, despite the laws against it, since its introduction to Western Europe. The scent is deep with a hint of sweetness and a very subtle citrusy top. I bought this one on the spot, to layer with my leathery scents.
George the III, another European king is associated with Lime: the obscure reason is not tied to his particular preference for the fruit, but rather to his orders for sailors of the Royal Navy to consume lime juice along with their booze to help fight the most dangerous disease of sailors of the past: scurvy, a deficiency in vitamin C due to shortage of fresh produce in ships.
Orange quickly became the fruit of the aristocracy when it was brought back to Europe by Portuguese colonialists travelling to Southeast Asia, but there was no tester for me to get an idea how successful the rendition was.
Queen Isabella of Spain inspired the Cinnamon Orange shower gel and lotion, which marries the spicy taste of cinnamon to fresh orange blossom.
I really liked the Lemon Flower of the Sultans Nasrid of Granada: it reminded me of a warm summer walking in the city full of lemon trees and the cool evening breeze bringing the heavenly smell while passing by the Mauritanic Palace walls. This is my next buy, to layer with Fleurs de Citronnier by Serge Lutens!

The texture of Tobacco is more like liquid caramel and quite dark blackish brown (which is interesting!), somehow coming out in diaphanous big blobs out of the bottle. I don't know if this is characteristic of each and everyone of them though. Nevertheless, to their credit, they are all manufactured without mineral oil nor parabens.
The body butters and lotions come in 9 scents so far, with plans to include more. Some of them are shimmering lotions, such as Caspar Murrh and Chinese Princess Jasmine. While others are thicker, in a texture of body butter, such as Nefertiti Honey; or more runny like a body milk, such as George III Lime. All the products are enriched with Pomegranate, Blue Egyptian Lotus and Malachite (!) extracts.
The bottles are all enrobed in swirly pattenrs of contrasting colours with a different font for each one complimenting the historical trivia.
The prices are more than reasonable, making the line an everyday indulgence.


The official site is really well made with lots of wonderful trivia, a breakdown of the psychological types of everyday royalty (like the Scene Stealer, the Natural Performer or the City Nomad), cult personalities making a cameo appearence and everyday people asnwering questions about their personal kingdoms.

For our friends in the UK, some of them are available at Asos.com

You can email them with querries at: Atyourservice@forkingsandqueens.com

NEXT: a fun feature!! Check back shortly to see ;-)


Pics from Beautycom.gr

14 comments:

  1. I was surprised to find months ago that the line is also available here in the Netherlands. Cool, huh?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Uh huh! It's very cool. (and I wonder why they don't publicize where those things are available)

    Thanks for pointing it out to me: it might help people who read and want to go sniff for themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous15:18

    Oh I love love love the Korres line! Their vanilla and cinnamon shower gel and body milk pretty much got me through the worst of the winter. The cedar, nutmeg, fig and jasmine ones are lovely too and the Rose face cream. So I am delighted to learn (thanks E!) that these products are in effect by the same people. I have seen them in John Lewis and Liberty in London if anyone else out there is living in the same parts. The Tobacco one caught my nose too and now I will reinvestigate.

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  4. I wonder if these will ever make it to the US; they sound lovely. I am especially intrigued by the lemon blossom one (I love the scent of lemon blossoms).

    ReplyDelete
  5. N,
    I see you're already a Korres fan! I love their Cedar shower gel and body water. And yes, the Wild Rose cream smells wonderful.
    I am looking forward to your impressions: the Tobacco is nice and unusual for a shower gel, no? (there is another Greek brand which makes a Tobacco soap that is magnificent)

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  6. J,

    unfortunately I don't know that bit: I do hope they they do!
    Listen: if I do buy the Lemon Flower one (and something tells me I will eventually) I will send you some, all right? :-)

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  7. E, those sound so tempting! Surely they'll make their way here sooner or later. Maybe The Perfumed Court will get its hands on some. I'll definitely keep an eye out for them.

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  8. Sephora had the cinnamon vanilla at one time. I don't know if they carry any of the line any more.

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  9. Dear M,

    they're fun, to be sure! Since Sephora stocks the Korres line, perhaps they will this one as well(guessing here).

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Karin,

    I think the Cinnamon Vanilla is from the eponymous Korres line and not this newer one (in which I only see a Cinnamon Orange one). They have different packaging and concept.
    Of course every Sephora store has its own little differentiations in stock so I trust your feedback on whether they carry it or not.

    ReplyDelete
  11. As far as I know Sephora only carries some of the regular Korres line which includes the Vanilla Cinnamon fragrance. So far the only new stuff coming in the last couple of years has been the Quince stuff and Fig stuff (which is a gorgeous rendition of fig). Helg I would love a little Lemon Blossom lotion; thank you so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lily21:41

      Hi! I know this comment was literally made 12 years ago and you might not check back but I have been scouring the internet for any mention of the quince fragrance korres made and this is literally the only place/comment where I have seen any mention of it.

      Can I ask where you found or found out about the quince scented one?

      I used it once in a hotel around 10 years ago and have been on the hunt for it ever since.

      Delete
  12. Jen,

    thank you for the info.
    I see they're behind...There is a gorgeous Jasmine shower gel in the regular Korres line, which needs to be sampled (so I will send some of that one too!)
    And this winter they issued a trio of festive products in Amaretto, Brandy and Gloggwine, which smell delicious (but unfortunately don't have at hand)

    Please mail me with an address, honey!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous03:23

    I don't any any mention of the Kings & Queens mango? I bought a tube of the mango body butter today from the drugstore I work at, it's quite lovely.

    now i want to buy every type they have >.<

    ReplyDelete

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