Bronze Goddess vs. Azuree Soleil

Summer is officially here and thoughts almost atavistically veer towards the beach: the expanse of white sand resembling minuscule crystals of sugar, whiffs of fresh ocean spray brought by the gentle, cool breeze and bodies sprawled on straw mats anointing themselves with the most exquisite fragrant potions: things that have a primitive call in them perhaps. If this is the ideal utopia you have been dreaming of, there is a fragrance to accompany it well enough and it is easily had at your local department store for a change.

It's Bronze Goddess, the Estée Lauder scent that substituted the much loved limited edition Azurée Soleil ~the latter art-directed by Tom Ford and then discontinued because the contract with Tom Ford had expired. In true business savvy mode Lauder didn't let an uber-successful formula languish, but giving it a new dress in the form of bronze packaging, a new name in the manner worthy of a mythological genesis and an imperceptible twist in the list of notes, salvaged it for the legions of fans who demanded more, more, more! And a makeup line followed, predictably.

Regular readers of Perfume Shrine might be raising an eyebrow by now, wondering what possessed me to review a scent that is not the typical fare for us and so late after it officially launched too. But I came across a tester at Sephora and I cannot deny that unlike other scents which evoke the atmosphere of the beach in sugared tones of tropical fruits such as mango and coconut or going the ubiquitous way of armfuls -strike that out: read chokefuls- of tiare (tahitian gardenia), Bronze Goddess is quite subtle, dries down soft and inviting and never veers into the too sweet; a major accomplishment in view of it containing the usual suspects.

But notes rarely say the whole story: Bronze Goddess really is a good skin-scent, what perfumephiles call a fragrance that evokes the smell of skin, not perfume. Truthfully, I do wish actual sunscreens came in such delightful fragrances, much like the legendary classic Chaldée by Jean Patou with its candied orange blossom note, which was initially conceived as a tanning oil and aromatized sun products for a whole generation of people in the 1930s.

The question is how Bronze Goddess and Azurée Soleil compare: if having one already justifies getting both or if one has dearly loved but can't replenish the older one, should they get the new one instead. The answer is they are so remarkably close that only if one is persnickety and extremely tuned into the slightest of differences should they worry about this matter. Azurée Soleil is a little sparser, simpler, highlighting a "clean" vetiver accord over white flowers that stays poised for a long time. Bronze Goddess goes through the motions with a slightly more refreshing citrusy start that fans out into soft woody notes before kissing skin with a floral, milky touch of tropical gardenia, a bit of coconut and white flowers ending on a whiff of caramel redolent of tonka beans and skin baked in the sun. Both have a slightly spicy tone like nutmeg that is not referenced in the notes, yet contributes to the warm body and sun dunes evocation.

Of course the definitive beach scent is an elusive thing and the most unique fragrance I have smelled which manages to catch almost every aspect of the experience is an indie, natural perfume called Fairchild, but it's not what most people would easily find. Still, if you do have the chance it's highly sample-worthy. Two more which capture the beach well are Aqua Motu by Comptoir Sud Pacifique and Rem by Reminiscence. For a similar "skin baked by the sun" accord, I highly recommend L by Lolita Lempicka, already reviewed here, as well as Aquasun by Lancaster which will be featured on Perfume Shrine shortly.

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess is available at department stores in 100 ml Eau Fraiche Skinscent, 100 ml Body Oil and 200 ml Luminous/Shimmer Body Lotion and the official Lauder site says it's a Limited Edition. Azurée Soleil is found easily via Ebay.

Notes for Bronze Goddess: Sicilian bergamot,mandarin, lemon, tiare milk, orange flower buds, jasmine, creamy magnolia petals, lavender, myrrh, amber, sandalwood, vetiver, caramel and coconut cream.
Notes for Azurée Soleil: tiare (tahitian gardenia), orange blossom, jasmine, magnolia petals, myrrh, bergamot, mandarin, amber, sandalwood, vetiver, caramel and coconut cream.

*{For reasons of clarity, please note that I am NOT refering to the old, classic Lauder fragrance named Azurée (1969) which is a leathery chypre}.
Pic of Bronze Goddess courtesy of Lauder, of Azuree Soleil of Ebay, of Halle Berry of Yahoo movies.

Acqua Missoni: fragrance review

There is a time for everything and the time for “aquatic” fragrances, or at least fragrances with a moniker that plays upon this concept at least in name, are the dog days of summer. If you’re stuck in the heat in the city with your mind reeling crazily in thoughts of the Cote d’Azur or the Montacatini spa, then it’s bound to have happened to you, even if you are a devoted lover of orientalia. You crave something watery, droplets of icy cool liquid drenching your skin and olfactory nerve with the promise of the dewy solace of a fine mist of Evian spray on a sun-baked bodylicious beach experience.
Do perfumes aimed at capturing that aspect really deliver? Sadly usually they don’t.
Acqua by Missoni, the latest product from the Italian maglia brand, although pleasant and an improvement over their rather weird Missoni in the same style bottle, different colour from last year, is a case in point.
One might argue that it doesn’t set out to wow us into believing that a transatlantic flight of fancy to the eternal azure of the Aegean is hidden into the inviting turquoise of the fancy “boule” bottles since it self proclaims its fruity floral lineage of shame; yet it fails to be really interesting and to be perfectly honest with you, after about a thousand scents roughly in that category, one would have to possess Houdini powers to hide the uniform air those scents have. They are so close to each other in their odour profile, one has to really lean closer and pay lots of attention to discern nuances. Is this what you want your perfume to say of you? I didn’t think so.

And yet Missoni Acqua is not that bad. According to the press release it encompasses three stages:

‘Radiant Greens’ mixes bergamot, melon, grapefruit and narcisse. ‘Sparkling Blues’ blends violet, peony, blue freesia and crisp muguet. ‘Crystal Turquoise’ melts Tuscan iris, jasmine and solar notes.

More specifically

“Sexy, fresh, exuberant, Missoni acqua is like an energizing dive into the “mare azzurro”, the Mediterranean Sea. The scent evokes the joys of a sun-soaked holiday with friends and loved ones. The ad campaign, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggot, was photographed at the family’s home in Sardinia. The image captures Margherita Maccapani Missoni, the eldest daughter of Angela Missoni, emerging from crystal blue waters with the warmth of the sun.”

(Quote from Osmoz)

The bottle replicates the lovely hue of the Mediterranean sea with a gold metallic cap adorned with a coral-coloured cabochon and it's really better in person than in the pictures.

The composition is typical of what might be considered the equivalent of hanging a reproduction of Chagall on your living room wall, instead of seeing it in a museum. The familiarity of the ersatz makes you believe this is the true nature of things. Therefore, I am convinced that it contains abstract materials of complex molecular structure that have nothing to do with living flowers (living flower technology is scientific-enrobed cheating if you ask me) or the ocean and the beach (as it doesn’t smell of either particularly) and quite a bit to do with the drydown of that perennial modern classic Angel by Mugler. Or rather his new acquatic patchouli named Eau de Star, which brings us back to my initial impression: plesasant, but like any gynaecologist might divulge ~ seen one, you’ve seen them all.


The range comes in Eau de Toilette 3.4oz/100ml, 1.7 oz/50mland 1 oz/30ml ; Parfum Rollerball 0.2 oz ; Body Lotion 6.7 oz/200ml ; Shower Gel 6.7 oz/200ml.
Available at major department stores.

Pic of bottles from Parfumflacons, pic of Greek sea sent to me by mail unaccredited