Malle and Benaim Lecture at Harvard Graduate School of Design

Harvard Graduate School of Design organizes a lecture in their Fall Public Lecture Series featuring perfume editor Frédéric Malle and perfumer Carlos Benaïm.

EVENT
Frédéric Malle of Editions de Parfums with Perfumer Carlos Benaïm
Thursday, November 19 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm in Piper Auditorium, Gund Hall, Harvard Graduate School of Design

Frédéric Malle will speak about design, the creative process, the fragrances themselves, and their ingredients and history, joined in conversation by perfumer Carlos Benaïm.

Carlos Benaïm (left image) spent his childhood in Tangier, close to natural ingredients that gave him a taste for beauty. He later trained under legendary American perfumer Ernest Shiftan, where he instilled a boldness and bravado into his creations.

Frédéric Malle (right image) was born in Paris into a family deeply involved in perfume and the arts, including his grandfather, who worked closely with Dior to create Parfums Christian Dior; his mother, who was art director of the Dior house of fragrance; and his uncle, the film director Louis Malle. After studying art history at NYU, seeking to master every aspect of the perfume trade, Frédéric Malle worked at French ad agency Havas International and at fragrance lab Roure under master perfumer Jean Amic before establishing Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle in Paris in 2000, which soon expanded to department stores and stand-alone boutiques in New York, Rome, and London.

Rejecting the norms of mass produced fragrance, seeking a return to luxury and creativity, Malle has kept his company on a carefully controlled scale in order to empower the fragrance creators while offering the customer an exceptional experience. He has developed his fragrances through collaborations with well-known master perfumers of today, including Dominique Ropion, Jean-Claude Ellena, Maurice Roucel, Olivia Giacobetti, Pierre Bourdon, Edmond Roudnitska, and (son) Michel Roudnitska.

Malle regards fragrance creation as analogous to publishing a book, with the nose as the author, the name of the fragrance as the title, and himself as editor in chief. This metaphor inspired the sophisticated yet restrained brand identity of Editions de Parfums. His shop interiors—including the Greenwich Village store designed with architect Steven Holl—include Malle's own invention: the "smelling column" that first appeared in the boutique in Barney's New York, which allow a customer to experience the scent and appreciate its complexity in isolation from the surrounding air.

Supported by the Rouse Visiting Artist Fund.

For accessibility accommodations, please contact the events office in advance at events AT gsd.harvard.edu or call (617) 496-2414.

There is also a live stream link.

Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle Eau de Magnolia: new fragrance

Magnolia is shaping up to be a major, recurrent theme in niche releases lately and one of the first officially "niche" brands, the one who introduced the notion of "perfume authors", namely Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle is issuing their own version: Eau de Magnolia, as depicted below.
After all, we at Perfume Shrine had announced it as a rumour 4 years ago!! (yes, really!)

via Ccercle/twitter

The task has been undertaken by acclaimed perfumer Carlos Benaim who knows how to construct a floral of this waxy and yet also lemony fresh blossom, fluffy and substantial at the same time. The effect can be nothing short of radiant! Up till now, Benaim's skills had been utilized in the Editions de Parfums line for the Home scents (for which he composed Cafe Society, Rosa Rugosa, Rubrum Lily, Jurassic Flower and Saint de Saints), but now a major new release of fine fragrance is trusted upon his shoulders for Eau de Magnolia.

Eau de Magnolia by Editions de Parfums: soon at a Malle boutique or counter near you.

Perfumer Portrait: Carlos Benaim ~A Sephardi Jewish Perfumer in New York Speaks

“Smells are things you treasure for a lifetime,” [Carlos Benaim] says. “As a young boy I would often accompany my grandfather to the marketplace in Tangier, and I remember the smells of the spices and fruits, oranges, peaches, melons and apricots — they are engraved in my memory.”

The Moroccan-born, Jewish Benaïm thus reminiscences of his childhood in Tangier before the Six-Day-War of 1967 made him move to Paris, then to Amsterdam and to Buenos Aires before finally settling in New York where he's still working today for International Flavors & Fragrances. His latest foray into cult fragrance is A Lab on Fire's "Liquid Night".

His appreciation of fragrances coupled with his knowledge of chemistry helped him establish himself early as one of the world’s leading perfumers with the classic masculine "green" Polo by Ralph Lauren bring his first breakthrough and popular commercial successes following; Flowerbomb for Viktor & Rolf, Giorgio Armani’s Code for women, Helena Rubinstein Wanted, Bvlgari Jasmin Noir and Yves Saint Laurent’s Saharienne among many many more.

An article by Jeremy Josephs which appears in The Jewish Chronicle online stresses his heritage: "He never has forgotten his Sephardi roots or the plight of Moroccan Jews who made their way to Israel rather than Europe or the United States. “They didn’t have the same opportunities as we were given,” he says. “To put it bluntly, Sephardi Jews in Israel were discriminated against in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.” "Benaïm’s response is to have become first a donor, and now chairman of the ISEF Foundation, which attempts to combat social inequality in Israel by offering funding for higher education to gifted students from disadvantaged backgrounds. It has awarded over 18,000 scholarships since it was set up in 1977. “Israel’s greatest resource is the minds of its young. Our approach is a way of protecting Israel — by developing its brain power,” he says.

Carlos Benaim has also received the Leon Levy Leadership Award during the events honoring Moroccan Jewry and their heritage as seen at the American Sephardi Federation.

 photo of mr.Benaim thanks to A Lab on Fire found with links via Facebook

Bulgari Jasmin Noir: fragrance review

What does it say if a perfume writer ~who is supposed to stay atop trends and new things (or at the other end of the spectrum occupy herself with rhapsodising over classics and unearthing rare vintages)~ decides to write about a perfume by Italian jewellers, coming out as recently as 2008 and semi-forgotten amidst the plethora of new releases? Is it a testament to delayed reflexes, that upon revisiting Jasmin Noir by Bulgari (or Bvlgari if you want to keep the Roman spelling) several months after its launch, I found myself captivated mid-bottle by its rich, woody, full-bodied and curvaceous silhouette? At this point, I cannot deny the pull that a mainstream but really well-made fragrance can exert upon me.

After a handful of maudlin and wall-paperish "me too" scents by the brand in recent years, like Omnia Green Jade, Voile de Jasmin or Bulgari Aqua, I didn't really expect waves; yet I was pleasantly surprised to find myself curiously attached to my classic bottle which reprises the elegant, frosty glass lines of Bulgari Pour Femme, only this time in lacquered black. Perfumers Carlos Benaim and Sophie Labbée at IFF nailed it this time around: The composition smells rich and classy, with a succulent hint, but not too floral and rather subdued, fulfilling the criteria of modern consumers in the 25-40 group to which they originally catered for. A concept well visualised in the commercials featuring Kate Moss with serious bling on her neck. But the fragrance stands on its own two feet, away from any industry brief or statistical focus group aspirations.

If Jasmin Noir isn't more sung by the perfume trobadours, it has to do with a certain incongruity between name (and therefore promise) and delivery: This is a floral woody rather than the reverse, with segments taken from both Sensuous by Lauder and Tom Ford's Black Orchid, while the emphasis is neither on jasmine nor on any sinister noir proclivities. Bulgari themselves say: "Jasmin Noir is a flower of the imagination. It is white, immaculate, and conveyes pure mystery, revealing intriguing sensuality at nightfall". And I would have to agree with the imaginative part as well as the sensuous promise, if not the white descriptions which leads one to expect a white floral.
Bulgari's Jasmin Noir starts on the sparkling green note of budding gardenia (full of the piquant, fresh note of styralyl acetate) opening into a vague ~not very identifiable~ fresh jasmine vine accord which soon exits the scene. Floral haters shouldn't be frightened, nor should indole-phobics pause: this is the equivalent of a thriller by Roman Polanski; blink and you miss the scary parts, it's so subtle. Nutty and lactonic (milky) accents and the dominant, permeating, pleasant scent of licorice then appear, muting the floralcy and embracing the whole in a different sort of sensuality than that of white flowers; cozy, youthful sexy, very modern with a good dose of aromachemical Ambroxan, but not insipid. This stage lasts at sotto voce (we're talking quite discreet sillage here) almost for the duration of the fragrance's presence on skin, taking a subdued ambery-vanillic haze, flou and sustained for a long, long time. The perfect "I miss your scent on the sheets" kinda of fragrance...

People who like Tom Ford Black Orchid Voile de Fleur for its emphatically feminine floral notes (tuberose) and also like the woody backdrop of the original Black Orchid but are seeking to branch out a bit, are advised to try Jasmin Noir by Bulgari. Lovers of Guerlain's 90s classic Samsara who want something more subdued and youthful might find in Jasmin Noir a helpful ally. Men who are not averse to a little sweetness (and anise) with their cologne and like the idea of Lolita au Masculin might steal a spritz or two as well.

Bulgari Jasmin Noir notes:
Top: green sap, gardenia petals
Heart: jasmine sambac absolute, satiny almond
Base: precious wood, licorice, tonka bean absolute.

Jasmin Noir is available in Eau de Parfum concentration from major department stores and from bulgari.com.



Pic of sexy Greek actress Zoe Laskari via movie-musical-world

Helena Rubinstein Wanted: fragrance review

Helena Rubinstein proposed that Wanted "unveils the ineffable and mysterious link that binds a woman to her love, a woman to her desires, a woman to her fragrance". Supposedly the name derives from the advertising phrase "All you've ever wanted" (Yeah, like another PhD, a second summer house, this one on Santorini so I don't end up paying exorbitant prices when there, and my offspring to behave at all times...fat chance I'll get! Anyway...)

The daring muse for Rubinstein's first foray in fragrance in 25 years (last one was the rococo typical of its era Barynia in 1985) is none other than Demi Moore, who I suppose is more daring for her choice of a much younger soulmate than anything else (no offence meant, just pondering on the "dare" factor these days). When all is said and done, more power to her and I have to note I always liked that, despite whatever procedure she has had done, she never plumped up her lips the way so many Hollywood stars do ending up like trouts. In the advertising commercial she showcases her best assets (come-hither eyes, great shape) and does a sexy speak-over with her husky, suggestive voice dressed in a Donna Karan look-alike dress (which if my memory serves me well had been her hit a decade ago).

On the other hand Wanted is daring to the degree that a chicken and asparagus casserole can be described as such: surely a nice combination of flavours, but not unheard of and the only folks who won't touch it with a six-feet pole are small children (and even then...). Likewise Wanted recalls to mind shades of Dolce & Gabanna's The One, in a lighter, more citrusy incarnation, and woodier rather than fruity-orientalised; stepping from the sauna with a lovely peignoir on the colour of cream, all pores cleansed and exctracted (the lily of the valley touches of "scrubbed clean" along with what I deduce are white musks at the base).
Magnolia grandiflora is shaping to be the newest iris (i.e. a huge trend) and after a dearth of florals in favour of gourmands, it seems they're getting back with a vengeance, possibly as a result of the mega hit of J'Adore by Dior which also features magnolia. In Wanted it's a fantasiacal accord of woody and creamy-floral facets (a special LMR extraction of ylang ylang) with a radiant dose of sugar spun crystals sprinkled on and an acqueous feel, which was inspired by a stay at Portofino of all places. It's certainly sweeter than Magnolia Nobile by Aqua di Parma. Perfumers Dominique Ropion and Carlos Benaim of IFF figured women who turned to their favourite cosmetics brand would expect a comforting, polished and rather delicate composition, like pampered face cream (similar approach in Eau de Fleur de Magnolia by Kenzo), that wouldn't have any hard edges, nor operatic throw-cushions the way white flowers are by their very nature rendered (and doesn't Ropion have tremendous experience with those!). Therefore fans of apocalyptical awe-inspiring florals will be disappointed, consumers with an eye on wearability will make it popular.

The bottle, designed by internationally renowned French jewels and furniture designer Hervé van der Straeten is elegant and striking in a industrial-sleekness-meets-1er arrondissement-sophistication , although the material doesn't look as luxurious up close and personal. (Or maybe I'm just extremely picky)




Notes for Helena Rubinstein Wanted: magnolia, ylang ylang and iris over cedar

Helena Rubinstein Wanted is available as Eau de Parfum 1.7 fl. oz. for $60/50ml for €70, Eau de Parfum 3.4 fl. oz. for $80/ 100ml for €100 and Body Lotion 6.6 fl. oz., $45; exclusively at Macy's from November 5th and at major department stores in Europe.

Pic of Demi Moore via cosmetic candy, Wanted bottle pic via bwconfidential.com