Givenchy L'Interdit Eau de Parfum Rouge: fragrance review

 Glamour fragrances go hand in hand with the celebrities who endorsed them. No myth is stronger than the tie of Marylin Monroe with Chanel No 5 Parfum or Audrey Hepburn with L'Interdit by her preferred couturier Givenchy from the 1950s. Whereas No.5 has retained its core formula to the best of the brothers Wertheimers' ability, rendering the contemporary versions recognizably No.5, the same cannot be said for L'Interdit Eau de Parfum by Givenchy from 2018 and its subsequent editions - especially L'Interdit Eau de Parfum Rouge Givenchy (2021).

That does not mean at all that it is not worthwhile or that it does not reflect some semblance of a vintage advantage. Although vintage fragrances belonging to specific genres suffer from a sort of incompatibility with the modern tastes of the market nowadays, such as the aldehydic floral, the mossy chypre, or the spicy oriental, there are elements that can salvage a core idea into a timeless quality. Despite an embarrassment of riches in having three top perfumers vying to make it worthy (usually a sign of despair in my personal books), L'Interdit Eau de Parfum Rouge by Givenchy is excellent because it retains that precarious balance between a contemporary fragrance, yet with vintage elements, making it a recurring theme from the past extended into four dimensions, like it's traveling interstellar mode.

 
The classic combination of the amber-floral chord, a sweet hesperide, a white floral, and a woody base of sandalwood with ambery tonalities, is lifted through two or three specific jarring points, which provide the interlocutor suspense.
First, a cherry note that is oh-so-modern. Cherry scent molecules have trickled down to floor cleaners by now because the trajectory of the industry from top to bottom of the ladder has increased so rapidly, but two years back, it was still kind of novel and ground-breaking.

Secondly, there is a spicy component, but not just any spice. Beyond the dated cloves references (which recall the best days of Ernest Daltroff for Caron), there is ginger which, via its Asian reference, is very contemporary and sort of multi-culti too. Thirdly, there is a pimento leaf note, which adds to the green-spicy garlands but tends to withhold the headache-y allusions to the oriental spicy fragrances from the 1980s.

The end result is a contemporary fragrance with a very satisfying tie to the past. There is no direct reference in glossy publications and influencer videos on social media that Audrey Hepburn actually wore this version of L'Interdit Eau de Parfum Rouge like they often -still!- do with the revamped version from 2018 (L'Interdit Eau de Parfum Givenchy), but it is a fragrance that reflects glamour, elegance, plush and a true sense of chic.

Christian Dior Hypnotic Poison: fragrance review and musings

The original formula of Hypnotic Poison by Dior was presented in a red rubber bottle (much like the 1990s Bvlgari Black fragrance, there was something about rubber in 1998, it seems), and I was expecting something similar to Bvlgari's potion at the time. The fetishy matte of the bottle was a nice touch; it felt odd in the palm of one's hand, as if it wouldn't "roll" enough. The smell nevertheless is what initially frightened me. The bitter almond was too strong for me, too medicinal, the wrong side of medicinal actually. This was not the medicinal chypre perfume of my memories of Clinique Aromatics Elixir (perfume review HERE), which I adored even as a child. After all, I'm no shy violet when it comes to Strange Smells. It felt heavily vanillic with something suffocating too in the mix; later on I discovered the culprit was the combo with coconut.

credit: suzumechan at deviant.art.com via

Coconut is forever tied in my mind with those horrible dangling trees that cabs used to come with. Back then when I was a child and we used cabs for travelling across the country from time to time, smoking IN the car, and with a child IN the car no less, was not frowned upon. The drivers therefore used to pack the most powerful scents available in the dangling trees car freshener horror: either coconut or vanilla which are weapons of mass destruction in the heat of Greek summer. Needless to say the memory of nausea follows me to this day haunting coconut scents ever since.

On the other hand, Hypnotic Poison is intensely powdery, a quality associated with dryness and grooming (more on powdery fragrances HERE). It therefore evokes a sense of pampering and cleanness, highly appreciated in warmer climates. Hypnotic Poison is a huge commercial success in both France and Greece, for what it's worth. What made it a definitive best-seller in Europe, and especially the souther countries (Greece, Spain, France...) is the fact that in a completely novel way, it reweaves the basic idea of grooming: that things should be inedible. It sounds contradictory when the main component is actually a bitter almond note, recalling liqueurs like Amaretto, but the intense powder in Dior's Hypnotic Poison suggests grooming and not stuffing one's mouth with pastries made of marzipan paste. Maybe a very naughty talcum powder to powder one's latex skirt before venturing out night-clubbing? The thing is, it works. Exceptionally so.

Hypnotic Poison is a perfect fragrance for fall and winter. It's seductive, yet not easy to decipher. Men seem to love it. Perfume lovers wink at you knowingly when you mention it. It's full of character. It's also approachable because of the almond, vanilla and coconut. It's also too effing much sometimes!

Manos Gerakinis Immortelle: Treackly Burnt Sugar - fragrance review

The name Immortelle comes from the golden-hued plant of everlasting flowers (immortelle in French) or helichrysum. The scent of immortelle absolute in its raw state is difficult to describe, somewhat similar to sweet fenugreek and curcuma, spices used in Indian curry, with a maple-like facet. Quite logical, if you consider the fact that the substance contains alpha, beta and gamma curcumene. Manos Gerakinis, a niche Greek line that is aiming ambitiously and delivers in sillage and lasting power most admirably, tried to harness exactly this precious oil, the one from everlasting flowers.

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A cross between burnt sugar and dry straw is a rather valiant effort at conveying immortelle's nuanced profile, but the more the immortelle oil warms up on the skin, the more it reveals human-like, supple nuances of honeyed notes, waxy, intimate... It pairs well in chypres and oriental fragrances, where it is placed next to labdanum, clove, citruses, chamomille, lavender and rose essences.

In Manos Gerakinis's Immortelle niche offering, the immortelle accord takes on a sweet and deep aspect, with spicy accents, a dark gourmand. The cinnamon is pronounced, making me passingly think of a Middle Eastern dessert carré. The result is resinous without becoming heavy, nor suffocating, nevertheless. Benzoin, a resin with caramelic aspects, pairs with the rustic roughness of immortelle that recalls the Corsican maquis and Greek insular landscape.

There are some ways in which Immortelle reminds me of Goutal's classic Sables (probably the reference point for immortelle scents, for daring to be the first one seriously highlighting it) and of Serge Lutens's Jeux de Peau with its whiff of toasted bread and its subtly caramelized notes. People who love L de Lolita Lempicka and Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur might also find in Immortelle a trusty ally for their moments of daytime sensuous abandon.

The Manos Gerakinis brand has an official website by that name, where all the shopping options are mentioned clearly with international presence in the Middle East and Russia.

Best Dark, Smoky & Boozy Vanilla Perfumes (Vanilla Series)

Despite "dark vanilla" sounding like an oxymoron, if there ever was one, the collective fantasy of just this trope suggests the dedicated quest for a powerful aphrodisiac; dangerous like a femme fatale, but at the same time tried & true like one of the few fragrance notes that can be universally picked with no great difficulty. Maybe "dark" is meant in the sense of sinister, a little evil, a little perverse. I can see that.

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Vanilla scents by their very nature tend towards the oriental fragrance family, more specifically the gourmand fragrance sub-genre, but this category of smoky, boozy vanilla perfumes with off notes of malt, whiskey, rum and pipe tobacco are more than any other marking their territory in the Orientals like it's nobody's business. For that very reason, they're recommended to lovers of resinous, balsamic fragrances who can thus learn to appreciate the merits of vanilla. If you always eyed vanilla perfumes as the bimbos of the perfumery world and considered yourself a languorous odalisque instead, this is a useful exercise, if only to divest yourself of certain prejudices; any material is pliable enough in the hands of a skilled and imaginative artist.

Guerlain is probably a necessary stop in this adventurous road; even master perfumer Ernest Beaux (working for Chanel) complained that his vanillas turned into creme anglaise, while Guerlain's turned into...Shalimar. 

The perception of darkness or booziness in vanilla versus chaste "vanilla" probably starts at the kitchen. In the United States cooking vanilla is sold as a liquid form extract that is diluting the white crystals of vanillin in carrier alcohol and other fillers such as burnt sugar (which usually color the liquid a welcoming caramelic shade). Furthermore, the naming of a certain type of vanilla as "Bourbon Vanilla" (after the Bourbon royal family of France who held a claim on the Réunion island where this is produced) further complicates the mind into believing one is smelling...bourbon whiskey!

It's here important to differentiate with amber fragrances (parfums ambrés in French) which, although traditionally built on labdanum and vanillin (a trope of the late 19th century), form a separate category, characterized by a powdery, softly enveloping and animalic quality. Both tonka beans and benzoin resin both have naturally vanillic aspects which are therefore put to the fore in that context. This confusion between "ambers" and purer "vanillas" makes no great practical difference to the wearer (one's interpretation is subjective), but it's something that needs to be mentioned from a technical point of view.

Here are some of the darkest and more suggestive vanilla perfumes you can ever dream of getting your hands on. Feel free to experiment!

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Cacharel Gloria: especially the body oil is a gloriously deep, nuanced vanilla (Though discontinued it's a good alternative to the super expensive Spirituelle Double Vanille -see below- and therefore to be pounced on when you see it for sale)
Dior Hypnotic Poison: a bitter almond laced vanillic elixir which is quite powdery. Cult best-seller, a bit thinned in recent edition, more of a fully fledged oriental than a simple vanilla
Chanel Egoiste: marketed to men, snatched by discerning women who like creamy notes of vanilla in a complex blend
Givenchy Organza Indecence: a spin to the original floriental Organza, this vanillic counterpart is flashier and has a rum & cola rather than a kir royal when out at night.
Guerlain Jicky: clearly this lavender fougere it's not all about the vanilla, but especially vintage renditions full of meowing civet make the note gain a mischievous facet that reminds me of the two faces of Janus (Its contemporary spin is Gris Clair by Serge Lutens).
Guerlain Spirituelle Double Vanille: THE reference for boozy vanilla fragrances, it encompasses all the treacle aspects of the genuine vanilla pods. But it's not about darkness, it's about luminosity, about sparkle, about golden incandescence, even if most would unimaginatively call it ...."dark".
Guerlain Shalimar Ode a la Vanille: a more approachable path to the classic of classics, Guerlain Shalimar, with more of a vanilla focus (Shalimar Ode a la Vanille au route de Madagascar and Shalimar Ode a la Vanille au route de Mexique are simply limited annual editions of the same perfume). Shalimar Parfum Initial is also a credible way to get initiated in the cult, as is (with a more lemony touch), Shalimar Light/Eau de Shalimar. 

Of course if you're trying the above flankers of Shalimar, it would be a great injustice not to sample (in all its different concentrations and vintages) the ORIGINAL bronze-skinned deity that is the classic Shalimar. More of an amber oriental than a pure vanilla, however its vanilla component is twisted, romantic, mysteriously creamy and animalic smelling. Just so.

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Indult Tihota: an expensive vanilla that mentally conjures chestnut brown silk
L'Artisan Parfumeur Vanille Absolument (previously named Havana Vanille): a boozy and tobacco-laced vanilla that maintains a precarious equilibrium like a trapeze artist
La Maison de la Vanille Noire de Mexique: a more economical alternative to Tihota (see above), it highlights the geographical variety (as contrasted to Madagascar)
Martine Micallef Vanille: a not-for-young-girls vanilla blend, rich and nicely boozy, quite polished in the genre. In fact, and said in passing, Parfums M.Micallef have a whole line devoted to vanilla (M.Micallef Collection Vanille), so check their variations out.
Mona di Orio Les Nombres d'Or Vanille: spectacular, dark vanilla, dry and earthy with a bit of rum nuance, its spices in check, masterfully blended
Patricia de Nicolai Vanille Tonka: tonka beans have a natural vanillic facet, which is treated with a smoky note of frankincense given even citrusier facets by the addition of lime
Perlier Carribean Vanilla Coffee: coffee is a natural complement to vanilla, its roasted side keeping the sweetness in check
Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille: if you always sought a sweet, dense pipe tobacco scent but came to "close but no cigar" conclusions, this Tom Ford doesn't disappoint; just be careful with dosage, it's very sweet and potent, though curiously enough not overpowering
Yves Rocher Vanille Noire: like its name suggests, a darker vanilla, really well done on Rocher's part and among their upscale offerings

Do you like dark vanilla fragrances? Which are your favorites?

Perfumery Materials: Pyrazines, Burnt/Caramelised/Maple Notes

One of the new trends that's gaining momentum as we speak is the one focusing on slightly "burnt", caramelised, overcooked notes that are remininscent of toast, sticky brunt toffee or maple-laced warm milk; a darker shade of gourmand if you will! Suffice to take a look at Jeux de Peau by Serge Lutens (shades of fresh toast) or Sensuous Noir by Estée Lauder (a crème brulée almost taste under the patchouli), not forgetting Minuit Noir by Lolita Lempicka which follows the path where L de Lempicka left off. Gourmand fragrances (a subset of orientals focusing on foodie notes) aren't going anywhere; even genuine gourmet food companies are issuing their own fragrances, if Payard is anything to go by. But a more nuanced, more sophisticated approach is ushering in, hooking up even die-hard purists.

But which materials are responsible for these flavours, these seemingly off-notes that nevertheless entice our taste buds as much as our intelligence?

One category is pyrazines, organic compounds with a ring structure of at least two elements. Naturally occuring in a variety of foodstuff (such as green peppers but also peas; plus they're used to enhance the "roast" factor of coffee and cured meats and to enhance the flavour of potato salad). In fragrance terms Lutens and Chris Sheldrake manipulated the roasted aroma of pyrazines into a composition that enhances the comfort factor with creamy sandalwood: eh voilà, Jeux de Peau was born!


Other molecules that render indispensable gourmand notes are:

Maltol or 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4-pyrone...C₇H₈O_{3
.............................}
Although we have come to consider Ethylmaltol (see below) the standard "cotton candy" (candy floss) note of reference in perfumery, maltol is a naturally occuring chemical that can been found in chicory, cocoa, coffee, roasted malt, bread or even strawberry and which gives this spun caramelized effect we have come to associate with fair grounds.
Ethyl Maltol or 3-hydroxy-2-ethyl-4-pyrone...C₈H₁₀O_{3 ..............................}
Ethyl Maltol is the ethyl analog of Maltol, of course, but this time the molecule is synthesized in the lab and is not to be found in nature: hence the boosted effect; almost 500% more than simple maltol!
Smell Thierry Mugler's Angel, the trendsetter of ethylmaltol and patchouli orientals ~with a nod to childhood~ from 1992 and be prepared to be blown away by its potent spun sugar, cotton candy note!

Furaneol^(R) or 2,5-Dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)furanone ..C₆H₈O_{3
..........................}
This is a molecule which was taught to samba from the craddle: it naturally contributes largely into the chemical make-up of several tropical fruit (guava, lychee, pineapple) as well as other less exotic ones (strawberry, raspberry, tomato). The fact that it is used in roasted products as well (such as corn tacos, roasted almonds, popped pop-corn or roasted coffee) contributes to its perception as a "roasting" note. I hypothesize that it's at the heart of Dior's Miss Dior Chérie, a composition based on the tension between strawberry and freshly cooked pop-corn.

Cyclotene or 3-Methyl-2-cyclopenten-2-ol-l-one ..C₆H₈O_{2
..........................}
With Cyclotene we enter the maple section of notes: Although fenugreek solid extract is used to render a maple-suryp note (indeed it was the only extract source of caramel-maple notes till the discovery of these other ingredients), actual maple suryps are further aromatized with Cyclotene; thus creating the vivid association of the molecule's odour with our perception of how maple suryp smells like! Is it maple that smells of Cyclotene or Cyclotene that smells of maple? Naturally occuring in fenugreek seeds, it's also very common today in roasted sugary products such as coffee desserts, licorice sweets, desserts with roasted almonds and, apart from fenugreek seeds, it also occurs in cocoa and coffee.

Sotolon or 4,5-Dimethyl-3-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone..C₆H₈O_{3
..........................}
Sotolon is the key ingredient in roasted fenugreek seed and brown sugar, which is as yummy a combination as any, hence its reference as "caramel furanone" or "sugar lactone" as well as "fenugreek lactone". When it's really concentrated, it takes on curry-like tonalities while on lower concentrations it can stay within the "caramelised sugar on the pan" range of odour.
But Sotolon also possesses notes that match boozy tonalities, as it's occuring in sake, rice wine, and botrytized wine. Remember the niche fragrance Botrytis by Ginestet, meant to reproduce the "noble rot" of a fungus on the Sauternes grapes? It's got Sotolon in it, blending the pain d' épices, candied fruits and honey notes into one seamless blend.
Although Sotolon is thousands of times more powerful than Cyclotene, the modern flavours industry is using the even more powerful maple furanone (one of the most potent flavor chemicals known to man) , this time for the enhancement of the flavour of soy sauce. Thankfully, this ingredient hasn't bombasted commercial fragrances yet, but who knows what the future holds.


Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Immortelle/Helichrysum: golden sunshine of the Med , Perfumery's Raw Materials

Ref: Leffingwell Photo of maple syrup by Martin Eager

Thierry Mugler Angel: fragrance review of a modern classic & the most polarising scent

The French have an adorable phrase for girls who are a little naughty and like to pose like grown-ups: elle fait la coquine! Angel by Thierry Mugler is the olfactory equivalent of the most gorgeous “coquine”, weaving a web of the most appetising scent of them all: Chocolate, vanilla and caramel ~the three prime components of Mugler’s mischievous fragrance~ have been scientifically proven to treat depression and inject a sense of euphoric uplift.