Has the Cash Cow Run Out?

" [...] since peaking around 2011, the business has "seen its heyday and now is not very much in vogue with the consumer or with the trade," according to Bart Becht, chairman/CEO of Coty, the company that churns out fragrances for Lopez, Beyoncé and Katy Perry (who released Mad Love on June 21, a follow-up to 2015’s Mad Potion). Though year-over-year sales for individual fragrances are not released to the public, Coty’s net fragrance sales declined by 9 percent on a reported basis in the most recent holiday quarter, driven by slowing sales of its celeb scents. At Elizabeth Arden, the dip amounted to 9.6 percent."

This is but a small excerpt from a longer article appearing in The Hollywood Reporter about the (apparent) waning of celebrity fragrances' appeal in the market. Since I have been erroneous once before concerning a similar discussion on their impending ebb, I will withhold judgment till I actually see this with my very own eyes.

 Still I found two comments from professionals in the industry to be most relative to the discussion: '"When the market is saturated, people’s attention span is limited," says Marian Bendeth, founder of fragrance consultancy Sixth Sense. "If that name is regurgitated in the media, it sets up demand. If they take a break, God help you." It also doesn’t help if the star lacks a style following. "The biggest driving force in what makes a consumer purchase a celebrity item is whether the star is a fashion influencer," says Marc Beckman, CEO of advertising and representation agency DMA United.'

"Perfume does not have a function. It's more than a function. It's not necessary. It's not particularly useful."

Thus presents the aphorism perfumer Jean Claude Ellena. And Christine Nagel, co-head perfumer at Hermes perfume development, quips: "It's impossible to wear a perfume that you don't like. If you took more time to smell people rather than looking at them you would understand them better. If you took the time to do that."

A very interesting interview of both Jean Claude Ellena and Christine Nagel is uploaded on the NY Mag on this link by Kathleen Hou. They explain how we can't be with people whose smell we don't like, whether Hermes soap is superior to all the other soap around, how marketing and perfumery work in weaving fragrant stories and how the two perfumers have almost fallen in love...with each other's work that is. Read on for interesting insights.

Immersive Journey into the Outer Reaches of Scent: Fragrance Lab at Selfridges

On the ground floor of Selfridges, participants enter a futuristic laboratory-like space peopled by scientific-looking assistants in white lab coats. Guests are given an iPad and asked to take a personality test that consists of multiple-choice questions and pictures.

via psfk.com

After filling that out, visitors don a pair of white headphones and make their way through an audio-guided tour of spaces filled with various objects and scents. They might, for example, open a mystery drawer, selecting an object that speaks to them in some way and identifying the smells that rouse them most.

These choices help determine their personal fragrance, concocted by perfumer Givaudan and presented to them at the end of the tour in a private, silver-colored room. Along with the bottle, they get an "about you" description

Read the whole article following this link and learn more on this link.

Have Hollywood Celebs Taken Over the Perfume Industry?

via atrl.net/forums

Thus questions Sarah Reiney in an interesting (if not totally accurate in its finer points*) article in the Telegraph. "Forget bottling Hollywood glamour; this is capitalism in a bottle". So true, Sarah! She goes on to highlight why there is a change in the scenery with more "haute" launches or endorsements by more A-listers than previously. Plus a darling quote by Vanessa Musson. Good going!

If you want to check out some celebrity fragrances history (so as to realize that the phenomenon isn't that recent), please refer to my article linked.

*Fact checking: Fracas wasn't inspired by "Gilda" but by Edwige Feuillère, to whom the (dykey) perfumer Germaine Cellier dedicated it as a love plea. L'interdit was reserved for Audrey's use for only one year (plus her prime favorite was reportedly Le De by Givenchy, also created for and inspired by her.) And last but not least, and we're splitting hairs here, the first "celebrity" perfume has to be the Guerlain Eau de Cologne Impériale for empress Eugenie, the fashion plate of her times.

Sophisticated, Fresh or Dirty? Three Fragrance Genres

"
It isn’t just the likes of Byredo, L’Artisan or Serge Lutens that are experimenting with perfumes packed with dark mystery, even Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent are jumping onto the oud bandwagon with their recent launches. The arguments being offered for this trend are that fragrance has always been divided into two camps: French (floral, girly, sophisticated, subtle) or American (fresh, upfront, clean). But there is a third camp: sexy, dirty, animalistic, darker… And the niche perfume houses have catered to this third camp." [source]

via http://theblacknarcissus.files.wordpress.com

One might even argue that these divides are not so neatly divided as that! In fact the author of the quote, Vir Sanghvi, goes on to mention "dirty" French scents and one he's drawn to himself, Piguet Bandit, which he finds "dirty" even though he notes the French don't ~for what it's worth I don't particularly either. What's more I don't find American fragrances to always be "upfront & clean" either (cue in Youth Dew, Aromatics Elixir etc. )

Additionally, "fresh" seems to have gone through an historical trajectory. I was contemplating this while replying to one of my readers regarding the popularity of fruity notes in fragrances the other day, thinking that as consumers we have removed ourselves from the notion of "fresh" of yore. Back then, in the middle section of the 20th century "fresh" meant soapy scents (full of aldehydes, rose-jasmine and musks) or grooming rituals (the shaving foam impression of a good masculine fougere, the face and body powder dry aura of a mossy fragrance or one rich in aldehydes and musks). Nowadays we have been conditioned to believe that fresh is equivalent to the scent of the products we use in our showers; most shampoos have a fruity aroma (usually peach, berry combinations, grapefruit and green apples). So do shower gels, cleansing products and other paraphernalia of cleaning rituals, be it for body or home use. So "fresh" as a concept has significantly shifted.


 Still, it's fun to contemplate, do these divides help make a distinction between different sensibilities? Are they regionally/culturally founded? Do you find yourself mostly in one camp as opposed to another and why/why not?

Fragrance in the Workplace: New Developments

"New ADA regulations make it easier for employees to file disability claims for allergies and other scent-related conditions. While there are not many cases, some case law already exists that is shaping how employers must react to remain compliant. In a recent BLR webinar, Marc Jacuzzi outlined for us some of the cases that have shaped how employers should react when an employee has fragrance sensitivity."

via planetthrive.com

Thus begins an article on fragrance sensitivity now falling under disabilities guidelines. Read it here.

"Always looking to her Middle Eastern home for inspiration"

"With winter coming, her perfumes offer an exotic pick-me-up, she says. The definitive lack of scents in chilly Canada pushes Moriel to keep surrounding herself with rich aromas formed in her early memories. She says that the warm, humid climate in Israel contains more fragrances than colder countries, and besides coming to see her growing family in Israel every year she is drawn to the odors. “I am sensitive to the smells in Vancouver now and can pick up the cherry and linden blossoms. But it’s really the Middle Eastern heat that brings out the best in plants and flowers,” she says. “And in the spring … there are orange blossoms in full bloom. I try to time my trips back to Israel around this time.”

From an interview of Ayala Moriel conducted by Karin Kloosterman on Israeli21c.org. You can find the link here.

We Live in a Miasma of Scent

Two more articles belonging to the polemic on scent. Actually inferring a good point all the same, that having everything scented around us is contributing to a major sensory overload that means increased exposure to potential irritants and allergens. Too bad they're throwing the baby out with the bathwater too!
Plus there goes again the common misconception: allergy is actually an auto-immune response and a medical fact, oversensitivity to stimuli/sensory overload/sensitivity to scents is something different (though totally real, mind you).

via www.nyspender.com

Read the first article in the Daily Mail here and the second one (very misleadingly illustrated, if I might add) on the Huffington Post on this link. 

Related reading (with interesting comments from readers on the subject) on Perfume Shrine: Allergies & Perfume. 

"Mascara frames the eyes but perfume will always leave a long lasting impression"

Thus says Jill Hill, MD of Aspects Beauty Company in Harvey Nichols.Little wonder that in times of economic uncertainty, women won't compromise on this one beauty treat. "People trade to smaller sizes, look for promotions or retreat to safe classics," affirms Jill. "In Harvey Nichols Dublin the DSquared2 fragrances are very popular due to their fresh, woody elements and Trussardi's signature scents Uomo and Donna are selling well." Of course perfume tastes evolve and as women gain self-confidence they tend to go for what they want in a more assured way. Which can get reactions from those not sharing her tastes...

 According to Tanya Sweeney, author of the article in the Herald.ie (with the rather confusing sub-header) from which the quotes come from, "women aren't the only ones to either love or loathe the way you smell. In fact, one male friend has even used the word 'dealbreaker' while referring to the fragrance choice of a potential girlfriend. The Smell & Taste Treatment & Research Foundation in Chicago has researched men's reactions to perfume ... and the results are startling. Natural, 'clean' fragrances like Christian Dior's J'Adore * were a favourite; woody fragrances were also popular, while florals (like roses) didn't rate too highly.[...] Notes Jill: "In a woman, men prefer floral orientals, femininity and allure."

And the author continues: "Vanilla notes in perfume are particularly attractive to men as it subconsciously reminds men of breast milk. [ed.note: And you thought men have progressed beyond the Freudian!]  "This is well known," says Jill. Vanilla is a sweet scent which occurs naturally. It is such a comforting smell that Johnson's Baby Powder has it, which of course has a childhood nostalgia for many people."
Likewise, citrusy perfumes may be too young and overpowering for many men. "The fact that there are very few successful overtly citrus fragrances perhaps tells a story," suggests Jill. "Fruity or gourmand fragrances seem to appeal to women, rather than to men. Some authors ascribe this to the fact that in ancient times women were the gatherers and the smell of berries and fruit was associated with their tribal function, rather than their personal function as mates." [there you go, there's an anthropological explanation for everything!]

*whether you find J'Adore "clean" or "natural" is purely subjective; I find it neither particularly.

It all makes for interesting discussion, eh? What do YOU think? 


Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Perfumes that Attract Men and Smells which Turn Women On

Interview with Trudi Loren and Tarek Atrissi for Aramis Calligraphy

"I think there are very few fragrances that are still on the market after 50 years that are classics. The Aramis brand itself is still in the top 20 in many countries around the world and in fact is number one in several. A classic fragrance is one which has sophistication, a signature and is identifiable with quality raw materials." Thus proclaims (quite rightly) Trudi Loren, vice-president of corporate fragrance development worldwide for Aramis, who says Calligraphy by Aramis contains rose and jasmine absolutes alongside a lot of natural notes; petrulli, cardamom and myrrh.

Estée Lauder launches Calligraphy with a special proviso: created specifically for the Arab region and designed for women and men, its aim is to commemorate the founding of its iconic fragrance house Aramis almost 50 years ago.

 The graphically heavy bottle is the artwork of graphic designer Tarek Atrissi, who says "Calligraphy in Latin is one word but in Arabic it's two, and that became the whole concept to play with; mixing the two words and mixing the contrasts of the project. For example, because as it's a genderless scent the design had to appeal to men and women so the two words are very contrasting in style. One is more geometric script and the other is more organic, traditional, artistic script. Also mixed in there is the idea of tradition meeting the contemporary."

 Quotes and whole interview on The National.

The Smell of Clean Comes from What? What your Floor Cleaner isn't Telling

"Estée Lauder Cos.' fragrance Calyx has influenced many complex cleaning scents, as has Dior's J'adore, she says. Ralph Lauren's Polo Blue is another big force. "You get this marine smell of fresh air, with a touch of lavender and woodiness," Ms. Betz says. "Those notes are very desirable in cleaners."[...] "Naming cleaning-product fragrances can be as nuanced as concocting them. Consumers tend to love hints of banana in their cleaning products. "But if you put it on the label, it doesn't work," says Steve Nicoll, an IFF senior perfumer. "Papaya is the same way. It's so unexpected that they can't accept it, yet the smell they like." Lavender works in reverse: "People like the idea of lavender but don't tend to like the real thing," says Ms. Betz. Most of the lavender-scented products are actually lavender "fantasies," an industry term for a hint of a scent that is combined with others. Lavender is usually combined with fruit, floral, woody or vanilla notes, she says."

Just two of the most interesting (amidst an article with lots of interesting info appearing in the Wall Street Journal by Ellen Byron) on how functional perfumery -i.e. fragrance created to aromatize functional products, such as laundry detergent, cleaning fluid, window pane sprays etc.- really works.
The preponderance for "fresh" and "clean" takes on many guises apparently, with not only labels just hinting of the truth inside, but also the sector being inspired by such -unlikely at first glance- things such as fashion trends, colors du jour, even food! (Behold the evidence of cookie-scented detergent on the left!)

A serious point is made on how the "trickling down effect", that is to say the trajectory effect from fine fragrance (i.e.perfumes) into functional perfumery is increasingly shortening, making the transition quicker and quicker all the while. So when your favorite fragrance starts smelling pedestrian, or you find yourself pining after a specific cleaning product like a homing pigeon, you know why. After all, niche perfume brand Tocca was there before!

There's also ample proof in the info by the industry professionals cited in the WSJ article that it all relies, much like with fine fragrance, on fantasy...As if we ever doubted it.

BTW: Another interesting article by the same author tackles the issue of overuse of detergent by American housewives. 

 pics via purex.com and globalgiants.com

The Cat Factor: Toxoplasma Infection Changing our Smell Perception

How does brain chemistry affect our sense of smell? Does your fluffy pussycat have anything to do with it? And what about infections by parasites making our sense of smell and our overall behavior different? 

"In a recent study, Czech scientists gave men and women towels scented with the urine of various animals—horses, lions, hyenas, cats, dogs—which they rated for “pleasantness.” Turns out, men who tested positive for Toxo [i.e.Toxoplasma gondii parasite] found the smell of cat urine more pleasant than men without Toxo[...] French chemists discovered something unexpected in a 1995 sauvignon blanc from Bordeaux: 3-mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol, a grape breakdown product that doubles as a fragrant pheromone in cat pee.[...]
Maybe, like with the rats, Toxo is changing something about the way the brain processes cat smells, making the men with Toxo find it more pleasant. Could it be that Toxo is the perfumer par excellance [sic], with privileged access to the very seat of smell itself? Is it a coincidence that “le monstre” of the perfume industry [i.e. Chanel No.5] and the Bordeaux sauvignon blanc both come from France, a country with one of the highest rates of Toxo in the world? "

Thus theorizes a most interesting article on Slate.com writen by Patrick House. One can take issue with the fact that "musk" is used indiscriminately throughout the article for all animalic scents as per perfumery jargon, though we know different; that civet doesn't smell of cat urine per se (rather blackcurrant buds absolute does, as highlighted in our own article the other day); and that Chanel No.5 is really musky but not cat-urinous like, even if "catty" in its attitude. Still, it makes a most interesting case for the way brain chemistry and circuiting is playing a major role in our perception of smells and our reaction to them through minute details we don't take into account day in day out! 

There is also linking to other interesting previously published articles, stating that about 40% of the general population carries the parasite (once you have it, usually asymptomatically, you develop antibodies to it and carry it on for life) and I quote from one of them:

"Infected men [with Toxoplasma gondii] have lower IQs, achieve a lower level of education and have shorter attention spans. They are also more likely to break rules and take risks, be more independent, more anti-social, suspicious, jealous and morose, and are deemed less attractive to women."

"On the other hand, infected women tend to bemore outgoing, friendly, more promiscuous, and are considered more attractive to men compared with non-infected controls.

"In short, it can make men behave like alley cats and women behave like sex kittens".

"Another study showed people who were infected but not showing symptoms were 2.7 times more likely than uninfected people to be involved in a car accident as a driver or pedestrian, while other research has linked the parasite to higher incidences of schizophrenia." [from same source]

Interesting, don't you think? 

Now, I happen to know I have been infected with this particular parasite in the past (probably from eating rare meat, a habit that French people also take to with a vengeance making them one of the people with the highest rates of Toxo in the world) and I can attest these things:
I have always liked cats, though never owning one, and always found their urine sharply ammoniac and very intense (i.e. not exactly pleasant). I have not  developed a more outgoing nature compared to previously. Nor have I noticed a sharper interest in male attention that is irresponsive to other accouterments of my appearance. Can't say I have ever being involved in a car accident, which is rather miraculous for living where I live (where car accidents are frequent and driving is aggressive) and my risk-taking is just about level to what it used to be. 
I may have become a little bit more aloof though, being crankier compared to my puppy fat years, i.e. cattier. 

What do you think? 

pic via wired.com

Why Are Celebrity Perfumes Still Popular?

Back a while ago I really thought the trend for celebrity scents (i.e.scents coat-tailing on the success of a celebrity brand name to which they're designed as an accessory) was dying. Boy, was I wrong! There are more celebrity scents coming out each season and it stands to reason people must be actually buying all this stuff for the companies to keep churning out more and more. (The latest, Nicole, comes from Nicole Richie who credits her mother's layering of a hundred scented products as its inspiration, which is scary sounding enough). But WHY are they?

"Like their wearers, these fragrances are not sophisticated, nor are they complicated. In fact they are scented with the same formulae used in shampoos and deodorant body sprays, according to perfume evaluator Erica Moore of Michael Edwards Fragrances of the World. ''They're immensely popular and very successful,'' she says. ''They're affordable. They've brought fine fragrance to a market that is not sophisticated.'' Moore says young women find their fragrance style by experimenting with these types of perfumes. But they also want a bargain.

 ''Parallel market'' fragrances are flourishing, according to beauty market analyst Jo-Anne Mason. ''It's dumped stock and coming in really cheap,'' she says. ''It's a grey market. It is legal. They're buying it out of Dubai. It could have been sitting there in a hot, unairconditioned warehouse for a year. (Cosumers) don't know; they don't think about it - they just look at the price.''

 Quotes from a longer article on the Sydney Morning Herald

And on to YOU to discuss in the comments:
 Do you find that you had been attracted by these scents when you were younger and have moved on? Do you find that there are exceptions to every rule and you have found a celebrity scent to claim your own? Does associating a perfume composition which sounds intriguing with a celebrity name crush your hopes for interesting juice? Or not?

 Hearing you out in the comment section!

Everything's Coming Up Roses: How the Rose is Making a Comeback

"In recent years, the flower came to seem outdated to some in the cosmetics industry. “It was because of tea roses,” said Ben Krigler, creator at Krigler perfumes in New York, which was founded by his great-great-grandfather in 1904. “They were popular in the ’50s and ’60s, but they’re really a hybrid. That’s where you get that musty, powdery smell. We call it the ‘granny smell’ in the shop.”

 Indeed the rose has been through a lot. I have had my own share of troubles with rose and then I came around. Now rose is making a come-back and there are quite a few perfumes and beauty products featuring it. (I can vouch personally for the delicious scent of Korres Wild Rose face cream which is aromatized with rosa moschata or "musky rose")

 Read the article in the New York Times for more.

 

Top Favorite Smells for Britons

Smell associations admittedly have to do with environmental and generational factors: what we like and consider pleasant today is what shaped us in our childhood. And that has to do with both the culture we grew up in as well as the time period in which our childhood was spent. Thus for instance people in the baby boom generation and beyond have played with Play-Doh plasteline and find it a comforting reference (hence Demeter's PlayDoh fragrance!) while people growing up in farms in the 1920s and 1930s cite fertiliser and big balls of hay as the quintessential memory triggers.



In new research focusing on Britons in the here and now several interesting facts emerged. Of course the research was commissioned by Vileda, a company of home-cleaning products, so take what you read with that in mind. Lindsey Taylor, from Vileda commented: 'Comfort smells associated with the home, such as Sunday roasts and fresh linen, make us happy and by keeping your home clean and fresh you will make sure that they are not drowned out by bad smells like kitchen bins and piles of washing up in the sink."

Aside from that, not coincidentally again the nostalgic smells of childhood (when it's a happy one, of course) bring the most contentment to people: freshly-washed linen, home baking, cut grass on the lawn and the domestic scent of Sunday roast. "Bacon was an unsurprising high-scorer, while more unexpected popular scents in the Vileda Cleaning Report included hairspray, leather, coal, petrol and chalk dust.[...] Participants named aftershave, beer and fresh paint as the smells that reminded them of their fathers, while perfume, Sunday roasts and freshly washed sheets triggered memories of mothers.[...] Among the scents which associated with the older generation of grandmothers were soap, lavender and musky perfumes.Wood smoke, pipe smoke and strong aftershaves brought back memories of grandfathers in times gone by and do not appear in the list of favourite modern-day smells.

The list of Britain's Top Favorite Smells runs thus: 
1.Cut grass
2.Aftershave
3.Freshly cleaned house
4.Baking
5.Sunday roast
6.Fresh flowers
7.Fresh linen
8.Hairspray
9.Bacon
10.Leather

Read more on the Daily Mail

pic via motifake.com

The Importance of Perfume Bottle Design

"I bought Daisy because I liked the bottle. Is that bad?"Lauren Wilkey, a 25-year-old style blogger from Old Bridge, N.J. wrote on her blog. "You want the bottle to be so beautiful and unique that somebody wants to keep it out in the open. Then they are more likely to use it," says Kecia Coby, founder of KCR Consulting who worked with the Kardashians on their fragrances.



 Just two quotes from a longer article on the Wall Street Journal on the current commercial importance of perfume bottle design. As the number state: "The faster cycle is driving U.S. sales of fragrances, which neared $5.8 billion last year, up 7.6% from 2010, according to Euromonitor International. Sales of so-called premium fragrances (defined by price, retail outlet and other factors) topped $4.8 billion, up 11%. Celebrity fragrances get a lot of buzz, especially among younger shoppers, but they make up less than 5% of sales, says Karen Grant, global beauty industry analyst at NPD Group". "Maybe before, when not every celebrity wanted a fragrance, when not every designer wanted a fragrance, you could focus maybe a little less" on the bottle design, Mr. Lekach said. "It's become incredibly important—certainly as important as the actual fragrance."
photo via makeupandbeautyblog.com

Five Scents to Turn Men Off

Or "how to write a bad piece of fragrance advice". The following article appearing unacredited (thankfully) on bodycare.becomegorgeous.com is indicative of the widely-spread view that it suffices to take tips from here & there on your lunch hour in order to write an article that offers some insights into scents. Apparently, it's not that easy, unless you want to perpetuate gross mistakes (sandalwood is a herb?? kiwi is a citrus??) and boring clichés that group poor men into a herd of cattle that can't think for themselves. Then of course the article proceeds on suggesting at least one citrus fruity scent and an ambery one! Taking into consideration the site focuses on "how to" articles and videos, I'd say this is seriously bad judgment into accepting such an article in the first place. Why is that everyone suddenly poses as an expert in just any random field?

If you're still curious on which scents supposedly turn men off (though, dear reader, we have compiled a rather critical map on Perfumes that Attract Men and Scents that Turn Women On that is more researched on these very pages acknowledging all the while we're catering to an inherently demeaning question to both asker and askee) the writers on above-mentioned article mention: citrus fruits, rose, chocolate, honeydew, too much sandalwood & amber.

pic via pheromonesattract.net 

The Avengers: Smell Like your Favorite Hero

To coincide with the release of The Avengers movie (scheduled to be open on May 4), JADS has teamed with Marvel Entertainment to bring out a line of colognes and perfumes inspired by the comic-book characters. The fragrances make their debut at the Toy Industry Association's (TIA) Toy Fair in New York City on Feb. 12-15.

"Everyone has a favorite comic book hero, right? Now fans can experience what they love about these iconic characters in a much more personal way," says JADS COO Andrew Levine to Digital Journal . JADS line for Marvel's The Avengers includes The Avengers Cologne Set, Black Widow Perfume, Infinity Formula for Men, and Mischief Cologne. "The scents are bold without being intrusive, distinctive and empowering,” adds JADS president John McGonigle.

Black Widow eh? I guess the trademark for the all naturals perfume by the same name has expired and someone grabbed it. 

Read the whole article here

pic via wikimedia commons

Blackberry and raspberry were very piano. Vanilla had elements of both piano and woodwind

"Sweet and sour smells were rated as higher-pitched, smoky and woody ones as lower-pitched. Blackberry and raspberry were very piano. Vanilla had elements of both piano and woodwind. Musk was strongly brass." Thus claims a very interesting article in the Economist named Smells like Beethoven, focused on the study of individuals comparing sounds to smells.

"Most people agree that loud sounds are “brighter” than soft ones. Likewise, low-pitched sounds are reminiscent of large objects and high-pitched ones evoke smallness. Anne-Sylvie Crisinel and Charles Spence of Oxford University think something similar is true between sound and smell.
Ms Crisinel and Dr Spence wanted to know whether an odour sniffed from a bottle could be linked to a specific pitch, and even a specific instrument. To find out, they asked 30 people to inhale 20 smells—ranging from apple to violet and wood smoke —which came from a teaching kit for wine-tasting. After giving each sample a good sniff, volunteers had to click their way through 52 sounds of varying pitches, played by piano, woodwind, string or brass, and identify which best matched the smell. The results of this study, to be published later this month in Chemical Senses, are intriguing."

The whole synaesthesia experiment has yielded results that show that even for "normal" people some overlap between the senses does happen.

pic Smell.oƒ.Sound. by Allison Kunath via picsy

"We Expect Sales to be Bigger in Asia": Fragrance Quote on New Luxury

'With the European and American markets teetering on the brink of collapse, global luxury labels such as Jimmy Choo are looking toward the Asian consumer for some salvation.
“We expect sales to be bigger here, since Asians are open to trends. And Filipino women are glamorous,” extolled Interparfums Managing Director Renaud Boisson. “Philippine girls have more character.”

~a propos the launch of Jimmy Choo Eau de Parfum and Eau de Toilette in the Philipinnes (entire article in Business Mirror)