Luxe Calme Volupté by Francesca Bianchi: fragrance review

 

There all is order and beauty,

Luxury, peace, and pleasure.

-Charles Baudelaire, L' invitation au voyage

In the poem, Baudelaire invites his lover to join him in an exotic place where they can live in calmness and peace. Francesca Bianchi described in 2021, when the fragrance launched, how this fits with the times in which we found ourselves and how she felt the need to offer something which could bring comfort to the spirit, an invitation to connect with oneself and temporarily forget about the daily concerns. Now, after the pandemic, this message isn't lost on us. It still delivers a powerful reminder to savour small pleasures, every single day and Fancesca Bianchi envisioned Luxe Calme Volupté as this escape. 

photo borrowed from pinterest

Baudelaire included L'Invitation Au Voyage in his poetic collection Les Fleurs du Mal in 1857, inspiring in turn the namesake 1904 painting by Henri Matisse. Bianchi is often inspired by classical chords not only in poetry but in perfumery as well and she has divulged that she was inspired by no less than three classics when art-directing this one: Y perfume by Yves Saint-Laurent, Must de Cartier, and Envy Gucci. A floral chypre, a green-top oriental (the mix of galbanum and amber is very characteristic) and a green floral. Armed with that knowledge my adventure in the lands of Baudelaire and Bianchi promised a wild ride. The fragrance of Luxe Calme Volupté is not wild but lush and rich in depth. And it doesn't really recall green chypres of the past, although there is definitely the natural feel those leave you with (although they're not at all natural). Melifluous, honeyed, sweet and fruity, but with that kind of fruity depth we have marvelled at from fruity chypres of yore, when women wore this rich lactonic effluvium directly on their naked skin, their naked bosom and charmed by-standers and their dates while on a night out in the city. Ylang ylang and peachy-plummy notes evolve and get sweetened with a lacing of sweet resins and balsams, without however becoming heavily orientalised or ambery. 

photo borrowed from pinterest

 Perhaps like another verse by Baudelaire, Bianchi aimed for corrupt, and rich, triumphant, With power to expand into infinity. While retaining her Italian pedigree as well. Luxe Calme Volupté feels like a cadenza extending into eternity, because of its nuance, its depth, its fruity ecstasy, which embraces without overwhelming with that horrid shampoo-like synthetic aura so many fruity fragrances do. The Luxe Calme Volupté fragrance leans more feminine than masculine, though all sexes may want to experiment with it. It feels gorgeous and lovely and this comes from someone who isn't crazy about fruity fragrances on the whole. In the same way the Francesca Bianchi fragrances, even when not overtly sexual, take sensuality as a point of departure to ponder on the value of sensuousness, of analyzing Hedone as a philosophical concept. Indeed the Latin name for this Greek goddess is...Voluptas. So there, the Luxe Calme Volupté name of the scent alone recounts the entire story, faithfully.

Dolce & Gabbana Femme (Red Cap): fragrance review & history research

Allegedly when Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana were in the search for their first foray into perfumes, they took mods developed for them and smashed them against their atelier wall to see what effect they'd produce. When a couple of them matched, elated, they exclaimed in unison "Eureka!" proclaiming Dolce & Gabbana for women their brain child. 

These Eureka moments are one too many in perfumery for them to be taken seriously. From the "accidental" drop of lots of vanillin into a bottle of Jicky (supposedly producing Shalimar) and the overdosage of aldehydes in the formula of Chanel No.5, the industry wants the public to believe that divine apocalypse is the medium in which true masterpieces are presented to the world, just like religion. Research nevertheless suggests otherwise.

The 1992 fragrance by the two Italian designers who celebrated the south of Italy and Sicily like no other before them is attributed to two perfumers from IFF: Jean-Pierre Mary and Martine Pallix. Between them, the olfactory duo have less than a dozen fragrances listed under their names, mostly from lesser olfactory prestige projects, such as Adidas.

Which begs the question: How could they have managed to strike gold so early, so surely and so lastingly? For many, nay, legions of people, Dolce & Gabbana from 1992 is still among the top aldehydic florals ever produced. I concur, and not because I lived through it. No. I knew it was good, even great, from smelling it on other women throughout the years, but Dolce & Gabbana "red cap", as it's affectionately known throughout the blogosphere and fora  (another term is Dolce & Gabbana Original), is one of those fragrances you need to own and wear frequently to truly understand just how great it is. And I only did this with 15 years in hindsight. Oh well...

Dolce & Gabbana pour femme ("red cap") feels sensuous and smooth, caressing, bold but not too attention-seeking; Its shade is elegant, not vulgar. It beckons you, like a strappy dress from the Italian fashion duo themselves.larger than life, massive almost in its plain confidence, in an Anna Magnani sort of way (an actress which the designer duo seem to love). It's bold, proud, full of oomph, of volume, and of emphasis, with lots of powerhouse florals (of which carnation is the most discernible), and a musky soapiness which makes the ginormous aldehydic introduction feel more decadent than it should be. It's soapy, but oh boy, if soapy was merely as intimate and erotic as this! It is not a fragrance for the timid, which makes it doubly bold, considering it circulated and succeeded in the 1990s, the decade of limp-wrist "waters" with lotus hints and sea algae undercurrents. A hint of apple-like marigold can't hide its exuberant nature, and both the tenacity and sillage of the original are impressive. The drydown is languorous, somnambulist, with the creamy softness of sandalwood and musks that lasts and lasts...It's round, effusive, contained, and yes, very sexy, indeed.

Case in point, its sexiness was encapsulated for eternity in a short film by Giussepe Tornatore, starring Monica Belluci and scored by Ennio Morricone. Talk about nailing it!

 

Agent Provocateur Blue Silk: fragrance review

 Blue Silk, part of a flanker duet launched in 2018 by lingerie brand Agent Provocateur (the other being Lace Noir) is credited to Beverly Bayne, shifting from the usual Christian Provenzano creative umbrella. 

The company presented it thus: "Making a sensuous entrance into the Agent Provocateur fragrance collection, Blue Silk is an unforgettable perfume, feminine, provocative and deeply romantic. Piquant top notes of woody, rosy pink pepper, revitalizing citrus from lemon and mandarin and exhilarating, fresh juniper combine with floral middle notes from classic rose and rich, sweet, precious jasmine, alongside the honeyed peach tones of nectarine and the warmth of spicy cinnamon. Leaving a lingering feeling of deep, almost smoky sensuality are the base notes of hypnotic musk, cooling, earthy vetiver, creamily sweet sandalwood and the vanilla, praline-like tones of aromatic tonka bean."

via

What is uncanny about Blue Silk is its delicious top note of bright and lightly sweet spices. It almost creates the impression of the opening of YSL's discontinued Nu eau de parfum, a fragrance overseen by Tom Ford (and this is telling in so many ways.) The spices are almost rejoicing, they never come across as sharp like the air within the spice cabinet. The composition is redolent of the steamed puddings of Jungle Elephant, but done in miniature form; there is none of the bombastic sillage of Kenzo's mastodont. 

The muskiness surfaces like a silky undergarment peeked through a crepe dress; it does feel silky and soft, very wearable and romantic, melding with the wearer's skin, and creates erotic imagery without prompt. Priceless.

As with most Agent Provocateur fragrances Blue Silk is available in 100ml Eau de Parfum at advantageous prices online and is highly recommended.