Showing posts with label exclusive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exclusive. Show all posts

Monday, October 26, 2020

Penhaligon's Newest Eye and Nose Candy

Penhaligon's perfumebox Perfumeshrine.com Elena Vosnaki photo
photo by Elena Vosnaki

 It was inescapable. The new goodies from Penhaligon's have trickled their way to my lap and I'm slowly savouring their delights which I was seeking to try out. 

Babylon (an oriental--spicy-woody, exclusive to Harrods till January 2021), Mr.Penhaligon's (a man's fougere to be launched soon) and The Favourite (a delicate lightly powdery floral, on which I am posting a review next) are included in this delectable box of high aesthetics. 

Penhaligon's perfumebox Perfumeshrine.com ElenaVosnaki photo
photo by Elena Vosnaki


The above box of wonders is part of the British firm's celebration of the 150th anniversary of the brand's continuous existence. Yes, it did withhold all those years, in fact I know of a person (older than me, obviously) who was working on their London shop in the 1970s filling the cute bottles. 

"One mustn’t stand in the way of a well-needed celebration, and Penhaligon’s have just the thing! 2020 sees the sesquicentennial of our creation, and you don’t reach your 150th birthday without picking up a story or two. Just ask our founder, William Penhaligon. There was the time he trimmed the Shah of Persia’s beard. Not to mention all those Society scandals that set tongues wagging in the Turkish baths of Mayfair...150 years of dreams, magical places, distinctive characters, and the world’s most extraordinarily unique scents. Each of our fragrances tells a story, too."

It's a great story, I'll give you that, and what's more, in perfumery, it's quite true too, which is not a given with many other brands who invent their past. Cheers for another 150 years ahead, then. 

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Guerlain Carmen, Le Bolshoi: new fragrance

Guerlain has been making fragrance exclusives honoring the famous Bolshoi ballet for the Russian market for some time now. With three editions under their belt, this year's exclusive is named Carmen, Le Bolshoi and comes in this fabulously provocative bottle in red.

The first fragrance Le Bolshoï appeared in 2011 and was timed to celebrate the reconstruction of a historic building of the Bolshoi Theater. A year later, there was a bottle La Traviata, Le Bolshoï with scarlet cameo. The smoky juice inside commemorated the opera by Giuseppe Verdi with notes of orange, bergamot and petit-grain. In 2014, the Bolshoï Theater performed the hallmark of Russian ballet , Tchaikovsky's"Swan Lake." Black Swan Le Bolshoï was the offering Guerlain created with perfumer Thierry Wasser to celebrate it with their loyal Russian customers.

This season for the 240th Bolshoi Theater jubilee, 240th  world famous "Carmen"by George Bizet is the opus in question. It was first staged in 1875 in Paris and in 2015 celebrates its 140th anniversary. Thierry Wasser created a limited edition fragrance for the Russian market, Carmen Le Bolshoï.

For Carmen,Le Bolshoï the formula includes fragrance notes of jasmine, cedar, citrus, red berries and musk. Bright and bold according to Guerlain as is Carmen. On October 1st  it will appear in TSUM and DLT and on December 1st  in select Guerlain corners. The retail price of Carmen Le Bolshoï is set at 22 000 rubles.

EDIT TO ADD: Recent reportage and testing suggests that Carmen Le Bolshoi is a re-edition of the original Vetiver pour Elle by Jean Paul Gaultier from 2004.

pic & availability info via Vogue.ru

Monday, September 20, 2010

Serge Lutens Boxeuses: fragrance review & draw

I wouldn't hesitate to think of the latest Paris exclusive fragrance by Lutens , going by the insolent name Boxeuses, as Féminité du Cuir instead. What do feminine pugilists (the true meaning of Boxeuses, pronounced box-EHz, in French) have to do with the delicate and mysterious affair of perfume? And why did Serge choose that name?

Plenty it appears and Lutens isn't one to go by conventional names anyway. This enigmatic woody leather is molded after a soft kid's leather glove that hits all the sweet spots for any ardent Lutens fan, that's why! After all French perfumery did arise through scented gloves, didn't it? Unlike the green fairy of Bas de Soie with the icy sensuality that demands kinky behaviour to unhinge itself, Boxeuses goes straight for the jugular, playing on the familiar, original codes of the Lutensian universe: violet-tinged woods, plummy fruits, somptuous spices...

To those who are intimately familiar with the Lutensian opus, Boxeuses can't fail but instantly remind them of Féminité du Bois and in fact the whole Bois series it spawned for the launch of Les Salons du Palais Royal back in 1992 (Bois de Violette, Bois et Fruits, Bois et Musc, Bois Oriental). Much like them, Boxeuses is full of the woody backdrop of Iso-E Super and violet methyl-ionones, plus a good dosage of plummy nuance redolent of Arabian desserts which perfumer Chris Sheldrake elevated beyond manière into Art. To those who are not, Boxeuses could be the love-child of a Cuir-de-Russie-type (notably Chanel's offering with its luxurious feel) due to the birch tar material anchoring it and Rochas Femme with its Prunol base; the latter in all its cuminy sexy glory, thank you very much. Of course the lineage might be de trop to mention: Féminité du Bois does owe some of its genius in the sexiness factor of Femme, but pushing the envelope further thanks to its sombre spiciness of cinnamon and cardamom which couple with woods reminiscent of a box of lead pencils; unheard of at the time.

If Cuir Mauresque (his other "leather" and this year's limited edition export of the Paris exclusives, scheduled for a late 2010 launch) recalls a "Peau d'Espagne" or Cuir Ottoman sensibility, Boxeuses is restrained enough in its opulence to be closer to a Cuir de Russie type or Tabac Blond (the pyrogenic coupling of acidulous notes and styrax with birch) and similarly genderless, despite the name. The leathery and spicy facets of Boxeuses come to the fore immediately, on one hand an anisic tinge recalling licorice and classic French perfumery, on another an incensy feel with cinnamic facets recalling Serge Noire. The sticky plum surfaces next, not sacharine but shaded with violet, rounding out the fragrance alongside smoky woods and milky soft musk with a smidge of dark cocoa, sustaining that impression with medium sillage for a long time.

To those forlorn, after the launch of Nuit de Cellophane, then L'Eau Serge Lutens and even of Bas de Soie, claiming Serge was "softening" and much like Alexander the Great allowing himself to adopt the customs & sensibilities of a completely foreign aesthetic, Boxeuses is a punch in the nose. Like Australian boxing film sensation Girlfight (2000) proclaimed, Lutens attained the unexpected through the most expected way: "Prove them wrong!"

For our readers, 5 samples of the exclusive Boxeuses will be given out of my own personal bottle. Tell us WHY this scent sings your name in the comments and I will pick 5 winners. (Draw is open till Friday 24th midnight).



Notes for Serge Lutens Boxeuses:
Birch tar, styrax, incense, spices, cade oil.

Serge Lutens Boxeuses forms part of the Paris exclusive line, available as 75ml of Eau de Parfum in the bell bottles. The packaging has been slightly changed (ever since the launch of Bas de Soie last July actually) and the bells are not sealed so as to protect contents from spillage and tampering. It retails for 120 euros at Les Salons du Palais Royal in Paris.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Serge Lutens reviews & news, the Leather Series

Photos of female boxers via the Hulton Archive. Photo of Lutens Boxeuses bottle © by Elena Vosnaki

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Baccarat Trio: Les Larmes Sacrees de Thebes, Une Nuit Etoilee au Bengale, Un Certain Ete a Livadia

Although only one out of the triad issued by Baccarat is known among perfume aficionados, Les Larmes Sacrées de Thèbes, the collection by the venerable verrerie (crystal makers) included two other worthy specimens: Un Certain été à Livadia and Une Nuit Étoilée au Bengale. All three formed Les Contes d'Ailleurs trilogy (Tales from Faraway lands) which reprised oriental themes, seducing and enrapturing, allowing the perfumer unrestrained choice in materials and composition. The occasion was to commemorate the new millenium and thus Baccarat commissioned three precious limited edition perfumes that would honour their patrimony in flacons of heavy crystal. Christine Nagel undertook the task of formula creation, at the time just entering Quest France and given carte blanche as to the commerciability of the fragrances: These were going to be Limited Editions for collectors and not focus-group marketing productions! Colombian-born Fédérico Restrepo was the flacon designer for the parfum bottles and each parfum bottle bore its own certificate of authenticity and lot number. There were only 1500 specimens issued for each of the Baccarat perfumes. Original prices were 880 euros for 30ml/1oz of pure parfum/extrait de parfum. All three fragrances however also had an Eau de Parfum version in a plainer bottle, as depicted on the bottom of this article, retailing for 400$ for 75ml/2.5oz, at the time available at Bergdorf's and Harrods (they are now discontinued and out of stock). Please note that the design of the EDP bottle has been accused of aiding evaporation.



Une Nuit Étoilée au Bengale (A Starry Night in Bengal) was the first perfume, inspired by India palaces and gardens, issued in 1997. The bottle is a blue-shaped heart with an outsprout of green, like curling stems of a mysterious plant or water sprouting out of an exotic garden fountain. The whole is resting inside a Π-shaped construction of transparent crystal with stars of gold designed on it. The whole is encased in a deep blue box with zigurat steps on it, recalling the maharajahs palaces of India (the maharajahs had been great crystal customers in their time).
The fragrance itself is an ambery floriental with spicy accents: Une Nuit Étoilée au Bengale is comprised of a citrus top of bergamot, segueing into rose, with a cluster of spices: ginger, cinnamon, and Ceylon "spice bouquet". The bottom is rich and sumptuous with notes of Mysore sandalwood, amber and vanilla.
There are no samples available for purchase at the moment, as far as I know. Apart from the ultra costly parfum version, there was the Eau de Parfum concentration circulating in a plainer bottle with a drop-style applicator (pic below). Both are discontinued and very rare.

Les Larmes Sacrées de Thèbes (Sacred Tears of Thebes) was inspired by Egypt and the wares of King Tut's tomb and was issued in 1998. The bottle is ~predictably~ a puramidal structure capped in amethyst crystal, with a fine "bubble" of yellow crystal blown into it, which houses the scent. It sits on amethyst cushion feet on the four edges. The whole is encased in a square bottle of egg yolk yellow for the innner carton and amethyst for the outer carton (see pic at the beginning of the article).
The fragrance, although an homage to Egyptian rituals, is by no means a replication of those alloys like other projects (see this one on Kyphi and others by Sandrine Videault) but a modern perfume. It is however predominantly resinous and balsamic with a peppery top note, focusing on intense myrrh, frankincense and a deep amber mix, flanked by jasmine, geranium, ylang ylang, cardamon, basil, myrtle, sandalwood and musk. Although compared to Parfum Sacré by Caron (1990), the resemblance is only passing, Les Larmes being much more balsamic with less of a rosy heart than the Caron.
Les Larmes is the best-known fragrance in the Baccarat triptych, possibly due to its optically approachable, exquisite bottle and the fact that it has been repeatedly hailed as among the most expensive perfumes in the world at 6,800$ in the press; largely thanks to the bottle.
Harrods Haute Parfumerie stocked a few remaining specimens, although info claims that reserves have been by now dried up. The Perfumed Court has samples of the Eau de Parfum concentration for sale for those curious to investigate for themselves.
Please be aware that the hereby pictured exquisite presentation isn't the only one: There is an EDP bottle (click on this link) with a plainer design which retailed for 400$ for 75ml/2.5oz of Eau de Parfum at Bergdorf's in the past, as noted for the rest of the trio as well.

Un Certain été à Livadia (A Certain Summer in Livadia) was inspired by Russia and the Imperial Court and was issued in 1999. The bottle takes on the "onion"-shaped domes of classic Russian Orthodox churches, with a starry " gold cross" on top and green crystal, and superimposes it on a red "body", housing the perfume, which rests in turn on a curved "boomerang" shaped crustal base with Russian lettering. The whole rests on a red base, encased in a red round box. Livadia is of course was the place in the Crimea where the palace of the last tsar Nicholas II was situated, later seized by the Bolsheviks and now transformed into a museum.
Un Certain été à Livadia received the prize of Best Perfume of 1999 for Christine Nagel 's work, awarded by a jury of French journalists (info according to her mentor's, Jean Claude Ellena, archives). The fragrance is centered around a blooming orientalised/musky heart of seringat (i.e. Philadelphus, a plant of white-petaled blossoms with a scent between orange blossom and jasmine; also known as "jasmin des poètes"). The top introduces complimentary hesperidic notes of citruses while the base is comprised by a soft, enveloping musk accord.
There are no samples available for purchase as of this moment. Rare specimens of the bottle crop up online from time to time, with an estimate of between 500-700$ for a bottle, although Ebay auctions have occasionally demanded 1200euros with ambiguous results. Also circulated in Eau de Parfum concentration as seen below. It is of course discontinued and out of stock.




pics via ebay, gazette drouot, parisparfum and parfumini

Friday, August 27, 2010

Do We Rely on "Rumours"? Or More?

Quite often on Perfume Shrine we break some news before they become "official" (We tag them under the label "rumour"). Before sales associates and even distributors hear about them. Before there is any corroboration from other sources. Some readers in the past have doubted some rumours, yet we have been proven correct time and again. And again. And again. Rumours which we report prematurely, often backed up with photographic proof later. Rumours which we arrive at through snippets of information from our inside connections , reportage and logical syllogisms.

Today we reply to the naysayers of last February when we first broke the news on discontinuations of several Lutens scents from the export line, therefore in essence from the international market circuit, forgive the pun. Four of them are to exit the export line of the oblong bottles, finally becoming Parisian exclusives in the beautiful "bell" shaped jars: Miel de Bois, Chypre Rouge, Santal Blanc and Douce Amère. (This seems to have been in the cards long ago, apparently, I should have seen it long ago). If you didn't stock up when you had the chance all these months ago, well, I'd hate to say we told you so. But I did.
Today I will leave the photographs do the talking...






Photos from the official Lutens page.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Guerlain L'Abeille: Crystal Sculpture, New Fragrance


We're always happy to confirm rumours which we had started on this place (last December) and this is the latest one: Guerlain teamed again with Baccarat to manufacture a massive flacon for the ultra-exclusive flacon of their new perfume called L'Abeille de Guerlain. The name means of course..."bee" and it's meant to look like a gigantic bee with its wings faceted like precious diamonds.
Only 42 numbered pieces has been made, each containing 245 ml of pure extrait de parfum for 12.500 Euros (Who said there's a financial crisis? And -brace yourselves- it's even more than the initially reported 8000 euros we had stated!). Composed by Thierry Wasser who was aiming to "see a garden from a bee's perspective", that is pollen, chlorophyl, sunny flowers: Mimosa, orange blossom, and jasmine. And a scent of honey which "marries so well with summer flowers". Wasser warns this alloy might "syrupy thick" if not properly treated but tells us the end result "flies like an angel, diffuses without suffocating, twines around the marvellous iris, so precisely powdery". Hmm, I doubt I can say "we will see" at those prices (initial reports talk about an at once carnal and fresh white floral with powdery aspects), although I'm sure a sample might find its way to my desk eventually. Till then!
Guerlain in the meantime says there are no plans to bring this into smaller, plainer bottles: "Not yet" at least. If the case of of Mon Précieux Nectar is any indication, these things are created to be split from the get-go, with a couple bottles snatched by avid collector-maniacs and a couple more displayed as design art in Guerlain boutiques across the world, me thinks...What do you think?
Related reading: The Symbolism of Bee & Honey Scents, Guerlain series (reviews & history of scents), Guerlain News , Upcoming releases
Added info and pic via Mr.Guerlain, many thanks.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Serge Lutens Bois et Musc: Fragrance Review & a Draw

Among the four variations on the original Féminité du Bois, which in 1992 catapulted Les Salons business into the niche market (namely Bois de Violette, Bois et Fruits, Bois Oriental and Bois et Musc), this one is possibly the most polished, the most seamless, the most like natural skin scent and yet the lesser known. The latter possibly because it has never so far been issued in the export line, resolutely remaining a Parisian exclusive. Alongside Un Bois Sépia, Un Bois Vanille, Santal Blanc and Santal de Mysore, these woody fragrances form part of an informal family pegged as "Les Eaux Boisées" which cemented the Lutensian canon as we know it today.

Bois (pronounced "bwah") means of course woods and Bois et Musc is a fragrance which marries the two components of the name exactly as promised, in equal measure; first experienced in rapid succession (woods first, musk second), then in unison. The synergy of Moroccan cedar and smooth musk is at the core, while the usual Lutens accord of spice & dried fruits, with which he has invested his orientalised compositions for long, is subdued to the point of transparency. I seem to detect a creamy note of rosy sandalwood too, even though it is not officially mentioned, like those traditional incense beads fashioned in India and the Middle-East. The effect cannot be described as anything less than silky...
This is a fragrance which enters the scene like a shy guest who radiates the room with their quiet presence even though they don't utter a single word and are bespectacled. You'd be hard-pressed to find dainty features, or beauty writ large over them, but they just exude a positive energy that surrounds every living thing within a one-foot radius. Contemplative, sensuous, brainy with the kind of wits that don't show off. Compared with the other Bois variations on Féminité du Bois, it is closer to Bois de Violette, but without the shadowy ambery backdrop.

Bois et Musc is totally unisex, completely ageless and a superb skin-scent (i.e. smelling like human skin would if only angels and devils had cradled it), what the French call "à fleur de peau". Possibly, the idea which perfumer Christopher Sheldrake had in mind when describing a "sexy", attractive scent. And this is even more so the case than in Clair de Musc which misses by an inch via its opaline soapy florals that read as ethereal. In contrast this is nothing like a white musk: In fact it's closer to intimate and impolite, but it's so noble that it invests naughtiness with impecable manners. A sort of Fanny Ardant in a François Truffaut film, totally French.

Amidst subtle woody musks, this Lutens stands as a personal favourite ever since I had sampled it during a rather rushed visit (I had exited craddling a bell jar of La Myrrhe which had just been issued and which is also beautiful). Bois et Musc would make a wonderful musk choice for anyone who finds the concept of animalistic and outré Muscs Kublai Khan ~which I love, love, love~ quite attractive, but is leery of wearing such a potent musk outside the bedroom.

Bois et Musc is a Paris exclusive, sold at Les Salons du Palais Royal only, in the beautiful bell-jars of the exclusive line 75ml Eau de Parfum for 110 euros.

For our readers: One lucky reader will receive a big-sized decant of this exceptional, Paris exclusive fragrance. Comment if you want to be eligible. Draw will be open till Sunday midnight.



Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Scented Musketeers (musks reviews), The Musk Series: ingredients, classification, cultural associations


Photo from the film La femme d'à côté (Woman next door) by François Truffaut, 1981.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Guerlain Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus: fragrance review

Take a room that appears goldenish baroque in its ambience, but actually comprised of little, aptly chosen, dramatic furniture and saturate it in the cool and bright light of the North on a salubrious day and you have the latest Guerlain, Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus. Tentatively smelling it, convinced I'd absolutely hate it, it gave me the testing whiplash of my life: It isn't half bad! Aesthetically it is as successful in its modernisation as Eau Première is to the iconic Chanel No.5 (I wish I could say that for the latest Cristalle Eau Verte).

The introduction of a Mitsouko flanker, and what's more a watery Mitsouko in a mouthwash-tinted bottle, initially sounded as mind-numbingly sacrilegious as Regan impaling herself with a crucifix in one of the most brilliant scenes of William Friedkin's 1973 thriller "The Exorcist" would look to the Pope. However Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus reminds me of another William Friedkin heroine, this one more mature, sexier and tamer than the possessed child Regan; namely, Trina Gavin in 1995 "Jade". Not exactly Ai-no Corrida material, the passions are contained, but still an involving character.

The original Mitsouko by Jacques Guerlain launched in 1919 at a time when women rediscovered luxury and all things Eastern and it subtly unveils its peachy-fuzz chypre heart amidst a spicy, smoky mossiness that creates the feeling of decadent and, at the same time, wistful opulence. Jean Paul Guerlain rightfully decided not to mess up with perfection and merely injected an airier lotus blossom note which uplifts and mollifies the composition into a brighter, lighter plane.
“Mitsouko is really a masterpiece,” says Jean-Paul.[1] “I did not want to betray my grandfather’s, so I added a freshness to the scent with spices and white musk to give a modernity to it without changing the original scent.”
Jean Paul Guerlain is according to Thierry Wasser (new resident nose at Guerlain) "the Indiana Jones of fragrance" [2], such is his galivanting the world in search of new and exciting raw materials; and lotus blossom is a traditional essence of the East which seemed very fitting to what is essentially an Eastern inspired composition in the first place.
After the initial acqueous and rather green jasmine-like impression the unmistakeable palpability of Mitsouko comes through while the progression surprisingly takes Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus into more hesperidic (the lotus), cooly powdery tonalities (some cardamom?) with a slight sprinkling of clean sweeteness instead of the butyric lactonic richness and almost burnt peachiness of the original. And since the classic Mitsouko can be worn by men too, I see no real problem in the newest version being co-operative on a man's skin if they generally like softer fragrances. Be prepared for a short-lived experience however: The lasting power is nowhere near the tenacity of the classic in either of its concentrations.

If you love the original Mitsouko enough, the new Fleur de Lotus variant seems like a redundancy. If you do not, it is doubtful whether you will find something seismically different that would make you do a 180 degree turn. As March put it: "You can hear the right chords being played, but they’re in the background. Somewhere down the hall, but still there. I wouldn’t say, precisely, that it honors the original, but it doesn’t diminish it, either.". Nevertheless, people who might have objected to either the latest botched reformulated Mitsouko with its bread-like top note and its long finish of treemoss instead of oakmoss, or people who longed for a twist in the classic recipe like one less olive, one dash of vermouth less in their martini glass, might find in Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus a fragrance to successfully claim as their own. For my vintage collecting self it simply isn't a necessity, which affirms the thought that this is an attempt to grab new audiences, not established ones.

Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus is available in 60ml/2oz bottles of Eau de Toilette, whose design reprises the classic inverted heart bottle with a degradée of bright blue-ish shades and a white label. It retails for $100 at Guerlain boutiques exclusively and Saks Fifth Avenue NYC, Bergdorf Goodman NYC, Waldorf Astoria, Neiman Marcus at San Francisco, The Bellagio at Las Vegas, the Epcot Center at Orlando and The Breakers at Palm Beach.

One sample will be given to a lucky reader! State your interest at the comments, draw open till Friday midnight.


Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Guerlain series, flankers, Chypre series.

[1]Quote via Vanity Fair [2]Interview of Wasser and JPGuerlain at Wallpaper.
Pic of Linda Fiorention from the 1995 William Friedkin film "Jade" via L'internaute


Friday, May 29, 2009

Van Cleef & Arpels Collection Extraordinaire: news

Van Cleef & Arpels, the famous jewellers their dragonfly brooches on the jacket lapel of every BCBG woman and their Alhambra bracelets on my very own wrists, are launching their own "niche" line: La Collection Extraordinaire. Each of the six uniformly designed bottles is created by a different nose, much like L'Art et La Matiere boutique line by Guerlain.


Nathalie Feisthauer is the author of Gardénia Pétale, a warm and opulent composition. Randa Hammami (of Cruel Gardénia fame) created Orchidée Vanille while Nathalie Cetto is the nose behind Lys Carmin (red lily). Antoine Maisondieu and Emilie Coppermann are respectively the authors of Muguet Blanc (white lily of the valley) et Bois d’Iris (iris woods), while Marc Buxton plays with chiarroscuro and spices in his Cologne Noire.
The line will be available in September in bottles of 75ml for 130 euros each.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Hermessence Vanille Galante by Hermes: fragrance review

"Days begin and end in the dead of night. They are not shaped long, in the manner of things which lead to ends – arrow, road, man's life on earth. They are shaped round, in the manner of things eternal and stable – sun, world, God". ~Jean Giono

Jean Claude Ellena's ~resident perfumer of la maison Hermès~ favourite author sums up the mise en scène that the newest Hermessence radiates quietly: roundness, grace and a nostalgic lapsarian intimation of the eternal upon gazing beauty.
Revisiting my musings on how Jean Claude Ellena would interpret a note that is quite taken for granted, that of vanilla, I am reminded of what I had said: "Vanilla is exactly the cliché note that begs for Jean Claude Ellena's modus operandi: chastizing it by food deprivation would be beneficial pedagogically, I feel". It is with some suprise and delight, now I have obtained my own bottle of Vanille Galante, that I realise he doesn't focus so much on the bean flavour as much as on the fluffy, almost cloudy, cotton-feathery aspect it reproduces as a memento of certain flowers' inner core: lily, ylang ylang, and what I sense as the innermost pollen of lilac and wisteria, flowers which exude the most intoxicating, spicy and a little "dirty" underside. I have long felt that Jean Claude is an extremely sensual man with a keen intelligence that makes him exhibit a subtle eroticism in his creations and the language of flowers is by its nature supremely erotic. (After all flowers are the reproductive organs of plants and their aim is to attract pollinators). Let's not forget therefore that vanilla itself is a flower ~an exotic orchid of aphrodisiac properties with which Jean Claude has occupied himself even as an co-author in "Vanilles et Orchidées". And for those who believe in his transparent trajectory through le corps du métier he never produced a foody vanilla, there is proof to the contrary in his woody-edible Sublime Vanille (2001) for Lily Prune!

The French adjective "galant" (or "galante" for feminine nouns) has an intriguing background: In the romans de cour/courtly literature, that is the medieval novels of nobility (for example "Le Roman de la Rose" from 1420-30), "galant" signifies the quality of courteous, gentlemanly and often amorous. The phrase "en galante companie" thus signified the company of a representative of the opposite sex. An attracting vanilla then, but also idealised, exalted, romanticized in an almost Platonic ideal. In musical terms, "galant" refers to the European style of classical simplicity after the complexity of the late Baroque era in the third quarter of the 18th century with pre-eminent representatives the rhythmical composers François Couperin, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Georg Philipp Telemann and Antonio Vivaldi . Their cyclical forma ties in with the theme of La Reverdie (the return) in literary roman: that of eternal return of spring, a theme of pagan connotations . The common trait would be the lyrical approach of solidly thematic subjects, which could sneak into the treatment of vanilla in Vanille Galante, or what I will from now on affectionaly call "péripéties de vanilla". Thus Jean Claude ambitiously set out to produce an « insolent, complex et paradoxical» blossom that would shatter all preconceptions of how a vanilla fragrance would smell, aiming not at a photorealistic figurative imprint but an almost narrative play at personal impressions devoid of cheap sentimentalities. We reference Jean Giono again ~he says in "Voyage en Italie" that "Describing a painting in sentiments might seem better [than describing it in colours] but it only serves to shuffle the cards". Thus Ellena finds the core of his artistic philosophy anew: He reads "le sentiment" (the sentiment), but he hears "le-sens-qui-ment" (the sense that lies).

Eschewing the typical synthesized vanillin used in gourmand compositions as an easy trompe nez, Jean Claude went for a segment of authentic vanilla extract's olfactory facet; that of the slightly powdery and ethereal, producing a lithe, delicate composition like a swan's feather, like the whitest cotton balls, that truly breathes sensuously only on skin with the achingly poignant timbre of beauty destined to be ephemeral. Using a technique à rebours, Ellena doesn't use vanilla as an anchor of more volatile components nor does he render it dark, boozy and sinfully calorific à la Guerlain (Spiritueuse Double Vanille but also Shalimar and Shalimar Light ;and let's not forget Ylang et Vanille). He diffuses his vision into the clouds with adroitness and a playful sense of optimism, much like he did with L'Eau d'Hiver, when he was playing with the cassie, anisaledhyde and the warm savoury aspects of Apres L'Ondée.
The secret of Vanille Galante is kept by the great master in his favourite conjuring bag of tricks, to be partially revealed at his discretion. He had expresssed similar magical resourcefulness in Bois Farine and in the adumbration of saddlery hinted behind the florals in Kelly Calèche. In Vanille Galante the intriguing touch is the merest whiff of salty, of savoury, upon opening ~a facet that is used in haute patisserie to enhance the flavour and balance the sweeter aspects~ foiled into a lightly spicy one (comparable to how the innnermost stemons of white lilies smell) taking flight onto a mist of salicylates for diffusion (ylang ylang naturally encompasses benzyl salicylate and eugenol). The play is between spicy flowers, yellow flowers and anisic ones. The slight greeness, almost filled with watery liquid, note of jasmine vine is soon engulfed by a finespun suntan, powdery musky* and smoky balletic move.
*{Ellena likes to use Musc T, Muscone and Muscenone, which are rather powdery , expensive, non-laundry musks}.
In whole, there is no mistaking the European pedigree and atmosphere of Vanille Galante! There is no heaviness of languid exoticism despite the mental connotation of Marie Galante, the island of the Caribbean located in the Guadeloupean archipelago. Nor is there the escapism of endless summers under the cruel sun of the Tropics of Atuana. Urban sophistication and modernity prevail: The sense of the perfume is not diaphanous, nor opaque, but somewhere in-between, a little carnal, a little "dirty" underneath it all, forming a new direction in the mold of an airy floral gourmand that will have everyone copying it soon enough.

Lovers of Serge Lutens' Un Lys and Donna Karan's Gold would find a kindred spirit in Vanille Galante; nevertheless, the waxier aspects of the former are here rendered in a language of less oily interplay and the disposition is more in the Pantone scale of yellow than monumental marble white.
Vanille Galante is not only graceful, but terrifically gracious as well, offering a glimpse of warm sun and fleshy, smooth shoulders in the heart of winter. J'aime bien!

Vanille Galante forms part of the Hermessences collection and is accordingly available exclusively at Hermès boutiques around the world in a 100ml/3.4oz bottle or as a travel set of 4 smaller flacons of 15ml/0.5oz each.

Related reading on Perfumeshrine: Jean Claude Ellena scents review and opinions, the Hermessences, Hermes news and reviews.



Other reviews: Perfume Posse,Grain de Musc, 1000fragrances, auparfum, Peredepierre

Bottle pic © by Helg/Perfumeshrine
"A ride in the country" by H.Toulouse-Lautrec
Swan feather caught in foliage, via ngsprints.co.uk

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Public Service Announcement: Serge Lutens exclusive Santal de Mysore now in the US

Bergdorf Goodman, as well as Aedes, are now stocking the Paris exclusive Santal de Mysore by Serge Lutens and Christopher Seldrake for $200.00 a pop: the fragrance comes in the oblong 50ml/1.7oz bottles that normally carry the export line (and not the Parisian "bell" jars as depicted here) and it is the season's "gift" of an exclusive having a limited distribution on US soil
Of course dollar for dollar, the price is much more advantageous if you get it in Paris (110 euros for 75ml) and you get to sip a demi-tasse at Café Flore in the process, but I thought reporting it would send a certain frisson of excitement through Lutens' fan base anyway!
Notes for Santal de Mysore include: cumin, hot spices, styrax, balsam, Siam benzoin and sandalwood.

Personally I rather think that the meeker, creamier Santal Blanc is the better sandalwood in the Lutens line and sandalwood as a note is problematic right now anyway, because of the infamous shortage due to it being an endangered species and the subsequent restriction on harvesting.
And it would have been assuredly more interesting if they released the painfully beautiful Tubéreuse Criminelle, the naughtily spicy, densely golden fruity El Attarine or the gloriously animalistic Musc Kublai Khan that evokes intimate pleasures. But there's always next time...

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: news on the latest Serge Lutens: Nuit de Cellophane and Lutens scents reviews.



Pic through Les Salons du Palais Royal Shiseido.
Thanks to Polk/POL for the heads up!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Economic Crisis? What Economic Crisis?

If the current economic standing of several households across the globe is anything to go by, surely the market should be catering to their needs by budgeting their offerings, providing outlets for small pleasures and the possibility of indulging into the escapist dream of sent bon without mortaging anything that is left standing to mortgage. However the above has probably been wishful thinking on our part. According to an article by Nazani Lakarani on yesterday's online edition of International Herald Tribune, companies are not especially tuned into the needs of perfumephiles who demand smaller bottles of their desired "fix" so they can collect with less guilt (just how much can one person apply in one lifetime?) and options for budget-friendly versions of packaging (refills, travel cases and similar contraptions). In a time of crisis how do the players respond?
The highlights of this article include some eye-glaring exempla of an industry which is either taking itself too seriously or not at all.

"Traditional luxury and designer brands still sell well; but at the top end of the market, the demand for personalized, custom-made luxury has spread to perfumery. "Regardless of budget, customers today seek a unique fragrance that sets them apart," said Ladan Lari, managing director of designer fragrances at L'Oréal, the French beauty products company.
I have long held that elitism is an integral part of escapism in the fragrance business; and especially in times when that escapism is within reach of everyone thanks to the Internet boom it stands to reason that someone needs to emphasize the luxurious, exclusive privilege of owning a coveted item that would differentiate the peasants from the posh (or so the unadmitted truth raises its ugly head). Several brands have played that game well and they have reaped the benefits: thanks to the Internet and the buzz of fragrance writing consumers up till now were willing to pay almost anything to own such an item. The sarcasm and deep contempt (for the plight of many consumers) of seeing this in black & white though makes me cringe a little...
"Positioning itself between the bespoke and limited edition markets, one specialized perfume company, l'Artisan Parfumeur, plans to introduce in January a line of single-edition perfumes - only one bottle of each will be made - to be sold exclusively through its flagship Paris store. The work of Bertrand Duchaufour, the in-house nose hired this year, the line, Mon Numéro, will be presented in one-off bottles designed by Pascale Riberolles, an artist and master glass blower, priced at about $20,000 for a 725-milliliter flask."
Now here is the weird part: one bottle of each fragrance, a collector's item accompanied by a matching price. And I am asking: why??? Why employ the artistry of a perfumer who is admittedly ingeniously revolutionizing the industry with his creations anyway for just what will inadvertedly become a museum piece? He can't be that bored, since he is given almost carte blanche within a niche house where he is master of all he surveys to create as he sees fit. Surely the owner of that single piece of perfume has as many chances of cracking that bottle open and ruining part of its investement value in the process as the oil problem of the planet solving itself naturally within the next decade. I am very much afraid that it will be a waste of energy, time, budget and essence in what will amount to an intellectual exercise instead of a paean to beauty. Fragrances are meant to be living and breathing things, radiating their joy, their wistfulness, their paramours within polite society's radius; not something tucked in a cellar awaiting the future generations to crack them open years later as a monetary investement in art. Attributing the artistry of perfumery into producing an artefact for an antiseptic environment is akin to sculpting a Venus of Milo for the private enjoyment of a single person in a remote village of an exotic Never Never land: a crime for and in the eyes of humanity.
"Kurkdjian's bespoke scents, conceived, blended and matured over 6 to 10 months, are priced at $10,000 for two 60-milliliter flasks, hand-engraved with a name or personal message. He also offers a service that he calls "Variations sur Mesure," mainly aimed at U.S. or British clients accustomed to fast results. "Based on a scent the client likes, I create several variations," Kurkdjian said. "The one ultimately chosen is still one-of-a-kind, but without the time-consuming adjustments. Ready in 10 days, it costs between $3,800 and $5,000."
I have no special reason to defend any nationality, but when I see such hidden contempt (yes, you read that right) for American and British clients ~no matter that I am not part of that group~ I cringe some more. Let's repeat and ponder this time: "mainly aimed at U.S. or British clients accustomed to fast results". Is it my own impression or is there a very obvious snide in this? Fast results accounting for poor taste or something, and even that "fast results" being a gross generalisation. Basta! I sincerely hope that this is not a quote by mr.Francis Kurkdjian, whom I respect and admire for his talented offerings to the world of fragrance which I often enjoy myself. He is both much too young and much too talented to be so cynical so early on. Let's just hope it was an infortunate deduction on the part of the author. I welcome any clarification should anyone want to set things straight.

You can read the rest of the article here


Article brought to my attention by Elysium on POL. Pic through the Clint Eastwood Archive.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

H&M by Comme des Garcons – an EXCLUSIVE PRE-RELEASE review

~by guest writer Mike Perez

This week (Thursday, the 13th) Comme des Garcons release an exclusive collection of clothes, accessories and fragrance in H&M stores around the world. Comme des Garcons fragrances are one of my favorite subjects. Those on Basenotes know I own a large portion of the fragrance line and I admire the aesthetic, marketing and edgy style. I do have my share of fragrances that I cannot wear (Odeur 53 gives me a splitting headache) or simply don’t like (Sequoia [Series 2: Red] smells so much better on other people) but I always look forward to a new CdG fragrance release. So it goes without saying that I succumbed to the hype about H&M and purchased a bottle (prior to the release to the general public) un-sniffed, which I almost never do.

A healthy dose of fizzy cedar is the first note you'll detect when applying H&M.LOTS of cedar! Not as brutal as the ‘axed wood plank’ (or pencil shavings) of Gucci Pour Homme, but softened and diffusive (as if electrically charged by those crazy odd numbered aldehydes Turin speaks about - that smell like a snuffed out candle, mixed with cedar). It’s quite an unmistakable accord and without sounding too vague, it smells very Comme des Garcons-ish. Whatever that means! No living tree actually smells like this - in the ground or chopped up. It’s a synthetic replication of wood. Virtual wood, if you will.
It’s after a short while, that I noticed the incense – sharp, spicy, and oddly metallic. Have you ever sniffed real stainless steel cutlery, perhaps locked away in a cedar chest – right before you polish it with stainless steel cleaner? That smell. The non-smoky metallic incense gives the cedar notes a slight ‘gothic’ lift, but maybe this is just my olfactory association run free (a large portion of the H&M Comme des Garcons clothes are black?)
Comme des Garcons does incense accords extremely well (Scent One: Hinoki by CdG x Monocle is one of my favorite scents of 2008 and Avignon and Kyoto (Series 3: Incense) are just classics). The incense in H&M is the best part of the fragrance. I tend to avoid metallic incense scents (Nu by YSL actually hurts my nose when I smell it) – but this incense is not sharp and has a slight tanginess that blossoms into a sweet/spicy combination atop a weird synthetic accord (thinning agent?) that CdG have utilized before in Soda and Skai (Series 6: Synthetic) . As the fragrance fades away (4-5 hours later) I smelled a tiny bit of dirt covered vetiver.

I can’t help comparing H&M to a scent that features cedar / incense and synthetics (a little more effectively): the discontinued Rush for Men by Gucci. The similarity is unmistakable.
No new ground was broken with H&M. The scent is simple and I’m very surprised it’s not more edgy. The H&M department store customers (and CdG fans) will most likely attribute just enough ‘irony’ and ‘weirdness’ to H&M to give it an instant cool factor – but me personally I find it’s off-the-cuff strangeness rather accessible. The plain, clear glass bottle (the same exact bottle used in the Energy Series [Lime, Grapefruit and Lemon] by CdG) is much less stylish than the adorable, white die-cut ‘swiss cheese’ box it comes in. For the $35 price tag, it’s also remarkably affordable.
Notes: not yet available, to be updated.
$34.90 (US) for a 1 oz bottle.

Check out a video of Tokyo H&M / CdG launch.

Pics provided by Mike Perez.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Champaca Absolute by Tom Ford: fragrance review of a new Private Blend

Champaca Absolute by Tom Ford~men and big florals

~by guest writer Mike Perez

When I started exploring niche perfumery, I stumbled upon a bottle of Guerilla 1 by Comme des Garcons, window shopping in Miami Beach. G1 is a mixture of champaca flower notes, fruits and spices and smells like the inside of a butcher shop (no lie). I assumed this strange accord was the champaca flower that I’d never smelled before, but its meaty (almost surgical and metallic) smell is more likely a blending of champaca with a lot of other notes, to achieve this effect.

Tom Ford announced that his newest Private Blend scent (the Private Blend range currently includes 12 scents) is to be released soon (fall 2008) and it is named Champaca Absolute. The name is a ‘reference’ to champaca absolute, a perfumer’s term for the liquid extraction of the flower. There are a few ways to extract the fragrance from the flower: CO2; concrete and absolute. Like many florals, the extraction process can vary the scent profile of the flower. Champaca Absolute then, makes reference to this ‘pure’ form of the champaca flower essence. I haven’t smelled champaca absolute. But from hunting through the internet for a scent profile I came up with this: Champaca is related to the star anise family and it’s smell has been compared to magnolia; it is slightly less peach-y than magnolia with a bit of spice; many compare it to a white flower such as orange blossom, but admit that it has its own unique scent profile; it has a distinct tea note (*). It seems I thought I knew what champaca flower notes smelled like - but based upon these descriptions, I did not.

Champaca Absolute begins with a soft fermented plum note, very wine-like in a hazy sort of tannic effect. Immediately the champaca notes appear and blossom on my skin.

Whoa! The first time I wore CA I got nervous because it is very big floral. I was heading to my office that morning and I was slightly uncomfortable with arriving there with a strong floral presence all around me. For a second I felt as if I was wearing a pair of women’s sunglasses and I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror. Colognoisseurs(**), you know exactly what I’m talking about!

But once the floral notes warmed on my skin (no civet or indolic properties are apparent to my nose, rather it’s a clean and distilled floral note) I relaxed into wearing it. It is amazing how much champaca smells like tea. Tommy Girl by Tommy Hilfiger utilizes a tea note to good effect, but the tea accord in CA is tenacious and not delicate. It mixes beautifully with the spicy floral profile of champaca and this ‘spicy tickle’ in my nose reminds me of sniffing a carnation - and lasts the entire duration, all the way to the base notes.

The base notes are smooth and dry, in a soft chypre style - with a light sprinkling of fruity warmth to it. I’m reminded of Gucci by Gucci, another woman’s fragrance that I personally cannot wear- due to its ‘feminine’ dry down.

CA wears very close to my skin, which I was thrilled with, since if it was stronger it might’ve made me uncomfortable. Mr. Ford clearly had women in mind, when he created CA. It’s the most unabashedly floral of all of the Private Blend scents (even more than the high-definition, indolic Velvet Gardenia).

But still, men (besides Tom Ford himself) will wear this scent, I am sure of it. My advice: Apply lightly and give it a few minutes to settle on your skin. Then put on your sunglasses and stand tall when you walk out the front door. :)

Official Notes: not yet available, to be updated.

* Thanks to Ayala Sender and the vital information on champaca absolute on her Smelly Blog ** Term for a male ‘perfumista’ – created by Quarry (Basenotes member)


ON THE PRESS NEWS: In addition to Champaca Absolute two other Private Blend scents, Italian Cypress (exclusive to Tom Ford boutique in Milan) and Arabian Wood (exclusive to Kuwait) will join the regular lineup within six months of their exclusive debuts.

Pic courtesy of anna.vedeneeva/flickr

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Vetiver Oriental by Serge Lutens: fragrance review

Sporadically one comes across a perfume composition that is perplexing yet enthralling like a chameleon actor who manages to marry opposites, hiding a little cruelty under a suave façade.
Serge Lutens has made history in producing influencial "chef d'oeuvres". His Vétiver Oriental, although not extrapolating the oriental zenith that other fragrances in his line accomplish in a more assured way, such as El Attarine , Arabie or Douce Amère, is stunning nevertheless. The reason is as much aesthetic as it is intellectual: I cannot shake the impression that the task of scaling down, of attenuating the formula to the richness and sumptuousness of the material's roots is an algebric challenge, a piano étude aimed at perfecting a specific agilité that is not in tune with the Lutensian way of usual opulence.
And yet...and yet the result speaks in hushed, nocturnal voices of a decadent drawl; a few chiseled citrusy consonants, a little rubbery-smoky with the rosiness of gaiac wood, surprisingly sweet-spoken licorice-like (deriving from lots of anisaldehyde) with the earthy bitter edge of dry cocoa and loads and loads of polished woods, almost laminated. The natural earthiness of vetiver is heavily flanked by this strange bittersweet idea which was accordingly used in tandem with patchouli in Bornéo 1834 to magnificent results. The quiet plush of balsams and resins (perhaps Peru balsam?) and animalic-like ladbanum elements bring the recollection of warm skin not stripped of its natural oils through the use of perfumes and deodorants, a tad salty. There are some common elements with Le Baiser du Dragon by Cartier which uses vetiver in an orientalised composition of amaretto hints and a tropical white flower in order to cut through the sweetness.

However if the onomatopœia is anything to go by, Serge Lutens and his trusty cohort Christopher Sheldrake, fooled us into believing this is a vetiver-sounding fragrance: it is not and therein lies its strength or weakness. Contrary to the painful pureness of Vétiver Extraordinaire by Frédéric Malle, Vétiver Oriental goes for the trajectory of the root, inviting a Guess Who? game like the late Theresa Duncan used to say; veering into the quasi-gourmand makes it a fabulous amuse-guele but somehow too much as a main course. Nevertheless, this is the time of year when it naturally shines its golden viscosity: the crisp weather brings out all its velvety attributes while its exceptional lasting power and moderate sillage are welcome comforts.

My friend Gaia wrote:"What I'm getting is a feeling of a dark jungle, exotic and wild. As it unfolds its beauty, you also sense the danger that lurks just behind, tempting you to go in deeper". If Vetiver Oriental is indeed a lion in the jungle, then it is the emaciated Scar with his almond shaped green eyes lowly roaring in silvery tones "a shining new era is tiptoeing nearer; just listen to teacher".

Notes for Vetiver Oriental: sap, musk, sandalwood, Iris Pallida, undergrowth notes, amber, chocolate, rockrose labdanum, vetiver, gaiac wood, mosses.

Vetiver Oriental is a Palais Royal Paris exclusive created in 2002 contained in the characteristic bell-shaped jars. It was released for export for a limited time only for winter 2004 in the refined, sparse rectangular bottle. It has now reverted back to exclusive status.

For a comprehensive analysis of vetiver fragrances click Vetiver Series.


Jeremy Irons pic via Getty images, bottle pic via Les Salons du Palais Royal

Thursday, September 18, 2008

The elusive Seraphim by Ormonde Jayne: the What, the How and the Why

Today I am trying to disentangle the thread of the elusive Seraphim by Ormonde Jayne and to clear misunderstandings: surely such an elusive fragrance should have something important to say instead of putting question-marks all over the place. Surely some segments of additional info could surface and on occassion of my conversation with perfumer and founder of Ormonde Jayne, Linda Pilkington, I set out to shed light indeed into the mysterious web of luxury and exclusivity that Seraphim has weaved.

Seraphim was developed for the art concept store 20 ltd , a design house with pieces from famous and upcoming designers such as jewler Solange Azagury Patridge (of the modern demi-chypre Cosmic) and fine art photography. Seraphim, the fragrance by Ormonde Jayne was issued in 2007 in only 50 bottles: the lucky club of owners would be allowed to get refills from Ormonde Jayne (for £270), but that would be it! The bottle, with its beautiful abstract design and its antique gold ribbon around the neck, rests in a box lined with black velvet whose outercase is hued matte gold.
The price tag at the awe-inspiring £450 for the original 50 ml bottle (about €628) is probably enough to deter a blind purchase. And yet the uncompromising attention to quality standards that Linda keeps makes one daydream and wonder...

But why the elitist approach in the first place? Linda was gracious enough to reply in detail: "Ormonde Jayne has many customers that have ordered bespoke scents over the last decade, individual clients who want their own perfume, as well as clients such as Anouska Hempel and Chanel who have commissioned exclusive scented candles or perfume for a special event. As a perfume house, "exclusive" ends up being inevitable at some point, although the vast majority of our work is for the Ormonde Jayne boutique. Also, we saw it as a good opportunity to introduce Ormonde Jayne to an international market, and perfume lovers that might not be familiar with Ormonde Jayne".

Since this explains the exclusivity clause better than any hypothesis on our part, my next question inevitably centered on the price tag. "It was a commission for 20Ltd and my sole duty was to create the perfume and design a bottle and box that was different to the rest of the Ormonde Jayne brand. The price for Seraphim was decided by 20 Ltd, but there were three factors that made it much more expensive: The first was the actual formulation, ingredients like Iris are very expensive. The second was the very small run - just 50 bottles. As the look of the bottle had to be different from the Ormonde Jayne range, we needed to pay for the services of two different brand designers - one for the bottle itself, and one for the box. This involved sourcing velvets and new papers and producing the actual bottle. Now these are the sort of costs which if you are producing a few thousand balance out, but if you are only making 50 bottles, it makes the unit price shoot up. 20Ltd took it from there and were entirely responsible for the next stages, including marketing and advertising. They set the price and they received the money. It wasn't my duty to advertise it all and this is why it doesn't appear on the Ormonde Jayne site".

Which brings me to my last tentative question: who bought it? "I am under the impression that a small percentage of the clients were the perfumistas of the world, however I believe that most of the perfume was sold to the client list of 20 Ltd."

At this point dear readers you would be dying to know my impressions of it. Wish I could give you that pleasure, but I am lamentably not in a position to do so. Perhaps someone of you will reveal that they are! For those of you who are simply curious or toying with the idea of investing, you can see and order the fragrance clicking on the 20ltd page

Notes for Seraphim:
Head notes: (Fresh flowery notes) Bergamot, Rosewood, Ylang Ylang
Heart notes:(Powdery) Rose, Violets, Iris
Soul notes: (Sensual) Musk, Amber, Madagascan Vanilla, Coumarin

Pic through 20ltd

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Laura Mercier exclusive Nuits Enchantees in the US: fragrance news

Laura Mercier has a UK-only limited edition fragrance for women coming to the US, available at Nordstorm for 4 days only. It's Nuit Enchantées (=Enchanted Nights), inspired by the One Thousand and One Nights tale and tagged as "the perfect sensual scent for evening". Designed by James Krivda it belongs to the oriental olfactive family.

Most Nordstrom stores are only getting ten bottles or so. That's because it was produced in only 3000 bottles, so you might want to be quick!
Availability September 17-20 in the 75$ price range for 50ml of Eau de Parfum concentration.

Notes include tuberose, mocha, mace, cardamom, mandarin, ginger, rose, cedar leaf amber, patchouli, sandalwood.
Initial impressions talk about an addictive, warm, spicy fragrance with an autumnal air about it.

Shopping tip: Robyn, the Laura Mercier representative at Nordstrom can be reached at 314.255.2000 extension 1064. According to her she had 7 bottles and she has just gotten the tester in.

The fragrance can also be purchased in the UK of course, at Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols.



Thanks to chimpyblue05 on MUA for bringing the news to my attention.
Some info and pic via Vogue.co.uk and Fragrantica.

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