As previously reported, Sean John Fragrances will debut Unforgivable for men in Saks this December. The fragrance was developed by Estee Lauder's MAC division. (via cosmeticnews) The notes are Sicilian lemon, Italian bergamot, Moroccan tangerine, grapefruit, juniper, sparkling champagne accord, Mediterranean air accord, Tuscan basil, Florentine iris, clary sage, lavender, cashmere accord, cool sea moss, Australian sandalwood, amber and tonka bean. The Eau de Parfum will be $300 for 2.5 oz; more reasonably priced Eau de Toilette bottles will be released starting in February. Look for a women's fragrance in fall 2006. Update: see a review of Sean John Unforgivable.
Eau Parfumee au Thé Rouge from Bvlgari will debut in duty free this month. Ferragamo will launch Incanto Charms in March. Coming to duty-free next spring: Lancome Tropiques and Givenchy Lovely Prism. (via Women's Wear Daily)
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Why do perfume houses make products for duty-free only? Are these test markets? I find the Guerlain ones, for example, nice but often half-hearted efforts, with very uninspired packaging. I know you can also get the duty frees at Guerlain boutiques. Weird.
Prism? What is it with Givenchy and strange names. Remember Oblique?
Unforgivable? What an odd name.
I wonder if Tropique will be the old one from the 1930's. If it is I'm very intrigued.
I bet duty free is an easy test market. Captive audience, bored, spraying things on. I'm actually looking forward to the Sean John. Sean Coombs's clothing collections have been, as we say, klee-assy, and this citrusy-herbal-woodsy thing sounds like it could be a nice take on a classic cologne. But what in the world is a “Mediterranean air accord”? And hmm, Italian, Moroccan, Tuscan, Florentine (and then the Australian, which is the “one of these things is not like the other one” selectin)… I think we can tell where P. Diddy likes to vacation.
L, see Tania's comment below, too. I think the test marketing without a major advertising campaign is probably the answer.
M, “Lovely Prism” is not a name that attracts me. Oblique Rewind, etc — those were at least odd & therefore sort of interesting!
H, I rather doubt it just because it wasn't mentioned in the WWD article. Just said that this is Lancome's first foray into the duty-free exclusive market. But I suppose one can always hope!
T, agree on the SJ, the notes don't sound bad at all. Haven't seen the clothes, and as usual, only vaguely know who he is anyway other than a rapper.
Yes, it will be a most unfortunate opportunity for jokes if it turns out to be a bad fragrance!
Here's a great quote about P. Diddy's fragrance from the man himself, which I first read when the lovely Jane803 shared it on Makeup Alley: “There are millions of men that are taking my lead, and I've got to make sure that they come into the promised land of sexy.”
LOL — lead the way, Sean John.
leading 'em into “the land of sexy” … what a responsibility. A Moses for our times. heh. xoxo
I love the name Unforgivable as a concept–it totally fits Diddy's image, and the word is made brand new in its context (Guerlain did one called “Too Much”–same concept, sort of like saying “ooh-la-la”). Lancome Tropique sounds like a white floral–I'd love to know which market it's aimed at and more about the duty free market in general. Lovely Prism is so not a sexy name but it is ultramod. I think it's a *very* weird name.
“Promised land of sexy”…I feel strangely stirred, like a part of me is in church and another part of me's where I shouldn't be. Life on the bible belt, black America. I love it.
S, Agree on the Unforgivable, but I don't know why, but Lovely Prism doesn't even sound ultramod to me. Just silly.
I chose to call it “mod” because of the geometric concept but the name is so far out there it's in alien territory. Maybe I should call it “prog”. But watch out–if we smell the perfume and actually visualize a prism, we won't be saying it's silly anymore. Maybe it'll take off where Arpege left off, to be the first 3D perfume.
S, I think it is the combination of “Prism” — which could be interesting, and “Lovely” — which just makes it sound silly to me, even if it ends up with a 3D vibe. Still trying to think of a word that I would combine with Prism to make a better perfume name, but can't come up with anything. Quite sure Givenchy couldn't care less what I think anyway
I agree, it's the combination of two unrelated words that makes it bizarre and silly as heck, like an English name thought up by a non-native speaker. But I'm Japanese and used to seeing all kinds of silly jibberenglish for products. I'm trying to decide if there is any redeeming quality in the name or if it's just a huge miss–it sounds like Guerlain tried for “Alien” or “Euphoria”, atleast in direction (cyber without losing Guerlain's traditional image, hence “lovely”?)