One caveat

He made his first call to Pierre Bourdon, who had created the iconic Cool Water for Davidoff and worked at Roure in the ’80s. Malle gave him one caveat. “I said, ‘Let’s find a way not to be copied. The people who others copy go cheap.’  ”

— From Scent of Success, about the Frédéric Malle perfume line, with many thanks to Monika for the link!

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13 Comments

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  1. Nina
    Posted on 29 June 2010

    Hmm, if they’re going to tweak the packaging a little, could that mean that the older bottles might be sold off? A small perfumista dream!

    • miss kitty v.
      Posted on 29 June 2010

      Wouldn’t that be exciting? I think you might be right about it being a dream, though. :) I have yet to run across any niche discounts, but I know they’re out there, so who knows?

    • Posted on 29 June 2010

      Nice dream, yes!!

      • Nina
        Posted on 29 June 2010

        Well, it CAN happen…when Etro changed their packaging recently, Liberty sold the old versions off at a discount!

        • miss kitty v.
          Posted on 29 June 2010

          There you go. And I just remember that MPG was being sold at a discount at several places.

  2. Zazie
    Posted on 29 June 2010

    Friday my husband gave me my first precious bottle of Carnal Flower…
    Carnal Flower has eclipsed everything else I own (in the heat it works so well, who would have told?) except for another Frederic Malle- Dominique Ropion creation: Une fleur de cassie, which vibrates like nothig else.
    The article says they are heading towards their fifth and sixth scent together, what should I say? I swoon, and selfishly hope that the scents are for the person and not for the home.
    Their Gardenia la nuit candle was the most wonderful thing I put my nose on, and I wrote les editions begging them to do an edp equivalent!
    Re-reading my post I sound very confused and almost maniacal.
    Well, everything done by Monsieur Ropion for FM has touched a chord for me.
    The embody the art, craftmanship and soul that very few fragrances have… Can’t wait to smell the new additions to the line…

    • Zazie
      Posted on 29 June 2010

      I mean, I am confused and almost maniacal in my scented hobby! :D

      • Julia
        Posted on 30 June 2010

        It’s great! My first big perfume purchase was a bottle of Musc Ravageur, I love it beyond reason, and it has great sentimental value to me, too. I have samples and decants of the others and you’ve made me want to wear Carnal Flower today! I’m hoarding about 8ml right now – I love the 10ml travel atomizers!

    • Posted on 29 June 2010

      That would be lovely if they’d do a gardenia!

  3. PekeFan
    Posted on 29 June 2010

    Does anyone know how they work that “headspace” technology? It sounds as if they dissect a flower, place it in silica gel, and then elute the absorbed chemical compounds from the silica with solvent(s) [DCM, MeOH, Hexane?]. Would they use a GC/MS or an FID with a MS attached… or both to identify AND quantify?

    I love Malle fragrances, especially “Lipstick Rose”, and it is so exciting that new ones are on the way!

    • PekeFan
      Posted on 29 June 2010

      The thing that confuses me the most is the bit where they examine parts of the flower separately. How could they do that if they don’t dissect the blossom and then place each plant part into separate vials of silica gel?

      • Posted on 29 June 2010

        It is a device rather like a bell jar that allows them to analyze the odor compounds in a natural material, and then reconstitute them later (synthetically)…so the original material is not harmed at all.

  4. nozknoz
    Posted on 29 June 2010

    “I never bought a single piece of fashion” – reminds me of that quote about how fashion is ephemeral but style is forever. I really appreciate his dedication to his own vision of enabling great noses to pursue theirs.

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