Posted by Angela
on
20 May 2013
My garden is crazy with roses these days. They splash pink and mauve near the street and waft fruity, peppery fragrance to my neighbors’ porches. I’m greedy with them, and four vases of Madame Isaac Pereire, La Reine Victoria, and Jude the Obscure in varying stages of decrepitude crowd the dining room table (I love their perfume best just as they start to shrivel), and another few vases are crammed on the mantle.
But other than on the stem, the scent of roses doesn’t move me. Sure, I love the occasional spritz of Guerlain Nahéma when I’m feeling over the top, and a dose of Parfum d’Empire Eau Suave is marvelously fresh on a warm day, but otherwise rose can feel institutional and even dowdy. But now, when my garden is flush with roses, it seems right to revisit two often overlooked rose-centered fragrances: Lancôme Miracle and Estée Lauder Intuition…
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Posted by Angela
on
13 May 2013
In searching for something to review this week, I dropped by Nordstrom for a sample of Valentino Valentina Assoluto. I’d peeled open its scent strip in Vogue and read its notes, and it sounded alluring — warm, earthy, and sultry with a truffle note. But the real thing? Valentina Assoluto was the epitome of a bad mall fragrance, shrill and off-putting, exactly what I fear encountering in elevators. I left my sample in the garbage at work.
But it spurred me to think, what makes a sultry perfume? Has our definition of seductive scent changed so much over time? I reached for some Weil Zibeline and spritzed. Now that’s what I call a comfortable yet sexy fragrance: a diffuse top, complex warm and spicy heart, and sweet, animalic drydown. Valentino et al, take notes…
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Posted by Angela
on
6 May 2013
New perfume releases are getting ridiculous. I don’t mean the sheer number of them — although that’s mind boggling enough — I mean who is launching perfume. Scrolling through Now Smell This reveals notices from the usual celebrities and fashion houses announcing flankers and flankers of flankers, but also perfumes by seemingly every watch maker, mall shop, lingerie brand and car manufacturer out there. We’re even seeing fragrances from fast food restaurants and photographers. Clearly, ginning up a perfume and tossing it on the market is a must in every brand’s portfolio.
Who could possibly be next?
I’ve thought about it, and if Pizza Hut can do it, other brands are missing the boat by not launching their own scent. Listen up, marketing geniuses, for some sure-fire winners…
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Posted by Angela
on
29 April 2013
Perusing photos of Denis Durand’s Cher-worthy gowns didn’t give me much confidence I’d like Parfums M Micallef’s Le Parfum Denis Durand Couture. One gown in particular — a sort of cross between a black lace negligee and something that might have been on stage at the Moulin Rouge in the 1890s — really scared me. If I want bombastic, I already have a few divas in my perfume cabinet ready for action.
Well, shame on me for making assumptions. While Parfum Couture could never be called shy, neither is it the crass, room-hogging perfume I feared. Instead, it’s a warm, easy-to-wear oriental balancing tangerine, honey, and amber with a streak of metallic tang. I bet it will find a lot of fans. I’m one…
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Posted by Angela
on
22 April 2013
When Mona di Orio died in December 2011, she left behind formulae for a few more fragrances, among them Eau Absolue. I had to wonder, how does that work? I’m always suspicious of novels published after authors have died. The writers aren’t around to nix an editor’s suggestions or revise scenes that might have not have yet met their standards. How about with a perfumer?
I asked Jeroen Oude Sogtoen, Mona di Orio’s business partner, who continues to manage the perfume line. Of their business relationship, they referred to Mona as the business’s “nose” and Jeroen Oude Sogtoen as the “eye” since he’s responsible for the line’s simple-but-luxurious visual appeal.
He said the concentrates for the Mona di Orio line continue to be made at Accords et Parfums on Edmond Roudnitska’s property, and he doesn’t have another perfumer fine-tune her compositions before they’re produced…
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