Posted by Jessica
on
29 December 2011
Farnesiana was one of the first modern fragrances inspired by the mimosa flower, that notoriously difficult-to-replicate fluffy yellow bloom. According to Jean-Marie Martin-Hattemberg’s volume on Caron, Farnesiana was created by perfumer Michel Morsetti in 1947; its composition includes notes of mimosa, black currant, bergamot, jasmine, violet, lily of the valley, lilac, vanilla, sandalwood, opopanax, hay, and musk (although the Caron website currently only lists mimosa, sandalwood, and hay). The name “Farnesiana” refers to acacia farnesiana, the botanical name for a particular variety of mimosa; it is also, Caron suggests, evocative of Rome’s grand Farnese Palace.
That juxtaposition of a simple flower and a Renaissance palazzo seems appropriate to me, since I’ve always considered Farnesiana a sophisticated comfort scent, an unusual floral-gourmand (or “fleurmand,” as I like to call this perfume sub-genre). To my nose, Farnesiana begins with a powdery, pollen-like mimosa note and with accords of sun-warmed hay and grass. Oddly enough, this green-tinged phase reminds me of certain fragrances from Santa Maria Novella, like Ginestra (Broom) or Fieno (Hay), that evoke meadow-like landscapes. Farnesiana’s heart opens up to reveal the sweetly resinous opoponax…
Read the rest of this article »
Posted by Jessica
on
18 December 2011
Considering the wave of celebrity perfumes that has submerged us over the past decade, it’s interesting that so few famous names have appeared on the labels of fragranced body products. The only examples that come to my mind are Jo Wood Organics, a high-priced niche line created by the ex-wife of a Rolling Stone, and Lisa Hoffman Beauty, a body/fragrance spa brand founded by Dustin Hoffman’s wife, but neither of these women is exactly a household name.
Now, however, we have Nuance, a full collection of cosmetics, skincare, haircare, and body products launched by actress Salma Hayek. Hayek herself is probably no stranger to fancy fragrances and indulgent self-care products, since she’s married to François-Henri Pinault, the CEO of a multinational luxury goods business. Yet her new Nuance brand is sold at CVS drugstores; as Hayek says in one of her promotional videos for the line, “I wanted to make sure that every woman could afford it.” (She also mentions the inspiration of her grandmother, who concocted homemade beauty products in her kitchen, and the long history of natural ingredients in traditional Mexican remedies.)
I picked up two Nuance body products at CVS on a whim…
Read the rest of this article »
Posted by Jessica
on
2 December 2011
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull’d in these flowers with dances and delight…
— A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Eva Luna was released in late June of this year, which was perfect timing since this fragrance was inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Indie brand Providence Perfume Co describes Eva Luna as “a spring green floral…a walk in a moonlit garden”; its composition includes top notes of Russian carrot, fresh mint leaf, French mimosa, and bois de rose; heart notes of tuberose, plumeria, rose de Mai, jasmine, and violet leaf; and base notes of Oman frankincense, ambrette, and orris.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of Shakespeare’s best-loved comedies, a fantastic roundabout of characters falling in and out of love over the course of one moonlit night, in a plot driven by magic potions, mistaken identities, and plays-within-plays. The comedy’s setting, an enchanted forest inhabited by an assortment of fairies, is the perfect analogy for an all-natural perfume. As Angela recently wrote, natural fragrances do have an allure and romance all their own, and it’s always a pleasure to encounter a natural perfume that delivers on its promise…
Read the rest of this article »
Posted by Jessica
on
27 November 2011
Illamasqua, a London-based cosmetics brand founded in 2008, has adopted the phrase “Make-up for your alter ego” as its slogan; as the Illamasqua website explains, “Illamasqua is for the bolder person hiding inside all of us. It is an act and an attitude. A symbol of tolerance. A celebration of idiosyncrasies.” Illamasqua’s cosmetics are boldly colored and densely formulated, almost like theatrical makeup for everyday use, and they have humorously subversive names. I was originally curious about the line because it drew on visual-cultural influences like 1920s Berlin, not to mention the fact that one of its art directors is David Vanian, former lead singer of The Damned.
Now, three years later, we are presented with Freak, Illamasqua’s first fragrance. It is “a concoction of dangerously unconventional flowers brought together to celebrate the night,” with a composition of black davana, opium flower, belladonna, poison hemlock, datura, queen of the night blossom, frankincense, oud, and myrrh. (The description on the Illamsaqua website also mentions a “burnt orange bloom base.”) I originally read this list of notes with great interest and then I enjoyed watching the Freak video (even if the voiceover reminded me somewhat of the Princess Andromeda’s recitation of the suitors’ riddle in the original Clash of the Titans).
So, how does Freak smell? Disclosure: I have never smelled an actual opium flower (poppy) or queen of the night (night-blooming cereus), I’ve only read that davana has a fruity, rum-like scent, and I’m familiar with hemlock primarily from Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Woman, so I can’t assess the accuracy of these notes in Freak. On me, this composition opens with a chilly bite…
Read the rest of this article »
Posted by Jessica
on
20 November 2011
A few years ago, I managed to sample some of the beauty and fragrance products sold only in England by B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful, a sister company of Lush. (You always want what you can’t have.) Then B Never closed its doors in late 2009, and I was sad that I’d never be able to sample its wares again. Recently, thank goodness, several former B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful fragrances were re-released under the auspices of Lush’s Gorilla Perfumes. I enjoyed revisiting B Scent last year, and now I’m happy that even more scents from the original line have reappeared and are available to international online shoppers. Cocktail is one fragrance that I enjoyed in those B Never days and then missed when my sample was finished. Coming back to it, I’m finding it unchanged and just as oddly appealing as it was to me when I first wore it.
Cocktail is billed as an homage to classic French perfumery…
Read the rest of this article »
