Posted by Kevin
on
20 January 2010
The traditional, hand-made soaps of the Middle East are rustic (often brown and wrapped simply in wax paper), heavy (drop a full-size bar on your toes in the shower and you may be headed to the ER) and pungent with the aromas of plant oils and seeds — cumin, nigella, olive, bay laurel. The famous soaps of Aleppo, Syria, are olive oil based and fragranced with bay laurel (laurus nobilis), and they are one of the inspirations, along with the Lebanese landscape, for Comme des Garçons + Monocle Scent Two: Laurel — henceforth referred to as “Laurel.”
Laurel was developed by perfumer Antoine Maisondieu and contains bay laurel, incense, cedar, pepper, patchouli and amber. Laurel starts off smelling green and herbal — like a bruised or crushed fresh bay laurel leaf. Quickly, Laurel’s bracing green aroma is joined by “coarse” black pepper and smoky frankincense. In Laurel’s base, the original bay laurel scent (a perfume in and of itself) darkens and is joined by musty-sweet cedar. Then, something wonderful happens: Laurel’s notes combine to produce an accord that smells like one of my favorite flowers — marigold…
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Posted by Robin
on
11 December 2009
Burberry will launch Burberry Sport fragrances for women and men in February (look for a prestige makeup line to follow in July). The new scents “are meant to pack a high-octane punch”…
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Posted by Robin
on
20 November 2009
Paul Smith will launch Rose Summer Edition, a new limited edition fragrance for women, in January.
As with the original Paul Smith Rose and the 2009 Summer Edition, the new fragrance was developed by perfumer Antoine Maisondieu…
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Posted by Robin
on
19 November 2009
Next month, Comme des Garçons will launch their second fragrance in collaboration with Monocle magazine, Scent Two: Laurel. Scent One: Hinoki, launched in 2008.
Inspired by a trip to the Bekaa Valley…
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Posted by Robin
on
5 November 2009
After immediately falling head over heels in love with Bois d’Iris, to the tune of $185, I took my time about the other five fragrances in the Collection Extraordinaire from Van Cleef & Arpels. As it turns out, they’re all nicely done, and I can see why Gardénia Pétale in particular has found admirers. But none of them made me catch my breath other than the Muguet Blanc, and my reaction to that one was not entirely positive.
Here’s what Neiman Marcus has to say about Muguet Blanc:
Muguet Blanc showcases the purity, innocence and much-anticipated beauty of one of springtime’s first flowers. A green, joyous and incredibly delicate arrangement, graceful lily-of-the-valley is enhanced with exotic white peony, radiant neroli and uplifting white cedar.
For the most part, that’s right on the money; the part I’m going to quibble about is mostly the “joyous”. To explain why, I need to back up. A little warning before I proceed: those of you who are sick to death of hearing me wax nostalgic about the lost glory days of perfumery, move on, there’s nothing else to read here today…
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