Posted by Kevin
on
4 November 2009
Last week, I read an interesting article in the New York Times1 regarding the falling prices of “premium” blue jeans; reporter Eric Wilson wrote: “The $300 pair of designer jeans is now, courtesy of the recession, the $200 pair of designer jeans.” And what does “premium” mean exactly — “…you had to pay a premium to wear them (the jeans) …. Designers found they could charge a lot for the perception of prestige.”
Niche perfume prices have increased dramatically over the last several years, but the higher prices don’t guarantee outstanding, strikingly original perfumes. Expensive fragrance lines justify their prices and lure consumers with: “rare” and “precious” ingredients; deluxe packaging; restricted availability; flattery (Connoisseurs of fine fragrance will recognize the brilliance of this perfume!); and prices so steep only the “Elite” (YOU!) can afford to buy them.
The NYT article concludes: “Like any commodity that becomes overpriced, there eventually comes a market correction.” While we’re waiting for that correction in the perfume realm, I’ll review two expensive By Kilian scents.
Pure Oud
Pure Oud is the first perfume in By Kilian’s “Arabian Nights” fragrance collection; it was developed by perfumer Calice Becker and lists notes of oud, saffron, copahu balm, amber, gaiac wood, cypriol, cistus labdanum, myrrh and animalic notes…
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Posted by Robin
on
3 September 2009
By Kilian has launched Pure Oud, the first fragrance in the Arabian Nights series.
Pure Oud was developed by perfumer Calice Becker, and features notes of saffron, oud, copahu balm, cypriol, labdanum, myrrh and animalic notes…
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Posted by Robin
on
21 July 2009
Lola is the latest perfume from Marc Jacobs. It follows the über-pleasant, über-cheerful Daisy, and is being touted as Daisy’s “confident and slightly vampy older sister”.
I’ll start with the bottle — as was the case with Daisy, the bottle here is surely at least half the point, maybe even the whole point. Daisy’s original bottle, adorned with white “retro-cool” vinyl flowers, was cute as the dickens, and while I wasn’t so sure about Lola’s bottle when I first saw the pictures, it turns out to be cute as the dickens too. The bright vinyl flower on the cap is absurdly large, so that the 50 ml bottle (see below right) in particular looks as though it might topple over at any moment. It made me laugh out loud as soon as I saw it in person. Again as with Daisy, it’s hard to take a perfume in such a bottle too seriously…
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Posted by Robin
on
5 June 2009
By Kilian will launch Back to Black: Aphrodisiac, the 8th fragrance in the L’Oeuvre Noire / Black Masterpiece series, in September. The name pays homage to singer Amy Winehouse (her second album was called Back to Black), and also references the “narcotic lure” of tobacco and a return to sensuality. Reportedly, women will find the ambery-woody scent feminine, while men will think it was made for them…
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Posted by Robin
on
11 May 2009
Celebrity pastry chef François Payard has launched Inspirations by Payard, a trio of chocolate based perfumes developed by perfumer Calice Becker:
Bergamot Truffle ~ “A citrus with a twist, this seemingly fresh creation hides within its heart a deliciously dark secret…
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