Perfumer Christopher Sheldrake of Chanel talks about iris and the new Chanel No. 19 Poudré. Found at J'aime Le Parfum.
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Serge Lutens Vitriol d’Oeillet ~ fragrance review
The perfume world is fickle. Though some perfume notes are perennial favorites — bergamot, sandalwood, and petitgrain come to mind — other ingredients become “problematic” over time. Once, Calone was all the rage…then, one day, perhaps due to overuse or a style shift in perfumery, Calone smelled dated. Not that long ago, rose-rich perfumes were considered passé. (Alongside antiquated rose were the scents of oak moss and carnation — suffering not only from associations with old times and ‘old folks,’ but difficult to work with, or re-create, due to IFRA restrictions.) Then, rose had a renaissance, a facelift, an attitude adjustment, and became “young” again, and is used in all manner of mainstream and niche perfumes, including men’s fragrances. Oak moss and carnation are still waiting for their rejuvenation treatments.
So, how do you “update” a dated aroma? How do you transform old-fashioned carnation, that much-maligned flower, associated with death, bad luck and bad taste, into something modern, edgy and desirable? One way would be to make carnation brazen: accent every facet of its scent, amplify its impact with newer, unusual perfume materials, make it bloom in a new way. Another tactic is familiar from the world of food…
I’ll walk all over you
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sheldrake's take is less extreme. "It's important to remember that No 19 was created at the beginning of the 1970s, an era notable for the fact that women's emancipation was at its height. The original No 19 was created in the spirit of the first wave of feminism and it therefore has something of an 'I'll walk all over you' aspect to it, I agree."
No 19 Poudré , as perhaps befits the time, "is a more obviously feminine fragrance," Polge argues.
— Perfumers Christopher Sheldrake and Jacques Polge talk about the upcoming Chanel No 19 Poudré.
Update: huge apologies, I inadvertently left out the link to the original article! Here it is: One green bottle: Meet the brains – and noses – behind Chanel No 19 at The Independent.
Serge Lutens Nuit de Cellophane ~ perfume review
Nuit de Cellophane was released by Serge Lutens in early 2009 as part of the brand’s export collection. The press release for this fragrance includes a typically Lutensian snippet of prose-poetry and dialogue, but the sample-vial card offers a more concise description: “The night embodied in scent and sight. Chinese osmanthus.” Nuit de Cellophane’s list of notes includes jasmine, osmanthus, carnation, lily, almond, honey, sandalwood, and musk.
I hope my “perfumista” credentials won’t be revoked when I reveal that I’m not a Serge Lutens fanatic. I admire the line’s artistic philosophy and many of its fragrances (and I did own the original Shiseido Féminité du Bois years ago), but although I can appreciate the scents in an abstract sense, I somehow don’t enjoy wearing most of them. Even Sa Majesté la Rose, the rose soliflore of the line, which would seem to be a good fit for my tastes, rubs me the wrong way. (Is it the geranium that bothers my nose? the honey? I’ve never been able to figure it out.) Long story short, I respect Serge Lutens from a distance, but the house’s aesthetic just doesn’t fit me. On the other hand, Nuit de Cellophane sounded like the type of sweet floral that usually appeals to me, and if it turned out to be a non-Serge-like scent, as many diehard Lutensians lamented, then I would probably like it…
The key note
The key note that we have enhanced is the iris. A lot of women who love the original No 19 are not going to change to this new version. No 19 is still totally valid as a niche fragrance for today.
— Perfumer Christopher Sheldrake talks about the upcoming Chanel perfume, No. 19 Poudre. Read the rest at A nose ahead of the rest at the Sydney Morning Herald.
