Posted by Robin
on
24 February 2009
It has been a very long time since I actually swooned over the first sniff of any perfume, but the latest from the Hermessence collection at Hermès, Vanille Galante, was a rare case of love-at-first-sniff. Happily for me, so far it appears to be a lasting relationship — just as well, since I bought it unsniffed.*
I will start by mentioning that Vanille Galante is likely to be a disappointment to vanilla freaks (there have already been a few disgruntled customers on the fragrance boards). The early scents in the Hermessence series (Ambre Narguile, Rose Ikebana, Vetiver Tonka, Poivre Samarcande, Osmanthe Yunnan) were mostly “about” the material they were named after. Paprika Brasil and Brin de Reglisse were less directly so, and Vanille Galante, while presumably a reflection of some sorts on vanilla…
Read the rest of this article »
Posted by Robin
on
21 January 2009
Perry Ellis has launched Perry Ellis for Women, the feminine counterpart to last year's Perry Ellis for Men.
Perry Ellis for women is described on the Perry Ellis website as…
A modern yet flirty bouquet floral fragrance with a bright introduction and a creamy, woody, dry-down…
Read the rest of this article »
Posted by Robin
on
15 December 2008
Elizabeth Arden will launch Pretty, a new fragrance for women, this coming March. Pretty is a floral fragrance that "celebrates the ritual of getting ready to go out".
Pretty was developed by perfumer Claude Dir, and includes notes of mandarin orpur, orange blossom, peach nectar, petalia (a new Givaudan molecule), star jasmine, pink iris, white peony, fluffy musk, jacaranda wood and creamy amber…
Read the rest of this article »
Posted by Robin
on
14 October 2008
Such is the current pace of new fragrance launches that when I sat down to refresh my memory on the subject of Chanel's niche range, Les Exclusifs de Chanel, I was surprised to see that they debuted only last year. It feels like they've been around much longer than that, but when you consider that there have been something like 3 new fragrance launches a day since then, they're really rather old hat by now, aren't they?
When I reviewed 31 Rue Cambon last year, I noted that…
…first off, they are well done, each and every one of them. The materials are first rate, they are all wearable without being dull, and they are “worthy of the name of Chanel”, whatever that means.
Still, I wished they'd done something a little more daring…
Read the rest of this article »
Posted by Angela
on
21 August 2008
If I hadn’t known that Amouage Jubilation 25 was new, you could have convinced me that this was the perfume that the snake dabbed on Eve when he handed over the apple. You could have told me that the scent of Jubilation 25 so mesmerized Adam that when he bit into the apple he thought it was something wholesome, like a vegan burrito, instead of a naughty apple, and I would have believed it. After all, Jubilation 25 smells like a blend of flesh and paradise.
Amouage released Jubilation 25 in 2007 to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Lucas Sieuzac, who won Fashion Group International’s Rising Star award in 2004, hit it out of the park when he created Jubilation 25. The Amouage website lists Jubilation 25′s top notes as tarragon, rose, lemon, and ylang ylang; its heart as davana, labdanum, rose, and frankincense; and its base as amber, musk, vetiver, myrrh, and patchouli.
Surprisingly, given the list of notes, Jubilation 25 smells to me like a carnal, sheer rose-fruit chypre with a dusting of cumin and a twist of lemon. It is a woman’s smell, not a girl’s, and a confident, sensual woman’s smell, at that…
Read the rest of this article »
