Posted by Robin
on
20 May 2008
Christian Dior launched Addict in 2002. They were hoping the name — and the tag line, “Admit it” — would get attention, and they got their wish; although it had been preceded by a lipstick and nail color range under the same name, it was the perfume that got people riled up. “The advertising industry has long been drawn to the low-life look, but the French fashion house Christian Dior has taken it to new depths”, noted NPR's Weekend Edition*. After months of pressure from anti-drug abuse advocacy groups, Dior dropped the tag line and replaced the early ad images that had appeared to glamorize illegal drug use.
Whatever punch the name Addict had in 2002 has been largely diluted by the subsequent flankers — Dior Addict 2 Summer Litchi, anyone? But the Addict juice, a floriental developed by perfumer Thierry Wasser, still packs a wallop…
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Posted by Robin
on
19 November 2007
It’s been a long year for celebrity fragrances, and 2008 looks to be even worse. Or better, depending on your stance. My stance: ok, celebrity fragrances are often amusing. Sometimes, they’re wearable. Sometimes, they’re wearable and distinctive. But there are far too many of them (especially in the UK, where they’re doing a much more thorough job of scraping the bottom of the barrel than we are in the US), and a large percentage work in a very narrow fruity floral genre designed to appeal to the very young. After awhile, they all start to smell the same.
Christina Aguilera joins the fray this year. Her eponymous floriental fragrance, geared towards 15-25 year olds, aims to capture old-style Hollywood glamour, and launched recently under the tag line “sometimes, it’s all you need to wear”. In some cases, my expectations for a celebrity fragrance are low enough that I’m pleasantly surprised; Christina Aguilera pretty much smells like I imagined it would…
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Posted by Kevin
on
18 May 2007
During spring and summer, the Northwest has some of the most beautiful and dramatic “blue hours” I’ve ever experienced — the lustrous sky turns every shade of blue, from chalk blue to blue-black. While wearing Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleue fragrance for the first time, I went outside with my cat (who is blue himself) and experienced a blue hour; I sat under my second-story porch, behind a curtain of blossoming clematis vines that swayed in the cool breeze, their pink and blue, vanilla-scented flowers glowed like stars against the dark shiny leaves of the laurel hedge. The ornery blue jays had gone to nest and refused to participate in my blue reverie, but a robin “trio” sang soothing avian folk songs till dark.
The “blue hour” is the time between sunset and nightfall when everything seems tinged with blue. I’m a lover of the blue hour; in fact, I like the world best between twilight and dawn. I could easily keep vampires’ hours, since bright sunny days wear me out, wear me down and make everything seem too focused, exposed and raw.
I’ll spare you the oft-told tale of the creation of L’Heure Bleue (easily read on Guerlain’s website) but I will say that people who have reviewed this perfume often find it “sad” and “melancholy.” I bet many of those people love the daytime, the sun, brightness and heat. To me, L’Heure Bleue is “quiet,” not sad, but I do find it “chilly” and a bit harsh, especially in its extreme dry-down phase…
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Posted by Robin
on
14 February 2006
Songes is the latest fragrance release from the house of Annick Goutal. It was created by Camille Goutal in collaboration with perfumer Isabelle Doyen, and was said to have been inspired by the scent of frangipani flowers at sunset on the island of Mauritius. The notes are frangipani, tiare, jasmine notes, incense, vanilla, copahu balm, pepper, ylang-ylang absolute, vetiver, sandalwood, amber and styrax.
Songes starts with a trio of tropical flowers: frangipani (also known as plumeria), jasmine, and a hint of gardenia. It is sweet and strong, but not quite heady, although bear in mind that I am trying it from a sample vial — sprayed, it might be quite another story. The jasmine, lightly tinged by green, takes over in the early stages, and it is simply gorgeous. It settles into a softer blend of white florals, sandalwood and resinous notes, all with a velvety, whisper-of-powder finish…
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Posted by Robin
on
19 May 2005
Amouage originally released Ubar in 1995. It was meant to celebrate Oman’s Silver Jubilee year, and was named for the lost Omani city of Ubar, long believed to be an important center of the historical frankincense trade and re-discovered in 1992 with the aid of satellite imaging. The original bottle (see below) was by Pierre Dinand, and while it was a striking design, there was something about it that I always thought a poor fit with the juice.
Ubar has been relaunched this year (20091). It has new packaging (see image above), a new concentration (the original was an Eau de Toilette; now it’s an Eau de Parfum) and a new price (much higher). The notes (bergamot, lemon, lily of the valley, Damascena rose, Bulgarian rose, jasmine, sandalwood, synthetic civet and vanilla) are reportedly the same. Here’s what I had to say about the original Ubar when I reviewed it in 2005…
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