And still more online shopping ideas. If you missed the earlier posts, see also: Holiday fragrance gifts 2007, part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.
The luxury fragrance gift for men, Amouage Gold for men, created by perfumer Guy Robert. 50 ml Eau de Toilette in a lead crystal bottle with 24-carat gold plated decorations. As an added bonus, the floral chypre scent is highly borrowable (I like it better than the women’s version). $215 at Parfums Raffy…
“We don't have the skills to become a big brand company that sells perfume all over — but that is not our spirit,” said Ms. Costa-Webster. “I hate the idea that you can find everything everywhere in the world. I think people like the fact that we are still special.”
— Agnès Costa-Webster of Fragonard talks to the New York Times about the historic perfumery founded by her grandfather, Eugène Fuchs.
John Galliano’s show for Dior, held in the Orangery at the Palace of Versailles, showed the problem at its most extreme. A tribute to 60 years of the fashion house, it was a magnificent spectacle, but there was nothing on the catwalk that any woman could actually wear [...] The enormous cost will be absorbed by the millions of consumers who purchase the make-up, fragrance, tights and so on that bear the Dior name.
— Columnist Colin McDowell talks about the "problem" of couture in the UK Times Online.
In honor of their 80th anniversary, Fragonard has launched Billet Doux, a new version of a fragrance from their back catalog, presumably inspired by the painting by Jean Honoré Fragonard…
Tommy Hilfiger will launch Tommy 10 and Tommy Girl 10 in September. The scents are updated variations of the original Tommy and Tommy Girl fragrances:
Tommy Girl 10 has top notes of tart Nantucket cranberry, luscious Marion pear, sweet Pixie tangerine and Indian River grapefruit; a heart of Mississippi magnolia, California honeysuckle and Virginia water lily, and a drydown of Vermont cream, butterscotch and Rocky Mountain birch.
Tommy 10, for men, opens with notes of Seattle rain…
Fragonard launched the Confidentiel line this year with four fragrances, all created by perfumers at Givaudan: Mensonge, Cette Nuit La, Apres Tout, and Soudain. The fragrances are priced higher than usual for Fragonard and the packaging has a more modern aesthetic; this would appear to be an effort to capture some of the upscale niche fragrance market. Today I am trying Soudain, which has notes of Italian green mandarin, lemon, Guatamalan cardamom, jasmine, orange blossom, Paraguayan gaiac wood and musk.
Soudain opens on very dry, very green citrus, heavily dusted with cardamom…
Another corpse flower has bloomed at Western Illinois U, & they're expecting 2 more... http://t.co/oRnROz6j (& they've got live video)