Posted by Erin
on
16 December 2011
I have always liked mimosa in fragrances. Rather, I should clarify: I have always liked Acacia farnesiana (cassie) and/or scents with heliotropin. The term “mimosa” is a bit of a moving target, even in botany, as there are about 400 species or cultivars of plants under this genus, mostly with pink or mauve flowers, in addition to many other shrubs or trees that produce poofy, cartoonish blossoms and were historically lumped in under the name by the public — silk tree being an example. The sweet, warm, powdery smell we encounter in perfumery, with its facets of almond, honey, violet, craft paste and fresh cucumber, comes from distillation of the soft, feathery yellow petal clusters of the acacia species that most of us in the West know as mimosa flowers. One of my most vivid and happy memories of visits to France is the bushels of mimosa branches tossed out during “La Bataille de Fleurs” or flower parade during the Carnaval de Nice, which winds its way along what must be one of the world’s most beautiful thoroughfares, the Promenade des Anglais.
For all its cheerful straight-forwardness, mimosa appears to be a hard note to use in perfume. There are very few credible soliflores and many mainstream fragrances with a strong mimosa presence come off as airheaded and shampoo-like. With the IFRA restrictions on heliotropin, it has become even more difficult, if not impossible, to base a fragrance around the flower. Looking to include perfumes with some availability in this list, I found that almost all the mimosa fragrances I’d enjoyed at the beginning of my perfume education in the mid-noughties were discontinued or reformulated. Caron Farnesiana, long the great classic of mimosa perfumes, has gone through so many versions that it is hard to keep track of them all…
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Posted by Robin
on
9 December 2011
Our series of holiday gift posts continues today with some gift ideas for the men, although bear in mind that all of the holiday gift posts have at least one or two masculine and/or unisex items, and for that matter, there are plenty of items below that women might want.
If you missed them, here are links to part 1 (scented body products), part 2 (travel sizes & coffrets), part 3 (more travel sizes & coffrets) and part 4 (home fragrance). Coming up next: solid perfumes.
From Odin, candles in their four unisex fragrances (Sunda, Owari, Century or Petrana). $65 each at Barneys…
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Posted by Robin
on
8 December 2011
This book was a great opportunity to show this business the way it is rather than romanticizing it to death like everybody does. It’s really very beautiful just the way it is.
— Frédéric Malle on his new book, On Perfume Making. Read more at Frédéric Malle | ‘On Perfume Making’ at the New York Times.
Posted by Robin
on
5 December 2011
Frédéric Malle’s On Perfume Making will be published in Spring 2012:
Frédéric Malle was born in 1962 into the world of perfume…
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Posted by Angela
on
25 July 2011
While the rest of the nation has suffered from heat, we’ve had moderate temperatures and summer rain. I’m not talking about the wild, ozonic thunderstorms that erupt late afternoons in the eastern states. (How I miss them and fireflies.) I mean cold rain that eases earthy smells from the city, while soft, warm air pillows its splatter. In other words, it’s been perfect weather for Frédéric Malle Angéliques sous la Pluie.
Angéliques sous la Pluie was part of Frédéric Malle’s initial release of perfumes in 2000. Among the house’s line, Angéliques sous la Pluie doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention. I think it’s worth a second look.
Iconic nose Jean-Claude Ellena created Angéliques sous la Pluie, adding notes of angelica leaves, juniper berries, coriander, musk, and sweet cedar. In Perfumes: The A – Z Guide, Luca Turin compares Angéliques sous la Pluie to a wormwood-based Swiss liqueur, and not favorably. I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Swiss liqueur, so that comparison doesn’t prejudice my opinion…
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