Designer Stella McCartney will launch L.I.L.Y, her second pillar fragrance, in 2012. The name comes from her father Paul McCartney's nickname for his first wife, Linda McCartney (Linda I Love You). It also references the new scent's lily of the valley note...

Giorgio Armani's Emporio Armani line will launch Emporio Armani Diamonds Black Carat fragrances for Her and for Him in October. Both fragrances were developed by perfumer Jacques Cavallier...

Hot Couture has hovered at the edge of my fragrance consciousness for years, but I never actually tried it until this week, when I was feeling particularly jaded at Sephora and I wanted to smell something, anything that wasn't a summer limited edition. And now that I think about it, I'm intrigued by this fragrance: Hot Couture has been holding its place in the Givenchy section of perfume counters since it was released in 2000, yet it's such a "neither/nor" fragrance for the venerable brand. It's neither Audrey Hepburn nor Liv Tyler, neither the classic L'Interdit nor the blandly trendy Very Irresistible and all its flankers. Nor is it one of Givenchy's coming-on-strong fragrances of the 1990s, like Amarige or Organza. What is it?

In Givenchy's official (and generally meaningless) description, "Hot Couture is a creation that aims to complement the woman's body, combining sensuality and glamour with refinement and elegance. Very fashionable, the Hot Couture woman is both refined and original, slightly provocative and so uniquely charismatic." Hot Couture is "a voluptuous fragrance with spicy and woody notes (raspberry nectar, magnolia, amber-vetiver)," and it was developed by perfumers Alberto Morillas and Jacques Cavallier. Its title is a silly pun on "haute couture," and the bottle's logo looks like a dressmaker's label with pinked edges. (The older bottle design bore an image resembling a vintage fashion sketch.)

Hot Couture starts off with a flashy burst of raspberry and vanilla...

Amouage describes Opus V Eau de Parfum as a "woody and floral neoclassical masterpiece." Sure, Opus V stars a beautiful iris and has wood, but how you feel about Amouage Opus V will likely depend on how much you like oud.

Perfumer Jacques Cavallier created Opus V. It has notes of orris, agarwood, rum, rose, jasmine, civet, and dry wood accord. According to Amouage's PR machine, "the vision and inspiration for this fragrance is the internet and how knowledge and the art of living are shared amongst the glabal community digitally. This fragrance takes inspirations from the exploration of the tradition and classical art of sharing knowledge to how knowledge becomes fragmented in the world of artificial intelligence, and which has become an acceptable way of living nowadays." (Whew! I bet Jean Claude Ellena is thanking his lucky stars his thematic fragrances for Hermès have to do with gardens.)

When I ponder classical art, the internet, and fragmented knowledge, I come up with the smell of fried transistors...

Skincare and spa line Caudalie has launched two new fragrances, Zeste de Vigne and Thé des Vignes. The 2002 fragrance Fleur de Vigne has also been repackaged to join the new collection...

Amouage has launched Opus V, a new woody floral fragrance and the latest fragrance in the brand's Library collection...

Bvlgari has launched two new limited edition flankers for men, Aqva Pour Homme Toniq and Aqva Pour Homme Marine Toniq...

The first fougère perfume was 1882’s Houbigant Fougère Royale — just reissued.* Fougère (fern) fragrances make up a huge proportion of men’s fragrances, but fougère colognes are not well represented in my perfume collection. For a long time, I’ve smelled fougère perfumes, searching for one that I can love and that doesn’t make me smell like a fuddy-duddy.

Fougères come in a variety of formulations: Hermès Brin de Réglisse, Diesel Fuel for Life, Yves Saint Laurent Kouros, Brut, Jean Paul Gaultier Fleur du Mâle — fougères all! Recently, the fougère genre has revived after years of dormancy. Two new fougère entries are Amouage Memoir Man (a demi-fougère that turns quickly into an incense fragrance) and Penhaligon’s dowdy Sartorial (loved by many, but not by me). To find a fougère I could enjoy wearing, I went back in time to the “archives.”

Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche pour Homme (2003), developed by perfumer Jacques Cavallier, includes notes of bergamot, rosemary, star anise, lavender, geranium, clove, coumarin, patchouli, oak moss, guaiac wood, and vetiver. Rive Gauche pour Homme starts off with bergamot and anise (that go from “crisp/tart” to “creamy” in seconds) followed by a rosemary-lavender-geranium progression that quivers between green/herbal rosemary-lavender leaves, and furry, aromatic geranium leaf. A mild sweetness emerges in the shift from top and middle notes...

Yves Rocher will launch Vanille Noire, a new fragrance for women in the the Secrets d’Essences collection (see Voile d’Ambre, Rose Absolue, Iris Noir, Tendre Jasmin).

Vanille Noire was developed by perfumer Jacques Cavallier...

Yves Rocher will launch So Elixir, a new perfume for women, in September. The company hopes So Elixir will "raise its glamour quotient".

So Elixir was developed by perfumers Marie Salamagne, Olivier Cresp and Jacques Cavallier; the notes for the woody floral...