Posted by Robin
on
16 June 2011
Jasminora is the latest addition to the Aqua Allegoria range at Guerlain. You old-timers already know the drill: the Aqua Allegorias were introduced in 1999 as a youth-oriented, (relatively) reasonably priced line that was supposed to showcase particular natural materials; they generally add two new light-and-summery fragrances a year, and only those that do well hang around (they’re essentially limited editions). Some years I like them and some years I don’t, but I do own a few of them, in fact, most of the modern-day Guerlains in my collection are from this range — I own Herba Fresca, Anisia Bella and Mandarine Basilic, and if a cheap bottle of Laurier Réglisse came my way, I’d buy that one too.
Last year, if I’m not mistaken, was the first time they released Aqua Allegoria fragrances that weren’t named for specific notes. Flora Nymphéa and Bouquet Numéro 1 were mixed florals, although only the first one went into general distribution in the US. This year, they’re back to form with Jasminora, which is a light summery jasmine. It’s in what I think of as perfumer Thierry Wasser’s “young, fresh and dewy” style, in fact, it has a lot in common with Flora Nymphéa (and by extension, Idylle) although it’s very clearly focused on the jasmine note…
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Posted by Robin
on
2 June 2011
Etat Libre d’Orange, as a brand, doesn’t really suit me, which is a shame because it’s one of the few niche lines that still sells a bottle for less than $100 (and as many of you will remember, $100 is the new free). I haven’t tried quite all of them — they’ve made a whopping 22 fragrances since they debuted in 2006 — but by now I’ve tried most of them. The one that impressed me the most (although it isn’t really “me”) was the brilliant Like This for Tilda Swinton; after that, I’d list Putain des Palaces and Vierges et Toreros as close calls, and I’d probably want a bottle of Fat Electrician if I didn’t already own a bazillionty-and-one vetiver fragrances, modern or otherwise.
But so far, I’ve never been tempted to buy, and only one Etat Libre scent has been sitting in my purgatory basket1 and that’s Jasmin et Cigarette. Since Kevin reviewed Sécrétions Magnifiques yesterday and Jessica is going to review Archives 69 tomorrow, it seemed like a good time to pull it out and decide one way or another…
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Posted by Robin
on
11 May 2011
Less well known are the tribulations endured by the tawny-skinned men and women who grow ornamental jasmine here in Daxing, a district on the rural fringe of the capital. They say prices have collapsed since March, when the police issued an open-ended jasmine ban at a number of retail and wholesale flower markets around Beijing.
— Jasmine is in trouble in China. Read more at Catching Scent of Revolution, China Moves to Snip Jasmine at the New York Times. Thanks to Kevin for the link!
p.s. I'm posting this because I find it interesting that a flower can be a victim of political maneuverings, but as regular readers know, we try to avoid talking politics around here. Keep that in mind if you'd like to comment, or, leave your comments over at the New York Times where you can probably say (nearly) whatever you like.
Posted by Robin
on
3 February 2011
It is a testament to the ongoing deluge of new perfumes, niche and not niche, that Love and Tears (Surrender) launched last year and I promptly forgot all about it, even though it’s a jasmine soliflore, a category of perfumes that I have some interest in, and even though I apparently got a sample shortly after it launched. Love and Tears is by perfumer Calice Becker, an obvious bonus, and it’s from By Kilian, which might or might not be a bonus depending on your point of view (By Kilian makes me a little cranky, as I’ve mentioned before).1
The back story, according to Mr. Kilian Hennessy:
Only the jasmine flower, with its endless spectrum of facets — citrus, green, floral and animalistic — was able to express the profusion of emotions that I wanted to communicate with this scent: the beginning of love marked with excitement, the fear of the unknown, and, ultimately, the surrender to love!
Mostly, though, they left out the animalistic part, and arguably even the “surrender to love”, and certainly the tears. Love and Tears is, perhaps, too richly floral to be the early, innocent days of love, but it’s too easygoing to be anything like surrender…
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Posted by Angela
on
3 January 2011
From its name, you’d think Nasomatto Nuda was a skin scent. From the ultra-cool and slightly irritating Nasomatto website (hint: turn off your speakers), you’d suspect Nuda was assertive and on the rock and roll side of Comme des Garçon’s indie style. What you wouldn’t know were the notes, since Nasomatto doesn’t list them, instead preferring to toss out thoughts about the perfume such as “the unexpected tranquility of giving up oneself without concern for boundary”, “hazy intuition of a depth that undoes distance”, and a “quest to find a vanishing point in nature, the translucence of our senses, nude desire”.
Nuda isn’t a skin scent or a “bad boy” fragrance but is a whopping indolic jasmine. Nasomatto nose Alessandro Gualtieri is frank about basing his fragrances partly on his experiences with drugs (see the Nasomatto manifesto), but in the case of Nuda, I’d say the PR copy is more likely than the fragrance to be the result of a trip. As loud as Nuda is at first, in the end it’s elegant and calm — almost ladylike…
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