The archetypal image of Valentine’s Day is a heart-shaped box of chocolates. Done right, the box is wrapped in lightly padded vermillion satin, and the chocolates are rich and silky smooth — no grainy cherry filling here. Of course, next to the box is a lush bouquet of fragrant flowers. It’s romantic, timeless, and sure to melt the coldest heart. To me, its perfume equivalent could only be Guerlain Attrape-Cœur.

In 1999, Guerlain released Guet-Apens Eau de Parfum as a limited edition and named Mathilde Laurent as its nose. The fragrance was reissued in 2005 as Attrape-Cœur, this time credited to Jean-Paul Guerlain. (I’ve also seen Maurice Roucel’s name tossed in as a contributor to Attrape-Cœur.) In 2007, Guerlain released an Eau de Toilette formulation in duty free shops and named it, oddly, Vol de Nuit Evasion. (To make it even stranger, Vol de Nuit Evasion was packaged in a L’Heure Bleue/Mitsouko bottle, but labeled with the classic Vol de Nuit parfum logo.)

In French, guet-apens means “ambush.” I think Attrape-Cœur (“heart catcher”) is a more fitting name for the fragrance…

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Five perfumers, one from each of the major fragrance and flavor companies, were named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres last week by the French Minister of Culture…

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When I first started posting on the fragrance discussion board at Makeup Alley, around 2004, I had a very basic idea of what I was looking for in a new fragrance for myself. I knew I loved rose scents, and I was a longtime fan of the rich vanilla in Jean Paul Gaultier Classique. Perhaps, I thought, I could find a perfume that combined the two notes. I finally ventured to ask for rose-vanilla fragrance recommendations, and a few veteran members of the discussion board offered suggestions. The one that was most enthusiastically named and seconded by other members was Rochas Tocade, so I set out to try it as soon as possible.

Tocade was created for Rochas by perfumer Maurice Roucel and was released in 1994. Its name translates as “whim” or “caprice,” and its composition includes top notes of magnolia and bergamot, heart notes of rose, orris, and geranium, and base notes of cedarwood and vanilla. Its vaguely silly-looking bottle, designed by Serge Mansau, reminds me of a figure wearing a turtleneck and a conical hat, or a toy for an infant. If had seen that bottle in a store, without knowing anything about the fragrance, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up, but thanks to the good advice I’d received, I was willing to give Tocade a chance.

Tocade is a floriental with a gourmand leaning, and it’s definitely a perfume-y perfume; anyone looking for a fragrance that feels “clean” or “shower-fresh,” or even “airy” or “dewy,” can stop reading here…

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Gwen Stefani will launch a new set of limited edition Harajuku Lovers fragrances next month under the name Harajuku Lovers Wicked Style:

The Harajuku Girls and G have made their way back to where it all started, the streets of Harajuku…

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Have you ever thought about matching iconic Hermès handbags with the equally iconic Hermès perfumes? I’d pair Calèche with the classic Kelly bag and Kelly Calèche with one of the new, smaller Kellys in a bright color, say apple green or watermelon pink. Birkin bags are more casual and slouchy, more modern, than the Kelly bags, and I can see the Hermessences suiting a Birkin. Pamplemousse Rose, for instance, would be nice with a pale green or dove grey Birkin bag (although Equipage is a natural for a battered, nude calf Birkin.) To me, 24, Faubourg’s match is the Constance. 24, Faubourg’s prim, go-anywhere elegance seems made for a woman with a mink brown, gold-buckled Constance slung over her shoulder.

Hermès released 24, Faubourg in 1995. It’s named after the address of Hermès’s flagship store and is one of a handful of perfumes named after fashion-centric addresses, including Balenciaga Le Dix and Chanel 31 Rue Cambon. Maurice Roucel created 24, Faubourg. Nigel Groom lists its notes as orange blossom, jasmine, tiara flower, ylang ylang, iris, patchouli, vanilla, ambergris, and sandalwood.¹

To me, this list of notes is barely a sketch of the full body of 24, Faubourg…

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Linari has launched Acqua Santa, the line’s fifth personal fragrance (see Notte Bianca, Angelo Di Fiume, Vista Sul Mare & Eleganza Luminosa).

Acqua Santa was developed by perfumer Maurice Roucel…

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In The Mood For Love was developed by perfumer Maurice Roucel; the notes include bitter orange, magnolia, white rose, amber and wood…

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When I reviewed Mark Buxton's Wood & Absinth last week, several people mentioned another vetiver + anise fragrance, Kenzo Air (or Kenzoair, as I believe the brand prefers). How I made it all this time without smelling Kenzo Air is a bit of a mystery to me, but I suppose the name “Air” was not all that appealing? Obviously I needed to smell it, and since it didn't seem to be available locally (and it's too cold to go outside anyway), I ordered some right away. I'd like to point out that I made it a full 13 days into 2009 before breaking rule no. 1 (or no. 2? I can't remember) and buying something unsniffed, but this was cheap enough that it wouldn't have killed me if I'd hated it. And lo and behold, everyone who commented was right: it's wonderful.

Kenzo launched Air in 2003; it was intended as…

… a breath of fresh air… it lets a man discover his inner child. The fragrance denotes an elegant, masculine presence, awakening childhood sensations and familiar impressions, shaking things up and reinventing them…

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Dans Tes Bras is, simply put, a strange fragrance. Search the online fragrance forums and you'll find lots of mushroom references; Perfume Posse described it as the “violets in the mushroom patch oddity that is Dans tes Bras” (but they meant that in a good way, mind you).

I'll start with the facts: Dans Tes Bras is a spicy woods scent…

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Malle holds aloft a phial of the latest opus, Maurice Roucel's Dans Tes Bras, which has taken 18 months to develop, and launches this month. It smells like a little bunch of violets rubbed against skin: a gorgeous fluttering bouquet of violet, iris, jasmine and a touch of bergamot. "The whole idea was to depict intimacy – when you travel through it, you get the scent of skin," he explains, saying that it is comparable to Guerlain's 1906 classic, Après l'Ondée.

— Columnist Bethan Cole talks to Frédéric Malle in Heaven scent: The best independent perfumers at The Independent.