Posted by Robin
on
12 February 2010
Balenciaga Paris is the latest fragrance from Balenciaga. It’s the brand’s first major launch since Cristobal in 1998, the first effort under new licensing arrangements with Coty, and the first under creative director Nicolas Ghesquière. It’s fronted by Charlotte Gainsbourg, who is frequently described as Ghesquière’s muse (see the very low-key Gainsbourg ad here). Perfumer Olivier Polge characterized the floral chypre as “present” — “It’s here. When you wear it. You smell it.”1
That might sound a little oblique, but it turns out to be a fitting description: when I first tried Balenciaga Paris on paper, my reaction was muted, and it wasn’t until I’d worn it on skin several times that I began to see what he meant. Balenciaga Paris wears like a minimalist veil — think Prada’s Infusion d’Iris or L’Eau Ambrée, although it smells like neither. It starts soft and fresh and watery…
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Posted by Robin
on
14 July 2009
Jasmine White Moss is the latest addition to Estée Lauder’s Private Collection range. It’s reportedly based on an unfinished fragrance that Estée Lauder herself had been working on in the 1980s:
Estée conceived Formula #546AQ, as it was known, as a new way to convey sparkling freshness balanced with sophisticated elegance and a distinctive signature. However, it was left unfinished in her lifetime and was gradually forgotten for many years.
Often inspired by her grandmother’s work, Aerin Lauder, Estée Lauder Senior Vice President and Creative Director, was looking back through the archives and rediscovered this lost fragrance. She fell in love with its unexpectedly lively, modern spirit and decided to complete the fragrance, using today’s advanced technology and the finest natural ingredients direct from France.1
Private Collection Jasmine White Moss is classified as a green floral chypre. Like the other Private Collection scents (see Tuberose Gardenia and Amber Ylang Ylang), it goes on big…
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Posted by Robin
on
9 June 2009
Nicole Miller will launch Frenzy, her debut fragrance for women under new licensing arrangements with Parlux (three prior fragrances under arrangements with Riviera were discontinued, but are now slated to be reintroduced). Miller has noted that…
I don’t like most perfumes. I find them too florally or too old…
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Posted by Robin
on
5 June 2009
Guerlain will launch Idylle, a new fragrance for women, this coming September. The scent was developed by Guerlain’s house perfumer, Thierry Wasser:
A mist of flowers.
A bouquet of lilies of the valley, peonies, fressias [sic], lilacs and roses…
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Posted by Angela
on
25 May 2009
When my friend Maryann opened the door to greet me, she said, “You smell nice! At least it must be you, since nothing out front is in bloom yet.” It was late April and not even lilacs or lilies of the valley bloomed, let alone roses. But standing in the doorway I knew Maryann recognized the faint fragrance of an early summer garden in the morning, because I wore Parfum d’Empire Eau Suave Eau de Parfum.
In 2003, Marc Antoine Corticciato, the perfumer behind Parfum d’Empire, created Eau Suave in homage to Josephine’s Chateau de Malmaison, famed for its gardens including 250 varieties of rose. In an article on Malmaison, Princess Michael of Kent wrote that roses were a natural for Josephine:
Josephine was christened Marie-Joséphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie and she would be known as “Rose” from her birth until the day when the young General Bonaparte (who made a habit of changing women’s names) began a letter with: “Sweet and incomparable Josephine. I awake full of you and of the memory of our intoxicating night…” From that moment she would enter history as Josephine.
Pretty cheeky of Napoleon to change her name, but I guess you don’t get to rule most of Europe without being at least a little domineering…
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