Archives 69 takes its name from the address of the Etat Libre d’Orange flagship boutique, located at 69 Rue des Archives in Paris. Since this is Etat Libre d’Orange, you may be guessing that the name has a double meaning, a specifically sexual one, and you are correct; an entry on the Etat Libre d’Orange blog, complete with alternate label art for Archives 69, makes that point clear. Its text explains, “This is a perfume designed to free the senses, to open the heart to all the possibilities. It is an invitation to pleasure, an ode to seduction. It comes without restrictions, rules or regulations. It is yours to do with as you wish. This is the scent of sensual liberation.”
The composition of Archives 69, developed by perfumer Christine Nagel, includes notes of tangerine, pink berries CO2, pepper leaf, orchid & prune JE, incense, camphor, benzoin, patchouli, and musk. Its concept was partially inspired by the short story “Drencula” by French writer Boris Vian, a tale of a young man’s encounter with a hermaphroditic vampire, from Vian’s collection Écrits Pornographiques. Archives 69 was given the tagline “The Illusion of Sex” in preview materials, and its press release (subtitled “The End of Innocence”) includes a lengthy meditation on a nameless female character who embodies many dualities: the sacred and the profane, heaven and hell, pleasure and pain, etc. So, how do this theme and this prose translate into scent?
Archives 69 does pair some opposing notes…
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Posted by Kevin
on
16 March 2011
Kiehl’s (Since 1851) Original Musk Blend No. 1 has been around a long time if you believe Kiehl’s PR: “Our original musk oil is believed to have been created in the 1920s at the ‘Kiehl Apothecary.’ Discovered there in a vat labeled ‘Love Oil’ in the late 50s, Kiehl’s signature scent was reintroduced to our patrons in 1963.” I recently sniffed Original Musk for the first time, and it reminds me of many higher priced perfumes: inside Original Musk there’s a pinch of Hermès Eau d’ Hermès with its grainy, leather-cumin accord, a hint of Serge Lutens Muscs Koublaï Khan (“tough” musk with flowers), and a ghostly bit of, believe it or not, Chanel No. 5’s floral aldehydes.
Original Musk is, of course, a synthetic musk fragrance; it has “body” but it’s still a light version of musk — not heavy in the least. Kiehl’s lists Original Musk’s fragrance notes as bergamot nectar, orange blossom, lily, rose, ylang-ylang, neroli, tonka bean, white patchouli and musk.
There are no distinct stages of development in Original Musk…
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Posted by Robin
on
19 May 2009
Eau de Pamplemousse Rose (above center) and Eau de Gentiane Blanche (above right), along with longtime favorite Eau d’Orange Verte (in new packaging, above left, and celebrating its 30th anniversary this year), make up the new trio of unisex colognes from Hermès. I went to visit them recently at my local Hermès boutique, and had Pamplemousse Rose purchased and packaged within minutes. One of these days, I need to sit down and figure out the proportion of my perfume spending over the past few years that has been made up of fragrances from perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena — I’m guessing it’s substantial, and certainly it accounts for many of my on-the-spot purchases.
But I’ll start with the good news: I did not need a bottle of Eau de Gentiane Blanche. Amy Verner, writing in the Globe and Mail1, called it a “haute fresh laundry fragrance, soapy yet subtle”, and that’s right on the money: it’s possibly one of the nicest laundry-clean fragrances I’ve ever smelled, but there’s really almost nothing you could do with a laundry-clean fragrance, haute or otherwise, that would make me want to own or wear it…
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Posted by Robin
on
24 March 2009
The Body Shop has launched White Musk White Hot Summer, a new limited edition fragrance:
Our new Limited Edition fragrance for summer radiates sunshine, warmth and confidence. A lighter interpretation of our classic fragrance this sparkling fruity floral scent is warmed with musky base notes which makes for a luminous fragrance perfect for summer days and nights…
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Posted by Angela
on
7 October 2008
Prince Matchabelli Sexiest Musk sounds less like the name of a perfume than it sounds like a challenge. I mean, calling something the very “sexiest” and at the same time enclosing a coupon offering a dollar off the price of its body spray, regularly sold for $3.79, is just plain agitating for street testing.
Last night, I took Sexiest Musk to a dinner party. I put dabs of it, Jovan Musk for Women, Coty Vanilla Musk, Strange Invisible Perfumes Musc Botanique and Parfumerie Générale Musc Maori on my arms and asked the guests to tell which, in their opinion, was the sexiest musk.
As I walked into the capacious dining room after dabbing my arms, Ray, on the other side of the room, immediately said, “Did you put on your musks?” The perfume apparently overwhelmed the smell of Sterno cooking under a copper pot of meatball hors d'oeuvres…
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