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
11 December 2009
Burberry will launch Burberry Sport fragrances for women and men in February (look for a prestige makeup line to follow in July). The new scents “are meant to pack a high-octane punch”…
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Posted by Robin
on
30 October 2009
Balenciaga will launch Balenciaga Paris in February. The new perfume for women, made under the Coty umbrella, will be the brand’s first major perfume launch since Cristobal in 1998.*
Balenciaga Paris was developed by perfumer Olivier Polge; the floral chypre features violet leaves, cedar and patchouli…
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Posted by Robin
on
29 October 2009
We are not interested in niche. Fashion is already for a small audience. We like to communicate with as many people as possible.1
That’s Viktor Horsting of Viktor & Rolf, explaining the “blatantly commercial”2 appeal of their debut fragrance for women, Flowerbomb. Anyone hoping that they’d go for an edgier aesthetic with their followup, the newly launched Eau Mega, will be disappointed: Flowerbomb, while neither edgy nor esoteric, was somewhat over-the-top; Eau Mega, with its “extravagant freshness”3, is the sort of clean and pleasant and safe thing anybody could wear anytime, and presumably, Viktor & Rolf very much hope they will.
The tag line for Eau Mega is Megafy Yourself, and the fragrance…
…celebrates a new icon of femininity, in the form of a superheroine who, aided by her fragrance, transforms reality into her own universe of beauty and glamour and “megafies” the world.4
What does this megafied superheroine smell like? Well, like melon water and pear…
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Posted by Robin
on
21 October 2009
Perfumer Olivier Polge has won the 2009 International Fragrance Prize / Prix International du Parfum (formerly the Prix François Coty). The prize is awarded for artistic achievements in the field of perfumery. (via cosmeticnews)
Polge’s recent creations include Burberry The Beat, Davidoff Hot Water, Diesel Only The Brave, Jil Sander Jil…
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