Viktor & Rolf will launch Spicebomb, a new spicy woody oriental fragrance for men, in early 2012. Spicebomb is styled as the 'new explosive fragrance', and will be fronted by model Sean O'Pry...

Well, it’s supposed to be stronger but it’s not actually that strong—it just has a different language. It’s all the same elements but we are saying something different than we were with Balenciaga Paris, which was so much about the violets. This one has a metallic side, it’s about the violet leaves so it’s slightly more masculine and androgynous, too.¹

That's Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquière talking about the new Balenciaga Paris L’Essence, the follow-up fragrance to last year's Balenciaga Paris. And he's telling the truth — so much so that I hardly need to write a review, and will prattle on only for the sake of anyone who really needed a little break this afternoon. So, those of you hoping for a more intense version of Balenciaga Paris' muted violet elegance — perhaps with some sillage? — will be disappointed by L'Essence, although if what you're after is a real wallop instead of a whisper, you can always turn to Tom Ford's Violet Blonde.

L'Essence maintains the original's sheer, close-to-the-skin feel, but intensifies the green notes in the early stages and the dry woody base notes later on. The floral aspect is nearly gone, and the powdery finish is even lighter than it already was. It does not really read as metallic to my nose (actually, it seems less metallic to me than the original), but there is an almost leathery feel (again, as advertised) to the dry down. On paper, it struck me as lighter than Balenciaga Paris, on skin, as ever so slightly more intense, considerably more chypre-ish and considerably more masculine...

I've occasionally paused in a high-end department store — usually on the way to the fragrance department — to admire the creations of Fornasetti. It would be easy, I think, to become addicted to Fornasetti's world of ceramics and other home décor items, all embellished with witty designs that draw on a vocabulary of classical architecture, celestial bodies, playing cards, keyholes, and (most famously) the face of opera singer Lina Cavalieri, featured in hundreds of "themes and variations." It's a whimsical, almost Surrealist, visual style that filters Victorian imagery through a 1960s sensibility.

Fornasetti licensed the Fornasetti Profumi line just a year ago, and this venture seems like a smart fit for the brand. This collection encompasses various home-fragrance devices: scented candles, incense sticks, room spray, and ingenious three-way ceramic diffusers that can be adjusted to hold incense, perfumed oil, or scented crystals. It also has an impressive pedigree. The actual fragrance, named Otto, was developed by perfumer Olivier Polge. The candles, housed in Italian-crafted ceramic containers, are a wax blend manufactured by Cire Trudon, and the incense (the main subject of this review) is made by Nippon Kodo...

As a teenager, I was tightly wound: aloof, careful, “tart” (but certainly not a tart!) My parents were always telling me to loosen up — “Get a tan!” “Go on a date!” “Learn to dance!” I remember the night my attitudes about myself started to shift. I had just turned 18 and was preparing to go to school at night for a yearbook meeting (where my “tart” comments were always expunged from photo captions of fellow students). On that spring evening (what got into me?) I did several things out of character: I wore jeans, I put on a tight white sweater (without a t-shirt underneath, risqué!), I used gel in my hair…and I wore perfume — Chanel Pour Monsieur. Back in those days, there were no “makeover” shows on TV, but the reactions I got to the “new” me were very What Not to Wear — post-consultation. Several friends stared at me as if I were an alien. I got compliments. I began to understand the “power” of appearances.

Swirling around this incident were feelings of freedom ahead. In several months, I’d head off to college in New York City. I could start living the way I wanted to live. I was about to begin my exploration of the world. When I wear Chanel Pour Monsieur, I always remember that night, and I associate the perfume with youth, spring, hope, and transformation...

Jil Sander will launch Eve, a new fruity chypre floriental fragrance for women, in September:

She lingers in every woman...

A Lab On Fire, a brand that is associated with the S-Perfume label, has launched their debut scent, L'Anonyme ou OP-1475-A...

Gianfranco Ferré has launched two new fragrances in the In The Mood For Love series.

In The Mood For Love Tender (shown above), for women, is a flanker to 2009's In The Mood For Love...

Hey, Bvlgari Mon Jasmin Noir. Armani called. They want Idole d'Armani back. Wait — hold the phone! It's Estée Lauder. They're demanding their Sensuous Noir. Now all the lines are ringing, and it looks like it's a bunch of celebuscents. They're complaining you stole their jasmine-plum-sandalwood-patchouli secret formula!

O.K., maybe I'm not being fair. After all, I chucked my sample of Idole d'Armani in the garbage a long time ago, and it's been months since I smelled Sensuous Noir, and that was on a hot day in a mall in Billings, Montana. And the celebuscents? I really try not to be a snob, but if Robin doesn't give them the green light in a review, I mostly stay away.

I also admit to having a misguided fantasy about how perfumers work. In my dream world, a perfumer — let's say Sophie Labbé, who had a hand in both Bvlgari Jasmin Noir and Mon Jasmin Noir — pushes open her casement window. She inhales the summer breeze of Grasse, France, and asks herself, "What work of art will I make today? Bvlgari, a luxury company, has asked me to create a light fragrance based on jasmine as a flanker to Jasmin Noir. I know, I'll devise a fragrance that evokes the sensual languor of an evening in the Mediterranean, but is airy enough — like a long ago, romantic memory — to be enjoyed during the day..."]]>

Hey, Bvlgari Mon Jasmin Noir. Armani called. They want Idole d’Armani back. Wait — hold the phone! It’s Estée Lauder. They’re demanding their Sensuous Noir. Now all the lines are ringing, and it looks like it’s a bunch of celebuscents. They’re complaining you stole their jasmine-plum-sandalwood-patchouli secret formula!

O.K., maybe I’m not being fair. After all, I chucked my sample of Idole d’Armani in the garbage a long time ago, and it’s been months since I smelled Sensuous Noir, and that was on a hot day in a mall in Billings, Montana. And the celebuscents? I really try not to be a snob, but if Robin doesn’t give them the green light in a review, I mostly stay away.

I also admit to having a misguided fantasy about how perfumers work. In my dream world, a perfumer — let’s say Sophie Labbé, who had a hand in both Bvlgari Jasmin Noir and Mon Jasmin Noir — pushes open her casement window. She inhales the summer breeze of Grasse, France, and asks herself, “What work of art will I make today? Bvlgari, a luxury company, has asked me to create a light fragrance based on jasmine as a flanker to Jasmin Noir. I know, I’ll devise a fragrance that evokes the sensual languor of an evening in the Mediterranean, but is airy enough — like a long ago, romantic memory — to be enjoyed during the day…”

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As I've mentioned here numerous times, I know little enough about fashion, and that includes shoes. Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo, I take it, are the big names, information which probably filtered into my general consciousness via Sex and the City even though I only saw the show a handful of times. A quick check on Google reveals that neither of them have the famous red soles, though — that's apparently Christian Louboutin. There, now we've exhausted nearly everything I know about shoes.

So Jimmy Choo, as I understand it, does not own any portion of the company that bears his name, although he still designs some of the footwear. It's owned by a private equity company, and Tamara Mellon (who "starred" in the ad campaign for the perfume) runs it; she is presumably responsible for the run-of-the-mill modern fruity chypre (i.e., floriental) that now bears the Jimmy Choo name...

Bvlgari has launched Mon Jasmin Noir, a new flanker to 2008's Jasmin Noir. The new perfume for women will be fronted by actress Kirsten Dunst...