Vince Camuto

Vince Camuto's eponymous debut fragrance was made by Parlux, the same folks who've brought you fragrances by Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson — but before any of you anti-celebrity-fragrance perfumistas turn your noses up (pardon the pun), they also did the lovely Natori fragrance. The Vince Camuto is a floral chypre, in the modern (yes, it's really an oriental) style, with a fruity top and a lightly spicy, sweet floral heart over a subtle leather and clean patchouli dry down. It turns drier and almost-smoky near the end. It does not, as it turns out, rival Natori (it's in Macy's instead of Saks, and in this case, it all fits) but it's nicely done. If you're looking for a sweet-ish, middle-weight oriental for winter and don't want to cough up the dough for Natori, it's worth a shot...

Footwear and lifestyle brand Vince Camuto will launch a debut eponymous fragrance in September. Vince Camuto by Vince Camuto was made under licensing arrangements with Parlux...

It's getting hard to keep up with Jennifer Lopez, not least because my local Macy's no longer carries all of her fragrance releases (Britney Spears has likewise been relegated to mass market). I sniffed My Glow quickly on paper when I ran across it in Walgreens (and pretty promptly forgot all about it), but Blue Glow and LA Glow will have to remain unsniffed mysteries. Love and Glamour is her latest effort, and apparently Macy's consented to provide it counter space...

Tease, which is just appearing in stores this month, is Paris Hilton's tenth fragrance. Anyone who wondered about her staying power as a celebrity perfume brand can now put their mind at rest, I should think. Paris stays in human form (no more mermaids or fairies) for the Tease advertising campaign, which was reportedly inspired by her fascination with Marilyn Monroe:

Paris Hilton plays with the notion of Hollywood glamour, taking a contemporary, candid look at retro elegance – light hearted, saucy and as always irrestibly [sic] charming – for the launch of her newest fragrance, TEASE. Posing in a classic Hollywood setting, Paris Hilton brings a fresh, youthful appeal to the image of a blonde icon of the silver screen...¹

The Tease fragrance, as you might imagine, puts the emphasis on contemporary — it's a fruity floral in the modern style, very fresh and light and clean...

Jessica Simpson will launch Fancy Nights, the second flanker to her debut fragrance, Jessica Simpson Fancy. Simpson says the new perfume is "more provocative" and shows "a more romantic side of my personality"...

Paris Hilton will launch Tease, her tenth fragrance, in June. Tease is "based on Hilton’s fascination with Marilyn Monroe", and is "more evocative of who Paris Hilton is"...

Brooks Brothers has launched Black Fleece fragrances for men and women, two new scents for Thom Browne's Black Fleece upscale capsule clothing collection.

Browne describes Black Fleece by Brooks Brothers Eau de Toilette for Men as "...a timeless original scent evocative of that man sitting in a library or parlor smoking and drinking whiskey"...

Queen is the debut perfume from the multi-talented Queen Latifah, who joins the rest of the celebrity stable at Parlux (Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson and Andy Roddick, with Rihanna and Kayne West soon to follow). Latifah reportedly smelled about 50 different fragrances, many of them "a little too mature or a little too sweet", before settling on the final product.¹

The resulting fragrance is a woody gourmand oriental. The opening is a bit loud (I like it better dabbed than sprayed, and better on skin than on paper), and features ever-trendy booze notes (in this case, golden tequila and cognac, other notes are bergamot, mandarin, baie rose, jasmine noir, coriander, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, tonka bean, incense and musk) over a sweet, amber-y patchouli, quite clean, with fruity undertones and the usual dollop of pink pepper. The longer it's on skin, the more the emphasis turns to the gourmand part of the proceedings...

Queen Latifah will launch her debut fragrance, Queen, in August. The new scent, described as "warm and sexy", was developed under arrangements with Parlux.

Queen was developed by perfumer Steve DeMercado...

As long as I'm buying a perfume anyway, I'd just as soon have it in a pretty bottle — I mean, why not? And if I'm dithering over whether or not to buy something, a pretty bottle might just push me over the edge. Still, I'm not what you'd call a bottle hound. I've never bought anything just for the bottle before, and ultra-luxe packaging doesn't generally interest me beyond the fun of oohing and aahing over the picture. I'd certainly never pay extra for it if the scent was available in a cheaper version, and fragrances that are only available in ultra-luxe trappings set off my worst cynical leanings. I'm not entirely immune to "must have it" perfume packaging, though: turns out all you have to do is suspend 5 molded plastic doll's heads inside a cardboard gift box with a clear plastic top, and I'm a goner.

Yep, I'm here to admit that I smelled all five of Gwen Stefani's new Harajuku Lovers fragrances, found them generally wanting, took a good look at the coffret of solid perfumes and had one paid for, wrapped in tissue and ready to go in a matter of minutes...