Posted by Robin
on
7 April 2009
Halle by Halle Berry is the debut fragrance from the very popular actress, launching this month under licensing arrangements with Coty. According to Ms. Berry…
[Before my fragrance] I was mixing other brands that shall remain nameless to make my own scent with fig and mimosa. With Halle, I added olibanum, which is an African root, which brings spice to the fragrance, and sandalwood, which smooths everything out and makes it yummy. It’s very sensual, very natural, very much reflective of the outdoors.*
The two nameless fragrances are rumored to be from L’Artisan Parfumeur; if that’s accurate, they’d presumably be Premier Figuier and Mimosa Pour Moi? Olibanum is another word for frankincense, which as any seasoned perfumista knows is a tree resin and not a root, but we needn’t split hairs: Halle is darned good for a celebrity fragrance, especially given the price — Halle is geared towards “mid tier” and mass market stores, so you’ll find it at Kohl’s and Sears instead of Nordstrom and Saks.
Halle opens FRUITY and SWEET (and yes, I’m screaming on purpose), as is very nearly requisite for a celebrity fragrance…
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Posted by Kevin
on
25 March 2009
The word “oud” — when relating to perfume — always makes me think of…MONTALE. Montale has won the oud wars in the West by creating more oud-centered fragrances than any company in sight (or smell). When I heard that Le Labo was releasing an oud perfume, I thought: “Poor Le Labo — you haven’t a chance!”
Le Labo launches Oud 27 this month; it’s Le Labo’s first global launch since 2006. (Oud 27 will not be associated with one city — you can buy it at all Le Labo boutiques.) Le Labo divulges only a few components of Oud 27: incense, cedar, patchouli, saffron, gaiac wood and oud…
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Posted by Robin
on
18 February 2009
Brooklyn, which launches next month, will be Bond no. 9's 33rd fragrance. As is the case with many of the brand's recent offerings, the packaging is half the fun; some people objected to the graffiti-covered bottle as a representation of Brooklyn, but I'm in love. Really, Bond ought to start letting their customers choose the bottle they'd like with their favorite fragrance, don't you think? And as long as we're dreaming, have all the empty bottles available in, say, 15 ml?
Brooklyn is a unisex fragrance from perfumer Laurent LeGuernec, and is pegged as a woody oriental. Overall, it's a much fresher scent than you might expect from that designation (the notes: grapefruit, cardamom, cypress wood, geranium, juniper berry, cedar, leather and guaiacwood). The opening is crisp, bright grapefruit, and a burst of cypress joins in shortly, along with a fair dash of spice. It's slightly green, and the juniper berry lends a sort of gin-cocktail vibe in the early stages…
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Posted by Robin
on
17 February 2009
Tom Ford launched the Private Blend Collection in 2007. There were 12 of them (now there are more). They were (and still are, of course) expensive; they were in very limited distribution (that has eased somewhat). I smelled four of them on blotters (a friend had small lab samples) before they were launched, didn't love any of them, and promptly decided, for the sake of my sanity (there were already over 800 fragrance releases that year), to ignore the collection entirely. Kevin apparently decided the same (are we cranky, or what?) but he eventually fell to temptation (see his review of Purple Patchouli), and passed a set of samples on to me, and I've been working my way through them slowly. My favorite so far: Oud Wood.
Tom Ford, of course, has already done oud (aka oudh aka agarwood aka aloeswood), with M7, created under his direction for Yves Saint Laurent and introduced in 2002. You might expect Oud Wood to be the edgy, niche house version of M7, but that would be hard to pull off seeing as how M7 was already pretty darned edgy…
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Posted by Robin
on
30 January 2009
Comptoir Sud Pacifique launched L’Eau du Gouverneur in 1993 under the name L’Homme — a clue, perhaps, that it isn’t one of the sweet fruity vanillas that now comprise much of the Comptoir Sud Pacifique line. If, like me, you’re a woman who prefers dry to sweet (see: the best [fragrances] for borrowing), you might find much to love among Comptoir Sud Pacifique men’s offerings*, which are quite different in character than the women’s and which can be found at very reasonable prices.
The notes for L’Eau du Gouverneur include verbena, bergamot, lemon, clary sage, allspice, nutmeg, black pepper, clove, cedar, vetiver and musk. If that sounds like a dense, heavy spice-fest, think again: like many of the Comptoir Sud Pacifique fragrances, L’Eau du Gouverneur is more transparent than not…
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