Building Perfume Wardrobe Guide Part 6 : Orientals

Part 1: Florals ~ Rose
Part 2: Florals ~ Jasmine
Part 3: Florals ~ Lily of the Valley and Violet
Part 4: Florals ~ Blends
Part 5: Wardrobe Essentials

My Perfume Wardrobe is back from its winter break with a new installment on oriental fragrances. This perfume genre is so called because it is the Western fantasy of the East. Oriental perfumes evoked the same mysterious and sensual world that French artists such as Eugène Delacroix and Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres captured in their paintings of lounging odalisques, tiger hunts and harem scenes. French perfumers translated such exotic, if stereotypical, visions through rich notes of vanilla, amber, patchouli, sandalwood and musk. Oriental ideas have been explored in many 19th century fragrances, but Guerlain Jicky is widely considered to be the first modern fragrance with an oriental twist. Then perfume visionary François Coty made a splash with his innovative  L’Origan (1905), Ambre Antique (1910) and Émeraude (1921). These fragrances paved the way to the dazzling array of orientals available today. 

Louis Vuitton Perfume, New Jewelry Studio : Weekend Reading

"We [are] just at the beginning. We've recruited the famous 'nose', Jacques Cavallier, and we are in the final phase of buying a country house in Grasse," on the French Riviera, where the perfume laboratory will be built, he [the label's head Yves Carcelle] said. "It's like when we recruited Marc Jacobs and they asked us the date of the first collection, we replied 'when Marc is ready': it's the same thing here, now it's 'when Jacques is ready'," Carcelle said. Read the rest of the article.

Louis Vuitton recently made a surprising announcement that the brand is ready to venture into the perfume business under its own name. It hired perfumer Jacques Cavallier to serve as the in-house creator. Cavallier has authored numerous fragrances including best-sellers like L’eau d’Issey and Jean Paul Gaultier Classique. Louis Vutton is part of the LVMH conglomerate that already includes several high-profile perfume brands: Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy, and Kenzo, among others.

French Vogue reports that Louis Vuitton had already explored perfumery with three fragrances in the 1920s-1930s: Eau de Voyage, Heures d’Absence and Je, tu, il. I particularly like the ring of Heures d’Absence (Hours of Absence), which sounds wistful and bittersweet.

Tom Ford Lavender Palm : Perfume Review

Star rating: 5 stars--outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars--very good, 3 stars--adequate, 2 stars--disappointing, 1 star--poor.

Tom Ford Private Blend Lavender Palm was first presented at Tom Ford’s LA boutique last February. This year it finally went into wider distribution. Created by perfumer Yann Vasnier, Lavender Palm reinterprets the main fougère element, lavender. It frames the note with bergamot, lemon, lime blossom, clary sage, frankincense and woods. It is an elegant fragrance built on a rich aromatic accord.

Top Selling Feminine Fragrances 2011 USA : Popular Perfumes

Top Selling Feminine Fragrances for 2010 USA

Top Selling Feminine Fragrances for 2010 France

Top Selling Masculine Fragrances 2010 USA

Curious to see what sold well last year? Here are the top 20 best selling fragrances in the USA for the past year. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle was the number top seller, but note that the rest of the list is not organized by selling rank. In parentheses, I indicate the year of launch.   

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle (2001)
The popularity of Coco Mademoiselle does not surprise me; it is a bold, memorable, distinctive perfume. It is also a high-quality perfume.  It has been the number one seller for several years in a row. 

Chanel Chance Eau Tendre (2010)
A twist on Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, but with a more sparkling fruit and red berry note. Even though Chance Eau Tendre is not very original, it is nicely done. 

Clinique Happy (1997)
A trendsetting fruity-floral. It is a good choice for those who love effervescent citrusy-fruity notes paired with crisp florals and sheer woods.

Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue (2001)
Green apple and dry amber--a trendsetting fragrance with a great character.

Chanel No 5 (1921)
Iconic perfume! No further comment is needed. I am just glad to see it on the top-seller list.

Perfume This Photo Contest Winners

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Perfume This Photo! contest, in which I asked you to suggest a fragrance for Lauren Bacall. It was impossible to pick the most creative/unexpected suggestion, and I really tried. So, I ended up lettiing the random number generator decide for me.

The winners are Sujaan and Marko. I will send out samples of vintage Christian Dior Miss Dior and Parfums de Nicolai Odalisque. See, I could not pick just one perfume either. Despite its seductive name, Odalisque seems to me like a good choice given its combination of fragility and strength. Just like the young Bacall in the photo! 

Please email your addresses to me at editor at boisdejasmin dot com