The Story of the Lost Men's Scents and Andy Warhol on Perfume

"It is difficult, not to say ruinously expensive, having any kind of meaningful, lasting relationship with Jules. The love and commitment are there on my part, but... well, not on Jules's, alas."

Gareth Wyn Davies explores the topic of discontinued men's fragrances in his Telegraph article. Jules in question is the excellent Christian Dior's fougere from 1980s. 

Katy Perry Purr and Meow : Perfume Reviews

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

“Gorgeous and incredibly cute” is how the pop singer Katy Perry describes her line of fragrances Purr and Meow. Incredibly cute is right on the mark when it comes to the packaging. Maybe I did not get my share of Barbies as a child, but I love the cat bottles, especially the amethyst tinted Purr. I wish I could be equally excited about the fragrances. They are not badly done, far from it, but they replay the same fruit and cotton candy theme of other celebrity fragrances. I am not the target audience, but since I spend a lot of time around teens in my dance studio, my tolerance for the cloying blandness is sometimes strained to the maximum.

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.