News And Trends

DNA Message In A Bottle

2009-11-10T10:52:07-08:00

Would you spritz the DNA of Michael Jackson on your wrists? Would dousing your pulse points in the genetic makeup of Einstein make you feel fine?

Advancements in genealogy and DNA research have attributed to some major disease cure discoveries and glimmers of medical hope. The latest in DNA science presents an exciting opportunity for the fragrance world: the “My DNA Exclusive” fragrance line, with the opportunity to bottle your DNA in an individual-specific composition of notes and accords. My DNA Fragrance launched the line in 2007 to a test market, and once word began to spread the company was inundated with requests from around the globe to bottle customers’ chemical make-up into a fragrance.

Most recently however, the company penned a deal with John Reznikoff (a man known the world round for his collection of celebrity hair strands) to extract DNA from his private collection of famous hair follicles for the creation of a unique fragrance line that would bottle the stars’ DNA to be sold to the public. Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Joan Crawford, Katherine Hepburn and Albert Einstein and many other celebs are to be featured in this collection of “Antiquity Fragrances.” Reznikoff has been featured on multiple media for having the largest authenticated hair collection of famous people in the world.

My DNA Fragrance CEO Carlton Enoch first envisioned the concept of a DNA-based fragrance in the 1990s, but the only recent affordability of DNA testing and lower rates of skepticism concerning DNA in general has launched this concept into a full-scale trend frenzy. The Antiquity Fragrances was launched in a test market this month and will be available in stores in 2010.

D&G Have It In The Bag (& In The Cards)

2009-10-29T17:26:54-07:00

D&G’s newest fragrance collection draws inspiration from the Tarot card deck, matching personality to perfume in a cosmic rendezvous dictated by the sun, moon and stars.

D&G1: LE BATELEUR
THE CARD: 1 – THE MAGICIAN
The Magician card signifies a hopeless romantic with an unmistakable power to charm and seduce; their openness casts a spell that makes them irresistible to others.
THE SCENT: Le Bateleur is a sensual blend of bergamot, pink pepper, cardamom and juniper berry, warmed by birch leaf, wood and musk.
FOR CELEBS LIKE: Grace Kelly, Heather Graham,- Kate Beckinsale.

D&G3: L’IMPERATRICE
THE CARD: 3 – THE EMPRESS
The Empress card represents a soul that is powerful and strong in character. The Empress is a true star with a magnetic, energetic quality that keeps her in the centre of everyone’s attention.
THE SCENT: L’Imperatrice is a sweet fruity-floral fragrance, mixing rhubarb, red currant, and kiwi with a rich floral heart and rounding with a soft base of sandalwood, musk and fresh grapefruit.
FOR CELEBS LIKE: Jennifer Lopez, Brooke Shields, Halle Berry.

D&G6: L’AMOUREUX
THE CARD: 6 – THE LOVERS
The Lovers Tarot card represents a confident charmer whose resourceful and passionate nature gets her what she wants, every time.
THE SCENT: L’Amoureux is a spicy and sensual scent, with spicy cardamom and juniper berry atop the freshest aquatic accords; an earthy base of vetiver and white cedarwood grounds the blend.
FOR CELEBS LIKE: Kim Cattrall, Charlize Theron, Katharine Hepburn.":http://www.perfume.com/celebrities/221-katharine-hepburn

D&G10: LA ROUE DE LA FORTUNE
THE CARD: 10 – THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE
The Wheel of Fortune card signifies luck and change, is drawn by adventurous types who enjoy surprises and games of chance.
THE SCENT: La Roue de la Fortune is a fragrance with unexpected turns and flavors, with citrusy pineapple and fresh green notes livening a lush heart of tuberose, gardenia and jasmine over a sweet patchouli, vanilla and orris base.
FOR CELEBS LIKE: Christina Aguilera,- Catherine Zeta-Jones, Hilary Swank.

D&G18: LA LUNE
THE CARD: 18 – THE MOON
The Moon card represents the creative dreamer who has a free, charming and ethereal spirit. Like the moon, this card is for someone who is radiant, inspiring and mysterious.
THE SCENT: D&G’s La Lune is a soft and subtle blend of lily, tuberose, and rose mixed with warm and sensual musk, sandalwood and leather. The slightest tinge of bergamot and apple in the introductory notes is the vibrant dusk before nightfall.
FOR CELEBS LIKE: Catherine Deneuve, Gwenyth Paltrow, Natalie Portman.

Undue Influence

2009-10-07T12:33:12-07:00

by Chandler Burr

The problem comes when the marketers are really good. Basically because before I smell the perfumes, before the molecules have triggered in my head, turned over old memories and slipped into new olfactory grooves, I’ve had to pass via the marketers to get the scents under my nose. The marketers don’t know scent, it’s not their thing, as they’ve said to me, they’re visual guys, but they control the approach, where you’re captive to your sense of sight, simply because you have to see the damn bottles of Dior or YSL to get them into your hand. The designers are using colors so startling, so mesmerizingly neon (cf: “Ralph Hot”-that box fascinates me, as if it were a tiny entrance to a 3am nightclub in Shinjuku) that with nothing more than a glance they throw up before your eyes a retinal image of the scent. Though scent is invisible. It has no retinal image. It has no seeable identity.

And I don’t want a retinal image of a perfume. I don’t want a visual understanding. That’s not my job, it’s not, at all, what I critique. I want an olfactory understanding. They’re two completely separate neural pathways, two different human senses. I want-and as a critic I need-to smell the juices as free of prejudice as possible. But I open the “Ralph Hot” box, and bottle designer Lara Modjeski leaps at me, she gets to me first via the eyes, she and her marketing team molding what I think I think of the scent, filling in exposition, backstory, dialogue with a single look. You peel away the neon colors, spray the perfume on your arm. Only then is perfumer Pierre Negrin able to get his juice to my nose. Only then can I smell the scent, the thing I’m supposed to focus on exclusively.

The better the marketers, the more ably they guide me into their visions. I do my best to take Pierre’s work at face value, to put Lara’s bottle aside and evaluate what Pierre is doing here. And I hope I’m pretty good at it. But Lara’s already got her shot in.

I have these visions of blindfolding myself and walking into Bloomingdales with a pen and a notebook, but frankly the physical design people are getting so good that even if you felt your way via the bottles to the perfumes, your sense of touch would already be molding your perception of the scents they contain. Annick Goutal’s fluted bottles feel like things found in a drawer belonging to Marie Antoinette, the sanded cool glass monolith of Dolce & Gabbana’s “Light Blue” feels like a man-made undersea stone, the tall organically arcing cylinder of “Flower by Kenzo” is like a tree in another planet’s polymer forest. You feel what the marketers want you to smell.

Optimally I would judge these scents from lab bottles labeled only with codes my assistant controls. She and I would line the bottles up in my office, dip the blotters, take a few minutes to inhale, to process them, without allowing the slightest reaction onto our faces. Then: “What do you think?” Which is what we do now, except that when I smell Bulgari’s “Jasmin Noir,” I’ve got Thierry de Baschmakoff’s lapidary curved black glass bottle before me, as striking as a tiny Richard Serra, or the ingeniously designed, massively heavy bottle of Paul McLaughin providing the perfect opening for Claude Dir’s equally ingenious “Dirty English,” the Juicy Couture masculine.

Would I love “Dirty English” as much without McLaughlin’s frame around it? I’d like to think so. When over three years ago we started the “Scent Notes” column at The New York Times, both my editors and I agreed at that time that it would be better to receive all the perfumes as anonymous, numbered lab samples. It turned out to be completely impracticable. They scent makers, IFF, Givaudan, Symrise, Takasago, Firmenich, and so on, of course make lab samples, but for internal use; there’s no system for getting them to the various brands’ PR people, who in any case would rather slit their wrists than hand their new olfactory launches over to a journalist unsurrounded by the armor of visual baubles and marketing cues, this skein of camouflage that they hope will predispose us to like the product. Many, of course, do take the wrapping for the substance.

Nor is there any protocol for the scent makers to feed lab samples directly to the press. The brands would have hysterics. So they messenger over the scents encased in the bottles wrapped in the packaging. I don’t accept physical press materials any more; they’re an ecological disaster. I only take electronic press materials. I strip away all the pdf’s and images, file the rest of the stuff in Word folders, and then don’t, I must admit, ever read it.) I try to avoid looking at all the cues. Shannon unwraps everything, organizes it, I take the blotters one by one from her, and we sit in silence at my desk and after a moment one of us says, “I *love this! It’s amazing!” and the other says, “Are you totally high? This thing is baldly derivative / poorly structured / lacking any persistence on skin / a total rip off of [fill in the blank]!” And then we argue about it.

Sometimes there is absolutely no connection between the package, bottle, and scent. Sometimes there is. De Baschmakoff designed the ground glass cylinder with its sloping shoulders to hold Bulgari’s “Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert,” and it seems a visual reflection of that olfactory sculpture, mesmeric and cool and both sharp and rounded as the scent Jean-Claude Ellena created. I’ve always maintained that the bottle is irrelevant to the scent, that it’s all about the juice. But Marc Jacob’s Daisy? You take that thing out of the package, you see the plastic petals, that rubbery bouquet on that cap, and you’re dead. They’ve got you. I’m not saying that bottle designer Wilhelm Liden has necessarily made a more perfect creation here than perfumer Alberto Morillas. But I sort of think he has. This visual design of Liden’s mediates-introduces you to, makes you anticipate, perfectly directs your expectations of-Morillas’s perfume, the product you’re buying. Or at least the product you’re theoretically buying, although I’ve never heard so many times, “I saw the bottle, and I had to buy it!” as I did with “Daisy.” The bottle won’t ensure that crucial second purchase, and the test of a perfume is-always-the second purchase, but it sure will get them to reach for the first.

There is a way to use the visual that is much less manipulative, that constitutes simply visual cues for identifying a collection, a house. Hermès Orange, Chanel White, Jo Malone Daffodil, l’Artisan Parfumeur Black. Houses use marvelous Post-Modernist post-ironic artistic maneuvers, like the sans serif letters and metal cans of l’Eau d’Italie that, entirely by design, could not possibly be more removed from the Romanticist, neo-Renaissance, Symbolist olfactory paintings they enclose.

Sometimes I think they work and at the same time they don’t. The Armani perfumes of several years ago that looked like wrapped toffees, or shaving lotions, or tinned biscuits for astronauts-they were ingenious pieces of packaging, but I never had the sensation that they were anything other than ingenious pieces of packaging, and-I have to go back to my memory of it-weirdly enough I felt like these visually striking wrappings were so removed from the scents they contained that there was no visual contamination. Sometimes they’re iconic. The blood red square of Ralph Lauren’s first, astonishing effort in 1978, “Lauren”-his creative team had called on the legendary perfumer Bernard Chant, but designer Ben Kotyuk carved up Chant’s luscious liquor into blood-red cubes that you can’t forget, and the color is, indeed, a synethetic conversion of Chant’s perfume. Sometimes they’re genius. The brilliantly sublime minimalism of Prada’s packaging, its glass sheets covering the minimalist juices, each subtly seductive as a string of perfect cups of tea.

I told Shannon recently that I’d still prefer the unmarked lab samples. She said, “That’s an ideal for any critic, but then, you know, you wouldn’t be getting people’s real-world experience of the perfume.” Which is true.

Chandler Burr: Making Sense of Scents

2009-11-02T13:54:02-08:00

Chandler Burr, Scent Critic for the New York Times, published author and host of Scent Dinners with chefs Jimmy Sakatos of The Carlyle in New York, Martín Rios in Santa Fe, Samuel Benne of Lapérouse, Paris, to name just a few. His mission is to inform and entertain, describing fragrance in a metaphorical experience so that we, the average person, have a better understanding and appreciation of Perfume as a work of art. Just as there are food, wine and music critics, Chandler’s reveiws of the following perfumes and colognes will guide you through though the overwhelming World of Fragrance.

10 foods and perfumes to boost your sex drive

2009-11-02T13:40:11-08:00

There are foods that boost your energy, sharpen your memory, fight even cellulite. The edible treats featured in this article, paired with fragrances that contain the same notes, serve a sexier purpose that will improve your lust for life. Devour a few of these snacks and indulge in your favorite scent, and you are sure to feel friskier and liven up your sex appeal.

by KiKi D, perfume stylist for Perfume.com

A Double Date Where Scents Reciprocate

2009-09-21T15:31:48-07:00

His & Hers Fragrances for Compatibility

Whether you and your man are stepping out in your Saturday night best or meeting other couples for casual happy hour martinis, you want to match your partner on scent and aesthetic levels. Fragrances can work together to complement and define a couple as much as they can fight and create awkward abrasions on each others’ scentspheres.

Check out these cute scent combinations, and let chemistry work in your favor—- after all, alls’ fair in love and fragrance.

Wedding Bells & Perfect Smells

2009-09-10T12:28:54-07:00

Finding the Right Fragrance for your Wedding Day

Women will dream of their weddings from the youngest ages, will doze in classes to plan the day’s details down to the arrangement of centerpieces, the folds of table napkins. However an important aspect of the big day that many of us will initially overlook is what scent to wear, a part of the presentation that is just as important as your hair, make-up or dress! You wouldn’t wear thick black eyeliner to the beach would you? So you probably also would not want to wear a heavy, musky perfume to a beach ceremony!

Your scent should always reflect your emotions and compliment your style, which is why every woman should have multiple day and a few night options in her fragrance wardrobe. A regular Tuesday floral won’t do for your big day, as much as your wedding day scent won’t work for your romantic honeymoon soirées! Scents should represent where you’re at and how you feel, and should reflect the vibe of your surroundings. Wedding and scent experts both advise of these key factors to consider when choosing an appropriate fragrance to tie the knot in:

- Style and fabric of gown
- Time of year getting married
- Type of wedding
- And as always, your personal body chemistry

Still, with so many scents out there to choose from and so much on your plate already, this task can be overwhelming. Perfume.com experts have broken down wedding days and their corresponding scents into different styles and types so you can easily find the best perfume matches for you for your big day!

Classically Elegant / Timelessly Traditional
You’ve always envisioned your big day playing out in a classic way: a church reception, a catered sit-down meal, dancing under the stars and of course, lots of bubbly! Your dress is strapless with a princess skirt, you carry a bouquet of pale yellow roses, and your bridal party wears long dresses in a demure shade that accents the floral-heavy decor.
Try: Floral scents, like Songes by Annick Goutal – A romantic perfume with a lush blend of frangipani, jasmine and gardenia flowers. A special scent with a sensual finish, Songes is almost nostalgic (without an old -fashioned feel!)

Small & Intimate / Garden Soirée
You love nature and can’t imagine getting married without grass underneath your toes and a lush garden framing the view behind your handsome groom. You want the natural beauty of all the elements of your day to shine through. Your veil is adorned with flowers and your wedding party wears earth tones; your own peasant-cut dress is simple and off the shoulder. You hold a clean bouquet of daisies and there is not a trace of red lipstick to be seen.
Try: Romantic, oriental scents like Beautiful by Estée Lauder – The perfect scent for a blushing bride reciting vows beneath the sun. Beautiful smells like a fresh bouquet of flowers with warm woody undertones and a touch of bright citrus— and is the perfect light, breezy option for an outdoor wedding.

Raucous Party / City Scape
You want your big day to be sleek, modern and sexy and you’ve chosen all the trendiest details to make sure that happens. Cupcakes take the place of a multi-tiered cake, your bridal party wears asymmetrical gowns in the hippest of the season’s shades, and your rooftop reception overlooks the cityscape in the heart of downtown.
Try: Bold oriental or fruity scents, like Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker – A citrus, woodsy fragrance with hints of musk. A scent like this is ideal for a downtown ceremony and will go perfectly with a Vera Wang gown and bold designer heels-— and will even waft beautifully under the strobe lights at the all-night reception party.

Extravagant Elegance
Your guest count easily passed 500 and you’ve rented out one of the most extravagant reception locations in town. Every detail has been meticulously pored over as if the day is being judged by Simon Cowell. Your tiara is encrusted with diamonds (real!) and you’ve insisted on everything elegant, from a horse-drawn carriage entrance to a theatrical dress train that flows half the length of the church.
Try: A bold, rich scent like Love In White by Creed – A fragrance that is classic, rich and long lasting, Love in White will stick around as long as the debt that paid for the wedding.

Sun & Sand / Beach Bride
You want to recite your vows with the sound of lapping waves behind you and sand between your toes. You’re donning a simple A-line dress and hair is in loose waves, and your groom stands under a makeshift floral lattice altar without shoes. You’re already in your honeymoon destination.
Try: Floral scents like Vera Wang by Vera Wang – A perfect fit for a seaside setting; an elegant, sunny floral with wisps of mandarin, Bulgarian rose and gardenia.

As much as scents are based on style and substance, they can also have healing properties, which you may also want to consider. Your wedding day can be stressful and emotional, and the scent you choose can help or hinder your relaxation abilities—- for example citrus scents are known to lower stress hormones, while rose and lavender are soothing.

No matter what vibe you reach for or which scent you choose, the right perfume will help your wedding day be a complete, immersive experience for each one of your senses, and you’ll know when you find the right one as assuredly as you chose the groom.

Charles Jourdain

2009-09-11T14:23:04-07:00

The Comeback

In line with the steady holding of the return of vintage is the re-blowing up of the Charles Jourdan design house. The iconic shoe brand will be re-launched this October during Paris Fashion Week, and its classic Charles Jourdan le Parfum and Individuelle scents are being snatched up off perfume counters in celebration.

Charles Jourdan, a shoemaker by trade, began a launch of cutting edge women’s footwear in 1919 and was so immediately popular that after only two years, had over 30 people working under him. In the 1930s he was the first shoe designer to place advertisements in high-end fashion magazines, earning his group the title of a “haute couture house.” In 1957, Charles and his two sons opened their first boutique in Paris, and were granted a license to design and manufacture footwear under Christian Dior’s label just two years later.

The Jourdan house gained notoriety for their innovation in material usage for women’s shoes after World War II, and garnered more hype in the 1960s and 70s by pairing up with surrealist photographer Guy Bourdin to promote their line with avant garde advertising. It was around this time as well that they began releasing fragrances, to much the same tune of excitement as their footwear inspired. Their signature scent Charles Jourdan le Parfum is heralded by scent expert Michael Edwards as “the sexiest fragrance of all time”; they released Stiletto in 1996 to recognize the 75th anniversary of the company and to honor Paris, the bottle was shaped like the Eiffel Tower. These were the sorts of inspirations that set the Charles Jourdan house apart.

Charles Jourdan’s signature and Individuelle scents are their best-selling fragrance items; Charles Jourdan le Parfum an irrisistible woody oriental with yummy notes of bamboo, mango, peach, almond, and coffee, given the most sensual edge by its amber and patchouli base. Individuelle by Chareles Jourdan is for individuals who appreciate the elegance of subtlety. A soft fruity floral, Individuelle grazes the nose with an air of sophistication and class, using notes such as amber, jasmine, melon and sandalwood.

After Charles passed away his sons continued running the company, the house gaining unintended publicity by exposure of Imelda Msarcos’ excessive shoe obsession, many in her collection being a Jourdan stiletto. Imelda, the widow of the former president of the Philippines, has been quoted to plead guilty to being the “greediest for the good, true and beautiful.” Jourdan was also a favourite designer and nez of icons such as Brigitte Bardot and Princess Diana. In 1999 their flagship store was moved to Paris’ renowned Champs-Elysées, and shortly after 2000, the house went bankrupt after a retail focus attempt flopped.

In preparation for the re-launch of the label, Joe Ouaknine (head of Charles Jourdan North America) has let slip that while 2009 designs will retain original charm, there will be much emphasis on aggression and flash— always cutting-edge, the Charles Jourdan design house is set to be a hot topic on everyone’s tongues, feet AND wrists this fall!

Pick up the classic treasure that is the signature of this design house’s essence, Charles Jourdan le Parfum .

The Scent Rises In The East

2009-10-14T14:17:11-07:00

Experiencing The Orient with Oriental Fragrances

Oriental scents, with their fragrant spices, deep musks and resins, exotic flowers, and sweet warm woods, instantly conjure up images of the Eastern world—- of narrow-aisled markets selling bright fabrics and grains in large bins, of exotic cuisines and colorful architecture. It is the heaviest fragrance family: warm, rich and sultry.

Oriental fragrances rely heavily on intense and intoxicating notes like amber, musks, vanilla, and exotic resins, flowers and spices. Depending on the concentration of these notes, scents of this fragrance family can be further broken down into sub-categories like Oriental-Green, Oriental-Fruity, Oriental-Spicy, or Oriental-Woody. Oriental perfumes have long been a staple in the realm of sensual and romantic scents.

“The Orient” is a geographical representation, the borders of which have shifted significantly throughout the centuries as explorers pushed further and further East towards the Pacific Ocean. Generally, The Orient refers to Eastern Asia—- from India and Pakistan to the furthest beaches of Japan. The term “Orient” comes from the Latin word “oriens”, meaning “east” and “orior”, which means “rise”, referring to the sun, which always rises in the East.

No need to worry about the 18-hour flight, when you can relax here and let Perfume.com experts take you on a voyage through some highlights of both The Orient and the Oriental fragrance family.

Start your tour in INDIA, where the colourful, bustling city of Mumbai will perk you right up after the flight. Catch an authentic Bollywood movie in the birthplace of Indian cinema and afterwards, grab some fresh curried mango at a restaurant overlooking the Mahim Bay. Sport some ambery-spicy Youth Dew by Estee Lauder to complement all the aromas of Mumbai’s large and busy street markets.

Next, try CHINA for some great architecture and delicious dumplings. It’s easy to soak up culture and tradition here in the land of this ancient civilization, and a stroll around the Forbidden City or atop the Great Wall is a great reflection of some of the amazing feats and abilities of the Chinese people throughout their long history. Try a once-forbidden Oriental scent, the carnal Shalimar by Guerlain, to match the adventure inside Forbidden City walls.

THAILAND is a great place to take in sights and sports, from the country’s renowned floating market to a showing of the popular Muay Thai style of boxing. Don’t forget to schedule in a few days for some strict beach time too though—- Thailand is globally popular for its scenic sand spots, and is in fact where Leo DiCaprio: filmed the popular movie The Beach. Get fresh with Oriental-Green perfume, Vivenne Westwood’s Boudoir.

Next take a tour through MALAYSIA, where you’re able to sun on some of the best beaches and then trek right into the jungle rainforests for a trip full of unbelievable adventure—- and maybe some monkey spotting. For a much needed concrete break afterward, visit the thriving metropolis of Kuala Lampur, where you can enjoy some of Eastern Asia’s best spicy cuisine. Wear spicy “Opium”: http://www.perfume.com/yves-saint-laurent/opium/women-perfume to dinner.

Visit the villages of VIETNAM for a warm and culture-rich experience you won’t soon forget, where locals are eager to teach visitors their many customs and traditions. Vietnam offers a number of islands to explore as well, full of hiking trails, caves, and historical landmarks. Soak up the culture with one of the Oriental fragrance family’s historical treasures, Dior’s Hypnotic Poison .

End your tour of The Orient in JAPAN, where you can ride your bicycle through busy city streets or along the coast of the peaceful Pacific. Explore Tokyo, the world’s largest metropolis at a population of 12 million people, before you retreat into the back country to take in the country’s lush landscapes and unique architecture. Mimic Japan’s sensual and mysterious Geisha culture with deep and mysterious Obsession perfume.

If you can’t get away to another continent, spritz some Oriental perfume, close your eyes, and let your imagination take you where your legs can’t.

The Way Autumn Falls

2009-10-16T10:06:59-07:00

Explore Vermont

The only place to be in the fall is in the North-East. Nowhere else do trees transition into winter in quite the same way, maples exploding with luminous oranges while oaks fill their branches with brilliant reds. Autumn also carries its own scent, as well as landscape: a fresh and slightly damp aroma with hints of winter crisp, a musky cider laced with rotting bouquets.

One tree in particular, the Cercidiphyllum japonicum with no simpler name to share, gives off a distinctive smell that has come to help personify the scent of autumn. The tree, which originated in Asia, is known for its multi-coloured displays of brilliant fall foliage, as well as for the scent of its fallen leaves, described as having an aroma like burnt sugar or fairground candy floss. This sugary perfume is also emitted in the spring, when leaves emerge out of branch buds as a rich copper-green.

The scent is most apparent when standing over beds of fresh leaves, where the smell will waft upwards and overcome you. If you scoop up a handful of wet leaves and push them under your nose, they won’t be as pungent, the equivalent of smelling a floral bouquet on a table versus locating the source of a perfume oil within the throat of a flower.

In Vermont, different types of trees change during different periods—- just like a fragrance’s notes, by mid-September the foliage’s “heart notes” explode when full ranges of autumn colours begin appearing in the same way, starting at the northern edge and wafting south (unlike a perfume, which wafts up). This “full color” period can last from late-September through mid-to-late October.

Try these woody colognes from Perfume.com:, perfect for cooler weather and the spicy brilliance of autumn:

ALLURE BY CHANEL
Allure by Chanel perfume for women is a multifaceted fragrance that mixes notes of the Orient with abstract flowers. The concept of allure was Coco Chanel’s ideal: an innocent seduction without artifice, an unforgettable elegance transcending words and conventions. It is a simple jewel that combines six complex notes — bergamot, mandarin, water lily and magnolia, jasmine and May roses, vetiver and the velvety sensuality of vanilla.

BIJAN BY BIJAN
Bijan by Bijan perfume for women is a refined, oriental, woody fragrance. This feminine scent possesses a blend of sandalwood, oakmoss and orange flower. Bijan for Women perfume contains 173 precious ingredients, while the eau de parfum contains 157. The ingeniously designed circular glass flacon bottle with an open center and a dividing web visually defies gravity—when half full, the fragrance fills two separate chambers.

CK’S CONTRADICTION FOR WOMEN
Launched by the design house of Calvin Klein in 1997, CONTRADICTION is classified as a refreshing, oriental, floral fragrance. This feminine scent possesses a blend of pure pepper, rose, satin wood and sandalwood. It is recommended for daytime wear.

ESCADA BY ESCADA
Escada by Escada perfume for women is an oriental floral fragrance. This feminine scent possesses a blend of oriental spices, sandalwood, vanilla, and orange flower, sparked by a fruity duo of coconut and peach.

ARMANI DIAMONDS FOR WOMEN
Emporio Armani Diamond by Giorgio Armani perfume for women is very classy, glamorous scent that pays homage to “a girl’s best friend.” This sexy gourmand floral potion involves notes of rose, raspberry, and litchi in fusion over a sexy trail of amber and woods.

JAIPUR SAPHIR BY BOUCHERON
Jaipur Saphir Pour Femme is the latest women’s fragrance introduction from the renowned Parisian jeweler-perfumer, Boucheron. This exquisite fragrance derived its name from the celestial blue Kashmir ‘sapphires’ – a name that means most beautiful thing. A sensual and contemporary woody floral scent, Boucheron’s new fragrance combines the harmony of blue with the magic of jewelry to pay homage to today’s femininity.

VERSACE FOR WOMEN
The floral, vibrant and sensual bouquet delicately emphasized by a gentle marriage of jasmine and azalea. The fragrance is finally enveloped by the silky softness of a veil of musk, wrapped by the preciousness of warm and delicate kashmir wood and Moroccan cedar wood.

Chanel no. 5 - Number 1 in Design

2009-09-08T14:57:12-07:00

The bottle that Contained Coco's Essence

Coco Chanel was not the first couturier to incorporate fragrance into her design house, but was the first to link perfume to fashion in the manner that she did: as a vital accessory to a look.

In turn, her most famous perfume (Chanel no.5) became as iconic as her sleek, elegant collections, a piece of art and fashion within its own right.

Coco was once quoted as saying “A woman must smell like a woman, and not like a rose.” She told her perfumer she wanted a scent that reflected her personality: something “abstract and unique". She stayed away from the froufrou flowery scents and bottle designs that were popular at the time, choosing instead to use a simple, geometric bottle shape, a contrast to the extravagant fragrance within its glass walls. Even the label is not adorned with any imagery or design, not one wispy romantic line, not one strand of flowers.

Chanel No.5’s sleek and simple design is reflective of Coco’s fashion sense, its expensive, rare ingredients also an indicator of her penchant for quality and style. Coco insisted her perfumer use only the finest materials known to the world of perfumery at the time in 1921, and that he did, making it rife with costly jasmine.

The bottle has an almost masculine air, masculinity then associated with luxury, classicism and worldliness, while femininity was associated with sensual images and encapsulated in rounder bottles representing a womanly figure. It is rumoured that Coco based her inspiration for No. 5’s bottle design around an existing bottle she had within an elegant toiletry set.

The bottle has undergone some changes during its long life; its first introduced in 1921 was in a clear, rounded-edged rectangular bottle—- that at first glance, is similar to the one in which it appears today. The stopper was inspired by a bird’s eye view of the Place Vendôme, a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The box packaging was created to represent an overcoat, fitting the form just so, and offering protection to the delicate materials beneath.

Over time the No.5 bottle has undergone six notable design changes (the last of which was in 1986) although its basic elements have not changed significantly. The label has gotten larger and the brand’s trademarked intertwined C’s now appear at the front of the collar, instead of on top of the stopper where they originated. The stopper is also now made of glass, and is thicker, as is the glass of the whole bottle.

The infamous bottle has secured its spot in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Though Coco Chanel has passed her legend lives on through her designs-— in fashion, fragrance, and everything she ever touched. Get your own bottle of this classically packaged fragrance at Perfume.com.

Who's Your Daddy?

2009-09-14T16:39:56-07:00

Pierre Dinand: The Father of Modern Bottle Design

As there exists the Father of Psychology, the Forefathers of Nations, and Father Christmas, so too is there the Father of Modern Bottle Design: Mr. Pierre Dinand.

Over the past half-century, Pierre Dinand has designed over half of all of the perfume bottles manufactured throughout the world, including Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium, CK’s Obsession, Calandre by Paco Rabanne, and the recent special edition bottle of Mûre et Musc for L’Artisan, to name a few of the over 500 designs in his portfolio.

Madame Rochas by Rochas was the first fragrance he lent his design talents to, and it hit the shelves in late 1958. It was extraordinary because for the first time ever a stopper was made of plastic and metal, rather than glass; the perfume was a success and its designed deemed revolutionary. Rochas hired Dinand on the spot and after that, work in the profession he fell into by chance “just never stopped.”

Later, in the 1980s, Dinand was playing golf when the ball broke in two. “Inside, there was this weird material; [it] looked like frosted glass but it wasn’t. It had a depth of contrasts no other material could offer,” he said in an interview with Now Smell This. He investigated and identified the material as surlyn, a product of a Delaware-based chemical company, whom he asked for a sample. "They delivered over 100 kilos! The material was perfect.” Dinand first used the surlyn for CK’s Obsession,, and it is now one of the most widely used packaging materials.

It was this type of inspiration and innovation, plus Dinand’s unmatched dedication to the art of packaging, that secured his standing in design. “When I design a bottle for a couturier, I like to fathom his universe, his very own world, in order to understand him better.”

Dinand works out of a light, airy studio space in Paris, where he interviews perfumers to not only understand them, but the perfumes themselves, their notes and moods. He says he” lives” with the scent until he is mentally able to capture its silhouette, and then creates “concept pieces” - sculptures, out of clay and acrylic. He stays with his designs through every leg of the process.

Dinand is a renowned sculptor as well as bottle designer, and designed the award for the Fragrance Foundation Awards, a crystal statue of a man and a woman linked by a drop of perfume. After 50 years as master of his design trade, Pierre is now spending more time dedicated to sculpture. His work is displayed at the Oita Kaori-no Mori Perfume Museum in Japan.

“Creativity is less important nowadays, now that marketing studies end up with the exact same recommendations, whatever the company,” he says of today’s bottle designs. I must say that my [most rewarding work] was with Calvin Klein and Robin Burns [of Estee Lauder], because they wanted something new, not following trends but ahead of them.”

Consistently ahead of time and trends himself, Pierre Dinand has shaped the world of bottle design more than any other player in fragrance’s history—- an unexpected fate, but the seemingly most logical course for the naturally talented designer’s life to take. “I was just rocketed to the very center of design and perfume."

Secrets to Discovering a Fabulous Fall Fragrance

2009-09-08T14:49:04-07:00

Match your fall style to this season's essential runway looks

Each season, the runways inspire us to update our look and our signature style. This fall, despite the topsy turvey economy, wowed us with more lust worthy items from the boardroom worthy suit, to the killer evening gowns and this season’s must-have-topper- the biker jacket. Choosing the perfect scent is the ultimate final accessory to compliment your individual style. How do you know what’s right for you? Style and scent usually marry well together. It’s as easy as looking to the fashions you love. A designer’s fragrance is an extension of the brands’ aesthetic and is translated into an olfactory sensation.

With the vast array of fragrances on the market today, it’s easy to have several scents for every mood and occasion. Fragrance is the ultimate reflection of your style and personality. Which fragrances suit your fashion obsessions for Fall 2009? Read on for our recommendations.
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Got Me On My Knees: Lola

2009-10-27T16:02:52-07:00

Fall’s Most Buzzworthy Fragrance

Fall 2009’s most buzzworthy fragrance has just hit shelves, and the liquid gold concoction is making quite the splash for perfume lovers and trend makers around the globe.

The long-awaited new fragrance and follow-up to immensely popular Daisy perfume, Lola by Marc Jacobs, sets itself apart from the recent market return to fruity-floral fragrances, its musk-infused notes and surprise turns creating an unmatched modern interpretation of the fresh-scented family.

Lola follows the seasonal trend of girly pink cocktail mixes of red fruits and warm musks; however, Lola is also full of surprises and a warm retro glamour. Its base around a fresh, strong accord of rose is a very vintage flavor for women’s scents, and the strong tinge of oriental family notes in its base adds a unique sensual twist. Lola is thoroughly modern, but with a distinct vintage glamour. A true pace-setter for the wrap-up of 2009.

Perfumers Calice Becker and Yann Vasnier constructed Lola as a “shiny, glossy, saturated, vibrant, warm” brew that aims to embody a modern free spirit— with an irresistible attitude. Fresh introductory notes of pink peppercorn, pear and ruby red grapefruit are super fresh; a rich floral heart of strong rose, fuchsia peony and geranium sets the tone for the warm base with notes of vanilla, tonka bean and creamy musk.

Model of the moment Karlie Kloss is the face for Lola.

Back To Basics

2009-11-01T15:37:54-08:00

Issey Miyake Goes Simple With “A Scent”

Renowned Japanese designer and spiritually creative Issey Miyake has gone back to basics in a quest for minimalism and simplicity with his newest women’s scent, aptly named A Scent.

A Scent pays tribute to the “poetry of minimalism”, and was inspired by the fresh, clean smell of the mountains in Japan. It is a woody floral-green fragrance, with fresh hyacinth and galbanum providing the floral heart, while being enhanced by uplifting verbena and a hint of jasmine. It is housed in the most simple of bottles, created from an unadorned slab of pure, raw glass.

Issey was looking to create with A Scent a smell “as simple and beautiful as the air we breathe”. The result is a fragrance that expresses simple luxury with a harmonious and balanced blend of notes inspired by pure air.

Designer Issey Miyake fuses his spirit with an earthly harmony for life, and Issey Miyake Parfums mirrors the artist’s quest for exceptionality and balance. His minimalist view of blending one’s spirit with the environment culminates in his creation of modern, alluring fragrances, and A Scent continues this trend of refined and engaged elegance.

“Play”ing With Justin Timberlake

2009-11-01T14:49:51-08:00

Celebrity Scent Watch

There is a continual stream of celebrity fragrances into the market— but Justin Timberlake and Givenchy’s new Play cologne are changing the concept of how celebrity scents come to be.

We have seen fragrances by Britney Spears, Mariah Carey, Usher, Sean John, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and many more, created under rule of the celeb’s own desires and designs to capture their favorite feelings, thoughts and things, and share them with the public world through scent.

But a role reversal has been seen recently with perfume makers sniffing out celebrities first, and then creating scents based around their images and personas. The latest release of this nature is inspired by Justin Timberlake, the unstoppable star whom Givenchy sniffed out to capture in a men’s fragrance. The result is Givenchy’s Play cologne, a fresh woody-citrus scent housed in a bottle resembling a glass iPod; the design represents the idea that music evokes emotion—and that the aroma of Play will too.

A self-described fan of natural scents and pheromones, J.T. worked with Givenchy to create a light, clean-smelling cologne that wouldn’t be overbearing to shy scent wearers like himself. Play is youthful and fun with mandarin orange, grapefruit, black pepper and coffee flower, with a subtle tinge of masculine sensuality from a vetiver and patchouli base.

With a stamp of approval from both Justin and girlfriend Jessica Biel, Play is sure to be a scent chart topper.

Never say Neverland

2009-09-11T11:40:13-07:00

Christian Audigier Buys MJ’s Ranch

Well it looks like where royalty reigns, it rains royalty! Rumours are circulating that the King of Jeans, Christian Audigier, just bought out the former home of the King of Pop. Indeed, the designer has said he gets the keys in the next few weeks!

Purchased for $90 million to serve as headquarters for Ed Hardy operations, the infamous Neverland Ranch boasts 2,500+ acres, a National Forest to the east and a college prep boarding school to the south—- big raised eyebrow on that little fact. The amusement park rides all began to be trucked away shortly after Jackson passed away in June, but it was only this week that plans for the land post-MJ were publicized. Apparently Audigier was originally looking to turn the property into a museum honouring the one-gloved wonder, but he couldn’t obtain the proper permits or authorization. The ranch will still be opened to the public for one day each year, on the anniversary of Jackson’s death.

At the time of MJ’s death he and Audigier were in collaboration to create a commemorative line celebrating Jackson’s musical fame. He describes the line as “a mix between Liberace and Elvis”, and items include a red jacket featuring Jackson’s portrait, the token one glove—laden in rhinestones, as well as pairs of rhinestone socks.

Currently though, Christian’s stuck in a legal lockdown with MJ’s estate. Knowing how the value of celebrity products jumps after the star passes, all items have to be cleared by the estate and go through a lot of red tape before they can be released to be public. There ARE a book and movie in the works by the estate already to capture (and capitalize) on MJ’s death (it’s reported that his estate has made over $100 million in the short months since his passing), but there’s no word when these designs will see the light of day.

Audigier isn’t pushing for the line’s release for the money (with over 5,000 celebrity fans, he doesn’t need any more endorsement), and told reporters “I hope they understand I was friends with Michael and this is what I want to do for Michael.” I do hope so too.

In the meantime, buy Christian Audigier and Ed Hardy products on Perfume.com!

Scent Opera

2009-09-09T11:48:39-07:00

Where Sound & Scent Align

A fragrance’s composition of top, middle and base notes is comparable to the composition of a song. Each scent note can be attributed to a single chord within a harmony of sound, like patchouli as a base note bringing depth to a top note of rich jasmine.

A group of sound and scent aficionados took this concept one step further this past summer with the creation of Green Aria: A Scent Opera, where not only are single fragrance notes like chords of a song, but full scents become audio characters. There is no script to Green Aria, spoken or sung. Instead the show tells the tale of the struggle of nature versus technology and sings the gospel of modernism through scents that “sound, touch and pour.”

Seats in NYC’s Guggenheim Museum theatre were equipped with “scent microphones”, set up to release 23 scents –from magma and steel, to fire and earth- at various intervals during the 30 minute show. “Unscented” bursts of air were released between fragrances, in order to clear audience noses for the next incoming whiff. I had the opportunity to witness this limited time phenomenon.

As the lights of the theatre dimmed, people grabbed fervently at their “scent tubes”; teenagers attempted to stick them into inappropriate places on each other. The aria began with an introduction of its five elements and eighteen supporting characters—for whom each name was projected on a video screen while “their” music and fragrance blared from speaker and tube. We met the likes of Absolute Zero, Runaway Crunchy Green and Shiny Steel; Fire + Smoke was introduced alongside crinkling electronic sounds and the piercing scent of burnt ash. In a comedic twist, it was announced that character Fresh Air had become indisposed—and since there is no replacement of such to be found in smoggy NYC, the character Clean Air would have to come stand in his place. Clean Air came equipped with soft, wistful melodies and a bracing, clinically pure scent like a freshly scrubbed doctor’s office.

Throughout the next 30 minutes, the audience in the nearly purely dark theatre were treated to an abstract, dramatic show of sound and light and scent, eclectic music flowing seamlessly from one scene and concept to the next, fragrances timed to escort your mind through the audio storyboard. At the end of the show, the characters took the usual curtain call, their names flashing on the video screens and scents pumping through the “microphones” one last time. The loudest ovation went to the faintly sulfurous, aptly named Funky Green Imposter.

The Scent Opera is the result of a two-year collaboration between writer and director Stewart Matthew, composers Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurdsson, and French perfumer Christophe Laudamiel (who has created fragrances for Ralph Lauren and Estée Lauder). Matthew and Laudamiel work together as Aeosphere LLC, an enterprise exploring scent technology that they call a “perfume media company”.

“Perfumery should be the same kind of discipline as music or visual art,” Laudamiel told The Wall Street Journal. “You need that kind of nurturing of crazy ideas.”

Unlike the grand failing of 1960s Smell-o-Vision technology and the more recent attempt at a USB device called the iSmell (named one of the 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time by PC World), Green Aria: A Scent Opera successfully takes perfumery across artistic barriers to create something new, fresh and multi-platformed.