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A Day in a Life with…

STRIP, Agent Provocateur

 

From name to bottle

In the blink of an eye, it’s all been said, or practically! But putting your cards on the table isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and in this case, there’s enough humor and savoir-faire to let yourself go with it… Indeed, when your name is Agent Provocateur (the famous British lingerie brand), you can get away with almost anything!
Between the lascivious allusions, the SM references (their last fragrance was called Maîtresse, or “Mistress”), the naughty double entendres (Agent Provocateur is provocative in the “If you’ve got the money, I’ve got the time” sense of the word provocation) and the formal audacity (the bottle, like a hand grenade whose pin is ready to be pulled; and the pink-and-black camouflage pattern, like battle fatigues designed by Pollock), you certainly can’t accuse the house of being coy. Yet, thanks most likely to the lightness of the propos and the quality of their designs (juice, bottle, packaging), this “straight-shooting” holds its own, and the brand has nothing to be ashamed of. Yes, it’s all about seduction, in a word, about sex. But what’s sultry isn’t necessarily trashy, and false modesty can also be a way of covering up defects too…
Just think about it, if your boyfriend asks you what you’re wearing, it can’t be easy to blurt out, “Strip, by Agent Provocateur,” without worrying about appearing “hot to trot.” Which just means that if you’re counting on it to increase your sex-appeal, you better to be willing to “go all the way,” both in terms of the weapon and the patter that goes with it… And if someone comments that the warrior imagery (hand grenade, etc.) doesn’t really go with the “charm” card, just answer that it’s better than the other way around… And suggest a workshop to liberate their karma.




 

From bottle to trail
Sprritttzzz!
In the “forever amber” category, Strip makes its strategy clear. There’s no beating around the bush, no gourmand sensuality meant to boost libido with sugar-and-spice nonsense. Here, it’s back to basics, with a good old time-tested recipe from when amber was considered a magical potion, with its animal accents, ancestral balm and resin tonalities and mythical petals. Anyone who has already looked into amber’s sulfurous reputation and the confusion that surrounds the appellation of this olfactory category knows just how complex the subject is. So as not to discourage the rest of you, let’s start with the idea that historically speaking, amber is one of the oldest fragrant themes. Resins, woods, balms, spices… the roots of the alchemy of its most representative ingredients probably stretch way back into our collective olfactory unconscious, to a time when all sorts of strong-smelling products had ritual uses, including creating an atmosphere conducive to love. Above and beyond any one culture, religion or era, amber has a universal aspect, like charcoal for drawing, or wood and stone for sculpting.
So should we be surprised to see it cropping up so often, especially when you know how modern society loves what’s new?
No, because amber has long been associated with life’s rituals, therefore with love, and obviously with sex.
For that matter, does anyone ever wonder why black lace is considered sexy and always shows up in come-hither lingerie?
What a shame, because then we could’ve pointed out that all Agent Provocateur is doing is counting on two two sex-machine fundamentals…
Black and powder-pink undies, trail of bewitching amber: you can’t help recognizing the allusion, but since it’s well done – and you can always pretend to be playing it tongue-in-cheek – you can’t help falling for it… and who can resist a fallen woman, right?

 

  
 

 



In a nutshell

Name: STRIP
Brand: AGENT PROVOCATEUR
Size(s), price(s): 1.7 oz. atomizer (euros 66).
Concentration : Eau de Parfum
Gender: Feminine, but except for the packaging, anything goes…
“Official” olfactory family: Ambry-Floral
Perceived olfactory family: Ambry-Floral… hey, for once it matches!
For whom: for femmes who know they’re fatale, novices looking for thrills and anyone who flunked sex-ed and needs remedial work!

 



Evolution: A classic olfactory curve for a floral-amber. The secret: the effects hit the spot in terms of level, and the excellent balance between the top, heart and base notes, which gives the scent true sex-appeal… without falling into a “Louis XVI” amber or “painted lady” trap.
Long-lastingness: Precisely what it should be: a trail that lasts, but isn’t overwhelming for those near you.
Sex-appeal factor: a little obviously “amber therefore sexy” but the fact is, it works!


  
 
Innovation potential: not new, but well made !
    
 


   
 


 




Fabienne ANTONIEWSKI
Fragrance journalist

From marketing to journalism, the world of cosmetics and fragrance has been the common thread in her career for over twenty years.
A frequent contributor to Elle magazine’s ‘Beauté’ column since 1995, she reconnected through her writing with one of her first loves: perfume.
Helping readers smell and dream, inventing new scenarios, putting feelings into words; she aims to evoke the most intimate and emotional facets of a fragrance, the better to resist reducing it to a banal consumer product.
She still considers that defending the artistic side of perfumery and encouraging creativity and the search for meaning and quality is one of the main points of her profession.