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New fragrances: amber is back!

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:32:34 +0000

Are you a fan of amber scents? Lucky you – lately, amber seems to be inspiring perfumers more than ever...

Need a refresher? Originally, amber was a fossilized resin that was very popular with jewelry designers. But in perfumery, amber is an accord composed of warm, spicy, vanilla and balsamic notes.

Nowadays, amber-based fragrances are often unisex, like Jovoy’s Ambre Premier, a slightly gourmand scent that ‘leaves a sensual trail on the skin; that je ne sais quoi that makes all the difference’, the in-the-know brand explains. Ambre Nue, the sixth creation from Atelier Cologne, which will be unveiled in 2012, is another unisex amber fragrance.

Men’s scents have also been experimenting with amber recently. Like Prada, with their Amber Intense pour Homme, a woody oriental that ‘sings the praises of amber in its classic form.’ Hugo Boss has chosen to pair amber with velvet in Velvet & Amber, in their “Boss the Collection” line that pairs fabrics and scents. In Velvet & Amber, velvet, which was traditionally reserved for royalty, expresses amber’s precious, jewel-like aspect.

More than just an accord, amber carries us off to a suave and mysterious world, and can be seen as a continuation of the Arabian nights fragrance trend. La Sultane de Saba presents their first fragrance: Ambre Musc Santal. It’s a vanilla composition inspired by the spa and cosmetics brand’s 1,001-nights atmosphere… just as Armani dreamt up Ambre Orient for their Armani Privé 1001 Nuits collection, which pays tribute to the Middle east’s most luxurious fragrance ingredients. And niche brand Les Sens de Marrakech unveiled Ambre, a colorful perfume steeped in Moroccan culture and traditions.

And of course, anyone who loves this sweet and sensual note will already know – or should definitely try – the most classic amber scent of them all: Serge Lutens’s Ambre Sultan. As well as Reminiscence’s Ambre, Hermès’s Ambre Narguilé and Dior’s Ambre Nuit... a woody-oriental that they recently brought out as a candle.

Amber: a totally trendy accord.

Nicolas Olczyk

Do you like amber scents? Which one’s your favorite?

Stunning candles for Christmas 2011

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:41:27 +0000

The holidays are a time when candles and home fragrances are particularly appreciated. And for winter 2011-2012, designers have no shortage of creative ideas.

The candle specialist is Diptyque, who is presenting 2 creations with unusual names. Epinette (“Little Needle”) is a green candle that pays tribute to the scent of 'the branches of a pine tree lightly dusted with snow.’ As for Perdigone, which is red, it is redolent of a spicy, candied Provençal plum. The first of the two also comes in a gigantic 4-pound model!

For women who love their latest perfume, Dahlia Noir, Givenchy has brought it out as a candle for the holidays: it wafts out lovely waves of chypre and sandalwood. Anyone who prefers violet will enjoy Balenciaga’s latest candle. And fans of green lentisk and galbanum scents will go for Maison Martin Margiela’s offering.

For an up-beat turquoise atmosphere, Tom Ford suggests scenting your home with fresh, lemony Neroli Portofino. In a more entertaining vein, the Renoma brand’s candles have off-beat animal images on the glass. The candles themselves come in absinthe, immortal blossom and wood scents.

The American brand Yankee Candle proposes new fragrances just for the holidays, like Rose de Noël and a lively, fruity fragrance christened Cherries on Snow.
As for Mediterranean brand Esteban, they’re offering Jathikaï, a warm and spicy scent inspired by India and redolent of nutmeg. Spices have also inspired Yves Rocher, with Epices de Noël. Though spicy, of course, it is also very gourmand.

Flowers, spices, woods, green, citrus or gourmand notes… there’s something for everyone in candles this winter!
Nicolas Olczyk

Do you like scented candles?

New perfumes with names that can be hard to pronounce

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 13:37:26 +0000

It seems like strange names are the latest trend in fragrances. Some brands go to extremes to find ideas that are unusual, to say the least!

Humiecki & Graef is a good example of this phenomenon. This niche brand’s name has a story: it is composed of two of the creators’ grandmothers’ last names. As for the scents they make, each of them represents an emotion, christened with a multilingual range of names… But even an English speaker might not realize that Askew (a zesty, spicy vetiver fragrance) expresses anger; and who would know that Skarb (absinthe and camomile, with smoky myrrh and frankincense tonalities) was inspired by melancholy? Their latest scent is called Blask. This ‘oud-less oud scent’ (red wine, walnuts, white flowers, curry-licorice effect redolent of immortal blossom) is an olfactory representation of confidence.

The names of the new fragrances in Molton Brown’s ‘Navigations Through Scent’ collection are kind of tricky too. All of them have place names – but even so… Who knew that Iunu (a spicy floriental) was in Egypt or that Apuldre (a green and aromatic fragrance) was a city in England (also known as Appledore?) Also worth looking out for: Lijiang (a musky-floral Chinese perfume), Singosari (a spicy-woodsy Indonesian scent) and Rogart (a fresh, woody Canadian fragrance).

Inspired by shamanism, the latest three scents from Cousu de Fil Blanc also have names that are … impenetrable: Ayahuescan (a wet, green floral), Peyoltecaz (a slightly earthy spicy citrus) and Iboganda (a rooty, ambry woody scent).

At The Different Company, you can look for an oud-y oriental christened Oud Shamash. A fragrance whose name has nothing to do with shamans – according to Wikipedia, Shamash was the name of the Babylonian Sun God…

New York concept store Odin has its share of mysterious names, too. After Owari (a highly mandarin-inflected citrus scent) and Petrana (a powdery-woodsy floral spiked with cassis), their latest, more aromatic, fragrance is called Amanu.

Last but not least, designer Neela Vermeire, who has an Indian background, has launched a collection of fragrances inspired by India. Two of her three creations have unusual names: Trayee (ganja, basil, saffron, vetiver), which means ‘Triad,’ represents the 3 Hindu divinities of wisdom, and Mohur (rose, carrot, amber, almond milk) is the Indian name for the highest-quality gold. Who knew?

So what’s up with the obscure names? For the creative, out-there feel, clearly. But also, with the huge outpouring of new scents, the more-obvious names have practically all been taken!

By the way, if you’re wondering how to pronounce certain perfume names, the site fragnameoftheday.blogspot.com lets you listen to a different brand or fragrance name every day. Up until now, the site’s creator (who is bilingual, French and English) has mostly provided the pronunciation of French names. But if this trend keeps up, who knows? Maybe she’ll think about looking towards more exotic sonorities… To be continued!

Nicolas Olczyk

What’s the weirdest perfume name you’ve ever seen?

Fragrance packaging 2011-2012: silver, silver everywhere

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:08:32 +0000

Are you more silver or gold? With the holidays coming, designers seem to have made their choice… This winter’s fragrance bottles have adopted q silver attitude!

Bulgari is surfing the silver wave with Bulgari Man Silver Edition. The jewelry house has garbed its woody-oriental men’s scent in a silvery hue, enhanced with shiny tones. The juice itself is unchanged.

Gaultier’s bottles are taking on metallic hues too. Le Mâle has donned a ‘gun-metal’ jersey adorned with bluish-green writing. Adjectives describing the fragrance are inscribed on the famous torso garbed in a French sailor’s top… the house’s signature. The limited-edition bottle has been launched as a duo with Classique, which is garbed in a pinkish skin tone.

This winter, skin-care brand Biotherm has joined forces with Franco-Danish designer Vanessa Bruno to launch L’Eau. An “eau de fraîcheur” (“eau of freshness”) composed around waves of rose, cedar and lily-of-the-valley. The bottle has been adorned for the occasion with a pearly hue enhanced with flecks of silver, for a polar look.

At Maison Martin Margiela silvery tones have always suited the house’s futuristic fashion collections. So it’s only natural that they would dip their first fragrance, (Untitled), in a silvery bath for the holidays.

Anyone who likes silvered bottles shouldn’t forget Narciso Rodriguez’s Essence. In 2011, it got a flanker called Eau de Musc. The original bottle has been slightly elongated, but is still lined with silvery lacquer. The stunning design creates a mirror effect.

One last item for fans of everything silver, Balenciaga’s latest composition, Balenciaga Paris L’Essence, now comes as… a candle that exhales gentle notes of flowers and leaves. The candle looks like it has been dipped in molten silver with small flecks disturbing the coating’s purity.

Silver hues really are everywhere this winter 2011-2012… so you4re bound to find something for everyone!

Nicolas Olczyk

Fragrance bottles: are you gold… or silver?

Halloween, All Saints’ Day, Day of the Dead…what fragrance should you wear?

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:27:42 +0000

Depending on what country you live in, October 31 is Halloween, November 1 is All Saints’ Day and/or the next day is the Day of the Dead. Strangely, death seems to inspire fragrance designers…

Halloween wouldn’t really be Halloween without a pumpkin, and American fragrance house Demeter understands that. They propose a scent called Pumpkin Pie (att’n à l’ortho en vo, il manque un “p” dans PumPkin), which smells just like its name implies! If you’re not sure you want to smell quite that edible, the brand has also unveiled an even stranger creation on the theme of death, called Funeral Home. A bouquet of white flowers that is redolent, according to Demeter, of the atmosphere of a funeral…

Serge Lutens has also been attracted to the topic and presented his near-mystical interpretation: a fragrance entitled ‘De Profundis’, i.e. “from the depths”, the title of a poem by Oscar Wilde. This creation, whose stunning purple juice is a nod to the color of mourning, was composed around a note of chrysanthemum, the flower of choice in cemeteries. Lutens’ has also unveiled a limited edition of Serge Noire. The signature bottle is graced with a big black cross. Funereal atmosphere guaranteed!

Artistic director, photographer and designer Marc Atlan has created a fragrance with an unexpected name: Petite Mort (“Little Death”). Although the name is strange if you take it literally, the idea behind the perfume is actually fairly daring, since the juice is said to have been inspired by the ‘ineffable substance produced by women at the moment of orgasm’… which “la petite mort” is another name for...

Another, although less decadent, line that now is the time to look out for, is the aptly named Halloween, by Spanish designer Jesus del Pozo,who passed away this summer. And to find out more about this theme, osMoz can suggest reading (or re-reading) our ‘Dead celebrities do launch fragrances’ report.

In a nutshell, death inspires designers, but not necessarily in a morbid way. For Serge Lutens, death isn’t a sad topic. “Death, with a capital D, is a character who wears haute-couture clothing,” he points out. A point of view like any other… or almost!

Nicolas Olczyk

What do you think about the idea of fragrances inspired by death?

Lentisk? It’s the trendy little green note!

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:40:07 +0000

Do you know lentisk? It’s a shrub, a variety of pistachio-nut tree that grows in scrubland in the Mediterranean region. Its aromatic green and slightly woody odor has appealed to several designers this season.

And Sisley certainly isn’t going to contradict us! The house has gone for an overdose of lentisk in their latest men’s scent, Eau d’Ikar. The woody-aromatic opens with a top note of lentisk essence… before segueing into a heart of lentisk absolute. Caron choose to pair it with a fig tonality at the heart of their citrusy eau de toilette Yuzu Man.

As for Maison Martin Margiela, they chose the aromatic note to illustrate ‘a simple, natural green trail…’ in (Untitled). They renewed their choice in 2011 with the unisex (Untitled) L’Eau, in which lentisk shows up in a fresher way.

For Comme des Garçons, lentisk seemed like the obvious choice for Chalayan Airborne, a unisex citrus-aromatic fragrance that captures the scent of couturier Hussein Chalayan’s incessant voyages between the Mediterranean and England.

Other, less-recent fragrances also flaunt a lentisk note. At Prada, it grants a touch of green to the opening of ’Infusion d’Iris.’ Blended with galbanum, lentisk brings a certain freshness. The House of Hermès portrays their vision of Un Jardin en Mediterranée (“A Mediterranean Garden”) with orange blossom, fig, bergamot and… lentisk, of course. And last but not least, Annick Goutal has it amongst the top notes of their unisex Ninfeo Mio.

At the opening or in the heart; for him, her or both, lentisk is everywhere!

Nicolas Olczyk

Lentisk, galbanum, cut grass and more… Do you like green scents?

October is pink-ribbon month, when the world of beauty rallies for a good cause

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:36:39 +0000

Did you know that October was pink-ribbon month? And that it’s thanks to Evelyn Lauder (left on the photo, next to Liz Hurley / photo: cancerdusein.org).

Throughout the world, October is now breast-cancer awareness month. The idea is to encourage women to get mammograms and check-ups to allow for early detection. The event’s emblem? A pink ribbon of course!

Several beauty and cosmetics brands support breast-cancer awareness. Some of them, which belong to the Estée Lauder group, sell exclusive products or editions for the occasion, with profits going to organizations that fight breast cancer. Clinique, for example, has just revealed a pink-ribbon key chain that comes with 3 mini glosses. In the USA, Donna Karan is presenting her famous Cashmere Mist scented candle in a pink-ribbon package. And Estée Lauder’s Pleasures comes with a pink ribbon too.

But that’s not all! Other brands are participating, too. Like OPI nail polish (Coty group), a partner for the American national event. The famous crackled polish comes in candy pink for the occasion. Also in the States, Diptyque will be donating 20% of the sales price of its mini Roses candle all month long. Other points of sale – and magazines, like Marie-Claire – are also involved with the month. October is a pink-ribbon month for a good cause…

Nicolas Olczyk

Have you ever bought beauty items that supported a good cause?

Graffiti, tattoos, tags: express yourself!

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:09:41 +0000

Are you into street art, tags and graffiti? That’s lucky, because they’re all the rage in fragrance ads!
In the one for the latest version of Amor Amor, christened Forbidden Kiss, a teen couple tattoos love messages onto each other’s bodies. Parents can relax, the young lovers use markers! Cacharel interprets tattoos renewed popularity as an act that’s ‘attractive to young people’s need for uncompromising commitment and mystery combined.’
Niche brand Juliette Has A Gun is also riding the tattoo wave with the visuals for their latest creation, Romantina. In it, we get a glimpse of a young woman’s arm bearing tattoos with the names of all her former lovers (photo via kremchik).
At Calvin Klein, it’s the CK One Shock bottles that are jumping on the rebel bandwagon. Both of them are tagged with the Shock logo: green spray-paint style for him; pink lipstick-style for her. As for Kenzo, the brand has unveiled a fruity-floral with a name that says it all: Flower Tag. The ad shows a young woman tagging a wall with a red poppy, the house’s emblematic flower.
Whether it’s with lipstick, spray paint or markers, expressing yourself is what counts!
Nicolas Olczyk

What do you think about the tattoo trend in fashion and fragrance?

Are you more into chocolate… or licorice?

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:58:30 +0000

Caramels, bonbons and chocolate? Well, mostly chocolate and licorice, the trendiest two notes in gourmand fragrances, for him and her!
Calvin Klein only dared to put a touch of chocolate in the women’s version of ck one shock. American celebrity couple Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom also wanted a chocolate tonality in their unisex scent, Unbreakable, but it stays discreet there, too. Whereas over at Jean Paul Gaultier, the chocolate presence in their latest men’s scent, Kokorico, is much fuller-bodied, with a cocoa-powder facet. Thierry Mugler uses the note to play the role of a ‘flavor enhancer’ in the ‘Le goût du parfum’ edition of Angel.
For gourmets who prefer licorice, the anise-like note is popular this season, too. Diesel has launched Loverdose, a woody-oriental fragrance with some serious licorice in the heart. Azzaro also presents the note at the heart of their latest men’s scent, Decibel. In their case, the licorice is paired with waves of oriental notes and aldehydes. And you’ll find licorice in a sexier register, but with oriental overtones once again, in Playboy’s Play It Sexy.
Unconditional fans of the anise-like note can find it in this year’s new eau de toilette version of Lolita Lempicka’s classic scent. So, are you chocolate or licorice? Either way, fans of gourmand scents have an embarrassment of riches this year! Photo: Chocolate as seen by pastry chef Pierre Hermé.

Nicolas Olczyk

What other gourmand note(s) would you like to see show up in fragrnaces soon?

Floral eaus? They’re the new in thing!

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:26:41 +0000

A bit of “eau” in your perfume? Yes, but make it floral! Issey Miyake‘s classic scent, L’Eau d’Issey, goes ‘Florale’ this year, with rosy and aquatic notes added into the woodsy composition. The Japanese designer never does anything half way, so the same trend also crops up in their jasminy A Scent by Issey Miyake ‘Eau de Parfum Florale’ edition. Softer and more floral than the original eau de toilette, the floral eau isn’t as green as the original either.
Singer Shakira is jumping on the floral-eau bandwagon with a flanker for her first creation, S by Shakira. The result is a fruity-floral scent with accents of jasmine and berries. At Italian luxury house Ferragamo, Attimo has been turned into a floral eau for a more sparkling scent.
But the source of the trend is Kenzo perfumes, specifically Kenzo Amour Eau Florale, a fresh, floral and luminous fragrance released in 2009.
One thing all these eaus have in common is their powdery-pink hue. All except Kenzo, that is. They’re more pearly white… and besides, they can do what they want, they were the first!
Nicolas Olczyk

What do you think about the ‘eau florale’ trend?