Thames & Hudson have published a new biography, titled The World of Coco Chanel -- Friends, Fashion, Fame. The book was written by Edmonde Charles-Roux, Chanel's official biographer and close friend, and includes over 600 illustrations. You can read a review in the Pretoria News, the New Statesman, or the Telegraph (none of these three links are still active, sorry!).
Several Guerlain Aqua Allegorias to be discontinued
Guerlain confirms that Anisia Bella is officially discontinued as of yesterday. Mentafollia and Foliflora are slated to be discontinued in September. There are still lots of bottles to be had in all three fragrances, so no need to panic just yet...
Ormonde Jayne Ormonde for women & Ormonde for men ~ perfume review
Ormonde Woman (shown above) was the first fragrance released by London-based niche house Ormonde Jayne, and features notes of cardamom, coriander, grass oil, black hemlock, violet, jasmine absolute, vetiver, cedar, amber and sandalwood. If you are wondering what black hemlock is, see here.
Of all of the Ormonde Jayne fragrances I have reviewed so far, Ormonde Woman is the hardest to capture in words. It is perhaps even more unusual than Champaca, although I would venture to guess that Ormonde has a wider audience. The top notes are very spicy and rich, slightly sweet, and almost foody. As the spices calm, the grass oil lends a green, almost herbal edge to the woods and the earthiness of the vetiver…
Newest celebrity perfume deal: Michael Jackson
Seriously, you knew that was for April Fool's Day, right? But go ahead, nominate your own wacky celebrity fragrance. Extra points for including the fragrance notes! Of course, Donald Trump & Paris Hilton are already taken...
Perfumes celebrate the Orange Revolution
From the BBC comes this story of a company that has created a series of fragrances for the elections in Ukraine:
"We feel very proud about the Orange Revolution and we wanted to create something to remember that special time," says Lydmila Bedrina, director of the Russian Cosmetics Company, which is based in Kiev. "Every one of our employees stood on Independence Square during the big demonstrations by the opposition."
The company has developed a fragrance for each round of Ukraine's presidential elections, as well as the inauguration of Viktor Yushchenko.
You can read the rest of the article on the BBC website.