What he excels at is bold, steely, transparent accords that feel like architect sketches for a penthouse flat flying in earth orbit. One third of the fragrances in the box are in this manner. Another third are lavish, classical set-pieces in period dress, all of them good. The remaining third are literal depictions, the best being a cobbler’s shop (Atelier Grimal), a wonderful, bitter leather accord, and another, depressingly entitled Human Existence, which contains the biggest, most fecal dose of civet in living memory .
— Luca Turin on Christophe Laudamiel's perfumes for the Thierry Mugler's Le Parfum coffret, in this month's NZZ Folio.
"Every once in a while you'll find someone who's trying to wear a fragrance that's not really great for their skin because they liked it on a friend or it reminds them of their mother," she said. "They're trying to wear a fragrance that's really wrong, so I try to very delicately tell them I can help them."
— Dawn Spencer Hurwitz on wearing the wrong perfume for your skin type, in an interview with CBS4 in Denver.
Thank you for posting the Luca Turin link. I wish he weren't so dismissive of the book and the movie, but I enjoyed his comments on the Coffret scents. I've had the chance to smell a selection of them, and I agree with his description of the “melancholy milky-powdery heliotrope note” of Aura (although it remind me of Apres l'Ondee).
I would purchase individual bottles of Virgin No. 1 and Nuit Napolitaine, if that were possible. Both are beautiful and I could imagine myself wearing them. I was also very intrigued by Sea, the best “marine” scent I've ever smelled.
Sounds like they could sell quite a few of them individually if they chose too. Will be interesting to see what happens next…the only one that I've hear rumors about being sold on its own is Aura.
Whoops, meant to say that Aura does *not* remind me of Apres L'Ondee. I liked it, though… not as much as Virgin No. 1, but I liked it.
I really loved this month's article. I don't really mind Dr. Turin's dismissal/dislike of the book and film. Shrug. Not everyone can get into historical romances (I mean romance like the genre Dumas wrote in, not the Harlequin/Danielle Steel romance books.) I was curious about the coffret anyhow, but now I'm dying of the curiosity. Ach, that price tag! Hopefully the rumormill is correct, and Aura will actually be sold seperately 🙂 A gal can dream, right?
K, I haven't tried any of them either…we can dream together!
“…Human Existence, which contains the biggest, most fecal dose of civet in living memory.”
I don't know if anyone else thought this funny, but I actually laughed out loud (which really doesn't happen that often)! It's hysterical! I received my bottle of Rose Poivree by The Different Company in the mail yesterday and I absolutely LOVE it. I can't think of a fragrance with more civit than this other than Muscs Koublai Khan, which I also adore just as much…if not a bit more. I'll have to sample this “Human Existence” and I'll probably become obsessed with it until I do.
I thought it was funny too!
I like civet in small amounts, even sometimes in concentration (Jicky), but the TDC just didn't work for me all, not sure why.