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Note: image is [unnamed] by j / f / photos at flickr; some rights reserved.
Cire Trudon Mademoiselle de La Valliere candle ~ home fragrance review
On May 14, 1664, during the famous seven-day party called Les Plaisirs de l’Ile Enchantée that celebrated the inauguration of Louis XIV’s grand Versailles building project, the “scents of ambergris, rosewater and jasmine melded with the acrid fumes of gunpowder as fireworks swooped great arabesques of intertwining ‘Ls’ across the sky for Louise and her lover, King Louis XIV of France.”* Louise was Louise de La Vallière (1644-1710), the provincial, blond and blue-eyed, rather “simple” 20-year-old mistress of Louis XIV — and the inspiration for Cire Trudon’s Mademoiselle de La Vallière candle. Louise became Louis’ mistress in 1661, and she was eventually given the titles of Duchesse de Vaujours and maîtresse en titre; she bore the king four children.
The Cire Trudon candle works was founded in Paris in 1643 (just a year before the Versailles fête) and provided candles to the court of Louis XIV (and still provides candles — and candle-making expertise — to churches like the Église Saint-Roch in Paris and companies such as Hermès, Cartier, Dior, and Guerlain).
The creative force behind Cire Trudon’s perfumed candles is Ramdane Touhami who says, “Cire Trudon does not make perfumes, but creates smells”. It’s rare that I come across an entire line of perfumes, soaps, or candles and think: “I want EVERYTHING!” but that’s how I felt when I smelled the Cire Trudon line of candles at Barneys New York…
Fragrantica blog awards
Now Smell This is pleased to have won the Gold award in Fragrantica's blog awards. The Silver Awards went to 1000 Fragrances and Bois de Jasmin; the Bronze Awards went to Perfume Smellin' Things, Perfume Shrine, Perfume Posse & Perfume Critic. Thanks to everyone who voted!
Bois 1920 Sutra Ylang ~ perfume review
I don’t know about you, but most of the fragrances in my stash have definite personalities. So, by instinct I arrange the mild florals together, not far from the aldehyde-heavy fragrances, and then put the insistent florals on another shelf near the green chypres where they’ll get along. The woody scents and leather hang out together not far from some of the vintage divas, and the 1980s blockbusters party by themselves on another shelf altogether. That way, bossy Paloma Picasso Mon Parfum doesn’t scare the wildflowers out of the gentle Caron Fleurs de Narcisse, and Dana Tabu’s trashy intensity won’t freak out the happy-go-lucky Guerlain Chamade. Bois 1920 Sutra Ylang is one of the rare fragrances that could be at home just about anywhere in my perfume cabinet…
LesNEZ Manoumalia, Jean-Louis Scherrer Miss Scherrer ~ new fragrances
LesNEZ will launch Manoumalia in January. The new fragrance was developed by perfumer Sandrine Videault, and was inspired by a trip Videault took to Wallis, in the South Pacific, to learn about the use of fragrance materials in the island's “olfactive culture”. Wallisians use scented materials as decoration…