New at dillards: Coach Poppy Flower.
New at doverstreetmarket (UK): Comme des Garçons + Hussein Chalayan Airborne.
New at luckyscent: Xerjoff 1861.
New at neimanmarcus: Acqua di Parma Gelsomino Nobile (pre-order).
IFF BlackRider ~ new fragrance
International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) has created BlackRider, a new limited edition fragrance to benefit The Watermill Center (“Watermill is a laboratory for performance founded by visual artist Robert Wilson as a unique environment for young and emerging artists from around the world to explore new ideas.”). BlackRider was named for the musical fable The Black Rider…
Oracles of beauty advice
Allure.com now allows consumers to discover products in its print magazine's editorial content that can be purchased through a shopping cart shared with Quidsi subsidiaries BeautyBar.com and Soap.com. The site will give any product covered editorially its own page with product reviews, and consumers will be able to purchase the item if it is carried by BeautyBar.com.
— From 'Allure' adds e-commerce functionality to its website at Direct Marketing News.
Most notably, Makeup Alley (which does not sell anything, and carries minimal and discreetly placed advertising) has a library of well-cataloged, super-specific criticism that allows women to do their prepurchase research among peers they trust, despite or perhaps because of their pseudonymity.
— From Someone Just Like Me Said, ‘Buy It’ at the New York Times. Hat tip to Kevin! "Oracles of beauty advice", by the way, is a quote from this article.
Chanel Pour Monsieur & Chanel Pour Monsieur Concentree ~ fragrance reviews
As a teenager, I was tightly wound: aloof, careful, “tart” (but certainly not a tart!) My parents were always telling me to loosen up — “Get a tan!” “Go on a date!” “Learn to dance!” I remember the night my attitudes about myself started to shift. I had just turned 18 and was preparing to go to school at night for a yearbook meeting (where my “tart” comments were always expunged from photo captions of fellow students). On that spring evening (what got into me?) I did several things out of character: I wore jeans, I put on a tight white sweater (without a t-shirt underneath, risqué!), I used gel in my hair…and I wore perfume — Chanel Pour Monsieur. Back in those days, there were no “makeover” shows on TV, but the reactions I got to the “new” me were very What Not to Wear — post-consultation. Several friends stared at me as if I were an alien. I got compliments. I began to understand the “power” of appearances.
Swirling around this incident were feelings of freedom ahead. In several months, I’d head off to college in New York City. I could start living the way I wanted to live. I was about to begin my exploration of the world. When I wear Chanel Pour Monsieur, I always remember that night, and I associate the perfume with youth, spring, hope, and transformation…
And the winner is…
London, who won the Aftelier Haute Claire contest! Congrats.