The Fragrance Foundation of Germany has announced the finalists for the 2011 Duftstars awards, the German version of the Fifi awards for best fragrances. The nominees are:
Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gioia
Calvin Klein Beauty
Chanel Chance Eau Tendre
Gucci Guilty
Paco Rabanne Lady Million…
Hey, Bvlgari Mon Jasmin Noir. Armani called. They want Idole d’Armani back. Wait — hold the phone! It’s Estée Lauder. They’re demanding their Sensuous Noir. Now all the lines are ringing, and it looks like it’s a bunch of celebuscents. They’re complaining you stole their jasmine-plum-sandalwood-patchouli secret formula!
O.K., maybe I’m not being fair. After all, I chucked my sample of Idole d’Armani in the garbage a long time ago, and it’s been months since I smelled Sensuous Noir, and that was on a hot day in a mall in Billings, Montana. And the celebuscents? I really try not to be a snob, but if Robin doesn’t give them the green light in a review, I mostly stay away.
I also admit to having a misguided fantasy about how perfumers work. In my dream world, a perfumer — let’s say Sophie Labbé, who had a hand in both Bvlgari Jasmin Noir and Mon Jasmin Noir — pushes open her casement window. She inhales the summer breeze of Grasse, France, and asks herself, “What work of art will I make today? Bvlgari, a luxury company, has asked me to create a light fragrance based on jasmine as a flanker to Jasmin Noir. I know, I’ll devise a fragrance that evokes the sensual languor of an evening in the Mediterranean, but is airy enough — like a long ago, romantic memory — to be enjoyed during the day…”
Actress Keira Knightley in the final (2011) commercial for Chanel Coco Mademoiselle. A little over 3 minutes long.
If you missed it, see Teaser 1 or Teaser 2, or listen to Keira Knightley talk about the fragrance.
Update: the music is Joss Stone doing a cover of James Brown's Man's World. Some of you may remember that the first Keira Knightley / Coco Mademoiselle commercial also used a Joss Stone song.
Michelle says she is modern but is drawn to old things, including strong vintage perfumes. She wants to find a new fragrance that smells like the things she loves, but that won’t overpower her colleagues, family or friends. It should work any time, day or night, and cost less than $150. Here is what we know about Michelle:
She’s in her late 30s and has 3 teenage boys, and works as an event manager for a large hotel.
She loves perfume and makeup, and she’s planning for her (second) wedding later in the summer.
She’s also a history buff and says she is “obsessed with the twenties and thirties, literature, historic New York, old hotels and buildings”.
Michelle loves vetiver, chypre perfumes, sandalwood, patchouli and incense…
Deal at aedes: get free shipping on orders of $100 or more with coupon code Spring, good through 3/30. New items include L'Artisan Coeur de Vétiver Sacré.
New at first-in-fragrance (Germany): Parfums MDCI La Belle Helene, Micallef Black Ananda.
New at luckyscent: Humiecki & Graef Bosque, Clemency.
New at macys: True Religion Hippie Chic.
New at ulta: True Religion Hippie Chic, Rihanna Reb'l Fleur, Gucci Flora Eau Fraiche.