Weil Zibeline and Secret de Venus ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 13 May 2013 34 Comments

Weil fur advert

In searching for something to review this week, I dropped by Nordstrom for a sample of Valentino Valentina Assoluto. I’d peeled open its scent strip in Vogue and read its notes, and it sounded alluring — warm, earthy, and sultry with a truffle note. But the real thing? Valentina Assoluto was the epitome of a bad mall fragrance, shrill and off-putting, exactly what I fear encountering in elevators. I left my sample in the garbage at work.

But it spurred me to think, what makes a sultry perfume? Has our definition of seductive scent changed so much over time? I reached for some Weil Zibeline and spritzed. Now that’s what I call a comfortable yet sexy fragrance: a diffuse top, complex warm and spicy heart, and sweet, animalic drydown. Valentino et al, take notes…

Read the rest of this article »

The Next Big Perfume Hit

Posted by Angela on 6 May 2013 101 Comments

New perfume releases are getting ridiculous. I don’t mean the sheer number of them — although that’s mind boggling enough — I mean who is launching perfume. Scrolling through Now Smell This reveals notices from the usual celebrities and fashion houses announcing flankers and flankers of flankers, but also perfumes by seemingly every watch maker, mall shop, lingerie brand and car manufacturer out there. We’re even seeing fragrances from fast food restaurants and photographers. Clearly, ginning up a perfume and tossing it on the market is a must in every brand’s portfolio.

Who could possibly be next?

I’ve thought about it, and if Pizza Hut can do it, other brands are missing the boat by not launching their own scent. Listen up, marketing geniuses, for some sure-fire winners…

Read the rest of this article »

Parfums M Micallef Le Parfum Denis Durand Couture ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 29 April 2013 41 Comments

Le Denis Durand Couture

Perusing photos of Denis Durand’s Cher-worthy gowns didn’t give me much confidence I’d like Parfums M Micallef’s Le Parfum Denis Durand Couture. One gown in particular — a sort of cross between a black lace negligee and something that might have been on stage at the Moulin Rouge in the 1890s — really scared me. If I want bombastic, I already have a few divas in my perfume cabinet ready for action.

Well, shame on me for making assumptions. While Parfum Couture could never be called shy, neither is it the crass, room-hogging perfume I feared. Instead, it’s a warm, easy-to-wear oriental balancing tangerine, honey, and amber with a streak of metallic tang. I bet it will find a lot of fans. I’m one…

Read the rest of this article »

Mona di Orio Eau Absolue ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 22 April 2013 26 Comments

Mona di Orio Eau Absolue

When Mona di Orio died in December 2011, she left behind formulae for a few more fragrances, among them Eau Absolue. I had to wonder, how does that work? I’m always suspicious of novels published after authors have died. The writers aren’t around to nix an editor’s suggestions or revise scenes that might have not have yet met their standards. How about with a perfumer?

I asked Jeroen Oude Sogtoen, Mona di Orio’s business partner, who continues to manage the perfume line. Of their business relationship, they referred to Mona as the business’s “nose” and Jeroen Oude Sogtoen as the “eye” since he’s responsible for the line’s simple-but-luxurious visual appeal.

He said the concentrates for the Mona di Orio line continue to be made at Accords et Parfums on Edmond Roudnitska’s property, and he doesn’t have another perfumer fine-tune her compositions before they’re produced…

Read the rest of this article »

Let’s Talk about the Classics

Posted by Angela on 15 April 2013 119 Comments

Phyllis Diller

Not long ago, I showed a coworker a painting hanging outside my office door. It’s of a vase of daisies in a garish gold frame. “Phyllis Diller made that,” I told her. Thomas Lauderdale of Pink Martini managed to wrangle an audience with Diller not long before her death, and she donated the painting for a charity auction hosted by the AIDS service organization I work for.

“Who’s Phyllis Diller?” my coworker asked. I was flabbergasted. Sure, the coworker is in her early 20s, and Diller hadn’t exactly been in the public eye for a while, but to me Phyllis Diller was as much a part of American culture as Mount Rushmore. Or at least the Corn Palace.

Over the next few days, my thoughts turned to perfume. Would this coworker recognize another classic, Guerlain Shalimar? Nope, she’d never heard of it. I didn’t have the heart to do a smell test. I had the feeling that the civet funk of the vintage Eau de Toilette wouldn’t impress her.

That day I learned a lesson the perfume industry has already taken to heart: many people don’t know the classic fragrances anymore…

Read the rest of this article »

« Newer articles

Older articles »