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Cartier Les Heures de Parfum ~ new perfumes

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Cartier Les Heures de Parfum

This fall, Cartier will follow Chanel (Les Exclusifs), Giorgio Armani (Armani Privé) and Hermès (the Hermessences) into high-end niche perfume territory. Les Heures de Parfum, the new collection, will be…

…“a really ‘haute’ collection of exclusive fragrances for connoisseurs,” says Daninos [Cartier’s marketing development director Sabrina], explaining each one will have — along with its name — a number, like hours in the day. Number 12, for instance, is also called L’Heure Mystérieuse (or “the mysterious hour”)…

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5 Perfumes for: a Flanker Skeptic

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Hermes Eau de Orange VerteHermes Concentre de Orange Verte

Flankers make me cranky*. When a flanker is bad, it debases the coinage of the original. I recently spoke with a perfume sales assistant who refused to believe I smelled so lovely because I was wearing Boucheron Jaïpur Saphir. This is because I was not wearing Boucheron Jaïpur Saphir. I was wearing plain ol’ Jaïpur and said so — only to be told: “There is no Just Jaïpur.” With the dizzying rate of flankerizing and discontinuation as well as misinformation from friendly and seemingly authoritative sources, what hope has the average person of keeping this stuff straight?

Almost as irritating to me as a flanker that fails to live up to its predecessor is the sequel that succeeds on completely different terms. Dior Poison’s second flanker, Hypnotic Poison, for example, is a creamy, girlish dream of a fragrance, reminiscent of such wholesome smells as suntan lotion and root beer floats. I’m sure it would have sold at least equally well under another name. Why force a family resemblance where there is none? The only reason I can think of that is consistent with my experience of the perfume industry and buying public is that flankers must be cheaper to make. Presumably Dior saves on the bottle design and less thinking was required all around from the marketing team…

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Cartier Le Baiser du Dragon ~ fragrance review

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Cartier Le Baiser du Dragon perfume

You know how there are people in your life that you can’t really say you like — oh, maybe you did at one time, but not so much now — but you appreciate them? Maybe a person you otherwise had nothing in common with helped you out by incidentally imparting wisdom just when you needed it. Or you learned by example how not to do something. You don’t really care to spend time with these people, but you’re happy for what they’ve contributed to your life. This is how I feel about Cartier Le Baiser du Dragon.

When I first encountered Le Baiser du Dragon, I fell madly in love with it and bought first the Eau de Parfum and then the Parfum. Now it feels to me like an itchy fur coat on an August day — it swelters me. In the meantime, Le Baiser du Dragon taught me to avoid fragrances that overwhelm rather than enhance who I am, and it trained me to pay more attention to nuance. It also showed me that I adore a good patchouli. For these reasons, Le Baiser du Dragon is like an ex-husband that I meet on the street and am surprised that we ever had a life together. At the same time, I wouldn’t be who I am without him.

Alberto Morillas created Le Baiser du Dragon for Cartier in 2003. Morillas knows how to put together both blockbusters (Kenzo Flower and Estée Lauder Pleasures) and rule breakers (Yves Saint Laurent M7 and S-Perfume Lust), and I can imagine Cartier eagerly handing him photos of their vaguely deco, Chinese-inspired line of Le Baiser du Dragon jewelry and asking him to make a perfume that reflected its aesthetic…

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Cartier Roadster ~ fragrance review

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Cartier Roadster cologne for men

Roadster is Cartier’s first men’s fragrance launch in 10 8 years (Déclaration Must de Cartier Pour Homme was released in 2000) and Cartier hopes Roadster will attract a younger male consumer to the brand’s fragrances (apparently, Cartier men’s colognes are sold mostly to men over 45 years of age).* The Roadster fragrance is named after a Cartier watch (you guessed it — the Roadster; see below) and is contained inside a bottle whose cap design was inspired by the watch’s crown. Roadster is a perfume with a vague “automotive” connection (see the tire rim-like rings on the bottle’s collar?) Philippe Nazaret, assistant vice president of Cartier's North American fragrance division calls Roadster “a gemstone” referring to the “transparency and luminosity” of Roadster’s bottle — “a bottle designed to stand on its side to suggest motion.”* Pardon me if I’m a little confused.

One thing I do understand: Cartier Roadster is minty. Perfumer Mathilde Laurent built a fragrance around mint — accented with bergamot, vetiver, labdanum, patchouli, Cashmere wood and vanilla. Even though I like every listed fragrance note in Roadster, minty colognes are problematic…

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Two from the (UK) Times ~ perfume in the news

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The bottle, modelled on an engine piston, is terrific. Pity the scent is like something you’d get spritzed with in a Dubai casino toilet.

— Columnist Giles Hattersley on Cartier's new Roadster fragrance, from A Man of Style: What to wear to court, cope with the British weather in style.

If fancy graphics and scary sound effects aren’t enough for you, enhance your gaming experience by immersing yourself in smell-o-vision or com-pooh-ter games. Picture the scene: you’re engrossed in fighting German troops in Stalingrad when you gradually notice the unmistakable whiff of gunsmoke in the air.

— According to Smell effects: gaming that gets right up your nose, they're still working out all the bugs, but smell just might be part of your computer gaming experience soon.

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