...Especially since these days everyone in the multibillion-dollar, overpopulated fragrance industry (400 new scents are introduced every year, 395 of which the brilliant perfumer Frédéric Malle insists are “very mediocre”) has an eye on making the overwhelmed consumer feel, well, special — singled out by a scent that sidles up like a shy boy at the prom instead of strutting past you like the class hottie.
— Columnist Daphne Merkin, The Story of Eau, in today's New York Times. Her favorite perfume at the moment? Carnal Flower. Elsewhere in the Times, Chandler Burr calls Yves Saint Laurent M7 a "misfire" in Where There's Smoke...; and in Odor Decoder, John Lanchester reviews Luca Turin's latest book, The Secret of Scent.
And across the pond, in the UK Times, columnist Tina Gaudoin writes about the Susanne Lang line.
Lindsey Lohan is reportedly in talks to release her own perfume.
Apparently, it's possible to smell like cotton candy and an ammonia-based cleaning agent at the same time.
— Columnist Liz Kelly of The Washington Post, discussing Britney Spears Fantasy in "Celebritology Holiday Guide: Celebrity Scents".
Britney Spears will launch Midnight Fantasy in January:
Midnight Fantasy takes on the same bottle shape as the Fantasy fragrance, launched in 2005, but in a midnight blue version…
"They said it was `weird,'" he says, recalling Coty's initial reluctance to base the scent on essential oils. "They said it was spiritual, and they said those kinds of scents don't usually sell."
— Russell Simmons on his new scent, Phat Farm Atman. Simmons is donating all of the profits from the fragrance to charities that benefit children. (via The Toronto Star link no longer working, sorry!)