Bling from Bond No. 9: Scent of Peace, Chelsea Flowers and Nuits de Noho in ‘Swarovski Stars’ limited editions. The 50 ml bottles run $550 — oops, make that $500! — each and can be purchased from the Bond No. 9 website…
Quick perfume news ~ Van Cleef & Arpels, Givenchy, Chanel
Van Cleef & Arpels will launch a new Eau de Toilette version of Féerie in May (shown at right; via cosmoty.de)
Actress Uma Thurman will front a new perfume for women from Givenchy later this year. (via Women’s Wear Daily)
The new Chanel No. 5 ad campaign, starring French actress Audrey Tautou…
Givenchy L’Interdit vintage, 2002 and 2007 versions ~ perfume review
The story goes that in 1957 the clothing designer Hubert de Givenchy commissioned perfumer Francis Fabron to create a fragrance especially for his favorite client, Audrey Hepburn. Fabron had already earned his perfumer's chops as the nose behind Nina Ricci L'Air du Temps and the original Robert Piguet Baghari. Reportedly, Hepburn was so taken with the scent that when Givenchy mentioned marketing it she said, “But I forbid you!” So the fragrance earned its name — L'Interdit means “forbidden” in French.
Vintage Givenchy L'Interdit is a warm, feminine aldehydic floral with a hint of peach and strawberry, and a buttery sandalwood drydown spiked with incense. Like many aldehydic florals, it smells first and foremost like perfume. As the aldehydes fade, L'Interdit settles into a chiffon veil of scent that is subtle and beautifully blended. Its floral heart is creamy with ylang ylang, iris, and rose, but a pinch of spice keeps it from being flabby. As the scent fades it sweetens slightly and its softness feels like powder more than smells like it…
5 Perfumes for: a Flanker Skeptic
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…
Givenchy Harvest Collection (Les Millesimes) 2008 ~ new perfumes
Givenchy has introduced this year's harvest fragrances, aka “Les Millésimes de Givenchy”. As in past years, there are limited edition versions of Amarige, Organza and Very Irrésistible, each enriched with a specific floral harvest from 2008; this year Ange ou Démon is added to the collection as well.
Ange ou Démon Jasmin Sambac 2008 (above left) ~ “Harvest Ange ou Démon features Sambac jasmine harvested in Madurai, India. This luminous note awakens and compliments the other majestic accents of the original Ange ou Démon fragrance to sparkling effect…”