I must be feeling nostalgic lately. This week I found myself digging into my “perfume cabinet” and pulling out a bottle of Cacharel LouLou that I bought nearly a decade ago. Cacharel launched LouLou in 1987, positioning it as a more seductive older “sister” to the highly successful Anaïs Anaïs (1978). I was always intrigued by LouLou, and now I’m wondering why I’ve never worn it on a more regular basis…
The best way I can sum up Parfums Montana Parfum de Peau (originally released as Montana) is like this: Imagine that Niki de Saint Phalle and La Nuit de Paco Rabanne had a daughter, and they amped her baby formula with steroids. Other kids at school made fun of her for her big nose, protruding eyes and exceptional height. And when she turned 19, she became a supermodel. Parfum de Peau may be the ultimate jolie laide fragrance.
Jean Guichard composed the original Montana perfume in 1986. It’s not clear when the name change took place, but by 1991 it was being referred to in the press as Parfum de Peau. It was apparently reformulated later in the 1990s by Edouard Fléchier, and has no doubt been tweaked since. Its notes include peach, cassis, plum, pepper, cardamom, ginger, rose, tuberose, jasmine, ylang ylang, carnation, sandalwood, patchouli, vetiver, civet, castoreum, amber, musk and frankincense.
In Perfume, Nigel Groom describes Parfum de Peau as an “avant-garde chypre.” As its list of notes hints, Parfum de Peau is something between a symphony and raucous nightclub…
Jean Guichard of the Givaudan Perfumery School briefly explains the basic fragrance families.
Model and television host Heidi Klum will launch Shine, her debut fragrance for women, in September. Shine is a floriental, and was made under arrangements with Coty…
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…