Lancôme will launch La Vie Est Belle, a new fragrance for women, later this year. La Vie Est Belle aims to capture happiness in a bottle, and will be fronted by actress Julia Roberts…
Blumarine Innamorata ~ new fragrance
Italian fashion house Blumarine has launched Innamorata, a new floriental perfume hoping to “capture the magic moment of falling in love”…
Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb ~ fragrance review
Viktor & Rolf just released Spicebomb, its second men’s fragrance (remember Antidote?) Viktor Horsting said: “We were jealous of all the women who had Flowerbomb, and we wanted to have our own bomb.”* In the same interview, Rolf Snoeren added: “We felt that if flowers were a very typical feminine scent, spices were the masculine opposite.” (Translation: Viktor & Rolf wanted to fill a grenade-shaped bottle with a men’s scent that they hope will match Flowerbomb’s great commercial success.)
I was amused that the press release for Spicebomb mentioned licensee L’Oréal didn’t do any market testing for the fragrance (they’ve been burned in many perfume reviews for the ‘market-tested’ — generic — nature of many of their offerings). Since when did giant companies make a point of denying market testing?
Perfumer Olivier Polge chimed in, “Viktor and Rolf wanted an extroverted, outspoken fragrance.”* Spicebomb’s scent is not outrageous or “new,” but the strength of the perfume (excellent lasting power and sillage) qualifies it as a “bomb” of sorts…
Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb ~ new fragrance
Viktor & Rolf will launch Spicebomb, a new spicy woody oriental fragrance for men, in early 2012. Spicebomb is styled as the ‘new explosive fragrance’, and will be fronted by model Sean O’Pry…
Balenciaga Paris L’Essence ~ perfume review
Well, it’s supposed to be stronger but it’s not actually that strong—it just has a different language. It’s all the same elements but we are saying something different than we were with Balenciaga Paris, which was so much about the violets. This one has a metallic side, it’s about the violet leaves so it’s slightly more masculine and androgynous, too.1
That’s Balenciaga designer Nicolas Ghesquière talking about the new Balenciaga Paris L’Essence, the follow-up fragrance to last year’s Balenciaga Paris. And he’s telling the truth — so much so that I hardly need to write a review, and will prattle on only for the sake of anyone who really needed a little break this afternoon. So, those of you hoping for a more intense version of Balenciaga Paris’ muted violet elegance — perhaps with some sillage? — will be disappointed by L’Essence, although if what you’re after is a real wallop instead of a whisper, you can always turn to Tom Ford’s Violet Blonde.
L’Essence maintains the original’s sheer, close-to-the-skin feel, but intensifies the green notes in the early stages and the dry woody base notes later on. The floral aspect is nearly gone, and the powdery finish is even lighter than it already was. It does not really read as metallic to my nose (actually, it seems less metallic to me than the original), but there is an almost leathery feel (again, as advertised) to the dry down. On paper, it struck me as lighter than Balenciaga Paris, on skin, as ever so slightly more intense, considerably more chypre-ish and considerably more masculine…