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Browsing by tag: rodrigo flores roux

Carner Barcelona Sweet William ~ fragrance review

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Hey, carnation lovers. You know who you are. You dream of Caron Poivre Extrait and hoard old bottles of Bellodgia. You lard your linen closet with discs of Roger & Gallet Carnation soap and mourn their discontinued Blue Carnation. You plant red dianthus up your walkway. You put extra clove in your molasses cookies.

I have news. First, I hear on good authority that carnations are making a comeback among chic florists. I’m not talking about fat, stiff grocery store carnations dyed Easter egg colors. I mean real carnations, the little ones pungent with spice…

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Le Galion L’Ame Perdue ~ fragrance review with an aside on perfume in Paris

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Sure, I’m in Paris, but I wasn’t planning to buy perfume. I have plenty already. Besides, I’d already bought a pair of sandals and some underthings, and my budget was shot. Then I smelled Le Galion L’Ame Perdue, a chypre that would have been right at home on Rita Hayworth’s dressing table. When I discovered I couldn’t buy it in the U.S., I handed over my credit card. This baby was going home with me.

Perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux developed L’Ame Perdue. Its notes include lemon, Sicilian green mandarin, cardamom, coriander seeds, white pepper, datura, Egyptian jasmine, jasmine sambac imperial absolute, Bulgarian rose, ylang ylang, red lily, cloves, cinnamon, plum, mirabelle, patchouli, amber, benzoin, balsam of Peru, rosewood, vanilla, honey and oak moss.

L’Ame Perdue is a complex, spicy-fruity chypre with an initial hint of skank and miles of earthy glamour…

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Absolutely objectionable

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And that’s one of the things for which I’m extremely grateful to Arden/Revlon [Ed note: the holder of the fragrance license for John Varvatos]. They use me as part of their brand, and it’s a very open and well-known thing. It’s basically the only brand in international perfumery that has used only one perfumer. And that has become part of its DNA. John Varvatos comes to me and says, “What’s next, Rod?” There are a couple of brands out there that have very officially asked for the perfumer not to be mentioned. I find that absolutely objectionable and anti-ethical and very ungrateful. I’m saying it on record. They know who they are.

— Perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux talks to Persolaise about brands that refuse to acknowledge their perfumers. And about all sorts of other things — read more at "Your Claims Have To Be Honest" - An Interview With Rodrigo Flores-Roux.

Xinu Monstera & Carta Moena 12|69 ~ fragrance reviews

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Ad copy for most perfumes leaves me cold, or laughing. Aspirational advertising (looking at you, Aerin Lauder) feels icky and old fashioned. Sexy images can be fun to look at but I don’t see a handsome half-naked (or fully naked for that matter) man in an ad campaign and then run to Nordstrom to buy the perfume he fronts. Occasionally, I come across an interesting perfume bottle I’d like to own, but it’s usually a vintage bottle selling at an exorbitant price. I’ve never bought a contemporary perfume for the bottle alone (my bottles stay out of sight in a dark, cool cabinet their entire “lives”).

Advertising that can get to me includes (who knew?) perfumes inspired by dead French people1 — the likes of Marquis de Sade, Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoléon Bonaparte, Louise de La Vallière, Marie-Antoinette, Empress Eugénie, George Sand, Léonora Dori Concini, La Maréchale d’Ancre and Colette. A list of intriguing botanical fragrance notes or places I love or want to visit (travel-porn perfumes) can entice me, too.

Today, I’m reviewing two fragrances that ignited wanderlust based on ingredients and locales, with great bottles thrown in as a bonus…

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