tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post5325480784250740051..comments2024-03-28T10:30:51.283+01:00Comments on Grain de musc: Who needs Photoshop with perfume?carmencanada /Grain de Muschttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-49552501429331715982011-08-05T08:17:54.329+02:002011-08-05T08:17:54.329+02:00Jarvis, well, you know I don't post that frequ...Jarvis, well, you know I don't post that frequently so coming in a few days late doesn't really matter.carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-30785117202674051332011-08-05T08:15:31.655+02:002011-08-05T08:15:31.655+02:00Undina, my pleasure!Undina, my pleasure!carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-403892488288675692011-08-05T04:24:03.507+02:002011-08-05T04:24:03.507+02:00Lovely post, Denyse. Sorry I'm always late to ...Lovely post, Denyse. Sorry I'm always late to find them and read them.Jarvishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08320628861633769796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-55154117431591452112011-08-05T03:22:09.151+02:002011-08-05T03:22:09.151+02:00Thank you for the enjoyment I had from reading thi...Thank you for the enjoyment I had from reading this article. I agree with your outlook on the mainstream advertising.Undinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05292100499371921334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-57600911851052279722011-08-03T13:41:28.804+02:002011-08-03T13:41:28.804+02:00Liam, I usually find that the sex scenes are the r...Liam, I usually find that the sex scenes are the right moment to take the loo break...<br />As for the penguins, I guess they'll have to jump when the ice starts melting under their little webbed feet...carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-84394622015933990072011-08-03T12:35:41.004+02:002011-08-03T12:35:41.004+02:00I have to say, I agree whole-heartedly with you De...I have to say, I agree whole-heartedly with you Denyse. The whole sex/orgasm/babe-magnet angle is used in so much. I'm no prude by any stretch of the imagination, but it annoys me to see sex for the sake of it, even in films. It's a yawn-fest when there's that "love scene."<br /><br />Slightly off topic.<br /><br />I sometimes think the mainstream perfume houses are like Antarctic penguins. Maybe they all want to ditch the Photoshop era, but they're all to scared to jump into the ocean of unknown. Who's going to make the first jump?Liam Moorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05475951752794286796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-19609821134159794012011-08-01T19:53:21.546+02:002011-08-01T19:53:21.546+02:00Kay, you're spot on about the way we appropria...Kay, you're spot on about the way we appropriate fragrances -- when they've got enough going for us to tell ourselves stories... Although, I was arguing to a friend yesterday that even the most simplistic juice, if it's worn in a certain context, given by a certain person, has certain associations, can probably become intensely moving.<br /><br />One thing is for sure: any scent you appropriate becomes bespoke -- no need, thank God, to be the proverbial oligarch arm candy for that!carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-18902414062498819902011-08-01T19:49:06.941+02:002011-08-01T19:49:06.941+02:00Denyse,
A really excellent post!
We seem to be exp...Denyse,<br />A really excellent post!<br />We seem to be experiencing an almost exponential increase in fragrance launches, both mainstream AND niche, and the fact is, photo-shopped ad campaigns aside, few of these new perfumes are what I'd call truly beautiful, with the potential to become a classic. <br />BUT, they are affordable (mostly)so that we, the average non-oligarch arm candies, can choose to experience our own beauty in our own way, too. <br />And that's what I love about perfume - it creates a story from my own memories, and as soon as I wear it,I feel it's mine. It's my story, my beauty, and I find that empowering.<br />You're right - no handbag or pair of shoes has, or ever could, do that for me.kayhttp://kay@perfumeniche.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-54061972052725160912011-07-31T22:41:21.212+02:002011-07-31T22:41:21.212+02:00Tara, not nuts at all! I was speaking with a perfu...Tara, not nuts at all! I was speaking with a perfumer the other day and he said he deeply believed that there were some absolute values in perfume notes: things that resonate with anyone. Perhaps opening ourselves up to that resonance is part of that transformative process Nozknoz was writing about a few comments above.carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-17691114945862109962011-07-31T22:39:14.975+02:002011-07-31T22:39:14.975+02:00Emma, true: what's sold is youth, i.e. seducti...Emma, true: what's sold is youth, i.e. seduction, i.e. romance. Yesterday I was in a lovely new niche shop and the lady was asking for "not too strong, not too sweet, not too floral, not too..." My first impulse would have been to say: "Well why don't you just spray on some Evian?" My second impulse would have been to explain to her that "too" this or "too" that just meant she hadn't found what suited her.<br />But of course, when one is used to innocuous like juices, anything will be "too-too".carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-37890497089770151272011-07-31T22:37:32.226+02:002011-07-31T22:37:32.226+02:00Wow, an amazing piece Denyse, thank you. The sente...Wow, an amazing piece Denyse, thank you. The sentence "it is a beauty that allows us to forget about our beauty, or perceived lack of it: spreading outward but also inward, invisibly" totally touched how I feel about perfume and why it is so special to me. I don't know how but I feel like my perfumes transform me over time somehow, not changing me into someone else but somehow bringing out something in me that was hidden before. This sounds nuts but I'm posting the comment anyway!Tarahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00825957684276136205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-60609300971767419202011-07-31T20:48:05.715+02:002011-07-31T20:48:05.715+02:00carmencanada, mainstream perfumery is using the sa...carmencanada, mainstream perfumery is using the same marketing techniques as the cosmetic industry. Models of perfumes ads are all airbrushed girls selling romance of course but also sex and youth. I don't think Donatella Versace sells personality and character, or at least the idea of a womanly woman in a bottle. We talked about how noone but Lutens in the perfume industry would launch a carnation soliflore in this day and age.<br />These mainstrean fragrances are all girly fruities marketed to teenage girls and that includes Guerlain and Cartier.<br />Basically, if you're a 45 yr old woman and you don't wear Lutens or Malle, you either smell like raspberry or fresh & clean all day.<br /><br />EmmaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-34237160214395077812011-07-31T19:46:32.877+02:002011-07-31T19:46:32.877+02:00Sugandaraja, I think that for most perfumers, ther...Sugandaraja, I think that for most perfumers, there's what they do as a job, and what they put their heart into. They're well-paid people, so I'm not going to cry too much for them, but I doubt they pour their soul into most developments. On the other hand, if I were Olivier Polge, say, I'm not sure I'd be too happy about what's happened to Dior Homme... but that's another story.carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-67827698576966666892011-07-31T19:41:33.002+02:002011-07-31T19:41:33.002+02:00Diana, thank you, that's sweet of you to say.Diana, thank you, that's sweet of you to say.carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-8168228381371127182011-07-31T18:20:46.603+02:002011-07-31T18:20:46.603+02:00Very true, not much to add apart from "agreed...Very true, not much to add apart from "agreed". I think this is why I tend to be so niche-biased, especially in terms of releases of the last decade.<br /><br />I think it must be very disheartening to work for some of these flush-and-forget, seasonal release lines. Even if you manage to combine budget limitations, marketing requirements, and the standards of the target audience with a successful artistic statement, your creation will lie forgotten in the bargain bins by the next season.Sugandarajahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09062165425090675638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-87786775054358716812011-07-31T02:58:45.773+02:002011-07-31T02:58:45.773+02:00Loved this post. Just loved it.Loved this post. Just loved it.DWRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06391438800426810251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-39413470019537573682011-07-31T00:38:20.527+02:002011-07-31T00:38:20.527+02:00Jared, I'm still trying to work out what to sa...Jared, I'm still trying to work out what to say about the artistic status of perfume (not to get scary or anything, but right now this involves reading Heidegger).<br />But about recognizing quality when you smell it: today I was at the lovely niche perfume shop Marie-Antoinette in Paris, and an American lady walked in with her 13-year old daughter. She smelled a few things, zeroed in on the Parfum d'Empire, and commented that they smelled substantial and full, not like the perfumes she was used to (though her standby, it turned out, was the excellent Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert). <br />Granted, she was clearly a woman of some culture and education, but not necessarily olfactory. Yet she and her daughter fell in love on the spot with Osmanthus Interdite and the new Azemour. Quality tells...<br /><br />As for recognizing Prada perfumes, there *is* actually a distinctive olfactory signature, and a real consistency in the line. I'd say there's a good chance the vibe they give off does, subconsciously, say "Prada" -- at least the spirit of it. Unlike other fashion brands that don't have the least bit of an olfactory identity...carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-67566698161411469112011-07-31T00:29:37.773+02:002011-07-31T00:29:37.773+02:00I love it. It reminds me of a post Luca Turin did ...I love it. It reminds me of a post Luca Turin did back in his blog, which I was reading again in enjoyment last night. This also reminds me of conversations on the arts in general, those distance-based being favored over the immediate. The visual/aural get the status of art whereas immediate or close things like taste and smell fight for recognition. I'm sure there are biological arguments involved, such as we humans shifting in our evolution from a smell-based species to visual as we rose to two legs. But that's an evolutionary/biological way of seeing, and I'm sure perfume offers another way of being that can engage in discourse beyond the biological. I've subtly noticed it myself as my sense of smell has risen in my esteem and I start to inhabit the world differently because of my perfume passion. It's still a work in progress, and I can't say I can fully articulate it, just as it's difficult to "describe" a smell to someone. But I wonder, too, on knowing quality when it's smelled. If the label has come to mean currency and value, which requires the Pavlovian substitution, I wonder how we can sniff out a rat even if it has the label is attached (and who knows a "Prada" when they smell it?). I suppose a healthy dose of discrimination is necessary, a skill to be developed both in the visual and the olfactory.Jaredhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09424300101969094900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-89914813516100469672011-07-31T00:04:34.769+02:002011-07-31T00:04:34.769+02:00Carole, thank you. I also think Nozknoz's comm...Carole, thank you. I also think Nozknoz's comments are very wise.carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-74246705047998789372011-07-31T00:03:52.510+02:002011-07-31T00:03:52.510+02:00Emma, I don't think perfect beauty is the prod...Emma, I don't think perfect beauty is the product claim for perfume, in the same sense as it is for skincare, haircare or makeup. It's more the dream of romance, and in certain cases, of a type of narcissistic eroticism (thinking of the Belle d'Opium ad, which reprises the themes of the original Opium campaigns). It's still preying on our desire to be an unattainable fantasy woman... But even Idylle or Belle d'O don't make us believe we'll have a flawless beige mask instead of a face or magically grow hair extensions.carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-19205476829773371812011-07-30T21:46:29.320+02:002011-07-30T21:46:29.320+02:00Nozknoz, my turn to agree... I'd add, though i...Nozknoz, my turn to agree... I'd add, though it has nothing to do yet everytthing to do, that having learned to do research and to write before internet and word processors structures thought and work processes differently. Back in the days, neither information nor the transformation of a written piece were a click away.carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-45813724095339024932011-07-30T21:41:32.759+02:002011-07-30T21:41:32.759+02:00Musette, my pleasure! Sometimes it kind of all com...Musette, my pleasure! Sometimes it kind of all comes together...carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-5777580570571028942011-07-30T21:38:56.646+02:002011-07-30T21:38:56.646+02:00Amy, spritz on! It's a subversive gesture. Who...Amy, spritz on! It's a subversive gesture. Whoda thunk?carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-21259756340732810962011-07-30T21:37:49.519+02:002011-07-30T21:37:49.519+02:00Marla, as far as I know this movement is not as de...Marla, as far as I know this movement is not as developed in France. Mind you, there's such a grand tradition in perfumery here than it would seem somehow blasphemous. Mind you, if the only choice were between uber-commercial Frankenscents sold in malls and botanical blends produced locally I suppose I'd take the second option. But I must admit I'm glad I have other options.carmencanada /Grain de Muschttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04046101625425953248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4922907157797061660.post-56722079334242420142011-07-30T21:31:17.810+02:002011-07-30T21:31:17.810+02:00I love this blog! And I love nozkoz's comments...I love this blog! And I love nozkoz's comments. <br /><br />Sincerely,<br />CaroleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com