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vendredi 8 juillet 2011

A Peek at some Fall perfume launches...



I’m hoping to get a sniff soon of Prada Candy by Daniela Andrier, which as its name indicates is a gourmand combination of musk, a synthetic caramel accord and a whopping 12% benzoin overdose.

I haven’t pinned down Isabelle Doyen and Camille Goutal yet to speak about Mon Parfum Chéri, a blend of plum, spices and patchouli which premiered at Harrod’s: hopefully coming up soon.

The flamboyantly-named Philippine Houseboy by État Libre d’Orange, a combination of lime, cilantro, steamed rice and a suede accord by Ralph Schwieger, announced for June, has been put off as it is still under development.

As for the next Comme des Garçons by Antoine Lie, announced as a surprising and typically iconoclastic CdG juice, its launch has been put off due to the tragic events in Japan.

But on the good news front, Frapin has just confirmed that they were integrating Bertrand Duchaufour’s 1697, formerly a limited edition, into their permanent collection due to the fragrance’s overwhelming success. It will probably be available in September, in a new 10% concentration which actually, in my opinion, works even better by allowing the notes to breathe (the limited edition was concentrated at 14%).

With Indochine (PG25) for Parfumerie Générale, Pierre Guillaume takes the oriental genre to the extreme by blending Far-Eastern materials to conjure a cruise down the Mekong in the 1920s. The scent is in Pierre’s trademark, sensuous and quirky gourmand register with prominent honey and sandalwood effects. It features benzoin resinoid from Siam, Kampot pepper, Ceylonese cardamom, Laotian honey. And a surprise ingredient which, to my knowledge, has only been used previously in Kenzo Amour, Burmese tanakha, a traditional cosmetic preparation. Gorgeous stuff, which I’ll be reviewing nearer the launch in September.

Azemour by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato for Parfum d’Empire is a rich, classic citrus chypre based on the perfumer’s intensely emotional memories of the citrus grove where he grew up on the Moroccan Atlantic coast. It conjures every aspect of the orange tree – the fruit, the flower, the leaves and the bark – with notes of orange, coriander, cumin, black and pink pepper, cassis bud and galbanum, neroli, rose, geranium and orange blossom, as well as hay, oak moss, henna and cypress.
Come October, Parfum d’Empire will also be launching its first four candles, the citrusy Lantana Camara, the lactonic Tubéreuse Corse, the animalic-leathery Ambre Absolu and the most fiercely indolic lily I’ve ever smelled, Lys Casablanca.

For L’Artisan Parfumeur’s forthcoming Batucada, Karine Vinchon in Grasse and Elisabeth Maier in São Paulo initiated a long-distance collaboration since unlike the perfumers of L’Artisan’s other travel-based fragrances, Karine never set foot in Brazil, and relied on her paulista colleague for authenticity. The scent also breaks with the much quirkier Dzonghka or Bois Farine by presenting typical, readily-identifiable Carioca notes. A shot of the popular caipirinha – lime, mint, cachaça and sugar cane syrup --; a beach-y, tropical tan touch of ylang-ylang and tiaré; a splash of coconut water and an ozonic accord (yes, it’s calone, I’m afraid) on a musk (ambrettolide), Brazilian vetiver and patchouli base.

Penhaligon’s goes on renovating their Anthology collection with Bertrand Duchaufour’s new take on L'Esprit du Roi, another fougère coming hot on the heels of Sartorial. The scent features two rather unusual materials: an absolute extracted from the leaves and twigs of the raspberry bush which presents resinous and sappy/green facets reminiscent of lentiscus, violet leaf, maté, cassis, moss, hay... The equally complex, cruelty-free animal material African stone (also known as hyraceum), reminiscent of castoreum, gives a velvety depth to the base notes.

Coming up soon, more news about the latest By Kilian, the last in his Oeuvre au noir series, Sweet Redemption.

22 commentaires:

  1. I'm particularly excited about Indochine, can't wait for the review. Are they using actual thanaka bark? I thought that was only used as a cosmetic paste, I didn't know it actually smelled lovely, too!
    -Marla

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  2. Marla, no idea, I haven't spoken to PG in ages, but as his background is in cosmetics preparations he tends to seek out unusual ingredients in that palette. Wearing it today, but find it lacking a little in diffusive power.

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  3. There's a lot to look forward to, I see!

    PG just never seems to slow down. This year is seeing three new launches plus a whole new line? I like his work but I just can't keep up with the guy; I haven't sampled even an eighth of his releases.

    Azemour sounds intriguing but it all depends on what's given emphasis. An orange-flower chypre would be lovely, but another peppery citrus would be a big let-down.

    I'm looking forward to Tauer's Miriam this Fall; it's supposed to be a vintage style rosy violet. Tauer is starting to become a more nuanced perfumer since he began moving away from the blunt orientalism of his earlier releases and began a more classical phase in his Homages line. Une Rose Chypree is great and Carillon Pour Un Ange is the best modern green fragrance I've tried.

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  4. Cool! Thanks for the heads up on these, Denyse! Always fun to look forward to new releases like this. I'm curious about the new L'Artisan. Sounds interesting.

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  5. Sugandaraja, I can't keep up with Pierre's pace either! When I discovered the line it was already huge and though I've smelled most, it's just hopeless to try and dig deep into each and every one.
    As for Azemour, it's more orange than orange blossom to me, but not predominantly peppery. There's an interesting iodic (NOT, repeat NOT calone) that gives it a salty tinge.

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  6. Amy, I'd say coming from any other major fashion brand I'd heave, but I don't doubt that Daniela Andrier has found a way to make it interesting.

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  7. Karin, Batucada is a pretty, good-time fragrance with none of the quirkiness associated with the other travel scents.

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  8. I'm looking forward to the Duchaufour for Penhaligon's. Raspberry leaves and stems, moss and hay makes me think of my childhood summers.

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  9. Krista, of course the "framboisier absolue" is just one material: the general effect veers towards the fougère and is quite complex. I still haven't analysed the whole of it, I'll try to sniff it with a view to childhood countryside explorations!

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  10. I'm looking forward to sniffing ALL of these - they sound creative and potentially wearable. This is so refreshing after reading about all the boring releases elsewhere - thank you, Denise!

    I agree, I found 1697 appealing but ultimately a bit heavy or flat. I bought the lovely Caravelle Epicee instead, but I'll be interested to try the lighter version of 1697. ~~nozknoz

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  11. Nozknoz, there's always some part of me that's saying I should really be paying more attention to masstige launches, but life is short so I'm focusing on the quirkier stuff and, yes, though there's a couple here I'm not sure I'd wear in real life, they're all interesting.

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  12. Hi Denyse,thanks for that,I have been waiting eagerly for someone from London to review Mon Parfum Cheri,has it not been launched yet,they had given the first of July as the date!

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  13. All of these seem worth testing, even those with notes that don't ordinarily appeal to me. Too bad, when I'm trying to edit my scent collection down to a few best choices!
    -- Gretchen

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  14. Ce commentaire a été supprimé par un administrateur du blog.

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  15. Hi, Denyse. Sounds like there's lots to look forward to. That PG Indochine sounds intriguing. Meanwhile, I have a bottle of the Frapin 1697 winging its way to me right now. Unsniffed. I hope I like it.

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  16. Gretchen, they're all worth testing... After that, if you're editing your collection, it's all a matter of whether they hit you where you live, right?

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  17. Jarvis, as I wrote above, the PG is behaving kind of strangely: it's neither very diffusive nor very long-lasting despite the notes which should be both. But it's beautiful.

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  18. Denyse -

    These all sound intriguing (with the exception of Prada Candy. That one makes my head hurt, just thinking about it).

    I find it interesting that EdlO put suede in PHouseboy - I would've thought steamed cotton. My Tia J had a FIlipino houseman - for years that was his definitive smell, to my nose. Perhaps I'm being a bit too literal, as memory is wont to make me do sometimes.

    Great lineup. Lots to look forward to.

    xo

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  19. Musette, steamed cotton would have been a great idea but I'm not seeing it work with the other accords... Steamed rice is closer to the mark in this case!

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  20. Can't wait to try the first three you mentioned. Still havent read the Lutens interview. Am waiting for perfect moment when I can give it my full attention. Hasn't come yet. Delights of anticipation.

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