When Vanilla Glows – Elie Saab Le Parfum Intense Perfume Review

When Elie Saab released his Francis-Kurkdjian-penned debut fragrance – ‘Le Parfum‘ – in 2011, it quickly garnered praise as one of the most impressive feminine designer launches of the year. Since then it has maintained its popularity, spurring the release of an Eau de Toilette version in 2012 and a brand new intense edition for 2013.

“Inspired by the magical moment of dusk, mysterious and captivating, the floral oriental Elie Saab Le Parfum Intense tells the story of a woman who comes alive as the sun goes down. She is confidence incarnate, and wears her Elie Saab couture like a second skin.”

For Le Parfum Intense, Saab has opted for a perfume that is richer and less diffusive than the original. This particular presentation of Le Parfum serves as a headier and more intoxicating version where the intensity of white flowers is amplified, along with vanilla to create a truly couture experience.

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The Candy Perfume Boy’s Guide to Violet

The Candy Perfume Boy’s Guide to series is an olfactory exploration of individual notes and ingredients that looks at the essential perfumes one must try as part of their fragrant journey. Each episode focuses on a particular note and lists the reference perfumes (i.e. the ‘must sniffs’) within that particular genre.

So far in the series we’ve explored the worlds of; Tuberose, Lavender, Oud, Orange Blossom and Chocolate. Up until now the ‘Guide to’ series has been relatively sporadic but moving forward, the intention is to schedule instalments for the beginning of each quarter – therefore suggestions on which note/genre to explore next are most welcome.

This episode takes a look at the humble violet – a genre that doesn’t quite get the exposure that it deserves. It’s a note that is more likely to be associated with the stiff upper lip of Victorian Britain than the contemporary world of modern perfumery but a number of perfume houses are making solid efforts to change this perception and are making pretty fantastic perfumes along the way.

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New Escentual Post: A Guide to Chypre

Chypres have always struck me as one of the most interesting perfume genres. They manage to capture a strange idea of beauty, where the sharper and more angular aspects of perfumery are celebrated. I suppose that you could say that they aren’t classically beautiful and its the asymmetry in their composition that ultimately makes them so beguiling.

For this week’s Escentual post I’m taking a look at the chypre, mapping its evolution through three ‘reference’ perfumes; the classic, the modern and the contemporary. This is a first in a small ‘guide to’ series for Escentual, where I’ll be casting a fragrant spotlight on a number of perfume genres.

To read the piece, please click on the image above to head on over to the Escentual blog. Whilst you’re there, do make sure to tell me what your favourite chypre is, and what fragrances you would pick to represent the classic, modern and contemporary interpretations of the genre.

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Kirsten 1996 – Byredo 1996 Perfume Review

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin – more widely known simply as ‘Inez and Vinoodh’ – are world-famous fashion and art photographer, renowned for snapping pictures for the likes of Björk, Lady Gaga, Vivienne Westwood and Vogue, just to name a very small few. They are highly respected for their versatile approach to photography and are, in their own way, quasi-celebrities within the art world.

Not content simply as a twosome, Inez and Vinoodh collaborated with popular niche brand Byredo to create a “private edition” fragrance to serve as a Christmas gift for beloved friends and clients. Rumour has it that the fragrance was so well received that they simply had no choice to release it for the hoi polloi to enjoy – thus the wide release of Byredo’s latest fragrance, ‘1996’.

Inspired by the photo ‘Kirsten 1996’ (see above), 1996 is described by Byredo founder Ben Gorham as “an olfactory snapshot not only of the image but of our emotional response to it” and it stands as a unique offering where an image is used to be evocative of a perfume rather than the other way round. The scent intends to create “a visual language, for perfume and, like all great collaborations, shared sentience” (make of that what you will).

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Missing the Magic Touch – By Kilian Playing with the Devil & Musk Oud Perfume Reviews

By Kilian – the brainchild of cognac heir Kilian Hennessy – launched as a brand in 2007. Hennessy’s first collection, wonderfully entitled ‘L’Oeuvre Noire’, was an impressive outfit, consisting of rich, decadent and expertly created fragrances. Since then, By Kilian has been relatively prolific with its output, releasing a number of fragrances under its ‘Arabian Nights’, ‘Asian Tales and ‘In the Garden of Good and Evil’ collections.

Comparing the fragrance within these latter collection to those found in L’Oeuvre Noire leads one to question what happened to the brand. The more recent offerings have failed to capture the hedonistic magic of those initial fragrances, with none of the newer offerings being even remotely comparable to the photorealistic tuberose of Beyond Love, the film noir honey of Back to Black or rich, pink delicacy of Love.

This year By Kilian has added two new fragrances to its collection; Musk Oud and Playing with the Devil. Both are polar opposites in style, proving that as far as creative direction goes, Hennessy definitely understands and enjoys variety. On the downside however, they also show a continuing ‘watering down’ of ideas within the brand and when looking back at what By Kilian has brought to the table before, this feels very sad indeed.

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New Escentual Post: Autumn Wardrobe Essentials

So October is finally upon us and it’s beginning to be that time of year where we shelve our sparkling summer scents and reach for the emergency hammer to break out those warmer fragrances. Themes for the seasons are auburn spices, deep resins and glimmers of gourmand deliciousness, and if you ask me autumn is most definitely the best season fragrance-wise.

This week’s Escentual post takes a look at my ‘Autumn Wardrobe Essentials’ – those fragrances that I consider to be my staples for the season. So, please don your chunky knitwear and head over to the Escentual blog by clicking the image above. Don’t forget to tell me what your autumn staples are!

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Smelly News: The Most Amazing Perfume Bottle Ever…

Guerlain sure know how to make a pretty bottle don’t they? They are, after all the people who brought us iconic housings for fragrances such as Shalimar, Insolence and La Petite Robe Noire. This one, created to celebrate the grand re-opening of their newly renovated boutique at no. 68 on the Champs-Élysées is most certainly befitting of one of the city’s most famous and wonderfully fragrant addresses.

Housing ‘Le Parfum du 68‘, a tweaked version of the brand’s respectable Cologne du 68 from 2006, the classic Baccarat ‘turtle’ bottle is adorned with a gilded Parisian scene created by Ateliers Gohard. Unfortunately only 30 bottles will be produced and one dreads to even think how much it would cost, still it’s rather lovely to dream, isn’t it?

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Desert Island Sniffs – Episode 2: Sarah McCartney

Desert Island Sniffs may only be a fledgling series on The Candy Perfume Boy but it is already becoming this blogger’s absolute favourite. Exploring a life through scent is a fascinating way to understand what makes an individual tick and those that are working within the perfume industry live perhaps the most fragrant and intriguing lives of them all.

If you’re not familiar with the series (you can find other episodes here), the concept is simple; each month one prominent member of the perfume industry is asked to select 5 perfumes that they would take with them should they unfortunately be marooned on a desert island – their ‘Desert Island Sniffs’.

The perfumes they choose should be those that have had a significant impact on their scented lives and map specific points in their journey of olfactory discovery. In addition to their 5 Desert Island Sniffs one is kind enough to allow them to take a luxury item (only one, mind) and a ‘perfume bible’ to keep them company. By the end of this series there is going to be some rather fabulously smelling desert islands out there!

Let’s meet this month’s castaway…

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New Escentual Post: Marni, Marni, Marni!

This week over at Escentual I’m taking another look at the debut fragrance from spirited Italian fashion house Marni. This is not my first encounter with Marni Eau de Parfum (I reviewed it here a few weeks back) but seeing as it is one of this year’s more impressive designer launches I felt it was prudent to focus the spotlight on it once again for the Escentual audience.

So please head on over to Escentual to read this week’s article by clicking the image or link above. Don’t forget to leave a comment whilst you’re there, I want to hear your thoughts on Marni – have you tried it? Do you like it? Have you picked up any fabulous bargains in the 20% Fragrance Sale? – Let me know your thoughts!

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A Classic Signature – Carven Ma Griffe (2013) Perfume Review

When Carven released their first perfume – the aptly named ‘Ma Griffe‘ (‘My Signature’) – in 1946 the brand dropped hundreds of parachutes over the skies of Paris, each of which carried a special piece of cargo – a sample of Madame Carven’s signature perfume. In a genius stroke of early PR, this stunt ensured that the scent of Ma Griffe was simply unavoidable:

“The lingering scent of Ma Griffe floated everywhere: at the Opera, at charity balls, at the most fashionable sports events from Deauville to Monte Carlo…”

Flash forward to 2013, following the resurrection of the fashion arm of Carven and the launch of the brand’s modern signature fragrance ‘Le Parfum‘, it is time for the relaunch of Ma Griffe. This time Carven has opted for a much more muted launch, almost silently slipping the classic fragrance back on the market in the hope that it will once again float weightlessly around city streets.

Following the earlier review of Le Parfum one was intrigued to discover the world of Ma Griffe, purely as an exercise to see how the house has changed from 1946 to 2013. The truth is that the differences between the Carven perfume of days gone by and the Carven perfume of today serve as a microcosm for how the world of perfumery has evolved over the last 70 years.

Not having spent time with Ma Griffe before its 2013 re-release has allowed one to approach it from an entirely objective point of view, reviewing it not as a long gone piece of the past but as an old school signature presented amongst the modern trends of perfumery as they are today. To say the process was an eyeopener would be an understatement…

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