Gold

“Two of the most rich and lavish perfumes of all time.”

Gold Woman and Gold Man were the first fragrances to be released by Omani fragrance house Amouage. The house was founded by His Highness Sayyid Hamad bin Hamoud al bu Said and in 1983 Amouage hired famous french perfumer Guy Robert to create two of the most rich and lavish perfumes of all time. His brief? “Put whatever you like in it, no matter how much it costs.” [1]

Both fragrances showcase silver frankincense, an ingredient the country is famed for, and whilst they have a distinct middle eastern feel they are also undeniably french in their style. Unlike almost everything from the 1980’s, Gold Woman and Gold Man do not feel dated in the slightest, they are both timeless classics that mark an important beginning from a venerable house. They have stood the test of time.

Angel

“Angel Eau de Toilette is still a diva but she is Angel before she puts on her drag queen make up and high heels, she is the daytime Angel, just as fabulous and dramatic but less likely to throw a tantrum.”

When I first read the news that the Thierry Mugler brand was releasing an Eau de Toilette version of their infamous flagship fragrance Angel, my first thought was ‘I’m surprised they haven’t done one already.’ Well it’s taken nearly 20 years, but Mugler has finally decided to launch a lighter version of the heavy oriental gourmand.

Along with the launch of the new Eau de Toilette, and it’s fabulous new ‘comet bottle’ Mugler has created a brand new television and print campaign for both versions, starring Eva Mendes. I’m probably not supposed to say this, because I like Naomi Watts as an actress, but she just didn’t suit being the face of Angel, so I’m very glad that the sultry Eva Mendes is now fronting the campaign for my favourite Diva.

Now, Angel fans, I can sense that you are perhaps feeling a little uneasy and even slightly sceptical about this new release, after all why would you want a lighter version of Angel? She’s perfect just as she is. Well if you’re anything like me, you love Angel but on some days she’s just a little bit too much, and you can’t be doing with all of her diva antics all day long, every single day. You’ll be relieved to know that Angel Eau de Toilette is faithful to the original and what Mugler has done is create a more ‘everyday’ version of Angel that can be worn to the office/school/park/(insert everyday place here) without terrifying people

AngelWhat can I say about Angel that hasn’t already been said? Angel isn’t just your typical perfume, she is a legend, a legend in exactly the same way that N°5 and Shalimar are legends. She’s also not just a legend, she is a fierce vixen and a complete diva.

Created in 1992 by Olivier Crisp and Yves de Chiris for avant-garde fashion designer Thierry Mugler, Angel is inspired by Mugler’s childhood memories, he wanted “to make a perfume that could have a common resonance for everyone, something close to tenderness, to childhood.” [1] The childhood memories that Mugler chose to recreate in Angel were those of the fairground.

The very first time I smelled Angel, right at the beginning of my perfumista journey, I was shocked, appalled and disgusted all at once. Who would want to wear this? I thought. But I kept finding myself coming back to Angel, there was something about her, she lured me in and wouldn’t let me go, I was helpless. I became obsessed and after many sniffs I finally bought a bottle, wore it with pride and didn’t look back.

CK One Shock

Ahh flankers, there is nothing within the glorious world of perfume more guaranteed to make my eyes roll. Don’t get me wrong, there are some pretty good flankers on the market, take Guerlain’s Shalimar Parfum Initial or Chanel’s No 5 Eau Premiere for example. But on the whole the majority of flankers stink (see Marc Jacobs Bang Bang), they are a cheap way of marketing a new fragrance without having to come up with a new name or bottle and tend to carry no ingenuity whatsoever.

CK One Shock for Him and for Her are the latest in a long line of flankers to Calvin Klein’s iconic Unisex fragrance CK One, originally launched in 1994. With CK One Shock they have released “Two sassy new fragrances that flaunts youth innate sense of provocation” [1] Calvin Klein has proved to be the king of flankers over the years, the majority of which have been pretty terrible so I did not approach these two with high hopes.

Marc Jacobs

I don’t know about you, but when I wear fragrance I wear it for myself and myself alone. Sure, I love to share my passion with others, that is a huge part of my hobby, but when I wear perfume, I wear it because I enjoy it.

And I wear what I like!

Ever since I bought my first proper perfume (Kingdom by Alexander McQueen) I have loved ‘feminine’ fragrances. Looking through my collection it’s obvious that the ratio of feminine and masculine is weighted considerably towards the feminine. To this day I find myself drawn to the feminine releases much more than masculines. Don’t get me wrong I do enjoy wearing masculine fragrances but they just don’t wow me the way a lot of the feminines do.

I guess that I’m the King/Queen of fragrant gender bending.

Belle

Sometimes I just want to smell like a hooker. I accept that this may be somewhat of a sensational overstatement, but what I really mean is that when it comes to perfume, despite loving the classics, the symphonic florals and the exotic orientals, what I really love is the trashy, brash and over the top.

Sometimes it’s great to wear something that is loud, proud and ultra girly, I also find that these ultra-trashy scents work really well on a man, I have no fear of smelling ‘cheap’.

If you want cheap and trashy you cannot go wrong with Rush by Gucci.

Elie Saab Le ParfumElie Saab Le Parfum is the first perfume to be released by Lebanese fashion designer Elie Saab. It was composed by Francis Kurkdjian (Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male, Narciso Rodriguez For Her and Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance etc) and is billed as a Woody Floral.

Ellie Saab Le Parfum is described as an ‘ode to light’.

From the Press Release:

“Composed as an ode to light, ELIE SAAB Le Parfum celebrates the splendor and the brilliance of radiant femininity with a floral solar woody theme. The permanent exchange between flowers and wood is what gives the fragrance such captivating resonance.”

Firecracker Cupcake

We all have them, those things that we know we shouldn’t love but we secretly do. I have lots of guilty pleasures, whether they be food, fragrance, music, movies or TV shows, there are lots of things that I know are a bit naff but I love them regardless.

There are so many fragrances on the market and us perfumistas are constantly on the search for the great fragrances, the ones that smell so good we just cannot live without them. It’s a long ongoing journey and along the way we find the bad, the dull, the weird, the downright hideous and of course the guilty pleasures.

So what exactly is a guilty pleasure perfume? Well to me they are those fragrances that you know are bad because they are a dreadful celebuscent or the quality of the composition (or both) or because they are painfully mainstream, but you still like them anyway.

When putting this post together there was one fragrance that instantly came to mind….

N°19 Poudré is the latest fragrance release from Chanel and is the first flanker to the original N°19 fragrance which was released in 1971.

As the name suggests N°19 Poudré is intended as a softer, more powdery version of the original and is an attempt by the brand to rejuvenate and modernise the image of the N°19 line.

Chanel describes N°19 Poudré as:

“A Floral-Powdery-Green fragrance that reveals a new powdery-musky facet.

The voluptuous scent of a bouquet of Iris blends with the freshness of a breeze of Vetiver roots: an enveloping, powdery fullness softened by White Musk notes.

N°19 POUDRÉ: within the smoothest, silkiest whisper lies the boldness of a legendary accord.” [1]

OK, I may not be ‘woman’ but Womanity most certainly is, she is all woman and she definitely knows how to roar.

Womanity was released in 2010 and is the latest feminine fragrance by renegade fashion house Thierry Mugler. It is the house’s first major feminine release (i.e. not a flanker) since Alien in 2005. The fragrances is described as a woody oriental and is based around a juxtaposition of sweet and savoury notes

To coincide with the release of Womanity, Mugler also created a social network site womanity.com which, just like the fragrance, celebrates ‘the invisible bond between women’. I have to admit that I find the concept more than a little bit tedious…