Perfume Pic of the Week No. 7: Guerlain Teas

Ahh, tea! Is there anything better than getting home from a long, hard day and boiling the kettle for a relaxing hot brew? The answer is simple: no, there isn’t. Tea drinking, much like perfume sniffing, is one of life’s greatest sensory pleasures and with the wide variety of different blends, one can find a world of truly delicious treats with very little searching required.

So does that then mean that the mixture of both perfume and tea would make for an interesting blend? Venerable french perfume house Guerlain certainly seem to think so and with the revamping of their flagship store at no. 68 Champs Élysées they have launched a number of fragrant teas based on a handful their most inconic perfumes in conjunction with Les Thés de Constance.

The Guerlain fragrant teas are:

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Perfume Pic of the Week No. 1: Vintage Shalimar Eau de Toilette

So it’s a brand new year and after a short break its time to get one’s nose firmly back to the grindstone (booo!). This year I am hoping to be more dedicated to regular posts on The Candy Perfume Boy after a slightly turbulent 2013, with reviews and routine instalments in my ‘Scent a Celebrity‘, ‘Guide to‘ and ‘Desert Island Sniffs‘ series. I’ll also be sharing my weekly Escentual column and updates on the hunt for my wedding scent with you – all-in-all, I hope for it to be a very exciting year!

One new addition to The Candy Perfume Boy’s roster in 2014, is the ‘Perfume Pic of the Week’. Starting today and running every Monday, I hope that this visual feature allows us to connect more and discuss all elements of perfume ranging from new and exciting launches to perfume advertising, bottles from my collection and anything else that is smelly and intriguing.

The inaugural Perfume Pic of the Week is an image of some vintage Shalimar Eau de Toilette I picked up in Tesco of all places (other supermarkets are available). My online snooping dates it as being from the late ’90s/early ’00s, but if you have a better estimate then please say. I’ve included the Shalimar here because a vintage purchase is most unusual for me, simply because I avoid the chase for vintage formulations as a general rule of thumb.

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What’s On Your Christmas Wish List?

It’s that time of year where we all start to put together our Christmas wish lists for Santa, or as I like to call him – ‘Nigel’. Being the perfume nuts that we are means that beloved family and friends can sometimes struggle to pick fragrances out as gifts for us, after all we’re a selective (read: ‘picky’) bunch by nature and nobody would want us to open up a gift that we would deem as unsuitable on the big day.

To mitigate the chances of a botched perfume purchase at Christmas I supply a perfume wish list to my partner and my father every year. The other members of my family family flatly refuses to buy me any perfume, stating that I have “too much” and it’s “bordering on an obsession”. Who knows what they’re smoking, but I can always rely on my dad and Nigel (if he’s in a good mood) to pick something from my carefully selected list.

Let’s take a look at what’s on my list this year!

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New Escentual Post: Movember Masculines Part 1 – Habit Rouge by Guerlain

In case you hadn’t noticed it is officially the month of Movember (yes I’m going to continue to bang on about it) and for the next four weeks The Candy Perfume Boy will be undergoing a masculine takeover. We’ll be looking at some new masculine scents as well as some of my personal go-to gentleman’s fragrances, whilst on Escentual I’ll be running a series of ‘Movember Masculines’ – taking a look at some of the best men’s fragrances on the market.

The first instalment in these moustachey masculines is a review of Guerlain’s Habit Rouge (the EDT) – a perfume that needs little introduction. To me, this particular man-scent is incredibly versatile and works as well on an equestrian in full livery as it does on a hip, leather jacket wearing man of today. Please click on the image above to head on over Escentual and read my thoughts on one of Guerlain’s very best fragrances.

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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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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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Smelly News: La Légende de Shalimar

Guerlain has released a beautiful movie for its flagship fragrance Shalimar. Running at a length of just under 6 minutes and featuring Russian model Natalia Vodianova, the glorious epic tells the story of a love like no other and the inspiration for Guerlain’s iconic fragrance – the legend of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal.

With its breathtaking visuals and sweeping soundtrack La Légende de Shalimar (directed by Bruno Aveillan) truly is a feast for the senses that is perfectly befitting for a fragrance that speaks of a romance that transcends time and space. What do you think?

More info below the jump:

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Desert Island Sniffs – Episode 1: Neela Vermeire

One of my favourite past times is listening to Radio 4’s longstanding series ‘Desert Island Discs’. If you’re not familiar with the concept, the premise is simple: a famous face or person of interest is shipwrecked on a desert island with eight records of their choice. The idea being that the person tells the story of their life through the songs that have made a significant impact on who they are today.

It has long been my belief that scent, much like music, allows us to travel back in time and experience moments past – moments that have influenced, changed and shaped us in to the human beings we have become. This series (nattily entitled ‘Desert Island Sniffs’) looks to explore the way perfume has influenced the lives of prominent members of the perfume industry.

For Desert Island Sniffs my castaways will be asked to present five perfumes that have had a significant impact on their life – scents that are so important they would be the ones they’d pack if they were unfortunately marooned on a remote desert island. Along with their five perfume choices my castaways are entitled to one luxury item and a ‘perfume bible’ of their choice.

Let’s meet our first castaway…

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Summer Survival Scents

The heatwave is finally here and as we all enjoy (or suffer in) the heat now is a good time to pull out those fragrances that refresh, revitalise & defeat the blazing heat of the sun and stuffy, humid air. It’s a time where perfume can be your greatest weapon when attempting to conquer the unrelenting enthusiasm of the sun.

My Escentual Post last week looked at two new releases that are perfect for summer (Guerlain Nerolia Bianca and Dior Homme Cologne 2013) and it got me thinking about those fragrances that I swear by in the summer – or as i like to call them: ‘my summer survival scents’.

Some days it seems almost too hot to do anything, but these scents can be an essential part of your summer survival kit. All you need is some cooling citrus, a few fresh fancies, a couple of manly mints and a generous dose of flowers and fruit, and you’ll be all set to tackle the heatwave of 2013!

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The Deadly Perfumes of Pride

My lovely perfume sisters and brothers – Persolaise, Eyeliner on a Cat, Fragrant Moments and Olfactoria’s Travels – and I, have yet again clubbed together to bring you an olfactory group project. This time we’re focusing on the seven deadly sins and have cooked up our very best selections of the most sinful perfumes.

“A feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of one’s close associates, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.”

The Oxford English Dictionary’s
Definition of ‘Pride’

When given the choice of picking a sin for my article I opted for ‘Pride’. The sin of pride focuses on self-adoration and vanity – taking pleasure and satisfaction from our own achievements, looks and attractive qualities. Pride intrigues me because I think it’s the sin that nearly everybody is guilty of at some time in their lives and it can be a key driver for us to continue to succeed in our professional and personal lives.

The perfumes I have picked for this article all display an element of pride – each in a slight different way. Whether it’s vanity, pride in artistry, the pride that precedes a fall or even a faceless pride, these perfumes are subtly sinful in a subversive and utterly compelling way

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