Category Archive: Vivienne Westwood

New Escentual Post: Boudoir by Vivienne Westwood

Boudoir
Boudoir

Feeling frisky? Boudoir will do that to you. Vivienne Westwood’s debut fragrance is a classic floral chypre that dabbles in debauchery. It’s a fragrance that rocks big hair, lace underwear and pearls. Or as I like to describe it: “all lust and lacquer, and no shame, that’s Boudoir“. For my Escentual post this week I’ve written about Boudoir, not just because it’s an awesome (and underrated IMHO) fragrance but because it’s the product of a legend and one of the first perfumes I truly loved. So from the Mother of Punk straight to our noses, Boudoir is a sinfully sexy fragrance that is just so Westwood. Click here to read the piece.

Continue reading →

Scent a Celebrity Series: Filthy/Gorgeous Fumes – Scenting Scissor Sisters

Scissor Sisters

“I’m a classy honey kissy huggy lovey dovey ghetto princess”

The Scent a Celebrity Series is my vain attempt at picking perfumes for those who don’t know any better, yes I mean celebrities. Let’s face it, most celebrities are incapable of choosing decent clothing/boyfriends/girlfriends/movies/insert-celebrity-mistake-here let alone having the ability to make decisions about something as important as their scent – that’s where I come in. Never fear my dear schlebs, I will ensure that you are appropriately scented, all you need to do is listen.

So far the series has touched upon a variety of famous names including; those fuzzy-wuzzy comics The Muppets, the Icelandic super-talent that is Björk and schizophrenic female (but kinda-male due to her alter ego) rapper Nicki Minaj. Joining this plethora of huge talents, and even bigger egos is the wonderfully glam and delightfully eccentric band of personalities that is Scissor Sisters.

Scissor Sisters, currently consisting of Jake Shears, Ana Matronic, Del Marquis, Babydaddy and one other dude (but he doesn’t appear much so we shall forget about him), are a glam rock band taking their cues from Elton John, Abba, Blondie and the Bee Gees just to name a few. To say that they are a band with personality is an understatement, in fact they are a band with four distinct personalities, each one being as eccentric, if not more so than the other.

Continue reading →

Katie Puckrik Smells – And How! – An Evening With Katie Puckrik and Perfume Lovers London

Katie Puckrik

Katie Puckrik Does Indeed ‘Smell’

YouTube frightens me slightly. Maybe I’m just a wimp but despite the wealth of content YouTube has more loons, weirdos (not the good kind) and trolls than any of the other ‘tubes’, including the London Underground, which indeed has its fair share. Other than the odd music video and occasional perfume-related video I really don’t visit it much and I admire those who can put themselves out there, warts and all.

One person who is not afraid of YouTube and actively embraces the medium with as much gusto as one person can conjure is Katie Puckrik of Katie Puckrik Smells. Katie’s YouTube reviews are pithy, fun and are splashed with charismatic wit, which is no surprise as Katie Puckrik is someone with oodles of charisma and she has been a key player in changing the way that perfume is discussed.

As a general rule of thumb I am not a big fan of YouTube perfume reviews, with my tastes lying with the written word rather than the spoken, but I always make sure I watch Katie’s videos because she talks about scent in not only an intelligent way, but because she makes it so much fun. It was for this reason that I jumped at the chance of spending an evening with Katie Puckrik organised by Olfactory Events and Perfume Lovers London.

Continue reading →

Voulez-Vous Coucher Avec Moi, Ce Soir? – Vivienne Westwood Boudoir Perfume Review

Boudoir

Talking about another Vivienne Westwood scent (Anglomania) last week as part of the ‘Gone, But Not Forgotten’ Series led me to drag out my bottle of Boudoir which has been lurking somewhere in the back of my ‘purgatory drawer’ – a fate that awaits those perfumes of mine that no longer have a place in my collection.

When I gave Boudoir its first spritz in what must be at least a year I was shocked, why was this in the purgatory draw? I like this! My biggest problem, it seems, is that I have a short attention span, I can only concentrate for a maximum of about five minutes before being distracted by something shiny or basically anything other than the task at hand (a problem that was recently brought to my attention by my boss, who very politely mentioned that my time management skills left a lot to be desired) and this is true with perfumes, I do tend to love something for a while before I get bored and want something new. I guess you could call me a ‘fragrant magpie’ of sorts.

Anyway, enough about me, on to the fragrance! Boudoir was Vivienne Westwood’s first fragrance and was released in 1998, it is classified as a ‘Floral Chypre’ and is the only Westwood fragrance that seems to have stood the test of time, Libertine, Anglomania and Let it Rock have all since fallen by the way side and have lost their places as part of the Westwood collection.

Continue reading →

Gone, But Not Forgotten Series Part 5: British Eccentricity – Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood

Anglomania
“Anglomania is quite a blowsy scent, a fact that is only emphasised by the quite, erm, ‘breasty’ advertising image.”

Vivienne Westwood is the epitome of British eccentricity. A self-taught designer, mother of punk and general, all round odd ball, Westwood put British fashion on the map and her mixture of shabby chic and unusual tailoring has proved to be timeless.

Dame Viv has released five fragrances (not including flankers); Boudoir, Libertine *, Anglomania *, Let it Rock * and Naughty Alice, three of which have since been discontinued. If I’m being perfectly honest the fragrances from the line have been a mixed bag, Boudoir is a great, slightly filthy chypre, Libertine is a pretty decent floral citrus (it used to be a favourite of mine until my tastes developed), Let it Rock was a dreadful oriental and don’t get me started on Naughty Alice…..Anglomania is the best and most interesting of the bunch.

Anglomania is named after Westwood’s recurring collection of the same name and the scent is intended to evoke “Asian intensity with British heritage” [1]. It was released in 2004 and was created by the great Domique Ropion (Carnal Flower, Alien, Geranium Pour Monsieur to name but a few), it does exactly what it says on the tin.