Just a very quick post to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a wonderful, happy new […]
Yesterday as I was tapping away at my computer putting the finishing touches to my review of Jour d’Hermès i was touched by a serendipitous union of sound and scent. In a stroke of genuine genius for once (not the pretentious ‘Hey we’re apple we’re so clever’ kind that we’re so used to) my iTunes delivered a perfect audio compliment to the scent I was writing about.
The piece that popped up on shuffle to match Jour was one of my all time favourites (not to be morbid but I want it at my funeral, it’s that good); The Great Work Begins by Thomas Newman from the HBO adaptation of Angels in America. It manages to perfectly capture the mood of Jour d’Hermès, specifically the promise of the dawn, of the new day and a new start after the darkness.
Hermès must win the award for the most consistent style of perfumes within one line. Ever since installing the incomparable Jean-Claude Ellena as their in-house schnoz, each perfume launch has been a variation on the theme of Ellena’s pastel shades and watercolours, evoking both clarity and luxury.
It is for this reason that their latest offering, Jour d’Hermès is so interesting, it manages to perfectly replicate Ellena’s signature style of spacious scent, but it does so bigger, brighter and bolder, almost as if he’s thrown down the watercolours in a moment of madness (read: genius) and opted for full technicolor. Jour d’Hermés is Jean-Claude Ellena writ large.
“From dawn until dusk, a luminous and sensual floral that flourishes.”
Jour, meaning dawn, is a perfume that captures the myrhiad of colours and emotions promised by the prospect of a new day. It is a perfume that seems to have arrived with little fan fair yet the odours that are contained within its rather simple and unpretentious bottle are most definitely worthy of attention.
It’s not often that a perfume turns 100 years old, heck it’s not often that a person hits the big one double zero, let alone a scent. But in a world where there are a cool 1,200 + perfume launches per year, many of which ride the coat tails of some quasi-celebrity or another whose career is most likely going to be short lived, longevity isn’t something that’s guaranteed. So it stands to reason that a perfume which has managed to last for a cool century should be celebrated.
2012 marks the 100th anniversary of Guerlain’s classic fragrance L’Heure Bleue and the house is celebrating in style. To honour such a huge feat Guerlain has released a trio of Thierry Wasser penned limited edition interpretations of L’Heure Bleue; L’Aurore, Le Crépuscule and Le Zénith, the latter of which has been added to the Les Parisiennes line as an Eau de Parfum entitled L’Heure de Nuit.
“I felt something so intense, I could only express it in a perfume.” Jacques Guerlain
L’Heure Bleue took its inspiration from the colour of the sky just before dusk, when the world is bathed in a melancholy blue light. L’Heure de Nuit represents a softer side of this blue hour, when the light is almost entirely faded from the sky and darkness begins to take hold. It encapsulates the placid coolness of the evening evoking feelings of calm rather than sadness.
Some perfumes come surrounded by so my hyperbole that it is impossible to approach them with an open mind. The perfume community does have a habit of hyping things up to god-like levels so that when one comes to trying something regarded as the divine ambrosia it’s almost too easy to be completely disappointed.
Still, disappointment isn’t such a bad thing, after all it allows us to reaffirm our tastes and what we do or don’t like. Anyway, sometimes it’s good to stand out from the pack, you might be miffed at the time but individuality is something to be celebrated. But there are times when a whole heap of hype can be substantiated and one fine example would be Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Absolue Pour le Soir.
“When the night takes on its own life, the tempo changes. Take a long, languorous breath. Linger till dawn. Keep your head in the stars. You’re suspended in time.”
Absolue Pour le Soir (Absolute for the Evening) is a “more concentrated and sophisticated” version of Kurkdjian’s Cologne Pour le Soir. If I had to sum it up in three words I would choose; “beautiful, filthy beast” because it is a fragrance that has the power to shock due to its strong dichotomy of ugliness and beauty.
The sheer thought of a Fracas flanker is enough to send most fumenerds in to fits of fear-induced hysterics. Such is always the case when a classic is reinterpreted for the modern generation, just take Shalimar Parfum Initial for example, the blogosphere practically imploded upon hearing the news of a pink-ified Shalimar (more on that one later), so it would not be un-wise to expect the same reaction for the arrival of Petit Fracas.
Yes that’s right, I said “Petit Fracas” as in “Little Fracas”. But fear ye not, the people over at Fashion Fragrances and Cosmetics Ltd (who own the licence for Piguet Parfums) have taken great care in the re-launch of Piguet’s classics and they have applied the very same amount of care to this reinterpretation of the original.
“Play the game of love with Petit Fracas de Robert Piguet. The scent has an audacious air, inspired by our iconic Fracas. Petit is fresh, youthful and feminine, with a playful innocence. Flirtatious and charming […] elegant and enchanting, but not too serious, Petit Fracas is a chic floral bouquet, perfect for flirty fashionistas or fashionistas at heart.”
Aiming for a younger woman who is not quite ready to step into the 9 inch stilettos of the original, Petit Fracas (created by Aurelien Guichard who has been responsible for all of the Piguet relaunches and new scents) mashes modern tastes with the haute couture style of one of perfumery’s most infamous characters. She’s the wild child of an even wilder parent; living, loving and vying for attention.
As I mentioned yesterday posts will be a tad infrequent this week due to my hellish (hellish I tell you) university assignments, but I couldn’t allow the week to slip by without announcing the winner of my Divine Sample Giveaway. It would be rude not to wouldn’t it?
It was really interesting to read everyone’s favourite barbershop fragrances and it was great to see some old classics alongside some newer, less well-known choices. Anyway, that’s more than enough babbling from me.
The winner of the Divine Sample Giveaway is…
It is the very final week of Movember and whodathunk that I’d have made it this far? Not me, that’s for sure! I had visions of me finding my Mo so utterly monstrous and/or frustrating that I would have taken a pair of scissors to it in a fit of a rage by now. But the truth is that the month of Movember has been relatively easy and dare I say rather fun indeed.
On Thursday last week I took a trip up to London to the Official Movember Barbers for a free Mo trim. This was my first true barbershop encounter (I wore Petit Fracas btw, an entirely un-barbershoppy fragrance for what it’s worth) and it was rather enjoyable; not only was it quite relaxing but the barbers hired by Movember were pretty damn handsome too. So yes, I would recommend a true old-fashioned barbershop shave, the results of which you can view below the jump…
Yesterday, in honour of Movember, I took a look at some of my favourite barbershop scents in The Candy Perfume Boy’s Movember Barbershop Quartet. Alongside some of the old favourites and classics I included a brand new fragrance launching this month that is as barbershop and gentlemanly as the best of them, albeit in an atypical way; L’Homme Infini by Divine.
Divine is not a fragrance house that I have had a huge amount of exposure to in the past. I do know that two of their masculines (L’Homme Sage and L’Homme de Coeur) are cult favourites amongst male fumeheads, and smelling the samples I have it’s easy to see why; each is a contemporary and confident take on classic masculine styles of perfumery.
L’Homme Infini (The Infinite Man) is the latest fragrance to join Divine’s stable of masculines. Created by Yann Vasnier (Bang, L’Homme de Coeur, L’Homme Sage, Anima Dulcis and Santal Blush) and is described using words such as “serene” and “tender”. To me it feels like a fragrance of balance, with just the right proportions of rugged manly things and soft gentleness to create something that plays to the many contrasts of the modern man.
The Candy Perfume Boy 