Thierry Mugler’s summer edition of Angel from last year, ‘Angel Eau Sucrée‘, is back and I couldn’t be more pleased. Eau Sucrée is my candy crush – she pairs Angel’s signature accords of patchouli and vanilla with a whole heap of sugary treats, namely raspberry sorbet, meringues and candy floss. The result is as delicious as it sounds, and it makes for a slightly unusual take on the summer fragrance, where lighter gourmand nuances are showcased rather than citrus. Click here to head on over to Escentual to read my full review (P.S. the bottle has changed for 2015, but the scent remains the same as last year’s).
A New Bohemia: Mimosa & Cardamom by Jo Malone London
This September, British fragrance brand, Jo Malone London are set to expand their cologne collection with the addition of ‘Mimosa & Cardamom‘. Described as evoking a “new bohemia”, the fragrance was created by perfumer Marie Salamagne (Incense & Cedrat and Silk Blossom) pairs the spicy and exotic tones of cardamom with the plush, hazy tones of mimosa and tonka bean. The result is a well-travelled fragrance that displays a variety of textures and colours.
“A new bohemia awaits. Mists of honeyed, golden mimosa float above the spiciness of freshly crushed cardamom. Creamy tonka and sandalwood woven under powdery heliotrope and Damask rose picked at dawn. Warm, ethereal, mesmerising.”
As I’m sure you are aware, the Fragrance Foundation in the UK held their 23rd awards in London last Thursday. The Fragrance Foundation Awards, formerly known as the FiFi’s, celebrate the good and great of the fragrance industry, handing out trophies to the perfumes, home fragrances, ad campaigns and retailers that are the nuts and bolts, and cogs of the fragrance world.
I was lucky enough to be invite to attend the awards this year. So on Thursday evening, I put on my tux, specially selected socks and some Butler & Wilson sparkle (as standard), and headed out to rainy London for the biggest, and most fragrant night of the year. The awards, which were compered by the masterful Natasha Kaplinsky, were as fun as ever and it was great to catch up with my perfume buddies such as Liam Moore of ODOU magazine, Liz Moores of Papillon Artisan Perfumes and Persolaise.
Below you’ll find a slideshow detailing the night’s winners. Personally, I was happy to see Jo Malone’s Wood Sage & Sea Salt and Guerlain’s L’Homme Idéal pick up awards, but I was sad to see that Papillon didn’t scoop the award for Best Independent Fragrance (although, all three of the PP perfumes being shortlisted is a massive achievement), and I don’t think that Black Opium deserves anything other than an eye roll accompanied by a series of tuts. But that’s just my opinion, and I think you’ll find that the winners are a varied and interesting bunch to behold.
“Perfumes don’t have a gender” – I cannot tell you how many times I have said this, whether on this blog, or in casual conversation, and I stand by it. It is my firm belief that, seeing as a fragrance neither has balls or boobs, it cannot be assigned a particular gender. That said, perfumes do possess characteristics that can be perceived as either more masculine or feminine, depending on whose nose is doing the sniffing. To combat all of this brands try to dispel the gender myth (or do they reinforce it?) with unisex or genderless fragrances.
For my Escentual column this week, and the latest instalment in my ‘Escentual A-Z of Fragrance’ (only V, W, X, Y and Z to go, y’all) I’ve pondered the origin of the modern unisex perfume, and have also included some of my favourites for your reading pleasure. So if you’re wanting to dip your toes into a world where the gender lines don’t matter much at all, then simply click here and head on over to the Escentual blog to read my post. Don’t forget to tell me what your favourite unisex scents are.
Tomorrow is the fragrance industry’s biggest night – The Fragrance Foundation Awards, or the ‘Oscars of the Fragrance World’ as they are often referred to. The glitterati of the perfume world will be donning their, well, glitter I suppose, and will be heading out for a night of fragrant celebration. The awards, which are in their 23rd year, serve to recognise “excellence within the fragrance arena, from Packaging and Advertising through to Best New Fragrance” and are the most important event in the industry’s calendar.
This year sees established brands and young, indie brands being recognised for their work. Who will win? Well, we’ll just have to wait until Thursday to find out! I will be in attendance at the awards and will be tweeting up a storm as the names of the winners are called. Follow me on Twitter @candyperfumeb0y to see my tweets, or for a more general view of the evening, you can find all award-related tweets via the official Fragrance Foundation awards hashtag – #FragranceAwardsUK. For a full list of the 2015 finalists, simply click below the jump. Who will you be rooting for? Let me know in the comments box at the bottom of the post!
Le Cinéma Olfactif – Movies Capture in Scent by Folie À Plusieurs
Perfume is so often sold as a gimmick hiding behind a loose concept, so it’s quite easy to become despondent and bored of the lengths niche brands will go to fill a gap in the market. We’ve got to the point where we have perfumes named after blood types and fragrances bottled in flacons crafted in the shape of the human heart, for Pete’s sake. I get that a brand needs to have an identity, and needs to say something unique, but so often the result is nothing more than pretentious fluff that is more style than substance – a fatal flaw of the industry.
That said, every now and then, a brand comes along with a solid concept that is executed to perfection, and most importantly, ties in with the juices in the bottles. Germany brand, Folie À Plusieurs is one such instance of substance working in tandem with style, and their fragrances are as strong as the concept from which they were born. The fragrances are inspired by great works of cinema and aim to capture in scent, specific moments in movies that are poignant, whether that be because they are beautiful and moving, or even because they challenge or disturb.
The five scents in the collection are created by rebellious perfumer Mark Buxton – the man behind Comme des Garçons’ great works (CDG Eau de Parfum, 2 & 2 Man etc.) and Le Labo’s Vetiver 46, and are easily some of his best works. Inspired by memorable moments in Michel Gondry’s Mood Indigo, Sion Sono’s Love Exposure, Matthieu Kassovitz’s La Haine and Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides, Folie À Plusieurs oeuvre opens up a world where cinema and fragrance meet in a collision of senses, resulting in a whirlwind of experiences that really strike a chordwith the viewer/sniffer. Be prepared for some NSFW content below the jump…
Somewhere in Paradise Lies Tom Ford’s Fleur de Portofino
Tom Ford’s Neroli Portofino series is a collection within a collection. Housed like a fragrant Matryoshka inside the Private Blend collection, the four colognes that currently comprise the series (Neroli Portofino, Mandarino di Amalfi, Costa Azzura, and now, Fleur de Portofino) tick all of the required boxes; 1) they smell great; 2) they are so much more than straight-up Eau de Colognes; 3) they’re unique; and 4) they have decent longevity and sillage. Don’t be fooled by the (rather beautiful) transparent bottles cast in varying hues of blue and green, because there are some intriguing, and complex juices within.
Fleur de Portofino is the latest addition to the Neroli Portofino collection and it marks a bit of a shift from the world of contemporary Eau de Cologne, to the domain of the floral, where the wistful reigns supreme. The spirit of the collection is well and truly alive here, with lots of aquatic vibrancy and freshness however, flowers take centre stage and the beauty of citrus has been instructed to wait in the wings. The result is a floral that presents a new olfactory take on the mediterranean – one that is teeming with life.
“Vibrant. Carefree. Captivating. Private Blend Fleur de Portofino is inspired by the cascades of white flowers that spill off the the branches of the white acacia beloved shade tree that dots the mediterranean’s gardens and lines its tranquil avenues. Fleur de Portofino creates a crisp and bright floral accord from this bloom, then surrounds it with effervescent citruses and acacia honey. The fragrance creates an effect of sheer floral possession that is incomparably hypnotic and extremely bold.”
Nuns, Jasmine and Sweet Treats – Serge Lutens La Religieuse
A new fragrance from Serge Lutens is always news worthy, especially when that brand spanking new perfume is a floral, my most favourite of all genres. Lutens’ latest fragrance, a jasmine-based scent (Uncle Serge’s third jasmine-centric outing) named ‘La Refligieuse’ is certainly very good news. This is an unusual and low-key jasmine with a few gourmand facets thrown in for good measure. Click here to head on over to Escentual to read my review.
Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle is a unique brand. Positioning himself somewhere between Creative Directory and Fragrance Curator, Malle is responsible for putting the perfumer centre stage, famously slapping their names on the bottles of the fragrances they create, and allowing them artistic carte blanche to create perfumes that are works of art. It’s quite staggering to think just how many modern classics come from this line – Carnal Flower,Portrait of a Lady, Le Parfum de Therese, Une Fleur de Cassie and Vetiver Extraordinaire – I really could go on, there really isn’t a single ‘dud’ in the collection, and when viewed against the plethora of niche brands on the market, Editions de Parfums de Frederic Malle puts many to shame.
The most iconic, and in my personal opinion, the most beautiful fragrances within the collection are penned by legendary perfumer, Dominique Ropion – a man that conducts fragrant symphonies, rather than simply creates perfumes. He is the nose behind some of the greatest fragrances from the last thirty years. In short, the man is a genius and he seems to be the go-to guy for Malle when the brand wishes to ‘perfect’ a genre, whether that be the greatest tuberose scent (Carnal Flower) or the ideal rose fragrance (Portrait of a Lady), or even the coolest modern fougére (Geranium Pour Monsieur).
With that it mind, it seems appropriate for Ropion to be the nose to take on the humble Eau de Cologne with a view of creating the cologne – a cologne to serve as a reference point for the genre, and blow all others out of the water. The result is ‘Cologne Indélébile’ (‘Permanent Cologne’), a fragrance that is described by the brand as being a “modern yet traditional Eau de Cologne that lasts forever”, which is quite a statement to be making, if you ask me. With this permanent cologne, Malle and Ropion are attempting to redefine an age-old genre and drag it firmly into the 21st century by embracing modern technology (specifically through the use of ‘technical musks’). If that’s not an exciting prospect for a fragrance, then I don’t know what is!
“A clean scent, yet surprisingly magnetic. A modern yet traditional Eau de Cologne that lasts forever. Dominique Ropion embraces musk’s nature as both a quasi-aphrodisiac and a scent of purity to create a very personal interpretation of Eau de Cologne. A splash of the best neroli intertwined with orange blossom, bergamote, and the most technical musks for a scent that endures, and endures, and endures… Cologne Indélébile.”
One of my favourite non-perfume smell is Earl Grey tea. There is nothing quite like opening a brand new box of tea bags and inhaling the dusty green scent of tea leaves infused with the sweet and fragrant smell of bergamot. Few fragrances are able to capture this smell, and in general, good tea fragrances are hard to find. That said, Spring 2015 has seen the launch of two very competent tea scents; Aqua Allegoria Teazzurra from Guerlain and L’Ile au Thé by Annick Goutal, both of which are the subject of my Escentual column this week.
Teazzurra is a more abstract take on tea that uses a green tea note alongside vanilla and citrus to paint the image of an idillic lakeside resort. L’Ile au Thé however, feels more grounded in nature and instead, evokes the smell of a soft breeze moving through the plentiful leaves of an exotic tea plantation. Both are light and wistful creations that set the mood for summer. Click here to head on over to the Escentual blog to read my review. Oh, and pop the kettle on!
The Candy Perfume Boy 