YSL’s New Declaration – Yves Saint Laurent Manifesto Perfume Review

Jessica Chastain looks good in EVERYTHING, even purple paint... — Jessica Chastain looks good in EVERYTHING, even purple paint…

The stand-alone feminine fragrance is the bread and butter of the designer fragrance world. I personally find it fascinating to see what the big three houses (Chanel, Dior and YSL) will do with their next feminine pillar, as with each release one sees the change in times and tastes, and it seems that change is definitely afoot at YSL. Having recently, under the direction of Hedi Slimane, dropped the “Yves” to become simply “Saint Laurent Paris” the fashion side of the brand looks to move in a new direction and the fragrances may just follow suit.

When I think of YSL (the perfumes will still be marketed under the old name) I think of bold, fearless perfumes such as Opium, Rive Gauche, Paris and Kouros. Yes these fragrances embody the styles of their respective eras but they’ve always seemed, to me at least, to capture the spirit of Yves Saint Laurent the man and the renegade designer perfectly. Recent efforts by the brand however, have failed to live up to the legacy of the classics.

Manifesto, created by perfumes Flipo and Doc Long, is YSL’s first major feminine release since Parisienne in 2009 and whilst that wasn’t exactly a tough act to follow it feels like the pressure is on for YSL to bring out something new and daring. Well, it appears that YSL have sensed this pressure, describing Manifesto as “an attitude, a burst of laughter, a tone of voice, a presence” [1] and “the manifesto of femininity” [2]. Is it really as daring as it seems?

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“Perfume Sets the Mood…and I am In the Mood For Glamour” – Dita Von Teese Eau de Parfum Perfume Review

I have a list in my head of celebrities that I think should release a fragrance. I know that I really shouldn’t be encouraging the stars to explore the world of perfume, after all the majority of their fragrant output is utterly dreadful, but I do believe that there are a good few schlebs out there who would invest enough time and artistic integrity to make an exceptional fragrance.

One such celebrity sitting on my mental celebrity fragrance list was Dita Von Teese (along with others such as Björk and Kate Bush FYI) and it seems that she may have read my mind having decided to take the plunge into the world of celebrity perfume. As expected the result is a perfume that perfectly captures the style and personality of the celebrity for which it represents.

Dita Von Teese Eau de Parfum officially launched in 2011 but we didn’t see it in the UK until May 2012. It is described as a “timeless” perfume and it very much draws on the old school glamorous florals of the past, specifically those of brands such as Houbigant and Caron. Dita is reputed to have been very involved with the creation of her Eau de Parfum and for an entire year spent almost every day working with perfumer Nathalie Lorson in the lab.

“I wanted it to be a perfume that smelled exactly how I imagined it. A scent needs to reflect all the different facets of my personality. It had to be elegant, glamorous, sophisticated, sexy, dark and mysterious.”

Dita Von Teese

Written inside the perfume’s box is a quote from Dita that reads; “Perfume sets the mood…and I am in the mood for glamour.” and that very much sets the tone for a scent chock full of glamour, style and classic beauty. With Dita Von Teese Eau de Parfum, the world’s favourite burlesque star presents a perfume that the “femme totale”, a woman in full form.

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A Public Information Film From Penhaligon’s of London: A Lady’s Guide to Wearing Peoneve

I know that I have perhaps been a little bit video-happy over the last week, what with videos from CB I Hate Perfume and Thierry Mugler, but I simply couldn’t not share this fabulous and very amusing public information film from British brand Penhaligon’s

Entitled “A Lady’s Guide to Wearing Peoneve” the film details (with a stiff upper lip and lots of British wit) when a lady should, or should not apply Penhaligon’s brand new feminine fragrance Peoneve.

Enjoy!

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The Surrealist’s Perfume – Salvador Dalí Parfum de Toilette Perfume Review

Dali — Salvador Dalí – Apparition of the Visage of Aphrodite of Cnidos in a Landscape

Parfums Salvador Dalí is an odd brand. They aren’t readily available in the UK but I always see them when scouring the discount stores for interesting things. I often find myself tentatively eyeing up their weird, surrealist bottles and wondering whether the juices they contain are as crazy as the vessels that contain them.

On one such recent trip to the discounters I came across the Salvador Dalí perfumes as usual and decided to refer to Perfumes: The Guide to see what our Perfume Oracles (Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez) thought of them. Only two Dalí fragrances received a high rating of four stars; Dalí and Laguna, the former of which is evaluated by Turin in the following way:

“[…] a big, handsome, strapping floral chypre somewhere between Amouage [Gold] and Bal à Versailles, though lacking the exquisitely rich texture of the former and the bold, striking structure of the latter.” [1]

Well, as you can imagine I was sold by the word “Amouage” and less than five minutes later I had added a 30ml sized bottle of Dalí Parfum de Toilette to my shopping cart (a steal at £10) and had checked out. A blind buy is a risky thing I know, but I figured that if I didn’t like the scent I could at least display the bottle somewhere and ogle it on a regular basis.

Released in 1983 Dalí, created by none other than the great Alberto Morillas, was Salvador Dalí’s first foray into the perfume market. Dalí’s wife and muse Gala was the inspiration behind the fragrance and it contains notes of rose and jasmine which were her favourite flowers. Parfums Salvador Dalí describe Dalí PdT as “a feminine fragrance, with character, created in the purest of tradition of opulent Chypre perfumes” [2] and I would classify it as a big ole 80s floral made with a soft touch.

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Chaos Theory – Amouage Interlude Woman & Interlude Man Perfume Review

Since being bitten by the Amouage bug last year thanks to Honour Woman (there is no cure BTW) the wait for the next annual Woman/Man duo has almost been a bit too much. Luckily since then we have had the wonderful Opus VI and Beloved to keep us busy, but still the anticipation has been growing. The problem with such a strong hunger for a new fragrance launch and the high expectations that inevitably accompany such an appetite is the fact that so often the final result is disappointing. This is not something that can be said of the this year’s fragrance duo from Amouage.

For 2012 Amouage is releasing Interlude Woman and Interlude Man, both inspired by the “interlude moment […] a reflection of all the trials and tribulations one overcomes to attain personal satisfaction and achievement” [1] Encased in Amouage’s signature bottles, hued in pure midnight blue, the Interlude duo has been created to “evoke an air of disorder while maintaining a sense of balance and tranquility” [2] Both encompass the chaos of life and offer moments of desperately needed escapism in the form of unique, contemporary fragrances.

I’m at a point now where I have tried the majority of the fragrances in the Amouage stable (although not all have been reviewed, yet) and Interlude Woman & Man are easily the most unique, and perhaps the most daring to date. The multi-coloured graffiti of the packaging gives a mere hint of the high-scale chaos that each fragrance adds to the Amouage line. Where they don’t differ however is in quality and sheer artistry, they are 100% Amouage in those respects.

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A Snapshot of Summer Air – Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia Perfume Review

Lys Soleia - An olfactory snapshot of summer air — Lys Soleia – An olfactory snapshot of summer air

Good lily fragrances are hard to find and I can only think of two that are really worth considering, both of which are at the far end of the price spectrum; there’s Frederic Malle’s Lys Méditerranée (über pricey) and Donna Karan’s Gold (cheap as chips). But now there’s a new kid on the block, a lily created by Guerlain meaning that it’s a high quality piece of fragrant art that you’re going to love.

Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria line was created in 1999 and is intended to be more accessible than the rest of the Guerlain collection thanks to its much lower price point. The Aqua Allegoria fragrances each take inspiration from nature and in true Guerlain-style they showcase some of the best quality ingredients that money, and serious Guerlain-klout can buy. Being the fool that I am, up until two weeks ago I had pretty much ignored the entire Aqua Allegoria line, which is particularly stupid when you think about their attractive price point and good reputation. But that soon changed when I stumbled upon the line’s latest addition “Lys Soleia”.

Lys Soleia is a damn good interpretation of one of nature’s most vocal flowers, the lily, and it manages to perfectly capture the scent of the flower in an addictively gorgeous fragrance. Guerlain describe Lys Soleia as “The spirit of nature. The spirit of lily” [1] but it is so much more than just the spirit, it is an olfactory snapshot of summer air, captured in an instant and saved forever.

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Gone, But Not Forgotten Series Part 8: Hot in Pink – Shocking by Schiaparelli

Vintage Shocking Ad — Shocking de Schiaparelli

The Gone, But Not Forgotten series focuses the spotlight on those fragrances that, despite being absolutely wonderful, have suffered at the hands of the unfortunate inevitability, and my biggest bug-bear of the industry that is discontinuation. They may be gone, but this series aims to ensure that these gems certainly aren’t forgotten.

When I first had the idea for the series there was one perfume in the back of my mind that would be the ultimate addition, the holy grail of rare, discontinued perfumes that would be nigh on impossible to obtain. That perfume was Shocking by Schiaparelli. Luckily for me I have been able to get my greedy little hands on a 7.5ml bottle of pre-1970s Shocking Parfum, and I am pleased to say that I am as wowed by it as I thought I would be.

Shocking was created by Jean Carles in 1937 and was named after the shade of hot pink that Elsa Schiaparelli created for her collections. Schiaparelli was known for actively embracing the surrealist movement (her famous shoe hat is all the proof you need) and a lot of her creations took inspiration from Dadaism so it stands to reason that her most famous fragrance is bold, beautiful and unconventional.

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My Beautiful Beloved – Amouage Beloved Perfume Review

“There’s just something about the glamour and luxury of wearing great big flowers that takes away the grey humdrum of everyday life.”

I’m always keen to see what Amouage is up to, they are a brand with incredible cohesion, yet each release is new, surprising and exciting. Amouage’s creative director Christopher Chong has gone a long way to give the brand an international aesthetic, drawing inspiration from Puccini, Swan Lake and the Silk Road (to name but a few) to create perfumes that transcend culture and location.

This year has been a good year for Amouage releases, March saw the release of the latest edition to the Library Collection with the orgasmically good amber Opus VI, and now, preceding the launch of Amouage’s annual masculine and feminine duo later this year, the house has launched a new feminine perfume exclusive to a small number of high-end department stores. A perfume that has been bestowed with the named ‘Beloved’.

Beloved is an unusual launch for Amouage because it stands alone without a masculine counterpart and it joins Ubar as one of the only fragrances in the line to do so. It has been created to represent the modern woman so it stands to reason that it doesn’t need a man to shine. Amouage says that “Beloved engages the elegance and complexity of the modern woman: strong, empowered, animated, in control.” [1] and to me it feels like a contemporary modern floral with a classic edge.

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A Walk in The Park – Bond No. 9 Central Park West Perfume Review

“A grand perfume for a grand neighbourhood.”

Bond No. 9 is the Octomom of the niche fragrance world – they just keep popping ’em out. This spring they will be releasing a total of six, that’s right SIX new fragrances, two of which are inspired by New York City as per the norm and four of which will be joining their I Love New York Collection.

I have been pretty vocal on my thoughts of Bond No. 9 and I stand by the fact that they have more misses than hits, perhaps due to the fact that they have released a whopping 64 fragrances since their inception in 2003, and that a lot of perfumes in the line are derivative, not to mention that they are the worst offenders when it comes to vomiting Swarovski crystals on to perfume bottles… They remind me of the line in the poem about the little girl with the little curl by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; “And when she was good, she was very, very good, but when she was bad she was horrid.”

But that’s not to say that there aren’t any good Bond’s. There are in fact a good few that I would deem bottle worthy; Silver Factory is a remarkably cold and metallic incense, Chinatown is a work of genius (why don’t I own a bottle?) and I will always regret swapping away my beloved bottle of Fire Island, who knew I would miss it so much? So yes, it is true, when Bond No. 9 are good they can be very good.

In time for Spring Bond, No. 9 have released Central Park West, the sixth fragrance to be inspired by a New York park. Central Park West is inspired by “the magnificent greenery” of New York’s “greatest urban grassland” and is a spring-like green and white floral “designed to have the grandeur and largesse of the street itself”. A grand perfume for a grand neighbourhood.

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A Tuberose Confession – Robert Piguet Fracas Perfume Review

“Ladies with an attitude, fellas that were in the mood…”

This review has been a long time coming. I have mentioned Fracas on this blog many a time, even going as far as to include it as one of my ‘reference tuberoses’ in The Candy Perfume Boy’s Guide to Tuberose, and seeing as I’m a major tuberose fanatic it is almost criminal not to have written a full review.

What’s worse is that I have a confession to make, one that I am deeply ashamed of. Up until a week ago I didn’t actually own a bottle of Fracas. I know, it’s disgusting isn’t it? A tuberose nut like me not owning a bottle of THE most classic tuberose fragrance of all time. I hope that you will able to forgive me.

In my defence, I have owned a small bottle of the Parfum but it got on my nerves because I am not a huge fan of the dabbing…. But you’ll be glad to know that I have seen the error of my ways and there is now a brand new bottle of Fracas taking pride of place on the perfume shelf at The Candy Perfume Towers.

Fracas, released in 1948, was the third perfume to be released by French Couturier Robert Piguet. Like the two fragrances to proceed it, Bandit and Visa, it was created by Germaine Cellier and is considered by many to be the reference tuberose fragrance, the one that all others attempt to be in someway or another. But none, I repeat none can ever live up to Fracas – the diva of the tuberose world.

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