Perfume Shrine

Perfume Quotes: Habit Rouge [Genre (tres) masculin]

2012-01-29T10:06:00.019+02:00

Promotion for fragrances don't have to involve much to be suggestive and to stir the imagination. Forget bimbos rolling on the bed, blinged out couples coupling amourously and lots of skin display; forget long tirades extolling the virtues of precious ingredients and mellifluous emotion. A mere suggestion and a quote from a legendary celebrity saying they found a fragrance to have an influence in

L'Artisan Parfumeur Love Messages: Have a Tree Planted, Win Perfume Bottles

2012-01-28T00:01:00.000+02:00

L'Artisan Parfumeur fragrances are designed to arouse emotions and the company would like you to express yours as part of the new LOVE MESSAGES ‘happening’.Visit L'Artisan in their boutiques and corners from January 30th, pick up paper hearts and compose your heart-felt or amusing love messages, then place them in the giant bottles. The more the merrier; as for every 20 love messages received, a

Winter 2012 Top Fragrances & Other Stuff

2012-01-27T16:44:00.001+02:00

Who, at the first sign of frost, doesn't long to be wrapped in an oversized cashmere throw, sit by the fire, grab a good book, and sip something spiked and fragrant while the snowflakes outside are dancing the polka? January's chilly winds and all too brief days call for heavier knits, formal furs to banish the cold and an inferno of fragrance to get through it all; and cold it has been,

Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist: fragrance review

2012-01-26T16:54:00.003+02:00

Iris Silver Mist clearly isn't for everyone. Balls to the wall iris, carrot dirt rootiness, bread sourdough and raw potato starch are attached to every drop of this crepuscular, bellowing Lutensian opus, turning urban life into a gothic tale where the heroine is carried away dead in a grand duc. Iris Silver Mist is unsettingly unusual as if you looked into the abyss once and now the abyss is

Patricia de Nicolai Kiss Me Tender: fragrance review

2012-01-25T06:47:00.001+02:00

Heliotrope is at once deep, soft and mysterious, a note traversing the rainbow from the yellow of vanilla pods and almond, to the light blue and green of anise right to newly mown hay. Kiss Me Tender by Parisian niche brand Patricia de Nicolaï feels like being submerged in a warm bathtub on a cool evening, the translucence of water clouded by the full range of the delicate, powdered notes of

Versace Yellow Diamond: Fragrance Samples to Grab

2012-01-25T01:24:00.000+02:00

Readers will have the limited-time opportunity to receive a deluxe sample of Yellow Diamond, the newest Versace perfume which we had announced on these pages a while ago. Visitors simply enter their information into a form available on the Facebook page, and the boxed deluxe sample will arrive within 90 days. The Facebook page visitors will also find the official video campaign for Yellow

Chronology, Comparison & Photos of Miss Dior (Cherie) Various Editions & Reformulations: How to Spot the One You Like

2012-01-24T15:18:00.009+02:00

It was a few months ago I was venting on the reformulation and name change of a very popular Dior perfume, the coquette Miss Dior Chérie which became...Miss Dior, thus changing the course of history forever for the young generations. The issue is both puzzling and enraging enough and you can (re)read my previous article if you like, but I realized that what many people are asking for is how to

By Kilian Asian Tales: new fragrances

2012-01-24T13:33:00.002+02:00

Kilian Hennesy of the niche, luxe perfume brand By Kilian is announcing a new collection of fragrances, codenamed "Asian Tales by Kilian" or L'Oeuvre Rouge because the familiar black-laquered boxes now boast a scarlet lining and a chinese coin on a red ribbon instead of the little key we knew from L'Oeuvre Noire. The new fragrance line comprises five fragrant editions that will recount the

What Makes a Perfume a Classic?

2012-01-23T17:15:00.008+02:00

What are the perfume classics and why are they classics? Do they have something in common that has made them "the classics"? What exactly makes something a classic? Like in other areas of art, there is a finite number of options. *innovation/echoing the zeitgeist *timeless beauty *endurance/longevity, so that it becomes a reference point An objet d’art should express its times (or pre-empty

Optical Scentsibilities: When Perfume Becomes... Foundation

2012-01-23T16:54:00.004+02:00

Homage or "clopyright"? [This is a pun from the Greek, from "κλοπή/clopy" -pronounced clo-PEE- which means...theft]. You be the judge, what do you think?

Paris Perfume Shopping Addresses: Quick Index

2012-01-21T12:03:00.003+02:00

In the interests of supplementing the Paris Shopping Guide on these pages (replete with Parisian memoirs on shopping & browsing at the mecca of perfumery, including visits at Guerlain, Caron, F.Malle, Serge Lutens, L'Artisan Parfumeur etc.) I am including a few specific addresses with underground directions for anyone going to Paris for a St.Valentine's vacation or just for reference, in

Definition: Resinous & Balsamic Fragrances

2012-01-19T17:37:00.002+02:00

One of the most elusive terms in fragrance terminology appears to be -according to readers' comments- "resinous" and "balsamic", as relating to perfumes. The raw materials falling under the umbrella of resins and balsams are among the most ancient components of perfumes, often the basis of the Oriental family of scents and lending their soothing opulence and depth to other families, such as the

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Capri: new fragrance

2012-01-19T12:01:00.001+02:00

A new introduction, a limited edition in the Bronze Goddess summer editions by Lauder. A solar oriental inspired by the wiles of Capri island off the Italian coast named... Bronze Goddess Capri. Exotic waters, long golden days, soft, sultry nights...enough to make you dream! Notes for Lauder Bronze Goddess Capri: Top: lemon leaves, blackcurrant leaves, mandarin Heart: peony, lily of the

Guerlain Coque d'Or: Fragrance review & history

2012-01-18T14:20:00.068+02:00

When art history enchiridia are written they emphasise how Art Deco style covered almost every sphere of human life in the 1920s and 1930s: architecture, interior design and furniture, aviation, fashion & jewelry most certainly, cinema and the visual arts... But they leave out perfumes and the industries that cater for them, such as cristalleries and glass blowers. In that regard, if we're to

Sonoma Scent Studio Fig Tree: Fragrance review

2012-01-17T16:59:00.003+02:00

To say I am rather competent to judge a realistic fig or fig tree scent is an understatement, and that's not out of an overinflated ego. To reprise a popular olive oil commerical "I'm Greek, I should know!" Legion are the times I sought solace under the fig tree's thick shadows in the schorching summery heat; one of them under the very ruins of the Knossos palace in Crete. I can eat the fruit by

Top 3 Best-Selling Fragrances for 2011 (France)

2012-01-17T13:28:00.001+02:00

Perusing the best-selling fragrances of any country presents its own interest to the careful watcher of the market; not only a measure of successful top-to-bottom design, but also a shaper of the trends to come, the best-selling status (and back& forth) of perfumes indicates the changing of the zeitgeist. France is traditionally considered the birthplace of modern perfume fashions (I'm not

Perfumery Material: Immortelle/Helichrysum/Everlasting Flower

2012-01-16T16:30:00.012+02:00

The scent of Corsican maquis*, the wild herbs, the countryside scattered with dried flowers which almost caramelise under the hot Mediterranean sun.... Rich scents of dry straw, dusty amber, coffee, burnt licorice, syrupy and powdery, and spices (reminiscent of celery, fenugreek and curry) rise from those humble , tiny blossoms; mingling mightly in the air, just by taking a stroll amidst the

Liv Tyler is one of us (Perfumista, that is!): Perfume Choices of the Famous

2012-01-16T13:30:00.001+02:00

Liv Tyler has been careful to observe the contract she has with Givenchy re: their Very Irresistible advertising campaign, but she lets slip here and there some hints that maybe she's into more options than she lets on. We had mentioned in the past how beautiful Liv likes to wear a fragrance to make herself identifiable with, but now it turns out she has had a collection since her teenager

Frequent Questions: How & Where to Apply Perfume Effectively

2012-01-13T16:46:00.005+02:00

How do you apply your perfume? Do you spritz on neck and wrists? Do you spray a cloud and walk through the mist? Do you dab from an old style splash bottle? Is there a wrong way to apply perfume? The method of application influences the way a fragrance smells and projects into the environment much more than what is called "body chemistry". Let's do some myth busting on this proper perfume

Lanvin Avant Garde pour Homme: new fragrance

2012-01-13T09:00:00.000+02:00

Lanvin, a fashion house with an illustrious history in perfume releases, is issuing a new masculine fragrance, called Avant Garde. "A woody, spicy and orientalised composition" developed by perfumer Shyamala Maisondieu (who's working at aroma-producing firm Givaudan) to be available in Eau de Toilette (50ml/1.7oz for 48 euros, 100ml/3.4oz for 70 euros and also in deodorant (18 euros).

Kristen Stewart for Balenciaga perfumes: new face for new perfume

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000+02:00

Now you can smell like Bella Swan! Apart from the Twilight fragrance hot off the merchandising conveyor belt of the popular saga, Twilight leading lady Kristen Stewart has signed on to be the face of Balenciaga’s upcoming fragrance for women, according to Women’s Wear Daily. Details on the scent have yet to be announced, but rumours want it to hit stores in autumn 2012. The young actress's

Serge Lutens News: An Export Fragrance Becomes a Paris Exclusive

2012-01-12T23:54:00.000+02:00

Serge Lutens is doing everything he can to tilt us out of our expectations and into a frantic pace to keep up with his Paris exclusives. We had discussed how there were plans to remove a few of the export scents to the Paris exclusive line two seasons ago: despite Chypre Rouge being a slow seller it never made it there, though Miel de Bois most certainly did as we had announced on these pages.

Chanel Antaeus & Antaeus Sport Cologne: fragrance reviews & comparison

2012-01-12T19:27:00.005+02:00

Should anyone were to purchase a masculine Chanel fragrance off the mainstream, department store circuit, Antaeus would top the list. Beyond the easy-to-like-factor of Égoïste, Antaeus is at once satisfyingly full-bodied and perversely challenging to pin down, like a porcupine run amok. It both feels as ambitious as Gordon Gecko and is sexy as hell at the same time. In fact "shexy" is more

Sonoma Scent Studio Nostalgie: fragrance review

2012-01-11T22:00:00.004+02:00

Once upon a time women wore corselets & real silk chemises underneath their tailored dresses to work, painted their lips deep pink or coral and coiffed their hair à la choucroutte on a regular basis, before straight "blow outs" became the standard of westernised grooming. There was something equally mischievous and disciplined about their demeanor, reflected in their perfumes; as if beneath all

The Book of Lost Fragrances: new book & perfume offer

2012-01-11T11:59:00.000+02:00

Our readers can get a free sample of the new Âmes Sœurs perfume, the scent of soul mates, "an exclusive, mystical fragrance", inspired by The Book of Lost Fragrances, a new novel coming in March by bestselling author M.J. Rose, which Publishers Weekly called a “deliciously sensual novel of paranormal suspense…” Joya Studio’s Frederick Bouchardy read an advanced copy of The Book of Lost