In the Fall of 2010 among my most anticipated fragrances this fall is the new Royal Exclusive from Creed, Spice and Wood. Olivier Creed is the perfumer behind this one and he was inspired by the historical romance between Egyptian Queen Cleopatra and Roman Marc Antony.
In 2003, in partnership with Shiseido, Olivia Giacobetti opened a boutique in Paris named IUNX with twelve fragrances and a working lily pond inside the store. From all accounts I can gather on that store it was modernistic and sleek in style…..and probably destined to fail, which it did. By 2006 Shiseido was pulling out and the lily pond was being drained. The people who had a chance to try the fragrances spoke highly of them and I thought my opportunity to try them was gone. It is obvious that IUNX was a personal passion because she has taken the opportunity to resurrect it in a more modest reincarnation. Mme. Gicobetti has had a successful relationship with the Hotel Costes in Paris. It is there that IUNX has quietly made its return. I am going to focus on two of the four IUNX fragrances available, No. 8 Eau Baptiste and No. 9 Eau Blanche which are orange blossom and iris centered respectively.
“Oh, Mama ! I could wear this and never tire of it…it’s my drug!” quoth he.
Out of the mouths of babes.
Only, my babe will soon be 20.
But the newest L’Artisan Parfumeur Coeur de Vetiver Sacre creation simply blew him away.
What’s in this potion that makes young existentialist types get the vapors ?
Earlier this year Donna Karan released Iris and I expected this would be similar to the line of Donna Karan Essences. In many ways Iris turned out to be one of the bigger disappointments of the early part of the year for me as it was perhaps the least interesting Donna Karan fragrance release ever. With that as backdrop I wasn’t expecting the new DKNY fragrance, pureDKNY, to be the one I would like more. In fact I had to keep wearing the preview bottle I was sent over and over to convince myself how much I liked pureDKNY.
Jasmine is one of my favorite floral notes. One of the reasons that I enjoy it and the many iterations available in perfumery is the different faces it can show.
For the latest release from By Kilian, Love and Tears; perfumer Calice Becker chose to create a jasmine soliflore.
Love and Tears attempts to use the central note to provide its own contrast as jasmine moves from the greener aspects early on to the cleanly floral aspects by the end.
Bas de Soie is the latest release from Serge Lutens and based on the early information it seemed as this was going to be a continuation of the recent “anti-perfume” theme. It was described as a fragrance focused on two notes that of iris and hyacinth. That pair has also had occasion to leave me cold in the past as both of those floral notes have had a distinct metallic character on my skin. I was expecting an olfactory sword fight when I tried Bas de Soie. Much to my surprise I did find that both of these central notes would do battle but of a lyrical kind akin to a balletic pas de deux. Each has time when they are the only player on stage and then they interact differently and find a lyrical poetic harmony that changes over time on my skin.
