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.
I can certainly sympathize with those of you who are experiencing oud fatigue. The last twelve months has seen this most Middle Eastern of notes used ubiquitously in seemingly every other new fragrance that comes out. I do have to say that I have been impressed with the versatility of oud when used by different perfumers as it has progressed form the rose oud combination through many different iterations. With Emir we come full circle back to a rose oud centered fragrance although the source of the rose is the “green rose” of geranium and that slightly tweaks the formula.
This inspiration for Acqua Di Parma Colonia Essenza is confirmed by the press materials where the following statement resides; “Colonia Essenza is a new fragrance that highlights the essence of the original Colonia fragrance. The more recognizable notes and accords that represent the “soul” of Colonia are boosted….” If this was the basic brief the perfumer worked off of, they succeeded and, the first two-thirds of the development of Colonia Essenza take this inspiration and make something inspired until the base unfortunately returns to something all too common and keeps Colonia Essenza from being a complete triumph.
Keiko Mecheri’s latest additions, La Collection Hesperids are an homage to the classic Eau de Cologne genre. Each one beautifully fresh, soft and modern.
Mulholland, Taormine, Les Nuits d’Izu and Tarifa are summer citrus fragrances each illustrating a journey with Keiko’s personal touch.
Bois 1920 Real Patchouly or Chantecaille Kalimantan
These are two exquisite fragrances.
Your nose will be enthralled by the delectably resinous, woody, vanillic nature of these.
Mathilde Bijaoui was the perfumer tapped to create The Sex Pistols and she chose a different path from any of my expectations. Mme. Bijaoui does not go for realism although there is some aspect of the fragrant milieu of the Punk movement. Nor does she try to make some amazingly ground-breaking piece of fragrance although The Sex Pistols does not smell like a lot of other things out there. Those expectations of mine made me have to wear this over and over before I could effectively let go of my pre-conceptions and finally begin to assess The Sex Pistols on its own merits.
