pureDKNY: Turn On The Light

August 22, 2010

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.

A Perfume Organic: Grace Undyed

August 17, 2010January 26, 2011

Amanda Walker’s company A Perfume Organic …well, they are for real. The minimally packaged perfumes are presented in charming glass roller bottles inside flower seed embedded paper boxes printed with soy inks. The little sample pouch is similar with its simple undyed fabric, unbleached paper sample cards, simple glass perfume vials. All good. I am reminded of the I Ching’s 22nd hexagram “Grace”. The highest form of “grace” also means “undyed”. The explanation is that true grace is achieved when the outside and the inside match, in a simple, graceful, undyed manner. Perhaps this is the definition of Natural Grace.

Vintage Scandal de Lanvin: My Gateway Drug

August 10, 2010

A fragrance devoid of complacency and ordinary prettiness.
An extraordinary perfume for woman endowed with curves, great strength of character, and larger-than-life sensibilities and appetites.
Scandal started it all.
My pulse quickens today, just as it did over 50 years ago.

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Kohl Gris: Smoke Gets In Your Eyes?

August 6, 2010

Sheryl Crow got it right:
“If it makes you happy-
It can’t be that bad…
If it makes you happy-
Why the hell are you so sad? “
So it is with DSH’s Kohl Gris.
Originally launched for the holiday season of 2009, this baby is timelessly decadent and sultry.
It would murmur “come hither” on any man or woman alive.
And it may be worn with impunity in any weather, it’s so subtle.

The Fragrant Week That Was July 24-30, 2010: Hips Don’t Lie, Does Fragrance?

July 31, 2010

News and my favorite posts from around the Internet for the week of July 24-30, 2010 include new fragrances by Shakira and Britney Spears. Acqua di Parma goes black tie and why is there so much Blue/Blu/Bleu in men’s fragrances.

Bois 1920 Le Voluttuose Collection: Women Are Venus

July 29, 2010

The Italian perfume house Bois 1920 has released a new trio of fragrances under the name Le Voluttuose (The Voluptuous). The three fragrances in the collection Kimono Rose, La Vaniglia, and Notturno Fiorentina all live up to the billing given the collection name as they all have curves and beauty in abundance. Another artist known for his love of the voluptuous is Peter Paul Rubens. One of his most frequent subjects was the goddess Venus, very often accompanied by Cupid. Rubens’ version of Venus was a full figured woman also full of curves and his paintings are perfect companions for the three fragrances in this new Bois 1920 collection.