Scentedletterissue4

scented The

Issue 4

www.perfumesociety.org

letter CHANDLER BURR TALKS DIOR COLLECTING FABULOUS FLACONS LALIQUE’S GLASS ACT

+

All the latest fragrance news

it’s all about the

editor’s letter Fact: at The Perfume Society, we’re suckers for gorgeous perfume packaging. Can’t resist a beautiful flacon (or a lovely box, come to that).

So we decided to dedicate this edition of The Scented Letter to the creativity that goes into what you see, not just what you smell. We look at bottles new and old - and some (like the just-launched Lalique Noir collection) which are contemporary, but take their inspiration from the heritage of a brand which has been linked for well over a century with extraordinary perfume bottle craftsmanship.

Dior has also produced exquisite bottles over the decades, of course. You’ll find many of them in the new Dior ‘history’ book, Dior The Perfumes, by fragrance critic and expert Chandler Burr. (Oh, if only history had only been this thrilling at shcool...) We’re proud to showcase some of Dior’s most glorious historic creations here, alongside an interview about his magnificent book with Chandler by leading beauty journalist Beatric Aidin.

In Florence this September, though, it wasn’t about the bottle, but the ‘bowl’. On p.34, read how eight perfumers were inspired to concoct Magic Love Potions, which could only be enjoyed for a few days at the annual Pitti Fragrance trade show - sniffed from fah-bu-lous Murano glass ‘bowls’.

We know that many of you actually collect perfume bottles - and we want to hear from you. In our next edition, we’re starting a new column called ‘Share Your Stash’: a through-the-keyhole look at someone’s collection, and what it means to them. Is there, for instance, any reader of The Scented Letter who’s collected every single limited edition of Jean-Paul Gaultier’s famous ‘corset’ bottle...? We’re guessing ‘yes’. And for a glimpse of how M. Gaultier’s dressed up his iconic bottle over the years, just turn to p, 14. (And to ‘Share Your Stash’, simply e-mail us at info@ perfumesociety.org, with that in the subject box.)

© nikkytok; picsfive; both

Fotolia.com

Few collectors have such impressive ‘stashes’ as Roja Dove, whose own collection was one of the inspirations behind the ‘bottles’ chapter in his new book. Flick to p.20 to read a taster of The Essence of Perfume, in which you’ll find some true ‘wonders of the perfume bottle world’.

The bottom line is that when launching a fragrance, the bottle design’s a vital part of the whole package. The aim? To create a vessel which perfectly expresses the fragrance inside, even before you’ve had a first whiff. The colour of that ‘juice’ is becoming increasinglly important, too, though: a Very Well-Known Nose had a bit of a whinge to us recently that he resents being asked to come up with ‘colourless’ fragrances - which are technologically challenging, actually - just because a brand wants to colour something pink, or mauve, or turquoise... But that’s another story. And maybe we’ll share it, in a future edition of The Scented Letter.

For now, we hope you enjoy this issue as much as we loved putting it together...

www.perfumesociety.org

The

scented Letter

3

contributors

Ralf Schwieger

the master of modern from a perfume insiderfemininity

how To coLLecT

perfume bottles In Roja Dove’s beautiful book The Essence of Perfume, you’ll find a fascinating chapter on ‘The Bottle Makers’ – showcasing many fabulous fragrance vessels from Roja’s own collection. Here, in an extract, we share some of the gems from that chapter – and Roja’s wisdom on how to become a collector yourself…

Writes Roja: ‘The bottle is the last physical souvenir of a sometimes long-forgotten scent, often reflecting society’s attitudes like a snapshot - or as Coco Chanel said about all the empty bottles she owned, “The bottles are my memories of surrender and conquest - my crown jewels of love”.

As the Industrial Revolution brought about the modern commercial perfumery industry we know today, the demand for well-designed bottles became more and more important. During the 19th Century, any company of merit would not have thought twice about who they would choose to house their scents: it would have to be Baccarat, whose story is one of the most diverse of all the bottle manufacturers. The Industrial Revolution brought about great change, a new consumer in the form of the middle class, and new manufacturing processes to fulfill increasing demand.

The start of the 20th Century saw a wave of “animalism”, with bottles created in the shape of insects, birds, and animals.

Turtles were the inspiration for a bottle to house Guerlain’s 1904 creation Parfum des Champs-Elysées (“perfume of the Elysium fields”), which alluded to the Greek myth that you could climb on a turtle’s back and be transported to paradise, and was made to celebrate the opening of their flagship boutique on 2nd August 1914. Coty’s 1916 Baccarat flacon reflects the fragile beauty of a moth, where the moth forms the integral design of the stopper, as if it is hovering.

Couturiers’ dominance of fragrance since the 1920s meant that the ‘look’ of a perfume became increasingly important, because it can be linked back to the fashion houses as a visual emblem. Today, when a popular fashion designer is about to launch a scent, people are often more

excited to see the bottle than they are to smell the fragrance.

The Decorative Arts Fair of 1925, from which we take the name Art Deco, saw a creative frenzy, with unprecedented levels of artistic innovation. Georges Chevalier, head of design at Baccarat and one of the leading exponents of the movement, created L’Océan Bleu, a double dolphin design that played tricks with the eyes as it metamorphosed into an Oriental face.

With the war, launches and design almost came to a halt. But at the end of the war, in 1945, Baccarat roared back with Salvador Dali’s creation for Schiaparelli’s Le Roy Soleil, a symbolic Surrealist design depicting the sun rising again over a darkened world. (This joined her iconic creation for Shocking, where a female torso had a bouquet of flowers escaping from the head - a design which has directly influenced Jean-Paul Gaultier’s bottle for Le Classique. NB Read more about this on p.XX.) Patriotism and luxury became watchwords after the war, a feeling captured by Nina Ricci in a bottle created

by Marc Lalique, designed by Christian Berard, for Coeur Joie (Happy Heart), suggesting the joy felt being able to walk free again, amongst the flowers, watching delicate butterflies dance at will (one surmounts the stopper). A similar theme is reflected in the now-classic Lalique bottle for L’Air du Temps, where two doves fly free over a highly stylised world.

Although many houses have produced bottles over the years, such as Brosse, Dépinoix, Gaillard, Jolivet, Saint-Louis, and Viard, the two most important luxury manufacturers, without doubt, are Baccarat and Lalique. It is these two houses who have shaped bottle design and are the most sought-after among bottle collectors. (For more about Lalique, see p. XX.) Today, however, crystal bottles are no longer generally used but many are created, or re-issued, as numbered limited editions. Whereas, when they were the norm, and each stopper was traditionally ground into a specific bottle, a number was etched on the bottom of the bottle and its corresponding stopper, resulting in many people today thinking their piece is from a limited edition -which is not the case. During the course of a day, several hundred if not thousands of bottles would be produced. The sand used to grind the stopper into the bottle needed to be washed away, and the number made certain that the correct stopper was reunited with the correct bottle…

For more on collecting, turn the page…

Showstopping colourful bottles from Parfums Rosine (the pioneering perfume label created by couturier Paul Poiret): Lavender Water ‘The Only One’, alongside bottles hand-decorated by Atelier Martine, with silk closures. Who wouldn’t want these, on a dressing table…?

“

Beatrice Aidin

The bottles are my memories of surrender and conquest - my crown jewels of love…

CoCo Chanel

18 The scented LeTTer

”

The

scented LeTTer

19

Viola Levy

Roja Dove Roja Dove is the creator of Roja Parfums, and a widely-quoted global fragrance expert. Originally trained at Guerlain, 10 years ago Roja went on to open his Haute Parfumerie in Harrods, which has now moved to the stunning 6th Floor Salon de Parfums within the Knightsbridge store - the only doublefronted shop within that scent destination. His own collection of bottles is the envy of perfumistas worldwide, and many of the extravagant flacons featured in his new book The Essence of Perfume are from Roja’s own swoonworthy collection. @RojaDove

Viola Levy’s love of scent began as a teenager, selling dusty bottles of Red Door and Shalimar as part of her Saturday job. She discovered she was better at writing about perfumes than she was at gift-wrapping them, and has worked as a freelance beauty journalist for the past seven years. She is Beauty Editor of Glass Magazine and has written for Never Underdressed, Psychologies, Harrods Magazine and The Telegraph Online. Her shoulders permanently ache from carting around heavy bottles of scent in her handbag and she once got told off for giving a fellow colleague a headache with her constant spritzing. @violalevy violalevy.wordpress.com

Beatrice Aidin is a journalist with 14 years’ experience in lifestyle journalism, specialising in interviews, beauty and fashion, travel and restaurants. She writes for the FT Style pages, How to Spend It magazine and its website, howtospendit. ft.com, Harper’s Bazaar and Tatler, and is the London correspondent for the American edition of Travel & Leisure. Beatrice has won five journalism awards for her writing for the FT and as her next quest, is set on taking up fly-fishing . Any ideas how please Tweet: @beatriceaidin

On p.34 read the perfumer’s thoughts on love, and on ‘Tubella’: a fragrance confected for just three days’ enjoyment in Florence, back in September. Born in Germany, Ralf studied chemistry before joining a perfumery school in Grasse. He draws inspiration from the colours, textures and delicacy of insects, cooking (he has a weakness for patisserie), nature, contemporary dance. making jewellery, Japanese culture and more. He’s the man behind Thierry Mugler Womanity and Editions de Parfum Frederic Malle’s sublime Lipstick Rose, among other truly stellar creations.

Lorna McKay Lorna is Co-Founder of The Perfume Society, creator of our ‘virtual fragrance advisor’ FR.eD and (among many other roles) our Advertising Manager. She was Perfumery & Cosmetics Buyer at Harrods before setting up Liberty’s Beauty Department, later joining QVC as their first beauty buyer nearly 20 years ago. Lorna, who’s based conveniently near to Grasse in France, has a life-long passion for fragrance, always looking to grow her fragrance wardrobe, which spans Chanel No.22 through to Liz Earle Botanical Essence No.15. @LornaMcKayTPS

editorial TEAM Editor: Josephine Fairley jo@perfumesociety.org Designer: Jenny Semple enquiries@jennysempledesign.co.uk PROJECT MANAGER: Alice Crocker alice@perfumesociety.org fragrances Editor: Alice Jones alice.jones@perfumesociety.org Advertising Manager: Lorna McKay lorna@perfumesociety.org EA to the Editor: Amy Eason amy@josephinefairley.com

Contact us: info@perfumesociety.org 77 Oxford Street London W1D 2ES Tel: 01424-439580 The Scented Letter is a free online/ downloadable magazine for subscribers to The Perfume Society; visit www.perfumesociety.org for more information

The Scented Letter is produced for The Perfume Society by Perfume Discovery Ltd. All information and prices are correct at the time of going to press and may no longer be so on the date of publication. © 2014 The Perfume Society All text, graphics and illustrations in The Scented Letter are protected by UK and International Copyright Laws, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, translated, hosted or otherwise distributed by any means without explicit permission.

4 The scented Letter

Cover images © Philippe Schlienger

contents through a glass darkly

happy birthday Classique

an aromatic life

lalique

JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER

AERIN LAUDER

‘The Sculptor of Light’ created some of the most stunning fragrance bottles ever seen - and inspired Lalique’s newest scents

A celebration of 21 years of show-stopping, shapely limited edition bottles from the ‘enfant terrible’ of fashion and fragrance

Gardenia, tuberose, Cognac: Aerin Lauder (granddaughter of Estée) shares some of the scents that she’s woven into her life

10

14

16

it’s all about the bottle

fabulous flacons

it’s not just about the bottle!

roja dove

THE ESSENCE OF dior

BOWLED OVER

Travel back through time to discover truly iconic vintage scent bottles and discover Roja’s tips on collecting them yourself

An interview with ‘scent critic’ Chandler Burr, who explores Dior’s fragrant history in a glorious new coffee table book

Be beguiled - as visitors to Florence’s fragrance show were - by ‘Magic Love Potions’, created by some of the world’s cleverest perfumers

20

28

34

6

18

24

nosing around

FIND A FRAGRANCE

DIPTYQUE

26

33

38

THE HOLIDAY BOX

LIBRARY OF FRAGRANCE

SCENTS OF AUTUMN

41

42

50

EVENTS

LATEST LAUNCHES

IT TAKES ME BACK

The

scented Letter

5

on the scent of news

nosing around Here’s what we’re finding exciting in the world of scent right now: people, places – and for this edition, some fabulous fragrance bottles, too…

LENOR? NOT ANY MORE…

breakfastatyurmans.tumblr.com; © Vagengeym - Fotolia.com

what the nose knows

The world’s leading natural perfumer, Mandy Aftel, has a wonderful new book that any perfume-lover should add to their Christmas wishlist. Fragrant: The Secret Life of Scent explores in depth five of the most precious and intriguing fragrance ingredients – cinnamon, mint, frankincense, ambergris and jasmine. But there’s so much more to this book, which beckons us to delve into the history, natural history and philosophy of scent. We hope to feature a full extract in a future edition of The Scented Letter - but at a time of year when we’re all bunkering down, here are a few lines from Ms. Aftel on the scent of home, to cocoon with (and tantalise you)...

‘Every home has its idiosyncratic odour that we inhale when we first enter it. Wherever we have been, we recognise the unique smell of home as soon as we close the door and leave the outside world behind: the smell of rice steaming; your dog’s breath on your face as he licks you; the musty smell of an old book in your library combined with the sharp, inky smell of a new one; your father’s aftershave or pipe tobacco; your mother’s shampoo. We value the aromas of home precisely for their contrast with the unfamiliar and exotic scents that greet our adventures. Scent is a kind of intimacy with place – our place in the world…’

Find Fragrant at amazon.co.uk, price £17.50 (Kindle edition £9.49)

6 The scented Letter

Guerlain’s Eau de Cashmere is designed (as the name suggests) for spritzing not on the skin, but on your pullovers, scarves, jackets... The third in Guerlain’s series of scented fabric sprays, Eau de Cashmere is a gorgeous creation (from in-house master ‘nose’ Thierry Wasser), designed to smell just as lovely on his ‘n’ her clothes. (And of course, fabric is a wonderful ‘carrier’ of perfume.)

Your pashmina – and you – will love the sublimely fresh yet soft fusion of bergamot, lavender, powdery iris, vetiver, cedar, musk, heliotrope and vanilla. Trust us: it’s what all the best-dressed woollens are wearing… £62 for 125 ml eau de toilette selfridges.com

Sweeter dreams?

+

Research at the Sleep Disorders Centre of the University of Heidelberg showed that people who were exposed to the smell of flowers before bedtime had more pleasant dreams… (And those exposed to a sulphur smell had ‘negative’ dreams.) Any excuse for a posy of flowers on the bedside table, we say…

Preston – perfume capital of the North…?

So: where’s the UK’s most intriguing collection of perfume bottles?

The V&A, perhaps? Selfridges?

Tamara Ecclestone’s bathroom…?

No, actually: it’s at the little-known Harris Art Gallery & Museum, whose beautiful collection is vast in its range and history. The bottles are displayed in drawers which you can pull out, to ‘ooh’ over – and the museum’s well worth a pilgrimage, for serious perfumistas.

Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Market Square, Lancashire, PR1 2PP harrismuseum.org

pop goes harajuku Just as we have a bit of a thing for Sylvanian Families, we’ve always rather loved Harajuku Lovers – the fragrance collection from singer Gwen Stefani, which has fans around the world who snap up each new edition of the ‘doll’ bottles. These latest – Harajuku Lovers POP ELECTRIC collection – could’ve come from the studio of Jeff Koons, frankly…

From £14.95 for 15ml eau de parfum exclusive to The Perfume Shop theperfumeshop.com

The

scented Letter

7

on the scent of news

bloom in

heart-stopping design

© Diana Taliun - Fotolia.com

mimosa

+ freesia + hyacinths + lilies + waxflower + tuberose + stephanotis

8 The scented Letter

One of the surprise ‘hits’ of Pitti Fragranze (the Florence fragrance show you can read more about on p.34) was new Aussie indy brand Map of the Heart, coming to the UK soon. In this ‘It’s All About The Bottle’ edition, we just had to share the extraordinary flacons for the three fragrances in the collection – Clear Heart, Black Heart, Red Heart – which were designed by the most revered bottle creator in the world, Pierre Dinand. Watch this space for the UK launch info… mapoftheheart.com

MAKING SENSE OF SMELL LOSS There have long been charities for the blind. But at last, there’s something which sets out to tackle the challenges of people who’ve lost their sense of smell. Fifth Sense is for anyone who suffers from a smell and/or taste disorder (and of course, the two are often inextricably linked). They can offer support and advice, but also ‘smell training’: studies by several scientists have shown that – just as going to the gym and lifting weights can improve muscle mass and tone – it’s possible, in some cases, to recover some olfactory function through specific exercises. So Fifth Sense is an organisation we’re proud to support… fifthsense.org.uk

nirvana for the nose

a world of scented wonders Last month, Harrods threw open the doors of the hotlyanticipated Sixth Floor Salon de Parfums, set to become a scent mecca for perfume-lovers from around the world.

And it doesn’t disappoint: an ‘arcade’ of boutiques – Dior, Tom Ford, Chanel, Xerjoff, Creed, Guerlain, Clive Christian, By Kilian (and don’t miss Parisian perfumer Henry Jacques, right at the end: a name whispered by those-in-the-know, but not a secret for much longer, we suspect).

Roja Dove has a new ‘home’ here, too: a double-width boutique where you can discover his own fragrances, or be guided through ‘odour profiling’ to a new signature scent. Here, you can find Roja’s most exclusive creation yet (right, centre): a white piano-lacquered case which hinges open to reveal a £75,000, diamond-encrusted bottle of a one-off ‘Cinderella’ fragrance, as we think of it: this is a scent Roja’s already created, just waiting for someone to fall in love with it, who finds it a perfect ‘fit’…

Because it’s Harrods – who do so love to be exclusive – there are many one-off fragrance creations (both bottles, and perfumes). At Guerlain, for instance, as well as being able to fill a gilded ‘bee’ bottle with your own bespoke creation, or buy stunning ‘bejewelled’ bottles, there are ‘one-off’ fragrances by Thierry Wasser – and once they’re gone, they’re gone… If you’ve £15,000 or so in spare change, you could also invest in the reissued Coque d’Or fragrance: a stash of the original gilded, cobalt blue bottles was discovered and just 29 are on offer, worldwide. (Much more affordably, this is the London location to find Guerlain’s teas and candles.)

At Dior, bottles can be hand-engraved with a name or a message; we’re told that several marriage proposals have already been made, this way…

And at Clive Christian? In keeping with their reputation as creators of the world’s most expensive perfume, a cut crystal bottle of No. 1 Passant Guardant (a heraldry term, NB) decorated with solid gold and more than 2,000 flawless diamonds…

This new addition to the global scent map is a feast for the senses, with the most knowledgeable staff from each of the brands hand-picked to be part of the Salon de Parfums. Tap into their knowledge, as you spritz and spray.

And as we say at The Perfume Society: discover, explore, enjoy. Your nose will love you for it…

The

scented Letter

9

back to black

Lalique’s

glass act

Lalique’s latest collection of fragrances references some of the glass maestro’s most exquisite designs. Here, Alice Jones looks back at Lalique’s history – and forward, to the stunning new Noir Premier perfumes…

It’s quite something to have created flacons for many of the world’s most exclusive and iconic fragrances.

Bottles so beautiful, they establish themselves as collector’s items and claim pride of place on many a dressing table and mantelpiece around the world - works of art, in their own right. And this is precisely what Réne Lalique is renowned for: the most innovative glass designer of his time – if not all time…

Réne Lalique was born in Aÿ (in France’s Marne district) in 1860, returning regularly for summer holidays after his family moved to Paris. It’s believed his sheer fascination for the natural world in Aÿ influenced many of his glass artworks. He discovered his passion for drawing at a young age and took it upon himself to enrol in evening art classes at Paris’s École des Art Décoratifs from 1874-1876. By the age of 16, Lalique was apprenticed to be a jeweller, and just five years later began creating his own designs for many leading French jewellery houses - including the likes of Cartier and Boucheron.

But he was fascinated by glass – already using it in his jewels. And from 1910 onwards, René Lalique worked exclusively in this medium, ultimately becoming known 10 The scented Letter

as the ‘Sculptor of Light’. These glass sculptures were sought after by wealthy collectors – but it was his work for perfumers which introduced Lalique to a far wider public.

In 1905, René formed a friendship with pioneering perfumer Francois Coty, leading to the design of his first fragrance bottle. At the time, scents were mostly sold in plain flasks – often akin to medicine bottles – but Coty believed that his fragrances were so important, each deserved its own beautiful bottle: something ‘with simplicity and impeccable taste’, as he put it. Lalique was certainly the man to rise to the challenge of designing unique and visually attractive flacons, including for the legendary Coty fragrance ‘Chypre’. In time, Lalique went on to work with other fragrance houses: Worth, Molyneux, Houbigant, Roger & Gallet, and many of his creations fetch heartstopping prices at auction, today.

Today, the time-honoured tradition of artisan glassblowing is maintained at Lalique’s foundry, with Opposite, find historic perfume bottles from Lalique’s rich archive - along with a photo of René Lalique himself, and (below), the descendants who followed Lalique into glass design. In the centre, a Lalique craftsman creates a new precious piece...

The

scented Letter

25

24 The scented Letter

back to black

their stores around the world showcasing displays of vases, glass jewellery, sculptures – and, since 1994, fragrances. It was surely a no-brainer for a name already synonymous with luxury fragrance to start creating perfumes of their own.

And now, in 2014, Lalique Noir Premier taps into Lalique’s heritage, capturing it in stunning black bottles and sublime scents - each of which reflects a moment in Lalique’s history.

This season, black glass perfume bottles are everywhere.

But it all goes back to Lalique, who created the very first black bottle in 1911: the ‘Quatre Aigles’ (‘Four Eagles’), edged with four sculpted females - which partly inspired this Noir Premier commemorative collection.

Like a beautifully pieced-together patchwork, Noir Premier also takes elements from other historic designs: the graceful wings etched on the glass take their inspiration from the ‘Cyclamen’ bottle designed in 1909 for François Coty, while the iconic swallow emblem on the lid previously featured on a number of Lalique’s older bottles.

‘Noir Premier,’ explains renowned designer Thierry Baschmakoff, who had the challenge of creating the Noir Premier bottles, ‘is a tribute to the tremendous work of René Lalique. His world was made up of a lot of symbols, graphics and figuratives - nature, humans and animals: a rich universe full of inspirations for contemporary creations,’ he explains. And it was clearly a touching project.

‘Designing for Lalique was an emotional experience,’ Baschmakoff continues. ‘You follow the way of thinking of a creative master. You imagine his mind today, trying to do things like him, seeking to maintain the continuity of his work as if he was still alive. As a project, it’s been particularly enjoyable.’

Each Noir Premier fragrance references a significant Lalique milestone, reinterpreted in a modern way – from the single ‘star’ ingredient each scent highlights, to the way the bottles themselves visually represent landmark moments. The year of the event each fragrance references is written on the front face of each bottle, too.

For Fleur Universelle, that’s 1900: the year of the great Paris Universal Exhibition, when Lalique reached the peak of his glory as a jeweller, exploring the decorative possibilities that flora and fauna offer. (It earned him a Grand Prize.) Based on the immortelle flower for its unique renewal power and resistance to time, this Chypre composition by ‘nose’ Julie Massé features notes of pink pepper, rum and a green flash of cardamom, with chocolate-y patchouli making the brown-sugar sweetness of immoretelle even more addictive, in the base.

Terres Aromatiques marks a meeting that changed the perfume industry forever, in 1905 – when Corsican-born François Coty invited Lalique to design labels (and then stoppers) for his fragrances. (When Lalique later found a process that enabled him to produce luxury glassware at affordable prices, Coty achieved his vision of beautiful

bottles for the masses…) Inspired by Coty’s Chypre, which was composed with Mediterranean ingredients, Terres Aromatiques celebrates the aromatic herb thyme – reinforced with lavandin. Also by Julie Massé, it layers those elements with lemon, vetiver, pineapple and tonka bean, for hints of tobacco, hay and almond.

Rose Royale fast-forwards us to 1935, when Lalique left the Place Vendôme to opening a new flagship on one of Paris’s most prestigious streets, the Rue Royale. This creation celebrates the timeless beauty of Paris via the queen of flowers, the rose - layering notes of that delicate flower over fruity accords of peach, apricot and osmanthus, followed by musks and cashmere wood at the base.

The date on the front of Sculpteur d’Épices (Sculptor of Spices) is 1945 - the year Marc Lalique turned to the art of crystal-making, succeeding his father. In the aftermath of war, barely anything remained of the glassworks – except what mattered most: the Lalique spirit. Lalique rose like a phoenix, with Marc Lalique developing the technique which would become the house’s trademark: the contrast between transparency and that distinctive satin finish. In this exclusive Harrods edition (the only clear glass bottle), discover bergamot and black pepper, adding life to the heart of cinnamon and Egyptian jasmine absolute, before notes of patchouli and labdanum begin to smoulder.

In 1977 (the date emblazoned on Fruits de Mouvement), an air of modern femininity was injected into the house, when Marie-Claude Lalique – René’s granddaughter succeeded her father. Her love of strong colours made for creations that came alive with vivacity. Marie-Claude’s vibrant sensibility is translated into scent through a tantalising aroma that playfully flits between notes of black pepper, ginger, mandarin, prune and jasmine, over a warming base of amber, sandalwood and cashmere wood.

One of Marie-Claude’s most infamous pieces was undoubtedly the elegant Zeila panther – which, according to Greek historian Theoprastus, is the only animal naturally to give off scent so charming, it attracts its prey! And so we come to the last scent in this delectable collection, Élégance Animale (1989): an Oriental with suitably captivating allure. A delicate whiff of leather via notes of peach and saffron are an olfactory expression of the velvety coat of a panther; as the scent settles on to the skin, its heart appears in all its fresh, bracing glory with notes of rose and gurjum (a rare balsam), smoothly followed by a base of leather and creamy sandalwood.

Through the Noir Premier Collection, Lalique’s history is truly brought alive: a fascinating journey for the nose, the mind – and the eye, via these striking black bottles.

With every addition to the brand’s growing collection of scents, we’re being introduced to a new olfactory tale – and another exquisitely-designed bottle to maintain René Lalique’s legacy of art and beauty…

Through Noir Premier, Lalique’s history is truly brought alive

Above left, precious pieces are etched by hand to denote authenticity. Many more of Lalique’s exquisite designs are showcased here, including the swallows Lalique loved. And below left: every piece requires a team of artisans to complete

Find The Noir Premier Collection at Harrods, £180 for 100ml eau de parfum harrods.com

The

scented Letter

13

classique happy birthday, Classique

The inspiration for JeanPaul Gaultier’s debut scent (as you can read below) was his glamorous grandmother’s dressing table. And the inspiration for the bottle…? A nod, perhaps, to Schiaparelli’s long-lost Shocking: a female torso sculpted

by Léonor Fini in 1936, modeled on the torso of Hollywood star Mae West.

But Gaultier’s 1993 bottle was also, from the start, sexily encased in a corset.

As a child, he designed girls in stockings on his sketch books, hinting at an early fascination with this item of lingerie… A corset is among his bestknown designs of all: the one Madonna wore on stage, with its ‘ice-cream cone’ stitched bra, which featured in this year’s Barbican retrospective of J-PG designs. (A touch threadbare, but that somehow added to the sense of authenticity: this was a garment that had been put through its paces on a punishing tour.)

Gaultier truly pioneered the idea of ‘underwear as outerwear’, peeping through see-through blouses, via an unbuttoned trench – or sometimes, worn (shockingly, at first) as garments in their own right. And aptly, perhaps, it’s this choice of a corset which has given Jean-Paul Gaultier the freedom to ‘play’ with the bottle design, over the years, to collectors’ delight.

Most years – and sometimes, more than once – Gaultier reaches into the lingerie drawer to re-clothe the bottle.

Think: sexy black lace. Think: ‘rock star’ metal, or black chains draped over the décolletage. Perhaps a glitter corsetdress, or a tattoo-ed torso. (Gaultier does love a tattoo.) One season, the

danger:

curves

ahead Jean-Paul Gaultier Classique first made a splash in the fragrance world 21 years ago. Since then, the shapely bottles have been dressed up seasonally with a new designer ‘look’ – and collectors just love them… bottle was encased in his famous ‘sailor’ stripes, a little heart ‘tatt’ peeping out of the bra. There’ve been psychedelic bottles, and a wonderful iridescent look: the ‘Belle en Corset’, for Spring/Summer 2013…

Among the most memorable are the corset sheathed in black velvet from 1998, echoing the summer haute couture collection from that year, and the orange ‘Bien Roulé’ corset from 2005 - with its decidedly over-sized breasts recalling Gaultier’s ‘Barbès’ collection, fautumn-winter 1984-85.

Many of Gaultier’s corsets feature

WHAT’S INSIDE THE BOTTLE As Jean-Paul Gaultier once told WWD, Classique is ‘one part dusty loose powder, like my grandmother wore. One part that smell you get when you are sitting in the front row of the theatre – for me, I think of going to The Chatelet when I was 12, and the curtain goes up, and the hot lights are on the costumes, wigs and sets, and you breathe it all in. And, just to be modern,

14 The scented Letter

in the montage on the right - but you’ll also find Pinterest boards online, devoted to the many different designs Classique has been showcased in, over the years. She’s a Venus. A Madonna. An uninhibited warrior, or a goddess. A femme fatale, a Hollywood siren. And what’s absolutely clear is that the ceaselessly inventive and cheeky Jean-Paul Gaultier has had the greatest fun reinventing the corset, drawing on his couture archive.

The bottle was actually a flash of inspiration: born from a few pencil strokes. The man who then had the task of transforming the concept into a 3-D container was Francesco Moretti, of Paris Venise Design. But few could have guessed, at the time of this collaboration, that Classique would become quite so collectible.

The outer packaging for Gaultier’s creation was shocking in itself: a tin can, not a box. Via this revolutionary fragrance container, the world of perfumery meets the world of utility - and the whole package, we’re told, set out to have a double meaning: ‘Tradition/modernity, yesterday/today, contemporary/eternal’.

So many of the perfume world’s collectible bottles are priced out of reach of most perfume-lovers. We salute Jean-Paul Gaultier, then, for offering an affordable way to build a collection of divine flacons. In fact, you need to be fleet-of-foot rather than flush with cash: each new edition is snapped up faster than you can say ‘underwear-as-outerwear’. So watch this space for news of future covetable corsets – and be on standby…

one part nail polish remover.’ Yes, really. ‘But listen, this is not a joke,’ he added. ‘I set out to create something you really want to wear.

Smells are important because they remind you of certain people. If you smell this and you think of me, I want it to be good! And there are flowers, vanilla, a lot of things…’

That might sound strange - but it works beautifully: feminine, glamorous, nostalgic and utterly modern, at the same time…

an aromatic life

memories, dreams, reflections Aerin Lauder was born into ‘perfume royalty’, granddaughter of the great Estée Lauder. She’s now creator of a signature lifestyle brand – AERIN - and a designer of perfumes in her own right.

(Appropriately for this edition, each is beautifully bottled with a ‘precious stone’ cap.) Here, Aerin shares ‘a life in scents’…

What’s the first thing you remember smelling?

Probably perfume. When people ask me what my first memory of my grandmother was, it’s really her coming into a room or a car, smelling of a combination of lipstick and fragrance. So I’ve always been very sensitive to smell.

She’d have been wearing whatever she was working on – although she worked on Beautiful for many, many years and it’s the Estée Lauder fragrance that most reminds me of her.

When did you first realise that scent was really important to you?

When I was very young, because my world was always filled with scent, whether it was fine fragrance or the flowers my mother and grandmother had in our homes.

What is your favourite scented flower?

Tuberose. But the first garden scent I smelled was honeysuckle and it’s something I also love; I used to bike ride with my mother on Long Island where there’s tons of honeysuckle.

What was the first fragrance you were given?

White Linen, because Estée thought it was clean and sheer and fresh, and I was very young – probably 13 – so it was the perfect ‘profile’ for me. And when I smell it now, it takes me right back to being a teenager in jeans and a t-shirt.

Have you had different fragrances for different phases in your life…?

I loved Pleasures, and all the variations on that, which I wore in my 20s – especially Pleasures Delight. And I do love Beautiful, which I wore for my wedding – the body lotion, because I had gardenias in my hair and a lily of the valley bouquet, so I didn’t want anything too powerful.

The smell that always makes me feel happy is…

Tuberose, again. I adore it.

16 The scented Letter

© T. Wejkszo; Richard Griffin - Fotolia.com

What was the first fragrance you ever bought for yourself?

The first and only fragrance, actually, was Cacharel Anaïs Anaïs. All my friends at school were wearing it, and that was really before I realised my grandmother was in the perfume business. When I went on a school trip, I went into Duty Free and bought a bottle purely because I wanted to be like everyone else. I’m not sure I ever wore it, but I do think it’s a beautiful bottle.

The smell that always makes me feel a bit sad is…

Autumn leaves.

My favourite smell on a man is…

Just clean freshness. That just-showered scent.

The fragrance I’ve always wanted to smell is…

Something Marie-Antoinette wore. I loved the Sofia Coppola movie about her and I’m fascinated that she had her own perfumer; did she wear sweet or spicy scents, or a mix…?

There are now seven AERIN fragrances – the first five (Gardenia Rattan, Amber Musk, Lilac Path, Ikat Jasmine and Evening Rose) offer matching body lotions, with packaging inspired by AERIN’s fabric collection for textile house Lee Jofa. Fragrances are priced £85 for 50 ml and Body Cream is £40 for 150 ml, at Harrods, Selfridges London, select John Lewis and online at Esteelauder/AerinBeauty

And here, Aerin shares some of the inspirations behind favourites among her signature fragrances – which are capped with sculptural semi-precious ‘stones’, in beautiful, soft shades...

‘My brand is all about natural elements: flowers, shells, birds – the “imperfect perfect”, so: a pebble you’d find on the beach…’

1 Waterlily Sun is inspired

by Giverny, Monet’s garden, where I went as a little girl. I remembered how green it was and when we wanted to create something lush and dewy, waterlily had to be the inspiration.

2 Lilac Path takes its inspiration from a lilac bush my grandmother planted years ago at the house which we now live in. One day I arrived and it was in full bloom, just perfect. I wanted to capture that.

3 Evening Rose reminds me of both my grandparents: my grandmother because she loved roses, and my grandfather who loved Cognac; he’d have me in one arm and a glass in the other hand – so Evening Rose is the perfect balance of masculine/feminine.

The

scented Letter

17

making sense of scent-shopping

How to find a

fragrance It’s a minefield out there. With 1400+ fragrances launched last year, how are you to begin to find a new scent ‘love’? Well, we’d like to introduce you to FR.eD – short for ‘Fragrance Editor’ – who you’ll find at perfumesociety.org, to help identify the fragrances you’re likely to fall for…

?

?

?

?

© eAlisa - fotolia.com

?

18 The scented Letter

?

?

?

?

?

If you’ll indulge us, we’d like to blow our own trumpet quietly here. Because over 20 years ago, The Perfume Society’s Co-Founder, Lorna McKay, came up with what we believe was the very first computer programme, anywhere, to help people find a new fragrance. And for the launch of The Perfume Society website, FR.eD got a 21st Century makeover – and is successfully recommending fragrances to thousands of perfume-seekers.

In fact, FR.eD is already the most-visited page of our busy site – which just confirms what we know: fragrance-shopping can be confusing. Overwhelming, even. But when you’ve got FR.eD’s personalised shortlist of fragrances to try, it helps you to make a bee-line to brands and perfume counters on that list politely turning down the ‘guerilla sprayers’ on your fragrant mission, if you choose.

It’s so simple to use FR.eD. Just go to the FIND A FRAGRANCE button on the top menu of our home page.

(Alternatively, type in perfumesociety. org/fred - which will also take you there.) You’ll see some boxes, with questions.

In the box ‘Choose a perfume you already wear/love’, type in the brand or scent – and choose from the drop-down menu. FR.eD will also ask you what time of day and what time of year you might wear the fragrance.

(Choose the All Day and All year round option, if you’re unsure – or want something to wear anytime, anywhere.)

Six fragrance recommendations will appear, as if by magic, on your screen. Click on any one, and you can read its notes, discover which family it’s in – and see the fragrance ‘brought alive’, though ‘emotional’ and descriptive words: perhaps intoxicating, sensual, powdery, sexy, feminine, chic… You can read the story behind the fragrance – and discover where to try (or buy) it.

What you’ll get is six recommendations – at every pricepoint, from high street to that very special fragrance you might want for a wedding or some other VIP occasion.

FR.eD literally has thousands and

Lorna McKay

Six fragrance suggestions will appear, as if by magic, on your screen thousands of fragrances entered into his knowledge bank – including many, many discontinued scents.

Because we know how heart-breaking it is when a fragrance disappears – and how hard it can be, to find a replacement.

And if FR.eD hasn’t got your fragrance entered in his knowledge bank, and is stumped? Simply send us a ‘personal FR.eD request’ (there’s a handy ‘click here’), and we’ll do some research and get back to you with six fragrances to check out.

So: here’s the history. FR.eD – who just is a ‘he’, to us – was originally launched into Harvey Nichols and

The Liberty Perfumery (which Lorna set up) in the early 1990s. Lorna had previously been the Beauty & Fragrance Buyer for Harrods – and had observed first-hand how hard it was for customers to find a new scent.

At that time, little was understood about fragrance ‘families’, outside the so-secretive perfume industry itself.

‘I thought there had to be a better way of recommending fragrances than via a consultant who said, “Well, try this, because I wear it…” Our fragrance choices are personal to us – shaped by our life experiences (positive and negative), even our genes - and what works for one person may not work for another.’

So Lorna set about working with a programmer to create a ‘virtual fragrance advisor’. That was FR.eD. And it was crucial to us that when The Perfume Society launched, FR.eD should become a key element of the website, accessible to all. (And don’t laugh. The photo left is of Lorna we got the original computer down from Lorna’s attic, in France – complete with floppy disks!)

We do always recommend trying fragrances before you buy them, of course – on the skin. (And no more than three at a time.) But with tens of thousands of fragrances on sale, there’s now an easier way to find scents you’re more likely to love – and then spritz or splash, and make up your mind: is it like…? Is it love at first sniff…? And (all-importantly), are you also crazy about how it smells on your skin, after several hours, when the base notes unfurl…?

Cue not just trumpets, then, but drum-roll. Because FR.eD’s at your fingertips (literally), to introduce you to your next perfume ‘passion’…

TAKE THE GAMBLE OUT OF GIFTING FR.eD also comes into ‘his’ own when it comes to choosing a fragrance for someone you love. So long as you know something they already like and wear, you can enter that fragrance into FR.eD – and again, you’ll receive a shortlist of six recommendations. (Just sneak a peek at their dressing table, if you’re unsure. Take your cue from any bottle that looks well-used – maybe even empty – rather than something which is full to brim; that’s your clue that they really wear that particular fragrance.)

The

scented Letter

19

the master of modern from a perfume insiderfemininity

how to collect

perfume bottles In Roja Dove’s beautiful book The Essence of Perfume, you’ll find a fascinating chapter on ‘The Bottle Makers’ – showcasing many fabulous fragrance vessels from Roja’s own collection. Here, in an extract, we share some of the gems from that chapter – and Roja’s wisdom (overleaf) on how to become a collector yourself…

Writes Roja, in The Essence of Perfume: ‘The bottle is the last physical souvenir of a sometimes long-forgotten scent, often reflecting society’s attitudes like a snapshot - or as Coco Chanel said about all the empty bottles she owned, “The bottles are my memories of surrender and conquest my crown jewels of love”.

As the Industrial Revolution brought about the modern commercial perfumery industry we know today, the demand for well-designed bottles became more and more important. During the 19th Century, any company of merit would not have thought twice about who they would choose to house their scents: it would have to be Baccarat, whose story is one of the most diverse of all the bottle manufacturers. The Industrial Revolution brought about great change, a new consumer in the form of the middle class, and new manufacturing processes to fulfill increasing demand.

The start of the 20th Century saw a wave of “animalism”, with bottles created in the shape of insects, birds, and animals.

Turtles were the inspiration for a bottle to house Guerlain’s 1904 creation Parfum des Champs-Elysées (“perfume of the Elysium fields”), which alluded to the Greek myth that you could climb on a turtle’s back and be transported to paradise, and was made to celebrate the opening of their flagship boutique on 2nd August 1914. Coty’s 1916 Baccarat flacon reflects the fragile beauty of a moth, where the moth forms the integral design of the stopper, as if it is hovering.

Couturiers’ dominance of fragrance since the 1920s meant that the ‘look’ of a perfume became increasingly important, because it can be linked back to the fashion houses as a visual emblem. Today, when a popular fashion designer is about to launch a scent, people are often more 20 The scented Letter

excited to see the bottle than they are to smell the fragrance.

The Decorative Arts Fair of 1925, from which we take the name Art Deco, witnessed a creative frenzy, with unprecedented levels of artistic innovation.

Georges Chevalier, head of design at Baccarat and one of the leading exponents of the movement, created L’Océan Bleu, a double dolphin design that played tricks with the eyes as it metamorphosed into an Oriental face.

With World War II, launches and design almost came to a halt. But at the end of the war, in 1945, Baccarat roared back with Salvador Dali’s creation for Schiaparelli’s Le Roy Soleil, a symbolic Surrealist design depicting the sun rising again over a darkened world. (This joined her iconic creation for Shocking, where a female torso had a bouquet of flowers escaping from the head - a design which has directly influenced Jean-Paul Gaultier’s bottle for Le Classique. NB Read more about this on p.14.)

Patriotism and luxury became watchwords after the war, a feeling captured by Nina Ricci in a bottle created

by Marc Lalique, designed by Christian Bérard, for Coeur Joie (Happy Heart), suggesting the joy felt being able to walk free again, amongst the flowers, watching delicate butterflies dance at will (one surmounts the stopper). A similar theme is reflected in the now-classic Lalique bottle for L’Air du Temps, where two doves fly free over a highly stylised world.

Although many houses have produced bottles over the years, such as Brosse, Dépinoix, Gaillard, Jolivet, Saint-Louis, and Viard, the two most important luxury manufacturers, without doubt, are Baccarat and Lalique. It is these two houses who have shaped bottle design and are the most sought-after among bottle collectors. (For more about Lalique, see p.10.)

Today, crystal bottles are no longer widely used - but some are still created, or re-issued, as numbered limited editions. When they were the norm, each stopper was traditionally ground into a specific bottle, a number was etched on the bottom of the bottle and its corresponding stopper. This resulted in many people today thinking their piece is from a limited edition - but it’s not necessarily the case: during the course of a day, several hundred if not thousands of bottles would be produced. The sand used to grind the stopper into the bottle needed to be washed away, and the number made certain that the correct stopper was reunited with the correct bottle…’

For more on collecting, turn the page

ABOVE AND OPPOSITE: Showstopping colourful bottles from Parfums Rosine (the pioneering perfume label created by couturier Paul Poiret): Lavender Water ‘The Only One’, alongside bottles hand-decorated

by Atelier Martine, with silk closures. Who wouldn’t want these, on a dressing table…?

“

The bottles are my memories of surrender and conquest - my crown jewels of love…

Coco Chanel

”

The

scented Letter

21

from a perfume insider

Left: For Elizabeth Arden It’s You in 1939 Baccarat came up with a hand holding a bottle

left: Two of the bottles Roja Dove certainly wishes were part of his own stash: Lubin Kismet (the elephant bottle, top), and Forest Ming Toy, both by Baccarat

right: Schiaparelli Le Roy Soleil, made

by Baccarat in 1945, was a design by surrealist artist Salvador Dali

22 The scented Letter

Above: A ‘naturalistic’ Baccarat bottle for fragrance house Lubin’s Monjoly perfume, dated 1928

THE COLLECTOR’S WISDOM Throughout his decades in the perfume world, Roja Dove has amassed an enviable collection.

Many of his ‘finds’ were showcased in Harrods’s stunning exhibition The Perfume Diaries, a few years ago – and many make an appearance in his new book. At the opening of the Salon de Parfums, Roja shared with us his insights – so that you can become a collector, too… l ‘No question: eBay has made it easier for anyone to become a perfume collector. And prices there are actually very fair – they’re dictated by the market, and what someone’s prepared to pay. You’re not going to get a bargain – there are plenty of bottle collectors out there – but if you’re the top bidder, you know you’ve only paid a fraction more than someone else was prepared to pay, which is reassuring.’

Below: The stunning ‘Manhattan’ bottle used for several of fashion designer Lucien Lelong’s fragrances, now ‘reworked’ for the 21st Century by Lalique for Roja Parfums

l ‘eBay is also a good place to learn more about bottles themselves. If someone’s selling an item, check out “See seller’s other items” – they may have other interesting things. You can also learn more about the history and background by writing to the seller – a lot of bottles are sold by collectors themselves, who are weeding out their collection or selling to get the money to pay for something else they’ve got their eye on. In my experience, the community’s very good at sharing information.’ l ‘If you see something on-line that’s interesting, Google it to find out the history – a quick search will almost certainly throw up lots of background info.’ l ‘If you buy in an antique shop, yes, you might find an occasional bargain – but equally, you might over-pay for something. If you find something irresistible, do a quick eBay search on your phone to see if it throws up a price for something similar. But in general, the best reason for buying any bottle is because you simply love it, and want it in your life.’ l ‘And, remember you’re buying for the bottle – not for what’s inside. The only disappointment with buying vintage bottles is that unless they’ve been kept inside the box in the dark and away from heat, the fragrance inside will almost certainly have lost much, if not all, of its magic…’

The Essence of Perfume by Roja Dove is published by Black Dog Publishing, price £29.95. Do also visit Roja’s Haute Parfumerie on the 6th Floor of Harrods in the stunning new Salon de Parfums. rojaparfums.com

The

scented Letter

23

MAGNIFICENT

milles fleurs

What would you do with a thousand flowers? Who could possibly waste the glorious floral ‘leftovers’ from the harvests of Grasse? Not Diptyque – who’ve sourced a very special bottle in which to capture their magic forever, explains Alice Crocker…

history in the remaking

When all the buyers have been and gone from Grasse, the petals have been snapped up to be distilled into our favorite scents - some old, some new – the fact is that there are still literally thousands of flowers left behind.

So: what to do with nature’s fragrant ‘leftovers’…? Enter Diptyque, with Essences Insensées.

The ‘mille fleurs’ (thousand flowers) tradition is actually centuries-old, in this sun-drenched area of Provence, which has long been perfumery’s heartland. The idea? To ‘mop up’ the flowers remaining from any single year’s successful harvest, using them to create a never-to-be-repeated perfume. Why unrepeatable? Because from year to year, these ‘forgotten flowers’ aren’t generally the same. Maybe one year it’s roses. The next, orange blossom… Weather, in particular, affects how abundant a crop will be – and whether the flower farmers of Grasse will find themselves with more of an ingredient on their hands than the discerning perfumers of Paris (and it is mostly Paris) want that year.

The mille fleurs concept had actually fallen from favour, in recent decades. But it’s back – thanks to Diptyque, known and loved for the glorious candles which flicker in homes across the world, and for equally beautiful scents to wear on the body. From autumn 2014 Diptyque has set out to re-establish this romantic annual tradition, making it an established part of the brand’s own folklore.

So each limited edition will be unique to a harvest – differing from year to year, dictated by which ‘essences’ are still abundant at the end of the season. Simply translated, Essences Insensées means ‘sensory essences’. And for their first transient scent in the series, Diptyque worked in Grasse with Firmenich perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin, discovering that mimosa was the exquisite leftover crop of 2013 - which foretold the first Essences Insensées. (Pellegrin is known for fragrances like Just Cavalli, Swarovski Aura eau de toilette, and has long worked with Diptyque.)

The result? A, fresh, dewy mix of violet, lightly-spiced pink pepper in the top; a complex, yet easy blend of heliotrope, Provence rose in the heart – and, reflecting its natural abundance in 2013, a swirl of mimosa flowers, too, which give way to touches of beeswax, maté tea and vanilla in the base.

But a select ‘juice’ like Essences Insensées definitely had to be packaged in a way that echoed the traditional workmanship and fragrant artistry of the scent itself. It couldn’t be just any bottle, then - and it couldn’t be the classic Diptyque brand bottle, because this is a scent line with its own story. After painstaking research, the perfect pairing was made in Waltersperger: a century-old, traditional, hand blown glassmaker found in the Bresle Valley in upper Normandy– an area renowned for supreme glassmanship since the 15th Century and one of the last remaining handblowers in France. Over 75% of the world’s luxury glassware in the perfume and spirits trade comes from this area.

MELLOW YELLOW The scent of mimosa has a warm, honey, irislike, powdery airiness, which enriches the complexity of fragrances. Mimosa has a long tradition in perfumery: it was first used in making incense, and symbolised resurrection and immortality. (Aromatherapeutically, mimosa is said to have properties that help to relieve stress and depression, FYI.) Mimosas put on a spectacular show on the hillsides of Grasse, in spring-time. And for centuries, aside from perfumery, the mimosa tree has been used for many different purposes from medicinal to ornamental. The seeds and fruit are edible and used in many cuisines and soft drinks, the bark produces a gum that is used as a stabiliser (gum Arabic) and plays a role in printing and ink; the timber is used in furniture making. An all-round useful ingredient, then - and a dreamilyscented one at that.

Mimosa is just one of hundreds of perfume notes you can read about in the Explore Perfume section of perfumesociety.org, under ‘Ingredients’.

It’s perfect for any dressing table, ready to be spritzed onto the skin and deliver its cloud of mimosa softness

Founded in 1916, Waltersperger ushered in a whole new era in glassmaking by being the first to install semi-mechanised glass machines. Today, they work with countless brands we all know and love, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Nina Ricci and Guerlain: a recent ‘star’ bottle is La Petite Robe Noire.

Waltersperger are also responsible for some of the most beautiful bespoke ‘factice’ fragrance bottles: those giant flacons used for in-store displays and traffic-stopping shop windows showcasing new fragrances.

After much deliberation, a selection was finally made for Essences Insensées: a historic ‘vintage’ bottle which had long ago ceased production, but which was reclaimed from the archives especially for Diptyque. The result is a tall, elegant pressed glass bottle, swirled with leaf-like ripples, topped with a gold cap and adorned with an opulent black ‘puffer’, for sensual application.

It’s perfect for any dressing table, ready to be spritzed and deliver its cloud of mimosa softness – a glorious, timeless scent that has a sort of ‘enjoy-by’ date on it. Because after this harvest of Essences Insensées has run out, that’s it…

Until next year. When a quite different Provence harvest will make its way into the beautiful Waltersperger bottle – heralding a fresh chapter in this revived mille fleurs tradition, thanks to Diptyque...

Price £100 for 100 ml eau de parfum diptyqueparis.co.uk

The

scented Letter

25

what’s in the box?

discover, explore, enjoy

THE HOLIDAY COLLECTION Presenting our latest ‘Discovery Box’: party-perfect fragrances we think you’ll love, from leading designers and ‘rising stars’ – plus some very special ‘extras’, with love from us to you…

26

Liz Earle Botanical Essence No.15

Agent Provocateur Fatale

L’Occitane EN PROVENCE Thé Vert & BigaradE

Versace Yellow Diamond

An Oriental that’s just so perfect for winter, this takes its name from the number of precious botanicals in the juice – which features 90% naturals, reflecting Liz Earle’s love of aromatics. Created

by Alienor Massenet, its fresh and enticing aroma conjures up European fields of roses, the earthy depths of the Brazilian rainforests and the beautiful woods of the Far East.

2ml (full size £47 for 50ml eau de parfum at lizearle.com)

With its touches of 1940s Hollywood glamour, this floriental by Jean-Marc Chaillan is utterly addictive.

It layers fruity notes of blackcurrant, sumptuous mango nectar and a zing of pink pepper over sweet gardenia, powdery orris and Indonesian patchouli. As it unfolds, the sugar-dusted base of vanilla orchid, chocolate, labdanum and musk utterly captivates.

2 ml (full size £62 for 100ml eau de parfum at agentprovocateur.com)

L’Occitane sources ingredients from near and far for Le Collection de Grasse – choosing and pairing notes that will complement and accent one another. Here, a fresh composition of orange and bitter orange from Tunisia is blended with Japanese green tea and yerba maté.

Classic and wearable, it uplifts you with its brightness.

7.5ml luxury sample (full size £49 for 75ml eau de toilette at uk.loccitane.com)

Airily floral, this sparkles with fresh bergamot, lemon, pear sorbet and neroli.

Orange blossom shines through the heart, beside freesia, mimosa and water lily. At the sensual base, an amber-y, woody accord illuminates the scent, via notes of guaiac wood, precious musk and vibrant palo santo wood. Superbly sunny, for brightening a cold winter’s day, we’re finding.

1ml (full size £35 for 30ml eau de toilette at debenhams.com)

Mary Greenwell Plum

L’Artisan Parfumeur Mûre et Musc

Versace Bright Crystal

Versace Crystal Noir

As a finishing touch when sending supermodels before the camera, Mary Greenwell spriztes them with fragrance - nowadays, her own sophisticated signature scents. Plum’s sensual and exotic, with top notes of peach, bergamot, lemon, blackcurrant and plum, making way for gardenia, tuberose, orange blossom, rose and jasmine: warming, feminine, so beautiful...

2ml (full size £65 for 50ml eau de parfum at harrods.com)

This scent created a revolution, back in 1978, marrying white musks with gourmand accords (for men and women)– and it’s as wearable and shareable today: a ‘best-kept secret’ of many perfume-lovers. After the freshness of lemon, orange, basil, mint and red berries, the floral fruitiness of the perfume’s heart beckons. And the finale?

Patchouli, musk, oak moss…

1.5 ml (full size £70 for 50ml eau de parfum at artisanparfumeur.com)

Versace’s Crystal Collection ‘celebrates the rich and infinite personalities of the Versace woman’ (and this sampler trio would make a wonderful stocking filler...)

Bright Crystal is luminous with floral, fruity notes: juicy pomegranate and yuzu, iwith peony, magnolia and lotus flower for freshness.

The opulent base of amber, sensuous musk and red woods is like an embrace.

1ml (full size £35 for 30ml eau de toilette at debenhams.com)

Ultra-feminine, here’s a sophisticated Oriental by ‘nose’ Antoine Lie. Based on the subtle accord of gardenia, surrounded by tuberose, frangipani and jasmine, it draws you in with fruity, warm notes of amber, blackcurrant, black fig and violet, complemented by sandalwood, cashmeran and vanilla. Seductive yet crisp and fresh; one spritz and you’ll want more.

1ml (full size £35 for 30ml eau de toilette at debenhams.com)

The

scented Letter

✸ Will y o find o u ur golde n tick One pe et? rso

n who Holida buys Th y Colle e ction w full size ill win s o f ea c h fragran of the ces and b ea u t y showca treats sed he (For Te rms & Co r e . ndition s, see websit

e.)

The Holiday Collection is available to VIP Subscribers for just £10 (£15 to nonsubscribers) at perfumesociety.org/shop/ NB you must be logged in to get the VIP price

Shay & Blue Atropa Belladonna

Judith Williams I Love Milano, Principessa

Nails inc.

Gel Effect Polish

Sarah Chapman Skinesis Overnight Facial

Inspired by deadly nightshade (yes, really!), used by 17th Century Venetians for hallucinogenic beauty, this rich and opulent, contemporary scent was created by S&B ‘nose’ Julie Massé. Ripe blackcurrant adds intrigue to narcotic white flowers (narcissus and jasmine), decadently drying down to patchouli, sandalwood and Bourbon vanilla.

2ml (full size £55 for 100ml natural spray fragrance at shayandblue.com)

Created by the renowned Pierre Bourdon, this is inspired by the famous elegance and beauty of Italian women: a ray of sunshine in a bottle. Airy and vibrant top notes of mandarin, green leaf and passion fruit introduce a white floral heart (jasmine, gardenia, tuberose), before the sensual, warming base of solar accord, musk and amber. We’re hooked.

10ml (full size £32 for 100ml eau de parfum at curabeauty.com)

Fragrance is the perfect finishing touch to any outfit – but a shiny red manicure definitely makes us feel all the more dressed up, too.

This utterly perfect shade – St. James - dries to a smooth, glossy and perfectly plumped finish – and lasts longer than your average polish, based on a revolutionary ‘gel’ technology. Nailtastic.

This is a full size product, £14 at nailsinc.com

We all want an ‘A-List’ complexion, at this time of year – and this is the hit of goodness skin’s crying out for, from the renowned facialist. Apply before bed and you’ll wake up with a megawatt glow, thanks to its potent blend of vitamins, antioxidants, brighteners and omega oils. The combination of essential oils - jasmine, rose, tuberose and frangipani - makes for a truly sensuous application.

5ml (full size £45 for 15ml at sarahchapman.net)

The

scented Letter

27

fabulous flacons

THE ESSENCE OF

Dior Christian Dior’s fragrances tell a story – but so do each of the bottles. A stunning new book, Dior The Perfumes - with text by Chandler Burr - showcases the exquisite bottle designs, from 1947 to the present day, to illustrate the story of this iconic perfume house. Here, we share some of the bottles’ stories – and overleaf, Beatrice Aidin talks to the author himself…

MISS DIOR 1947 The first Miss Dior Bottle – sold in December 1947 – was a curved ‘amphora’. But in 1950, the couturier modified the shape to reflect his more structured, geometrical designs, using the houndstooth pattern which he so often transformed into suits and dresses.

Originally, a black bow was used at the neck of the eau de parfum; later, a white bow would signify the eau de toilette concentration of this Chyprefloral scent, which was created by renowned ‘nose’ Paul Vacher. Dior’s instructions to his perfumer were breathtakingly simple: ‘Make me a perfume that smells of love…’

DIORAMA 1949 Edmond Roudnitska composed Diorama, balancing and contrasting accords of musk, spice, fruits and flowers. If the design of the

28

The

scented Letter

limited edition crystal Baccarat bottle (second from left, above) looks vaguely familiar, that’s because it echoes the obelisk which stands at Paris’s Place de la Concorde, recalling the couturier’s interest in archaeology and the great civilisations. Diorama was a sensation. Writes Chandler Barr, ‘After many years of limited food and starved for the feel of silk instead of rough wool and cheap cotton, women wanted to be weighed down with the sensation of rich textiles against their skin. Roudnitska gave them rich invisible textiles of perfume in which to cloak themselves…’

EAU FRAICHE 1955 Eau Fraiche means ‘cool water’ in French: an apt name for this instantaneously refreshing fragrance, in which Sicilian mandarin, petitgrain and Indonesian patchouli were

masterfully woven together by Edmond Roudnitska. The label takes its inspiration from basketwork – indeed, one very special edition of the fragrance was encased in woven straw, echoing the style of weaving used to protect wine bottles from heat and damage, in the Middle Ages. Christian Dior wore Eau Fraiche himself and encouraged other men to follow his lead - and its ‘shareability’ is reflected in the unisex design of the bottle itself.

DIORISSIMO 1956 Edmond Roudnitska brilliantly evoked the elusive scent of lily of the valley in this legendary scent - it was Christian Dior’s own ‘lucky flower’, which he grew in his own hothouses to sew into the hems of couture gowns. Dior designed the bottle himself, drawing inspiration from the candelabras in Marie Antoinette’s

DIORLING 1963 Diorling was the first launch after the couturier’s death in 1959 – and once again, the House of Dior turned to Paul Vacher to open a new chapter in Dior’s fragrant history. The play on the word ‘darling’ is a tribute to Dior’s love of England. Diorling is a leathery Chypre – and as Chandler Burr puts it, perfumer Paul Vacher ‘made an invisible olfactory leather handbag, specifically a woman’s bag, more specifically a woman’s luxury bag with a surface as smooth as the skin of its owner’s neck, this invisible olfactory leather…’ The particular bottle featured above (left, bottom row) is another limited edition Baccarat

crystal flacon, inspired by an 18th Century vinegar cruet. (NB At that point in history, vinegar was used as ‘smelling salts’…)

DIORESSENCE 1979 The task of creating Dior’s first ‘Oriental’ fragrance went to ‘nose’ Guy Robert. As Chandler Burr observes, this animalic creation was unlike anything that went before, ‘provocatively strange, powerful, incontournable.’ (Which translates as ‘inescapable, inevitable, indispensable’.) Later, another perfumer added his signature, respectful to Robert’s composition but adding Egyptian geranium, a touch of earthiness, playing up the flowers. The bottle is simplicity itself – and unusually, was preceded by a complete Dioressence bath and body collection, with the concept of ‘total perfuming for the body’…

J’ADORE 1999 J’adore has become a modern classic: a stunning bouquet of flowers, by Calice Becker. Chandler Burr sees it as ‘an olfactory hologram of a new species – not rose, not jasmine, not magnolia, no flower that has ever existed in nature…’ Artist and designer Hervé Van Der Straeten designed the original J’adore bottle, returning to the idea of the ‘amphora’ which was first used for Miss Dior. The distinctive elongated gold neck was inspired by Masai necklaces worn by Dior models on the catwalk in John Galliano’s debut collection…

Each of these fragrances is still available – in some cases, exclusively at Dior’s own boutiques and perfumeries, or via harrods.com. Alas, to track down the original bottles featured above, you’ll need to tap into your inner Miss Marple...

The

scented Letter

© Philippe Schlienger

bedroom in Versailles - and the absolutely sensational limited edition bottle top right (and on our cover) was a Baccarat crystal special, with its finely-gilded floral lid.

29

In 1958 a book by Paul Gallico was published called

Flowers for Mrs Harris. It told the tale of a Cockney cleaning woman who worked all the hours she could to save up to go to Paris and buy a couture Dior dress. But when it comes to Dior perfumes, the house is much more democratic - offering each of us olfactory access to this house of couture. Now the history and stories behind these landmark fragrances are told in a just-launched coffee table book, Dior The Perfumes, written by the scent critic, Chandler Burr. Leading beauty journalist Beatrice Aidin caught up with Chandler, as he breezed into London…

The first of Monsieur Dior’s perfumes, Miss Dior, caused as much scandal as the lavish use of fabric to a depressed post-war France in his New Look collection, when he flung open the doors of his atelier to the fashion world in Paris at 10.30am on the 12th February 1947. ‘He had one litre of the pure parfum poured onto the carpets to impregnate the building,’ explains Chandler Burr. ‘There were huge, luxuriant bouquets of flowers everywhere, visually sumptuous to the point of drunkenness…”’

But as Burr writes, Dior was far from the flamboyant designer that one might assume or even expect.

‘The most surprising thing I learned when I was researching the book was that when Christian Dior was growing up, he was extraordinarily timid and afraid of everything,’ explains Burr.

‘He grew up in a wealthy industrialist family with parents who were cold and Victorian in attitude and the only way he learned to connect with his mother, who was a mad gardener, was to learn the names of every number of plants and flowers, even in Latin - which was why flowers and then fragrance became so important to him.’ Forbidden from becoming an artist or an architect, as he dreamed, it was only when the family lost all their money during the Depression that Christian Dior was able to follow his artistic passions by designing clothes to support them financially.

‘He ended up having a strong personality - from being a weak, funny thing (or so his family thought) to a man with strong direction.’

By then Dior had found his crowd.

‘He knew everybody on the Parisian avant garde art scene: Cocteau,

30

The

scented Letter

Braque, Satie, Dali and Picasso, who were breaking all the old ideas and forming new ones in art and creativity.’

After the storm in a bottle that was Miss Dior, the second in the fragrant wardrobe was Diorama, created in 1948. And according to Burr, Diorama was a landmark in olfactory history.

‘Diorama is one of the greatest works of abstract art that manages to avoid any of the clichés of the past and has a clarity that is absolutely striking,’ he explains. As for its creator, Burr adds: ‘Along with many other people, I consider Roudnitska to be the greatest 21st Century artist in the medium of perfumery…’

Among many significant fragrances the house created, Poison - launched smack in the middle of the 80s – captured that decade, too, in an extravagant elixir of spicy florals, coriander and tuberose. More recently, Hypnotic Poison has joined the Poison line-up – and Chandler’s a fan. ‘Hypnotic Poison has a perfec

structure, it’s perfectly dosed. When I wear it I feel like Cher!’ exclaims Burr.

One surprise for the author when delving into the perfume archive was Fahrenheit, the 1988 leather, woody, mandarin and violet men’s fragrance. ‘I had never appreciated it or understood it so I wore it day after day and found it to be a great work of contemporary art; it gives you the feeling of incredible modern beauty.’

But how on earth does a fragrance house maintain its allure after so many years? ‘Simply, by producing great art.’ And as a nod to the past, Dior has just released Les Extraits: sublime concentrates of Miss Dior, Diorissimo, Miss Dior Original, Poison and J’adore. (Find them at Selfridges, price £140 for 15ml – and naturally, the bottles are exquisite…)

Flowers were like oxygen to Christian Dior – an allusion Paul Gallico makes in the title of his delightful novel. Before the Mrs Harris of the book’s title finds the Dior dress which inspires her quest – hanging in the wardrobe of one of her clients – Gallico writes that ‘Mrs Harris had always felt a craving for beauty and colour which up to this moment had manifested itself in a love for flowers.’

Few of us will display the tenacity of Mrs. Harris, in her quest to have her couture dress. But for the most part we can afford our own Dior, in a flacon. And now, in book form, too - with Chandler Burr inviting us to wallow in the divine world of Dior, through page after glorious page…

YOUR CHANCE TO OWN THE BOOK Dior The Perfumes with text by Chandler Burr is published by Rizzoli, priced £70. This coffeetable book is a must-have for any fragrancelover. Through a treasure trove of archival material and through stunning visuals and photography, it’s a fabulously readable history of Dior. So: it nearly kills us to do this, but we’d like to offer our own copy to one lucky Perfume Society VIP Subscriber. Simply go to the Subscriber section of our perfumesociety. org website, click on the Dior The Perfumes news item, fill in the form – and dream… The prize draw will be open until the next edition of The Scented Letter is released, when we’ll inform the winner.

Original ink and gouache illustration by René Gruau for Diorella, 1972 © Sarl René Gruau

fabulous flacons

The

scented Letter

39

We invite you to visit The Perfume Society’s website daily for breaking perfume news, features, and exclusive VIP Subscriber material, as well as updates on all our events. And to keep your finger on the pulse of all things perfumed, do follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, too. perfumesociety.org The

scented Letter

XX

Demeter rebranded

IT’S NOT always ABOUT THE BOTTLE This edition of The Scented Letter celebrates beautiful packaging. Now, you can’t really describe the bottles for The Library of Fragrance as anything but ‘functional’ – but as Mark Crames explained to Alice Crocker, that’s because the focus is on what’s inside…

This September, New York-based perfumery Demeter hit UK stores under new name: The Library of Fragrance. Established in 1996 with a trio of unorthodox scents - dubbed ‘Grass’, ‘Dirt’ and ‘Tomato’ - the brand now offers over 300 unique fragrances which set out to break boundaries and ‘make strong statements based on the way they smell’. (Anyone for ‘Play-Doh’, ‘Gin & Tonic’ or ‘Baby Powder’…?)

The Library of Fragrance’s philosophy is to take a few risks – and meet the demand of perfumistas who just don’t want to smell like everyone else. And as CEO and Perfumer Mark Crames tells us, with his ‘Library’, ‘there is never any reason to smell like someone else again…’

What do you love about fragrance?

More than anything I love that scent can change the way you feel. When you smell something you love, you smile. That is a great reason for us to go to work every day.

What is your favourite ingredient?

I am partial to patchouli, jasmine and also to To Yo Ran orchid.

What is your least favourite smell?

I have a personal aversion to eucalyptus, based in a life experience!

Why have you chosen such a simple bottle design for your fragrances?

By not focusing on huge investment in bottles and packaging – no outer cartons, for instance – we can afford to use the highest-quality ingredients and invest in what’s inside the bottle.

What’s next in your fragrance forecast?

We really see two trends. First, the continuation of feminine, sheer, transparent florals constructed in the modern form, consistent with the classic French dictum that fragrance is for a woman and her lover... And secondly, notes traditionally thought of as masculine, like patchouli, vetiver and oak moss, which are being worn by more and more women. This trend will continue to evolve, leading to a broader and richer range of materials considered feminine.

You produce scents with obscure olfactory connotations, such as Play-Doh’, ‘Zombie’ and ‘Pizza’. Which of your wackiest scents actually sells the most?

Zombie sells the most today, but over its lifetime, Play-Doh has sold more than any other ‘novelty’ fragrance we ever made. I think PlayDoh is a great, wearable scent, so that makes sense to me. I am surprised by Zombie - not that we sell so much, because it is an awesomely cool concept, but how good the reviews are of the fragrance itself.

What’s your favourite layering combination?

We believe Library of Fragrance scents are absolutely beautiful in their own right and can and should be worn alone. Because they are notes and accords, however, it means anyone can use them to customise and blend their own fragrance, directly onto the skin. Anyone who combines a Patchouli, Jasmine and a Salt Air will be really happy...

What are your top five sellers in the UK? Baby Powder (by a country mile!), Jasmine, Patchouli, Vanilla Ice Cream, Gin & Tonic.

What can each of us do to enhance our appreciation of fragrance?

Scent is really about sense memory - much like taste. So if you want to improve your sense of smell, and appreciate finer distinctions, I think the key is to employ relax and focus on the wonderful smells that surround us every day. I think smelling is natural - if a touch more mysterious than our other senses. But I think the relative ‘laziness’ of our noses is as much more about our lack of focus in a fast paced, urbanised, multi-tasking world, than our lack of understanding or appreciation…

A capsule collection of The Library of Fragrance fragrances is available at boots.com, while over 100 scents can be found at the brand’s own website, thelibraryoffragrance.com, priced £15 each for 30 ml. And do watch this space for news of an exciting ‘layering’ event for The Perfume Society in 2015.

The scented Letter Letter 33 25 The

what the noses know

’ l w o ‘B

IT’S ALL ABOUT the

For Pitti Fragranze 2014, eight leading perfumers were invited to create exclusive ‘Magic Love Potions’: fragrances to be enjoyed by breathing them in from extraordinary Murano glass vessels. (And for just the three days of the show…) We set out to recapture that magic, for those who couldn’t be there

The place: Pitti Fragranze 2014, Italy’s annual event where every new and interesting independent perfume under the (Florentine) sun is showcased.

The event: UNSCENT, a ‘parallel’ exhibition to the main trade show, this year curated by Cristiano Seganfreddo for perfume distributors Intertrade Group. In the huge, high-ceilinged former train station, visitors got to smell eight one-off, fragrant ‘love potions’ – via these stunning giant glass ‘bowls’.

Eight leading perfumers were invited to come up with their ultimate love potion in scent form. This talented octet was hand-picked by Celso Fadelli, Intertrade’s CEO; his selection was Ralf Schwieger, Cyrill Rolland, Cécile Hua, Céline Ripert, Christian Vermorel, Alex Lee, Arturetto Landi and Vanina Muracciole. The brief? ‘The power of perfume. The allure of a word. (Easily used and abused, everywhere, in the refrains of hit songs, as well as in text messages…) But what the power of love today, and does it have an aroma?

What perfume does it unleash? Does it still have a power…?’ Fragments of literature relating to love potions, too, were selected to inspire the perfumers.

For the show itself, giant artworks were created specially by leading illustrators. They flanked the long central table where the Venetian glass bowls invited you to come close, and breathe in the ephemeral fragrances.

We wish you could have been there, to have your senses dazzled by the perfumers’ interpretations – because after the show, the fragrances disappeared, never to be seen – or smelled - again. But as the next best thing, The Scented Letter shares with you some of the words, the pictures, the scents and the perfumers’ stories, from ‘Magic Love Potions’…

“For those who have experienced true love, the word still holds a special meaning and emotional power” 34 The scented Letter

TUBELLA Nose: Ralf Schwieger Top notes: bergamot, cassis, galbanum Heart notes: jasmine absolute, orange blossom absolute, osmanthus, rose geranium, May rose absolute, Indian tuberose Base notes: iris absolute, sandalwood, Haitian vetiver ‘Love is a flower – the universal attractor for bees and people alike! Floral energy is the life and soul of perfume, the heart note of a fragrance, surrounding all the rest. A powerful potion conquering inhibitions. Tubella is a potent concoction of everything floral, built around the rarest of floral extracts, Rose de Mai from the south of France, and Indian tuberose combined with a special grade of jasmine and orange flower absolute.

Grounded by iris absolute, Tubella gives a spin to the classical white flower accord. Cassis is used as a means of introduction – the extract of blackcurrant, dark, mysterious and intriguing…’

‘

One Friday, before dawn, choose the most beautiful apple in the orchard. Then write, on two small pieces of paper, using the blood of the lover, his full name and, below it, the full name of the person by whom he desires to be loved. Then pluck three of her hairs and combine then with three of his to bind around the pieces of paper. On the second, write “seulement scheva”. Cut the apple in half, take out the seeds; put the pieces of paper in their place. Then stick the two apple halves together with two twigs of green myrtle, symbol of eternity. Bake the apple very slowly, until it goes hard, after which wrap it in laurel leaves and put it under the pillow of the person to be wooed, without her knowing.’

Le Petit Albert (Alberto Lucio Minore), Manual of Witchcraft

’

The

scented Letter

11

‘

“Yes, my dear?” asked Slughorn, somewhat surprised when Hermione put her hand up once again. “This is Amortentia, the world’s most powerful love potion,” answered Hermione. “Its characteristics are a mother-of-pearl sheen and the steam rises from it forming spirals; it’s supposed to smell differently to each of us, according to what attracts us. For example, I can smell fresh-cut grass and new parchment and…” But she turned pink and did not complete the sentence. “Amortentia,” continued Slughorn, “doesn’t create actual love, of course. It is impossible to manufacture or imitate love. No, this will simply cause a powerful infatuation or obsession. For that reason it is probably the most dangerous and powerful potion in this room.”

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

36 The scented Letter

’

what the noses know

GARDENIA LOVE Nose: Alex Lee Top notes: Italian bergamot, mandarin, lemon, bigarade, coriander, cardamom, pink pepper Heart notes: gardenia accord, Turkish rose, sambac jasmine, orris, ylang ylang, black tea extract, maté absolute, coffee, milk Base notes: vanilla, beeswax absolute, patchouli absolute, sandalwood, mokawood ‘The word “love” is often bandied about so widely that that it loses its significance. For those who have experienced true love, however, the word still holds a very special meaning and emotional power. So the love elixir I created was inspired by one of the purest loves I have ever received, not from a romantic lover, but from my mother…

I attended a very academicallydemanding high school which often resulted in me staying up late to work and study, sometimes forsaking sleep altogether. My mother would not go to sleep, even though she’d have to work next day, choosing instead to stay up with me to make me coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and offer her presence as moral support. She was and still is my greatest fan, and these acts of love helped me get through the long and what might have been lonely nights.

To create a perfume that encapsulates the tenderness and sweetness of my mother, I knew I had to use gardenia, the noble and opulent flower with an intoxicating sweet scent found in the birthplace of my mother: Taiwan.

The boundless fragrance of the gardenia symbolises the expansive generosity of my mother. I used a natural black tea extract, Coffee Pure Jungle EssenceTM, a new Mokawood ingredient (giving a creamy mocha/ chocolate note), coupled with a milk accord, to represent my mother’s late night drink offerings…

With this fragrance, I am always with her, and she is always with me. I dedicate this fragrance to my mother, my No. 1 supporter, the woman who I love the most, and the person who taught me the significance of love…’

‘

Nasri has mentioned a distillation of herbs that would give her renewed radiance and would restore vigour to her eyes. “Take it, and this evening put a teaspoon of it into your tea. You’ll sleep much better and, you wait, tomorrow morning you’ll feel another person. Take it and come back tomorrow evening at five to tell me how you are.” Salma had paused for a moment before accepting the phial but, in fact, the next morning, as the pharmacist had told her, she felt another person. All a-sparkle, all desire, from her lips to her breast. Even though it was March and the air was not yet warm, she took a cold shower, which had served only to stir her even more.

Without even knowing how and why, she found herself in the street, on her way to the pharmacy. Her desire was there, a cluster of shade and light.

Elias Khoury, The Broken Mirrors

ROME ANTIQUE Nose: Vanina Muracciole Top notes: Italian bergamot, cinnamon, pink pepper, cardamom, nutmeg and incense Heart notes: Florentine iris, violet leaf absolute, orange flower absolute, styrax Base notes: leather accord, patchouli, benzoin, labdanum, sandalwood, castoreum, vanilla ‘The love desire involves all human senses but the sense of smell is probably the most crucial. We love the odour of somebody, or we don’t. Since antiquity, perfumes have played a decisive role in seduction, from Aphrodite, goddess of love, who used myrrh to attract Adonis, god of fragrances. To illustrate my Magic Love Potion I played with contrasts. As love itself plays...! There’s no rule. The result is a multi-faceted perfume built around Florentine iris; in Greek mythology, iris is a divine messenger and I would keep the symbolic “love messenger” in my formula. Iris is also the flower of artist and poets. So this elixir plays with the ambiguity of a masculine style of construction with feminine raw materials – on a male skin, the flower part will be highlighted, while on a feminine one, the leather will…’

SWEAT AND TEARS

’

Nose: Cécile Hua Top notes: black walnut accord, NoxolideTM, carrot, orris, magnolia Heart notes: warm milk, red seaweed, oakmoss Base notes: sueded leather, amber, labdanum, cedarwood, OrcanoxTM ‘Love is powerful, uncontrollable; it goes right through you and takes your feelings to an extreme (desire, lust, ecstasy... but also fear, rage, jealousy…) Yet it’s only once love is shared that its strength fully reaches its peak and takes on a deeper meaning. Love is the salt of life.

I called my fragrances “Sweat & Tears” because love always brings both: the cold sweat of apprehension, the shared sweats of love-making, tears of joy, tears of rage…

I blended NoxolideTM, an ingredient with a strong walnut facet, with carrot for depth, and cedarwood for support. The sueded leather brings an enveloping animalic warmth, while the amber facet is the heart: to me, the amber/ leather combo is the “sweat” part of the story… I rounded it with the creaminess of iris and the sensuality of labdanum; the result is a new Chypre that I absolutely adore and funnily enough, so does my husband – and it smells irresistible on him…’

For your info, Pitti Fragranze happens every September in Florence, and for two days it’s actually open to the perfume-loving public (although the ‘UNSCENT’ exhibition is very much By Invitation Only). Date for your diary, then: 11th-13th September 2015. pittiimagine.com The

scented Letter

37

It’s about you

Pomegranate

YOUR SCENTS OF AUTUMN We asked our VIP subscribers – via Facebook and Twitter (@perfumesociety) – which are the scents that embody autumn, to you. Here’s what you shared with us…

Red wine Fireworks

& cheese

Mushrooms

Pumpkins Toffee apples

Conkers

Woodsmoke

Leaves

Moth balls

Apple pie spices Cardamom

Moss

Hot chocolate Cashmere

Rainy pavements

The

scented Letter

Photographs: Fotolia.com

Wet dog

37

events

RSVP

Through our contacts in the perfume world, The Perfume Society has amazing access to places, people and happenings – and we want to share that with you. So you’ll find many other exciting events on our website: just visit www.perfumesociety.org/events for info/to book

A FRAGRANT EVENING WITH L’OCCITANE Date: Thursday 13th November 6 - 8 p.m.

Celebrate the return of Botanical Essence No.100

Join us at L’Occitane en Provence’s Covent Garden boutique for a fabulous evening of fragrance, chocolates and Provence wine - your chance to be introduced to the wonderful new Arlésienne collection, while exploring the brand’s classic fragrance creations. Hear about the history of L’Occitane, discuss notes and explore ingredients, as well as receiving tailored fragrance consultations. There’ll be hand massages and skincare consultations, too.

The Perfume Society team, including CoFounder Jo Fairley, will be there – and we really looking forward to seeing new and old friends. Everyone will receive a 15% discount on regular products (valid only on the night of the event) and a gorgeous goody bag worth £40 with any purchase.

Tickets are priced £10.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SENSE OF SMELL

© Syda Productions - Fotolia.com

Date: Saturday 29th November (London) 11 a.m. - 12.30 p.m. and 2.45 – 4.15 p.m.

✷ &

Courses

workshops

As a VIP Subscriber, you’re invited to one of these workshops, which we host around the country. Improving your sense of smell not only allows you to get more out of your perfumes, but by sharpening that sense – which is linked with our ability to taste – we get deeper pleasure out of life itself.

Jo Fairley, The Perfume Society’s Co-Founder, was taught to turbo-charge her sense of smell by some of the world’s greatest ‘noses’. In this free workshop – which she originally taught at Alain de Botton’s School of Life, in London – you will learn a ‘nose workout’ which after just a few weeks should hugely improve your sense of smell, and allow you to experience the fragrances you wear in a new and exciting way.

The workshop is free to anyone who is signed up as a subscriber to The Perfume Society, and these one-and-a-half hour sessions will be held all around the UK. Do bring a friend/daughter/mum, for an additional £15 – this is a fun activity to share; both of you will receive a little perfumed goodie bag, on the day, there are refreshments – and of course, you’ll get to meet fellow perfume-lovers…

There is another session in Hastings on Saturday 11th January, 3 – 5 p.m. – more details on our website.

Date: Thursday November 27th (Guildford) To mark the revival of Botanical Essence No.100, Liz Earle skincare/fragrance is hosting a wonderful evening event with The Perfume Society Co-Founder Lorna McKay, for our VIP subscribers: a sensational evening of botanicallyinspired food and wine pairing to celebrate the return of this beautiful fragrance. Tickets cost £15, redeemable against any purchases made on the night.

Spaces are strictly limited (and going fast); to book your place call Liz Earle’s Guildford store on 01483-400760. All attendees will receive a goodie bag.

NB At time of going to press, there was availability for all the events above. We apologise if all spaces have been filled since then, and encourage you to revisit the Events page for updates. We also send bulletins to Perfume Society subscribers announcing new events.

The

scented Letter

41

first whiffs

latest launches Welcome to the round-up of our curated ‘finds’ from among autumn’s exciting - and often seriously sensual - launches. Most are widely available (and where they’re not, we tell you). So now, as a Perfume Society subscriber, head out with your booklet of blotters - and sniff them out for yourself…

autumn SCENT SECRETS As we reach for our opaque tights, knee boots and pashminas, many of us also feel it’s time for a new, more sensual fragrance. So do turn to p.18 to find out more about FR.eD – short for ‘Fragrance Editor’ – The Perfume Society’s own ‘virtual fragrance advisor who’ll lead you by the hand to a new, seasonal scent ‘love’ as if by magic. But in addition, here are some tips for getting the most out of your perfume choices, in this chillier weather…

1 As the central heating goes on and your skin starts to dry out, you may well find that your fragrance doesn’t last as long on the skin. Well-moisturised skin gives fragrance something to ‘cling’ to: apply an unscented body lotion to your pulse-points (facial moisturiser, on the neck), and then apply perfume, to help it ‘go the distance’.

2 This is the time of year ‘layering’ was truly invented for – first the bath oil, then the body cream, then your fragrance.

That way your scent will ‘time-release’ as the day (or night) wears on.

3 Never rub your wrists together, NB, when you spray scent.

It means a bit of flapping your arms about to allow the scent to dry, but if you rub your wrists, you interfere with the molecular development of the scent on your skin.

4 Don’t only wear fragrance on the body – use it to perfume your clothes. Fragrance loves to ‘cling’ to fabrics, and it can be wonderful to come across a favourite scarf or cardigan, infused with a favourite scent. The only caveat?

Do spritz a white tissue first, to ensure that the juice won’t stain pale-coloured clothes. Then spritz with abandon.

THE FRAGRANCE FAMILIES

DY

CHY

O W O

EN

L

RI

NTA

O FL

ORIE

PRE

As scentophiles know, fragrances fall into different ‘families’. So we’ve used the same classification system for launches as on our www.perfumesociety.org website. Just look for the coloured strip above the name of the perfume, which is your visual clue to the families. (These are listed below.) Most of us are drawn to a specific family/families: once you know which you fall into, that colour can act as a cue – and help you take a short-cut to the ones you may want to try first…

L TA

FLO

RA

FRESH

42

The

scented Letter

L

GO

U

A RM

ND

FOUGERE

4160 TUESDAYS TART’S KNICKER DRAWER

Rising star indy house 4160 Tuesdays just launched this floriental amber scent and perfumer Sarah McCartney observes: ‘It’s my most sophisticated fragrance so far, so I felt obliged to give it a daft name’. Zesty citrus notes of bergamot, orange, grapefruit, pink pepper and a touch of spice open.

The heart swirls with rose, raspberry, jasmine, cedarwood, sandalwood, violet, tuberose and guaiac wood, before a smouldering finale of musk, amber, benzoin, vanilla and tobacco. £90 for 100ml eau de parfum 4160tuesdays.com

ANGELA FLANDERS BLEU DE CHINE

A beautiful new limited edition scent inspired by Chinese blue and white fabrics, from Spitalfields-based perfumer Angela Flanders. Almost aromatherapeutically cool and soothing (and we surely all need a bit of that, at this frenzied time of year), she’s taken bergamot, lavender and patchouli, describing the result as a ‘blue scent’. If you prefer your scents to whisper than to shout, this is refreshing - and just as wearable as blue jeans.

(There’s a ‘matching’ candle, too, FYI.) £55 for 50ml eau de toilette angelaflanders-perfumer.com

ANNICK GOUTAL VENT DE FOLIE

Sweet peas are much-loved – but hard to find in fragrance. If you love a just-picked bunch of the flowers, though, try this latest from Camille Goutal and Isabelle Doyen, captured in Annick Goutal’s signature goldtopped bottle. Tangy notes of blood orange, sweet blackcurrant and juicy raspberry are layered over a heart of airy sweet pea, hedione molecules (from white flowers) and geranium, with a sillage that’s soft and powdery, combining white musks and cedar. £64 for 50ml eau de toilette At Selfridges

ARQUISTE THE ARCHITECT’S CLUB

ATELIER FLOU SLOANE ROSE

BALENCIAGA B. BALENCIAGA

Imagine a group of architects gathering for cocktails at Mayfair’s smartest Art Deco smoking room.

That’s exactly what Arquiste’s Carlos Huber - inspired by a Claridges interior from the 1920s - has succeeded in bottling, via juniper berry and lemon peel oils, bitter orange, guaiac wood, oakwood, vanilla absolute and amber: a warm, velvety, supernuzzleable swirl that evokes wood panelling, velvet, crackling fires - and the clink of iced drinks. £135 for 100ml eau de parfum bloomperfume.co.uk

The stunning, table-lighter-esque flacons of Parisian perfume house Atelier Flou’s haute couture fragrances make them worthy of a mention in our ‘It’s All About The Bottle’ issue - but Sloane Rose has risen to become our favourite from the collection: a cloud of delicate roses, garlanded with jasmine, revealing touches of orange and violet. Amber underpins, with its warm sensuality, alongside cedary whispers. £195 for 50ml eau de toilette At Selfridges (Oxford St./Exchange Square)

The first Balenciaga fragrance released under the creative direction of Alexander Wang, with Domitille Bertier transferring the DNA of the brand into scent. Wang says: ‘I’ve always been attracted to scents with strong green notes, and we also added a darker woody flair.’ So: find top notes of lily of the valley, violet leaves and – yes – edamame peas, with a heart of orris root and cedar, beautifully underpinned by ambrette seed and cashmere wood. £48 for 50ml eau de parfum debenhams.com

The

scented Letter

43

BALMAIN EXTATIC INTENSE GOLD

A deepened version of the original launched in 2014, Extatic Intense Gold plays up the key ingredient of the first Extatic scent with night blooming jasmine in the top, blended with sweet vanilla blossom and heliotrope in the heart. It settles into a simmering base of amber and labdanum – and echoing the theme of this edition of The Scented Letter, we think you’ll love the bottle, opulently lacquered in gold and black. £70 for 90ml eau de parfum At Liberty

BYREDO MOJAVE GHOST

This new beauty from the Swedish perfume house pays homage to the plucky little ‘ghost flower’, which which blossoms in America’s inhospitable Mojave desert. Soft but heady notes of musky ambrette are combined with a new-to-us Jamaican ‘nesberry’ fruitiness, powdery violet and magnolia, rounded out by amber, elegant cedarwood and the comecloser warmth of Chantilly musk. As ever with Byredo, designed to make you think - as well as smell divine... £52 for 50ml eau de parfum At Debenhams

44

The

scented Letter

BOTTEGA VENETA KNOT

Who doesn’t love a bit of winter sunshine at this time of year? This latest from the Italian luxury goods label whisks us to the Italian Riviera, with a saltwater breeze wafting through a garden. Knot’s overture reminds us of crisp linens, with its mandarin, limette, neroli and orange flower accord while in the rich heart, rose and peony blossom. It says ‘ciao’ via the sensuality of tonka bean and musk.

Bellissima! £52 for 30ml eau de parfum harrods.com

CHERYL STORMFLOWER

One of the most talked-about celebrity launches of the year, from Cheryl Cole, this fresh yet floral aroma is designed to capture the many facets of her personality, while sensuously conjuring up the scent of the air after a storm. Using top notes of mandarin and nectarine, it follows through to a floral heart of freesia and peach blossom. The dry-down veils skin in the soft scent of vanilla, sandalwood and musks. £23 for 30ml eau de parfum Superdrug.com

BVLGARI LE GEMME AMARENA

Bulgari’s new collection Le Gemme (Italian for ‘gems’) marries the worlds of jewellery and fragrance via a glorious set of six fragrances, inspired by the tradition of the finest bijoux.

Composed by Givaudan’s Daniela Andrier, Amarena is inspired by the amethyst: a delicate floral with touches of fruit, delicately blending lavender, heliotrope, powdery iris and soft violet. Do take time to explore the other very collectible ‘gems’ in the collection, too £215 for 100ml eau de parfum At Harrods

DOLCE & GABBANA THE ONE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

Dolce & Gabbana-lovers: here’s a VIP bottle for the collection. Adorned with a Roman-style gold coin, this red flacon hides one of D&G’s so-popular, timeless fragrances. For the woman ‘of fierce yet sparkling splendour’, a scent with the juiciest of overtures: mandarin, lychee, peach and bergamot. You’ll then find Madonna lilies, wrapped in soft vanilla, warm amber and eternally sensual musk.

(The bonus? A dark bottle like this preserves the ‘juice’ inside brilliantly.) £62 for 50ml eau de parfum At Boots

DKNY WOMEN SPARKLING FALL

Drawing its inspiration from New York’s famous sky line – which never fails to excite, as we drive into Manhattan - this generous bottle and its sequin-printed box is a limited edition from DKNY - just perfect for autumn. With a fruity bouquet of grapefruit, blackcurrant and plum at the top, the heart brings notes of rose, olibanum and pink pepper, before the elements of tonka bean, benzoin and patchouli oil drift sensually in. £41 for 100ml eau de toilette Superdrug.com

DKNY BE DELICIOUS SPARKLING APPLE LimiTeD Edition

ELIE SAAB LE PARFUM COLLECTOR’S EDITION

A variation on the original classic Be Delicious, but in a sparkly new limited edition appletastic bottle for Christmas. This succulent scent bursting with fruits - opens with top notes of juicy watermelon, tangy redcurrant, and of course that all-important delectable green apple.

The heart introduces the floral notes of sultry rose, sweet lily of the valley, violet leaf and tiaré flower. The base simmers with amber, magnolia wood and smooth, creamy sandalwood. £37 for 50ml eau de parfum At The Fragrance Shop

The classic Le Parfum - only this time, the iconic scent is wrapped up in a stunning gold bottle for Christmas. Originally mastered by perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, the equally exquisite juice bursts open with orange blossom, followed by the sweet, soft scents of Grandiflorum and sambac jasmine in the heart. But then, the fragrance’s warmth drifts in to seduce us: elements of cedar and patchouli, drizzled with rose honey. £76 for 90ml eau de parfum selfridges.com

ERH1012 DEAD OF NIGHT

ESTéE LAUDER MODERN MUSE CHIC

FRAPIN NEVERMORE

Launching into the new and stunning Harrods Salon de Parfums with an 18 karat gold lid, Dead of Night is a hand-crafted perfume oil based on pure and natural oudh extract.

Composed by nose Christophe Laudamiel, it entrances with sustainably-harvested Borneo oudh, accompanied by accords of bergamot and violet leaf at the top, jasmine and rose at its core - and alongside the agarwood (oudh), equally mysterious notes of incense, amber, sandalwood. £240 for 10ml parfum oil At Harrods

A new, second edition of the awardwinning Modern Muse, ‘Chic’ is just that – an autumnal, floral-woody sibling, entwining vibrant floras and spiced with deep, heady, black woods. Officially, it contrasts ‘Vivid Florals’ accord with ‘Striking Ebony Woods Accord’ – but we think you might make out jasmine sambac absolute, davana, plum, honey, stargazer lilies, tuberose, suede musk, cashmere wood, patchouli, agarwood, labdanum and vanilla. Chic? We’ll say. £62 for 50ml eau de parfum esteelauder.co.uk

Frapin is a Cognac house, now brought to life through fragrance – a logical step, once you understand their Cognacs are blended for aroma, not only taste. Ann Sophie Benhaghel was inspired by ‘The Raven’ – a gothic poem by Edgar Allan Poe – to devise this dreamy floral, drenched with rose. Gloriously Gothic, it hits you with fizzy aldehydes, spiced with black pepper, saffron and fragrant nutmeg, black fruits, amber and cedar. £98 for 100ml eau de parfum bloomperfume.co.uk

The

scented Letter

45

GUCCI OUD

HERMÈS EAU DES MERVEILLES

JEAN PATOU ADIEU SAGESSE

Orientals are famous for their fragrant charisma – and this new oudh from Gucci is for those who can confidently carry off the ancient, intense scent of agarwood, designed by the brand’s Creative Director Frida Giannini. Your nose will encounter notes of fruity pear and raspberry, alongside rose, orange flower and saffron, before the base settles into its rich composition of amber, musk, patchouli and that all-important, 100% certified pure oudh wood. £90 for 50ml eau de parfum At House of Fraser

‘For women who dream with their eyes wide open and see stars in daylight.’

A wonderfully ‘dressed-up’ fragrance, Eau des Merveilles celebrates its 10th year with a limited edition collector’s bottle edged in silver. Said to have been inspired by ambergris (the name means ‘Water of Wonders’), it’s mastered with accords of benzoin, vetiver, oak, cedar, Peruvian balsam, ambergris, pink pepper, Indonesian pepper, cardamom, elemi, bitter orange and lemon. £97 for 100ml eau de toilette At House of Fraser

In-house perfumer Thomas Fontaine celebrates Patou’s 100th year by bringing back Henri Alméras’s three scents (originally created in 1925) in Part II of the ‘Heritage Collection’ – each said to be ideal for a particular haircolour. Are you a redhead?

Surrender to top notes of rhubarb, lily of the valley, neroli, narcissus and bergamot, a dominant heart pulsing with sweet gardenia and tuberose.

Then wait for the civet and musk to purr, as it warms on your freckled skin. £150 for 100ml eau de parfum harrods.com

JEAN PATOU DEUX AMOURS

JEAN PATOU QUE SAIS-JE?

JIMMY CHOO STARS LIMITED EDITION

And if you’re brunette? Try this floral-fruity Chypre – which translates as ‘the moment of hesitation’ through a come-hither fusion of apricot, peach and orange flower, jasmine, carnation and rose in the heart, before delivering a honey-sweetened patchouli, civet and musk finale. Each of these classics was a landmark fragrance, well worth taking the time to discover, explore and enjoy in store – and let us know if the famous ‘haircolour’ theory works…! £150 for 100ml eau de parfum harrods.com

A unique Chypre-gourmand, this limited edition seasonal fragrance will surely become the go-to scent for the cool, glamorous and spirited party girl. Candied orange, pear and JC’s signature tiger orchid greet you at first spritz, before the heart sweetens with rich toffee. In the base? Lashings of sexy Indonesian patchouli. For this edition, the classic glass faceted bottle is lacquered in gold and capped in black – a must-have for the Jimmy Choo-lover/collector. £49 for 60ml eau de parfum boots.com

Deux Amours is the blonde ‘option’ in this collection (though of course, there’s no law that says you can’t wear any of the trio, if you fall head over heels…) Formerly known (and loved) as Amour Amour, this is a seductive, green, floral bouquet: blackcurrant adds its touch of tartness to bergamot and neroli, while jasmine, tuberose, ylang ylang and rose play in the heart, sensually smoothed by sandalwood and styrax in the base. £150ml for 100ml eau de parfum harrods.com

46

The

scented Letter

JUICY COUTURE VIVA LA JUICY SO INTENSE LIMITED EDITION

LADY GAGA EAU DE GAGA

LE GALION SORTILÈGE

Capturing the original fragrance in a deluxe parfum spray, this new collector’s edition – extravagantly self-indulgent, with its clear jewel case and sculptural ribbon - is inspired by the ‘effortlessly beautiful and extravagant Viva La Juicy muse, who is always glamorous and the life of the party.’ The elixir itself yummily layers notes of mandarin orange, wild berries, honeysuckle, gardenia, sandalwood, creamy vanilla, melted caramel and amber. £70 for 100ml parfum spray At Debenhams

The second fragrance from the undeniably avant-garde, always watchable singer Lady Gaga was created alongside Givaudan perfumer Ursula Wandel. Technically ‘shareable’, the result of their collaboration is actually a delightfully powdery aroma which balances woody, musky and floral accords, featuring intoxicating white violet at the heart, sparkling lime at the top and an almost ‘primal’ base of leather. It also taps into this season’s trend for sexy, inkily black bottles. £20 for 30ml eau de parfum boots.com

Le Galion was the ‘hit’ of Florence’s scent show Pitti Fragranze: a ‘phoenix’ brand relaunched for a new millennium, featuring revivals of acclaimed vintage scents plus new additions. The legendary nose Paul Vacher’s stunningly sophisticated creation seduces a new generation with its floral/Oriental/powdery magic: aldehydes introducing us to lily of the valley, lilac, ylang-ylang, jasmine, rose, sandalwood, vetiver, labdanum, musk, amber. Sublime. £125 for 100ml eau de parfum liberty.co.uk

LEIGHTON DENNY LIGHT & DARK

MICHAEL KORS WHITE

NARCISO RODRIGUEZ FOR HER LIMITED EDITION

He may be renowned as an A-list nail technician, but Leighton Denny has always longed to create his own perfume. This massive, elegant floriental bouquet is simply bursting with notes of lily, gardenia, jasmine and rose at the heart, after the uplifting, citrussy intro of mandarin and grapefruit, off-set by peach and white pepper. Light & Dark dries down to a sultry trail of spices and woody aromas, with plenty of patchouli, incense and amber. £43.50 for 70ml eau de parfum ld-scent.com

White. Always classic. Always desirable… And also the timeless inspiration for Michael Kors’s latest.

First, enjoy the opening ‘fizz’ of aldehydes, alongside violet leaves, freesia and ylang. Sheer florals are given a radiant warmth, as the scent develops: a heart of jasmine, tuberose, white peony and gardenia, mellowing to a sensual base of creamy white musk, amber, tonka, vanilla and cedar.

It may be called ‘White’, but we think its glamour’s perfect for after-dark… £56.50 for 50ml eau de parfum At Boots

For those who wish to display it as well as spray it: the classic Narciso for her– here, dressed up with a lavish, silky black atomiser, further upping the glam factor of this modern Chypre. This atomiser is available for both the 75ml eau de parfum and eau de toilette – and we suggest trying them both; the key element of musk (with its floral, woody amber sensuality) pervades both, but the compositions vary subtly. £72 for 75ml eau de parfum At The Fragrance Shop

The

scented Letter

47

48

OLFACTIVE STUDIO OMBRE INDIGO

ONE DIRECTION YOU & I

SERGE LUTENS L’INCENDIAIRE

OS’s latest is a collaboration between Brazilian photographer Gustavo Pellizzon and Robertet perfumer Mylene Alran. The result? A colourful blue ‘juice’ which sets out to reflect the shadows within us, via the scent itself – and a stunning photographic visual on the outer box. This atmospheric, smoky blend offers woods and resins in the top, saffron and tuberose in the heart, with the deep intrigue of incense, benzoin and papyrus emerging later. £127 for 100ml edp intense olfactivestudio.com

Will this third scent from blockbuster British boy band One Direction – with its bright floral and fruity accords top the charts, sales-wise, this Christmas…? Could be. Named after hit single ‘You & I’, it opens with top notes of mango and grapefruit, with a heart of creamy osmanthus, orchid and delicate peony. As the aroma dries down on the skin, you (or more likely your daughter/goddaughter) will thrill to soft musk, indulgent praline and sandalwood. £28 for 50ml eau de parfum At Boots

‘L’Incendiaire provides me with the spark I need, and by declaring my flame I ignite what burns within me, and consumes me’. An intriguing woody scent created from ‘the finest ingredients’, L’Incendiaire is the first in Serge Lutens Gold Collection line, available exclusively to Harrods. In true, enigmatic Serge Lutens style, we know precious little else about its composition – suffice to say it’s a rich, opulent scent in a black bottle, luxuriously name-plated in gold. £380 for 50ml eau de parfum harrods.com

THE 7 VIRTUES PATCHOULI OF RWANDA

THIERRY MUGLER ANGEL GLAMORAMA EDITION

TOM FORD PATCHOULI ABSOLU

The key goal of 7 Virtues is to create and promote peace, via sustainable harvesting and collaborations with farmers in troubled zones. For the latest fragrance, they enlisted a supplier in Rwanda who employs adult orphans and widows of the genocide.

Harvested with great love and care, this woody-spicy aroma combines soothing hibiscus, red grapefruit, cedar flower and freesia – all perfectly off-set the earthy notes of patchouli. A scent with an extra feel-good factor. £54 for 50ml eau de parfum the7Virtues.com

Angel - featured in The Perfume Bible’s ‘100 Fragrances to Try Before You Die’ - pioneered the ‘gourmand’ category of fragrances, and its legions of fans look to each new bottle for an addition to their collection. This Christmas’s doesn’t disappoint: a stunning black ‘glitter’ edition to showcase the scent itself: utterly distinctive, with its good-enough-toeat heart of fruit and honey, alongside elements of vanilla, caramel, chocolate - and pulsing waves of patchouli. £65 for 50ml eau de toilette selfridges.com

And if you love patchouli, you’ll adore this shareable new addition to Tom Ford’s exclusive Private Blend line: seriously woodsy, with patchouli linking all stages of the scent from first burst to last lingering whiff. It harnesses three varieties of this key ingredient, contrasted with bay leaf, rosemary and moss. There’s not much 1970s hippie about this: more after-dark glamour, a new play on the Eastern oil which perfumed the skin of bohemians and jet-setters alike. £142 for 50ml eau de parfum harveynichols.com

The

scented Letter

masculine & moreish

DIESEL ONLY THE BRAVE WILD

DOLCE & GABBANA THE ONE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

GORILLA PERFUMES SMUGGLER’S SOUL

Diesel’s ‘fist-shaped’ bottle is a stand-out in the male fragrance world – newly available in camouflage green. (And of course, this Scented Letter we’re all about the bottle…)

OTB Wild embodies ‘raw instincts, nature creeping over the urban landscape and the courage to shape the future’ – via elements of grapefruit essence, black pepper, citronella, geranium, lavender, nutmeg, coconut, vetiver, cedarwood. He won’t disappear into the background in this. £57 for 125ml eau de toilette At Boots

Embellished with a signature gold coin, this collector’s edition bottle takes inspiration from D&G’s 2014 collection - which was all about discovery of ancient Sicily, and Greek culture. Open the dark chocolate-y brown flacon to delight in notes of coriander, basil and grapefruit introduce the scent, softening to a spicy heart of cardamom and ginger.

The lingering trail on the skin?

So-masculine tobacco, cedarwood – and the softness of amber. £62 for 50ml eau de parfum At Boots

Gorilla Perfumes – from the team that brought you Lush – invite you on a journey with every intriguing scent.

This very personal creation uses two types of sustainable sandalwood (now flourishing in Australia), highlighting the discovery by Gorilla’s Simon Constantine of the smuggling destroying much of the traditional Indian sandalwood supplies. Alongside sandalwood, this uplifting yet soothing scent tells its story via vetiver, tagetes and lemongrass. £18 for 10ml ‘Liquid Perfume’ lush.co.uk

JOHN VALVATOS OUD

FLORIS JERMYN STREET

RICHARD JAMES SAVILE ROW

Inspired by Middle Eastern luxury, Oud is a masculine ‘rock and roll’ scent, its black and gold bottle based on a musician’s microphone. Pulsing with oud – from a Givaudan ecoinitiative – this multi-faceted fragrance takes gin-like juniper, nutmeg, sage, cypress and tobacco, spicing them up with cinnamon, pepper, cardamom, cloves, Turkish rose, saffron, jsamins and osmanthus. Oud in the base blends with cedar, opoponax, incense, myrrh, leather, labdanum. £90 for 125ml eau de parfum At Debenhams

Elegance and style are Floris watchwords – and this new launch marks 284 years of fragrance-making history, in London at its historic home at 89 Jermyn Street. Vetiver’s woven through the top, heart and base, enlivened by a burst of citrus (via bergamot and mandarin), together with violet, coriander, armoise and juniper berry. Then as it’s warmed on his skin, discover sensual touches of musk, warm amber – and just a hint of crisp, pencil-case cedarwood. £160 for 100ml eau de parfum florislondon.com

Luxury designer Richard James is renowned for his contemporary tailoring – and this autumn sees the relaunch of his equally sharplypackaged signature scent, Savile Row. Seductive and masculine, despite the massive bunch of flowers at the heart (lily of the valley, lavender absolute, Moroccan rose), the floralcy’s anchored by the warmth of leather, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver and oak moss, along with a ‘soft suede’ accord. One to nuzzle up to, for sure. £76 for 100ml eau de toilette richardjames.co.uk

The

scented Letter

49

Popcorn

Lights, camera… popcorn! Every time beauty and fragrance editor Viola Levy steps inside an Odeon, she’s instantly a little girl again…

“

I remember so clearly the first film I was taken to see. I was about five and it was Honey I Shrunk The Kids. I vaguely recall the excitement of being led into the Wood Green multiplex - passing a giant promotional cardboard display for Look Who’s Talking featuring a giant baby in sunglasses, on the way into the theatre. Huddled in that dark auditorium, I was simply awestruck for the hour and a half that followed. But it was the smell of popcorn that really made the experience that extra bit magical - and even now it brings back pangs of nostalgia. (Even when I’m being begrudgingly dragged along to see Transformers: Age of Extinction…)

As a child - aside from Christmas morning - few things were more exciting than a trip to the cinema. Those were the days where you had to buy the local paper to find out the film times (and how prehistoric that now seems). Then came the butterflies on car journey, as we pulled off the A10 into the ugly grey leisure complex and the majestic UCI logo loomed into sight. Stepping through the automatic doors onto that garish blue carpet, the first whiff of popcorn was the signal that 90 minutes of magic awaited us at the other end of a dimly-lit corridor.

The enveloping sweetness wafting from that ridiculously overpriced snack really cements my love of the cinema – and the wonderfully immersive experience that it is. (Which I presume is why film theatres didn’t shut down when the VCR was invented.) It allows us to switch off from the rest of the world for two hours, perhaps cosy up to a loved one in

50 The scented Letter

a dark auditorium and (with any luck) enjoy a life-affirming two hours. Even now, when I go to the cinema and I’m waiting in the ticketing area – with its shiny floors, small TVs playing trailers overhead, wailing toddlers and worldweary staff in baseball caps – it’s the warm confectionery fug of the popcorn that takes me back to 1989 and Wayne Szalinski all over again.

Yet those childhood trips were always dented by the fact I was rarely allowed to feast on the snack whose smell so bewitched me. The grown-ups always dismissed it as a ‘complete rip-off’ (and admittedly they were right; popcorn has one of the highest mark-ups of any food item).

One particular friend’s mother would audaciously carry what was practically a picnic hamper into the theatre, showing a flagrant disregard for the ‘No Food To Be Brought Onto The Premises’ rule. And there was none of that guilty scurrying in, hiding the food beneath our coats nonsense either. Tesco bag in each hand, she boldly strode up to the terrified ticketing steward, drawing herself up to full height like the leader The first whiff of of a pack of gorillas and shooting him an icy glare popcorn was the as if to say ‘are you feeling signal that 90 lucky … punk?’ We got in without a hitch. minutes of magic Once inside, we would awaited us at the be doled out sandwiches wrapped in tinfoil, together other end of a with a carton of orange juice and – oh joy of joys – a dimly-lit corridor box of raisins. (I know, what an ungrateful brat.) I don’t blame the adults one bit - and understand that shelling out for popcorn for a handful of children would probably have cost them a small fortune, only to have us all bouncing off the walls on a sugar high all afternoon to show for it.

Perhaps because of that ‘deprivation’ that I now can’t go to the cinema without buying popcorn. A whacking great tub of it. The smell just hooks me, and I’m five years old once more. Yes, I certainly do know it’s ridiculously overpriced - but for me it’s worth every penny to resurrect one of those simple childhood delights we try to hard to recapture as adults. Incidentally, I recently discovered that cinemas rarely make a profit on the films themselves - but mainly on snacks. Which also makes me feel like I’m doing my bit for my local picture house…

But philanthropy aside, part of me still gets a childish kick out of having the freedom to be able to waste money on what are essentially grains and puffs of air, sprinkled with toxic obesity-causing sugar for good measure. Totally worth the 20-minute queue, the lack of change from a £10 note, the bloating and the sugar crash afterwards.

© Ljupco Smokovski - Fotolia.com

it takes me right back

©2014 EA FRAGRANCES CO. NICKI MINAJ and ONIKA NICKI MINAJ are trademarks used under license.

THE FRAGRANCES OF CHRISTMAS

+ +

GORGEOUS GIFTS

PERFECT PARTY PERFUMES

+

SCENTS TO SPICE UP YOUR LIFE

Cover images © Philippe Schlienger

In the next edition of The Scented Letter...