Victoria: 2669 posts

Note: I’ve been meaning to let you know that the Long Lost Favorite Perfume series has been forced on a vacation due to my move. Most of my vintage samples are still waiting their shipment to my new home, so once they arrive, I will resume the series.

Since I posted about Hermès L’Ambre des Merveilles yesterday, I realized that it’s going to join a lineup of several other new amber perfumes for fall. Below are a few fragrances that captured my attention.

Maître Parfumeur et Gantier will launch Ambre Doré in August 2012. Created by perfumer Frederic Stalin, it’s described as “classical and mysterious.” The notes will include geranium, clary sage, styrax, oud, ambergris, coriander, saffron, myrrh, sandalwood, and vetiver. “The choice of amber was not by accident, as in this olfactive mix the oud needs to perform as is hoped for; control its strength and respect its role to bring harmony to the formula.” Eau de Parfum will retail for $120. Continue reading →

“Why does all I do become byzantine?” — Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel

Chanel is launching a new fragrance Coco Noir in September 2012. The fragrance was inspired by the time Coco Chanel spent in Venice, and the idea of Venetian velvet is a recurring motif. A variation on Coco, an opulent floral oriental, Coco Noir was created by Jacques Polge. The notes include Calabrian bergamot, grapefruit, rose, jasmine, narcissus, geranium, tonka bean, Indonesian patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla, incense, and  white musk.

It will be available at selected stores starting August 15th and worldwide in September. Please see more about the launch and available sizes at Nowsmellthis. Via theharlow.net

One evening my husband and I strolled through the Beguinage in Leuven, a university town in the Flemish part of Belgium. Beguinages (or begijnhofs as they are called in Dutch) were medieval lay sisterhoods in which women led lives of piety and charity without taking permanent vows. At best, the Catholic church had an ambivalent attitude towards the beguines. Women weren’t supposed to have this much freedom or to exist independently from male control. The sisterhoods were prosecuted and labeled as heretics, but despite all of this they maintained their order. Belgium had the highest number of beguinages in the world, and about 30 remain today (albeit non-functioning). If the desire to live free from men counts, then the beguines might very well represent the earliest form of the women’s movement.

Although today Leuven’s Beguinage is a UNESCO heritage site housing university students and faculty, there is an aura of serenity pervading its narrow streets. The setting sun tints the grey cobblestones a rich gold and plays on the still water in the canals. The swallows paint delicate arabesques over the sky, making me strain my neck as I admire their graceful spins. The red geraniums spilling out of the window boxes give off their dusty metallic scent, and each tiny streets ends in a small secret garden awash in roses and privet. The beguines may have vanished, but their oasis of quiet beauty remains. Continue reading →

Hermès is launching a new interpretation of Eau des Merveilles, a blend of amber and woods developed in 2004 by perfumers Ralf Schwieger and Nathalie Feisthauer. L’Ambre des Merveilles is created by Hermès in-house perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena. Ellena already reinterpreted Eau des Merveilles as the gourmand L’Elixir des Merveilles and mossy Eau Claire des Merveilles. 

L’Ambre des Merveilles includes notes of amber, vanilla, labdanum, and patchouli. It is described as sensual, mysterious and “almost aphrodisiac.”  Available starting August at Hermès boutiques and department store counters. Via abc-luxe (thank you to Nicolette for alerting me to it!)

Perfume names can be tricky. Noir leads you to imagine something glamorous and wickedly mysterious. You read Sport on the perfume bottle and before you even smell the top notes, you anticipate sharp citrus and lavender. Based on the name Etat Libre d’Orange Bijou Romantique, which in French means “a romantic jewel,” you’d expect something suitable for women who love kittens and wear far too much pink. I can almost hear Emily Howard from Little Britain saying, “It’s a lady’s perfume, and I’m a lady, you see.”

Now, as a woman who loves kittens—and really, who doesn’t!—and has enough pink accessories to dress up the whole city of Brussels, I don’t mind frilly and girly perfumes. But it’s not fair to call Bijou Romantique a frou-frou fragrance. It has a dose of retro charm thanks to its delicately powdered iris and jasmine, but the earthy vetiver and peppery bergamot give it an elegant austerity. Take a deeper inhale, and you suddenly realize that it’s a sibling of Shalimar, one of Guerlain’s crown jewels and the grandest of grand parfums.

Continue reading →