“We [are] just at the beginning. We’ve recruited the famous ‘nose’, Jacques Cavallier, and we are in the final phase of buying a country house in Grasse,” on the French Riviera, where the perfume laboratory will be built, he [the label’s head Yves Carcelle] said. “It’s like when we recruited Marc Jacobs and they asked us the date of the first collection, we replied ‘when Marc is ready’: it’s the same thing here, now it’s ‘when Jacques is ready’,” Carcelle said. Read the rest of the article.

Louis Vuitton recently made a surprising announcement that the brand is ready to venture into the perfume business under its own name. It hired perfumer Jacques Cavallier to serve as the in-house creator. Cavallier has authored numerous fragrances including best-sellers like L’eau d’Issey and Jean Paul Gaultier Classique. Louis Vutton is part of the LVMH conglomerate that already includes several high-profile perfume brands: Dior, Guerlain, Givenchy, and Kenzo, among others.

French Vogue reports that Louis Vuitton had already explored perfumery with three fragrances in the 1920s-1930s: Eau de Voyage, Heures d’Absence and Je, tu, il. I particularly like the ring of Heures d’Absence (Hours of Absence), which sounds wistful and bittersweet.

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Tom Ford Private Blend Lavender Palm was first presented at Tom Ford’s LA boutique last February. This year it finally went into wider distribution. Created by perfumer Yann Vasnier, Lavender Palm reinterprets the main fougère element, lavender. It frames the note with bergamot, lemon, lime blossom, clary sage, frankincense and woods. It is an elegant fragrance built on a rich aromatic accord.

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Top Selling Feminine Fragrances 2o12 France

Top Selling Perfumes USA : Popular Fragrances Spring 2012

Top Selling Feminine Fragrances for 2010 USA

Top Selling Feminine Fragrances for 2010 France

Top Selling Masculine Fragrances 2010 USA

Curious to see what sold well last year? Here are the top 20 best selling fragrances in the USA for the past year. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle was the number top seller, but note that the rest of the list is not organized by selling rank. In parentheses, I indicate the year of launch.

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle (2001)
The popularity of Coco Mademoiselle does not surprise me; it is a bold, memorable, distinctive perfume. It is also a high-quality perfume.  It has been the number one seller for several years in a row.

Chanel Chance Eau Tendre (2010)
A twist on Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue, but with a more sparkling fruit and red berry note. Even though Chance Eau Tendre is not very original, it is nicely done.

Clinique Happy (1997)
A trendsetting fruity-floral. It is a good choice for those who love effervescent citrusy-fruity notes paired with crisp florals and sheer woods.

Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue (2001)
Green apple and dry amber–a trendsetting fragrance with a great character.

Chanel No 5 (1921)
Iconic perfume! No further comment is needed. I am just glad to see it on the top-seller list.

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I recently spotted Stella McCartney’s new signature fragrance L.I.L.Y at the duty-free store.  It will be launched in the UK in April (the US launch at Sephora will happen in September 2012.) L.I.L.Y was created in collaboration between McCartney and perfumer Jacques Cavallier. It is a modern green chypre with a dominant lily of the valley accord. The first thing that I noticed was an interesting salty note, which makes this fresh and radiant lily of the valley accord surprising.  A note to self: to be revisited.

As McCartney explained to the Moodie report about the creation of L.I.L.Y:

“To bring in a more masculine, sensual element I started looking at moss, which I felt was the perfect complement. Then I found myself in Paris in the Autumn, during truffle season, and realised that was the final, darker, sexy element I’d been searching for.”

Cavallier added, “Perfumery is built on the art of contrasts. You need something black in order to make the white thing nice… Stella wanted a fragrance that redefined the extremely natural and fresh image of lily of the valley. To create more depth, we infused it with notes of truffle from the Perigord region of France, adding a diffuse, caressing texture.” Oak moss also features in the dry-down. “It was not easy to combine these ingredients but ultimately we succeeded. Stella is very demanding, but in a good way. She allows no compromises.”

Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

When I read about the niche perfume line by Kilian coming out with Amber Oud, a new fragrance for its Arabian Nights Collection, I did not feel at all excited. Another oud, another amber, another overplayed trendy note. So, when a helpful sales associate at Saks asked me if I wanted to try the new fragrance, I reluctantly reached for the blotter. I gingerly sniffed the white paper, and suddenly I was charmed. As I was drawn deeper into the spicy warmth of Amber Oud, I could not even hear the din of Saks’s beauty department, nor did I realize that I was blocking someone’s way. I was only conscious of the dark sweetness coming off the blotter, a mélange of spices, vanilla liqueur and smoky woods.

Sure enough, by Kilian’s prices brought me to the ground with a thud. Still I walked away with a sample, with which I have been living for the past couple of weeks. The beguiling moment of my first encounter with Amber Oud comes back whenever I wear it, which is a rare delight. There is nothing tired about this idea—the dense and rich oud is interspersed with the dry, crisp amber, which cuts through the richness and heft. The medicinal, “band aid” impression disliked by oud detractors is not obvious here. Like perfumer Calice Becker’s other ouds for by Kilian, Rose Oud and Pure Oud, it is similarly luminous. However, Amber Oud is the softest of her oud interpretations, a perfume with a suave, caressing character.

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