Part 1: Florals ~ Rose
Part 2: Florals ~ Jasmine and White Florals
Part 3: Florals ~ Lily of the Valley and Violet
Part 5: Essentials
Part 6: Orientals

The honeyed warmth of red roses, the apricot jam richness of jasmine, the raspberry bonbon sweetness of violet… The palette of floral effects is diverse, and some of the most remarkable compositions weave several floral notes to create a novel, dramatic effect. If you want a sensation of catching a whiff of a spring breeze or of being showered by rose petals, floral bouquets will satisfy these fantasies. When searching for just the right fragrant outfit, it is possible to classify floral blends in terms of their character: lush floral bouquets, abstract “silk slip” florals, refreshing green florals or coquettish and fun fruity florals. Of course, there are numerous variations on these themes and a dizzying variety of interpretations, but in navigating the floral sea, it helps to start with these basic categories.

Floral Bouquets

If you are after opulence, a classical floral bouquet is a good choice. Words like sumptuous and rich perfectly describe Jean Patou Joy, given its high-calorie blend of jasmine, rose and ylang-ylang. Somewhat more understated and austere is Chanel No 22, where rose, iris and jasmine are accented with resinous incense. Of a more modern vintage, but possessing all of the necessary trappings of a grand parfum is Bulgari Bvlgari Pour Femme. It is a rich blend of rose, peony, tuberose and violet, with a sandalwood-musk backdrop. Annick Goutal Grand Amour, on the other hand, makes the green watery hyacinth seductive thanks to a lavish dose of amber.

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Odin New York has just launched a new perfume, 07 Tanoke. Created by perfumer Corinne Cachen, this wood-based fragrance is inspired by the Californian seaside.

 “Amid the wilderness of coastal hinterland comes a woody blend grounded in soaring redwoods and warm musk. The core of Tanoke brings forth the balsamic resin of wet gaiacwood wrapped in smoky incense. Crisp black pepper, spicy ginger and bitter orange hover the surface with invigorating freshness.”

07 Tanoke includes the notes of ginger, bitter orange, black pepper, guaiacwood, smoky incense, nutmeg, redwood, patchouli and black musk. It retails for $120/100ml.

Like Odin New York’s other fragrances (01 Sunda, 02 Owari, 03 Century, 04 Petrana, and 06 Amanu), 07 Tanoke is available at Colette in Paris, Liberty in London, Odin New York, Pas de Deux, Barneys New York, Aedes de Venustas, and Hirshleifer’s in New York, Louis Boston in Boston, Forty Five Ten in Dallas, and Carrots in San Francisco. Via press release.

What perfume would you have liked to receive as a gift this holiday season? Are you giving a scented gift to anyone this year?

I hope that Chanel Coromandel is among my fragrance gifts this year, because after going through several decants, I decided that I am ready for a full bottle. The scented presents I am preparing include Cire Trudon candles and Estée Lauder Private Collection Jasmine White Moss body cream.

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

To all those fearing doom for today’s perfumery and saying that there can be nothing good under the sun, I say—smell Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum. Here we have a big “prestige brand” launching its first fragrance that by all accounts should be either a copycat or a predictable crowd pleaser. Instead, it is a sophisticated, polished composition with a voluptuous character. Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum intertwines leather and violet notes into an intricate accord that feels like warm silk on the skin, and—in a rare occasion of marketing concept matching the olfactory idea—evokes the sumptuous feel of Bottega Veneta’s classical intrecciato woven leather.

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Givaudan launched a new version of its iPerfumer app, iPerfumer2. The app is designed to help people find fragrance. It can be used to create list of best-suited perfumes, to develop a list of favorites, to see how other fragrance buyers rate a particular perfume.

The updated version was inspired by the comments from the iPerfumer community. It is easier to use, its interface is much simpler and search is more efficient. Above all, the recommendation engine functions better as compared to the first version. The recommendations are based not only on fragrance families, but also on the information a user gives as well as the fragrance preferences of the iPerfumer user community, which makes this tool much more dynamic and interesting.

Check out the iPerfumer2 to find out more. To download the app for free on the iPhone, visit the iPerfumer Facebook page.  Android versions of iPerfumer2 is now available. (via press release.)