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

By Kilian is a brand with a marketing stance that I should not like—uber-luxurious packaging and unnecessarily complicated names that border on romantic triteness. Yet, when I first discovered their fragrances, I was blissfully unaware of any of this. I simply saw the sleek black bottles on the shelf at Aedes perfume boutique, sprayed a few fragrances on blotters and then spent an entire hour smelling everything from the collection. By the time I was finished, I was very much impressed. I enjoyed the elegance of the compositions, their luminous, vivid quality and memorable character, whether the salty lavender of A Taste of Heaven or the luscious coconut laced tuberose of Love. Since few scents make me melt as readily as does jasmine, Love & Tears : Surrender went straight to my heart. A radiant jasmine, its appeal to me lies in its beautiful pairing with galbanum and oakmoss, a juxtaposition between white petals and green leaves.

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

Oud by Caron, Secret Oud… I so wish that Caron called these fragrances “Tabac Noir” or “Narcisse d’Encens” or anything else but Oud, because the moniker not only lumps these fragrances together with the cliched trend in the niche, but also belies the fact that they do not even smell of any oud. Instead, the dark, earthy, woody notes that Caron tries to pass for oud work remarkably well with the somber aesthetic of classical Caron accords. These rich, opulent notes replace the classical dark Caron undercurrent of oakmoss and lend the compositions dusky beauty and retro glamor.

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Part 2: Layering Fragrances : French Elle Guide Part 2

There are two schools of thought on layering fragrances. The Purist school holds that the fragrance is a finished work and any tempering with it would destroy the perfect balance that the creator tried to achieve. The Experimentalists, on the other hand, see an interesting potential in layering fragrance in being able to come up with interesting combinations and to personalize one’s fragrance choices.

The Experimentalists have a great perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena on their side, who has even suggested interesting layering combinations. A longtime fellow perfume lover and an excellent researcher, Bela has kindly shared with me excerpts from Elle magazine on the topic of perfume layering, which were translated by her from French.

NB: I also highly recommend Bela’s website, which includes recordings to help pronounce French perfume names.

The Rules of Successful Layering according to French ELLE magazine:

The safest way to do it is with citrus notes. They blend easily with floral, woodsy and even ambery fragrances. Such combinations enable you to associate two different ‘scent worlds’ and prevent either of the two fragrances being redundant. How to go about it: spray the stronger perfume first so that the notes from the second perfume get added to the heart and base notes of the first one.

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

I love the idea of an abstract gourmand, a fragrance that subtly suggests an illusion of something delicious and tantalizing without making its gustatory references overly obvious. Parfums MDCI La Belle Helene starts from this premise: a hint of mouthwatering dessert woven into an elegant oriental composition. La Belle Helene is a perfume inspired by a classical dessert, Poires Belle-Hélène, which was in turn inspired by Offenbach’s operetta La belle Hélène. Just as the great chef Auguste Escoffier interpreted Offenbach’s lighthearted parody in his own manner, perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour pays his personal homage to Escoffier’s sublime combination of poached pears paired with vanilla ice-cream, chocolate sauce and candied violets. La Belle Helene is a story of rosewater poached pear set into an elegant oriental backdrop of amber, incense and vetiver.

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More spring flowers to add to the growing list of perfume releases! On March 15, Bond No 9 is releasing a new fragrance in tribute to New York’s Madison Square, a vibrant and trendy locale. The fragrance was developed by Laurent Le Guernec.

“Bond No. 9 Madison Square Park, an arresting, super-bright melange of romantic florals and crisp greens.  Starting with springtime topnotes–intoxicating, musk-like grape hyacinth paired with tangy huckleberry and delicately spicy prairie dropseed grass–the scent soon segues into a heart of voluptuous red leaf rose, traveling with its sidekick, Red Hunter tulip.  And for its finale, these lush and vibrant florals at last give way to calmer, deeper, darker teakwood and vetiver root. ”

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