Here you can find how to guides to selecting, testing and enjoying scents. Also includes are the lists of our top favorite perfumes for different occasions and articles covering all range of topics related to fragrance. If you’re curious to step inside a perfume lab (or even become an industry professional), this group of essays will be of interest.
My article on orange blossom, a note I adore, appears today in Financial Times Magazine. In Orange Blossom : A Note That Embodies Spring, I talk about different effects that orange blossom can capture, from light and innocent to dark and sultry.
Extra from Bois de Jasmin archives: Bitter Orange family: Orange blossom, Neroli, Petitgrain.
Top Selling Feminine Fragrances 2o12 France
Top Selling Perfumes USA : Popular Fragrances Spring 2012
Top Selling Feminine Fragrances 2011 USA
Since many of you were interested to learn the European list of top sellers, here are the top 20 feminine fragrances for France. A quick glance at the list reveals that it shares only a few similarities with the US list of top sellers—there are many classics on the list, including the American gem Clinique Aromatics Elixir; the tendency overall is towards the oriental and floral oriental blends (in contrast to the fruity-floral perfumes that still drive sales in the US). Also, the brand name is one of the most important factors in determining what might end up on the top seller list.
20. Lancôme Ô de Lancôme (1969)
A classical cologne that still retains its vibrancy and freshness—an elegant citrus-orange blossom accord suspended over a mossy, ambery base.
Top Selling Feminine Fragrances 2o12 France
Top Selling Perfumes USA : Popular Fragrances Spring 2012
Top Selling Feminine Fragrances 2011 USA
I confess that I find the lists of fragrance top sellers fascinating, not necessarily from the perspective of revealing to me what is the best perfume on the market, but more as an indication of the general trends which shape the market and influence what we might find on the counter next season. Therefore, I decided to take a look at the top 20 fragrances, ranked by their sales in the US. As I browsed through the list, I noticed that feminine market preferences seem to be heavily focused on recent launches, while the masculine (to be posted next week) gravitates towards classics. Is it due to the conservative nature of the masculine market? Or perhaps is it a result of the onslaught of new launches and the lack of support for the pillar brands in the feminine market? I am still pondering this. Nevertheless, analyzing these lists is interesting, if only to know what the majority of people prefer. With the list below, I will provide my own commentary. In the parentheses, I indicate the year of launch.
Trend Watch : Dark Side of Gourmand / Orient Express / Classical Flowers
Trend Watch : Orange Blossom / Aromatic Fougère / Modern Cologne
In general, sheer roses and floral motifs frequently serve as the main themes for spring launches so I decided to compile a selection of fragrances to highlight the rose tinted ideas that we are about to see coming in April-May. I will add a mini-review and a star rating to the fragrances I have already sampled.
In the same vein, do you have any favorite roses for spring?
Series 1 :: Series 2 :: Series 3 :: Series 4 :: Series 5 :: Series 6 :: Series 7 :: Series 8 :: Series 9 :: Series 10
The next 10 fragrances in my 100 Great Perfumes Series encompass the launches from the 1950-60s, the decades of relative prosperity on the one hand, and of great geopolitical shifts on the other. The fragrance fashion of the time leaned towards warm, sultry blends, against which perfumer Edmond Roudnitska started to rebel by creating radiant, sheer compositions. The woody-leathery chypres became more common in both the feminine and the masculine markets, setting a trend for an austere elegance. Those were the decades that set some of the strongest trends for the future, many of which persist even today.
Recording of a seminar.
Luca and Victoria speak for 1.5h on topics included, but not limited to: vintage perfumes, our favorite fragrances, trends we hate, industry gossip. No one will be spared. All will be entertained. Funds will be used to support charity projects in Ukraine.
Recording of our session on the future of perfumery.
Price: €50
Class location: Brussels
Date: contact for availability
Class duration: 2.5 hours
200€/per person
Students of all levels of interest in perfumery will find much to learn in this series of lectures. The lecture is designed to sharpen your sense smell and improve your enjoyment and appreciation of scents. You will learn professional smelling techniques and receive personalized tips. You will learn how to smell complex aromas and about the main criteria of a well-made fragrance–and how to look for them.
Online and in-person classes are available.
