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“I would imagine a fragrance that evokes her inner personality, her fragility, her quest for perfection and her sense of no compromise, the Absolute. … My vision would be a floral bouquet fragrance based on a tuberose accord, with a soft, spicy trail of fresh clove buds and green cinnamon bark that wraps your body and soul, the same way Maria Callas’s voice attracts you and gives you uncontrollable emotions,”  says Francis Kurkdjian in response to Marian Bendeth’s question about a custom fragrance for his favorite historical personage. Bendeth also interviews Christophe Laudamiel, Jean-Michel Duriez, and Maurice Roucel, all of whom give fascinating answers to this interesting question.

Read the article written by Marian Bendeth in Canada’s National Post

Frédéric Malle has always called perfumer Sophia Grojsman a mother of modern perfumery, and at last, he had a chance to collaborate with her. His 16th fragrance, Outrageous is launched under Frédéric Malle’s label for Barney’s New York Co-op (see the photos from Outrageous launch on Getty Images). As Cosmetic World (vol xliii, no 31) reports, Malle noted that he “wanted an adrogynous, super sexy scent, something like a good pair of jeans.” Outrageous includes notes of orange blossom, Caipirinha (lime, green notes, mint), clean laundry, green apple, amber and cedarwood. Finally, as Malle sums his project, “I dream of new molecules bringing scents that no one has ever smelled.”

Outrageous will be sold exclusively at Barneys NY Co-op stores across the country starting in October. It will be priced at $110.00 for 3.4 oz (via Cosmetic World.)

Ethical Disclosure: Outrageous is made by IFF.

Taking page from the vintage principle, Thierry Mugler Angel shall receive a new treatment. As the press release explains, Angel La Part des Anges “is macerated in a cherry wood cask for a more subtle fragrance. In this experiment, the Perfume Extract comes into contact with elements that are usually incompatible in the process of making a perfume: air and time. The wood allows the Perfume Extract to “breathe” and with the air and the passing of days, it is gradually transformed into the famous “part” or “share” which delights the Angels. And as with Eaux-de-vie, time reduces the volume to an Extract whose fragrance transcends the original.”

The Swarowski crystal decorated .33oz bottle ($220) will be available in November 2007 at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks5thAvenue and Bloomingdales.

“Smell and Taste – the chemical senses. They carry meaning to perceive and evaluate reality, but also evoke memories, feelings, and desires, and the power of olfactory sensations seems almost magical to many of us. The chemistry behind these, however, is no mystery.”

Thus is introduced the conference which will take place on 24-26 September, 2007 at Imperial College in London. The topics of this event which is open to researchers, industry professionals, journalists as well as anyone interested in fragrance range from natural products and flavors, to olfaction, perfumery and fragrance chemistry. While the full program can be viewed on the Conference website, among the speakers discussing perfumery and olfaction, the schedule includes perfumers Céline Ellena (Charabot, Neuilly sur Seine), Geza Schoen (Escentric Molecules, Berlin) and Christophe Laudamiel (IFF, New York).

For further information and visiting arrangements, please see the Conference website or email at [email protected].

Bonus reading: interview with Celine Ellena in Smithsonian Magazine.

Shiloh (meaning “his gift” in Hebrew) is the latest fragrance created by perfumer Michel Roudnitska. Collaborating with Symine Salimpour, he composed a fragrance that combines bergamot, rose, patchouli, and woods in a dramatic and ravishing manner. Hors là Monde, the company created by Salimpour, has witnessed a law suit from Angelina Jolie over the name Shiloh.

As Washington Post article mentions, “After a five-month legal battle with perhaps the most famous mother and child on the planet, Angelina Jolie and Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt, Salimpour won the legal right to call her new perfume Shiloh.” Salimpour began developing the fragrance long before Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt was born on May 27, 2006.

Painting: Marc Chagall, Bride with a Fan.