New Perfume Launches: 168 posts

Yesterday, when reviewing Valentino Valentina Acqua Floreale, Kenzo Amour I Love You, and Juicy Couture La La, I promised three more sheer spring roses.  The fragrances chosen today, Cartier Eau de Cartier Goutte de Rose, Balenciaga L’Eau Rose, and Van Cleef et Arpels Féerie Spring Blossom set rose into a frame of woods and amber. In contrast to yesterday’s selection, this group is crisp and sharp, rather than soft and romantic.

Cartier Eau de Cartier Goutte de Rose

Quality is never an issue at Cartier, and with Eau de Cartier Goutte de Rose you’re getting a well-made woody rose. The floral accord that feels rich despite being crystalline and luminous is superimposed on the dry amber base. The original Eau de Cartier is a peppery cedarwood with a wistful leafy note, and Eau de Cartier Goutte de Rose retraces some of its austere form. A touch of sweetness from rose is an interesting touch. Even vanilla feels crisp and crunchy in this perfume.  Of course, you can find many great amber roses at a lower price point, such as the fabulous Yves Rocher Rose Absolu, but Eau de Cartier Goutte de Rose is a worthwhile option. Continue reading →

This spring is promising to be rose scented. Every other flanker, a sequel to the original big launch, seems to be reinvented in rose tinted prettiness.  From Kenzo to Cartier, every house has been thinking pink. Flankers are not known for being daring, and when I dutifully smelled through the whole lot, I felt that I was smelling the same perfume over and over again. Fruity, sparkling, instantly forgettable. In the end, I picked six fragrances that stood out, although you will see that in some cases this is an underhanded compliment.

Why bother then? Most of these fragrances will not appeal to perfume lovers used to the opulence of florals or the tinge of animalic notes hidden among the fleshy petals. By contrast, all six rose perfumes I’ve selected are clean and dewy. Some of them are better than others, but overall, this selection contains nice options for anyone who prefers their florals fresh and sparkling, without the cloying sweetness that’s a common theme in most feminine new launches. Simple and pretty are not negative qualities, and occasionally, this is exactly what hits the spot.

Today, I’m reviewing three fragrances that pair rose with white florals: Valentino Valentina Acqua Floreale; Kenzo Amour I Love You; and Juicy Couture La La. The white florals, be it tuberose or gardenia, have a creamy sweetness that contrast well with a sheer, citrusy rose accord.

Valentino Valentina Acqua Floreale

Valentina Acqua Floreale follows in the footsteps of its older sister, Valentina. The bubble gum tuberose of the original is sheered out, made less cloying and thick. It reminded me of a milder Juicy Couture. The vibrant start of citrus and orange blossom fades to a soft, musky drydown that goes by the “sexy clean” moniker in fragrance houses. On the other hand, Valentina Acqua Floreale is so perfectly well-behaved and inoffensive that I doubt one can have a strong opinion about it. It’s radiant, sheer and coy. It would make a sophisticated fragrance for a teenage girl. While it’s not a drama queen, it’s a good quality perfume, with smooth development and decent longevity.  Continue reading →

Whenever I need some basic skincare or makeup, I usually go to the local perfumeries like Planet Parfum or Ici Paris XL. They carry the usual prestige brand suspects and are located on pretty much every corner in Brussels. As I get ready to leave with my purchases, a sales lady usually asks if I would like a spritz of perfume. I usually decline, but on one occasion I gamely decided to try her top choice. That’s how I met the new Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme and spent the rest of my day trying to scrub it off.

First, a bit of a back story. Dolce & Gabbana Pour Femme has existed since 1992 as an aldehydic floral. Created by perfumers Jean-Pierre Mary and Martine Pallix (she also worked on Comme des Garcons Odeur 53), Pour Femme was the kind of high glamour fragrance with a whiff of the 1980s that you could still find in the early 1990s, and it made quite a statement.

Dramatic though it was, Pour Femme didn’t have much to appeal to the generation of perfume wearers who are used to sweeter, less assertive fragrances. Dolce & Gabbana rectified it by presenting a new version of Pour Femme–a fruity gourmand. Are you surprised?

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Among niche perfumers, Swiss creator Vero Kern stands out for her unique fingerprint that reminds me of classical Guerlain elegance. But there is more. Under that well-behaved, well-coiffed elegance you notice something smoldering and dark. At first, it may feel disconcerting–and for some, it remains so, making Rubj, Onda, and even the brighter and fresher Kiki love or hate perfumes. For me, it’s the former, because I enjoy exploring Vero Kern’s world through the prism of her perfumes.

The newest addition to the collection, Mito, follows her sisters in their steps, but the perfume feels different from the baroque, Guerlain-inspired themes. It’s a chypre so green, it sparkles. Is its effervescence an allusion to the glittering fountains in the garden of Italy’s Villa d’Este that inspired Swiss perfumer Vero Kern to create Mito?

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When I bought my first bottle of L’Heure Bleue parfum as a teenager, I remember a sales associate, a tall woman with an impeccably coiffed chignon, mentioning that in her opinion Guerlain women fall into two main categories–those who wear Shalimar with panache and those on whose skin L’Heure Bleue smells like hot kisses and orange blossom marshmallows. I have worn my way through the whole Guerlain collection, including Vétiver and Habit Rouge, but L’Heure Bleue and Après l’Ondée are two fragrances that make my heart skip a beat. They are polished and elegant, but at the same time, they feel like a second skin.

This year L’Heure Bleue celebrated its 100th anniversary, and Guerlain and its perfumer Thierry Wasser decided to create a a new interpretation of the classical fragrance in three different concentrations. The velvety Eau de Parfum called Le Zénith eventually ended up as L’Heure de Nuit, and this fragrance is now a part of Guerlain’s Les Parisiennes collection. Why is there a need for another take on L’Heure Bleue, you might wonder, as I did. Don’t we already have Insolence? But for perfume wearers not used to the plush, heavy retro style, even Insolence is too rich.

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