2012 launches: 129 posts

Hermès is launching a new interpretation of Eau des Merveilles, a blend of amber and woods developed in 2004 by perfumers Ralf Schwieger and Nathalie Feisthauer. L’Ambre des Merveilles is created by Hermès in-house perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena. Ellena already reinterpreted Eau des Merveilles as the gourmand L’Elixir des Merveilles and mossy Eau Claire des Merveilles. 

L’Ambre des Merveilles includes notes of amber, vanilla, labdanum, and patchouli. It is described as sensual, mysterious and “almost aphrodisiac.”  Available starting August at Hermès boutiques and department store counters. Via abc-luxe (thank you to Nicolette for alerting me to it!)

As I described in my post on sandalwood fragrances the other day, I’ve always had a romantic and exotic association with sandalwood. Its perfume of roses and cream–so rich, so haunting, so long lasting–seems like a whiff from some other world. Scheherazade’s palace in the Arabian Night Tales must smell of sandalwood. If so, who would be better placed to create a fairytale sandalwood perfume than the man who made a career out of worshiping beauty–Serge Lutens.

Like a modern day Scheherazade, Lutens weaves one tale after another, with the leitmotif of a fantasy running through the collection. Perhaps it is for this reason that his large range doesn’t feel redundant. Or perhaps I’m too much of a fan of his tales to be tired of them. Whatever the case may be, Santal Majuscule is the latest fragrance to cast upon me the Lutensian spell.

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The intense green of sun warmed tomato leaves, the salty taste of red fruit, the bitter pungency of black currant buds… On my wrist was the smell of my fantasy summer, long walks in the park and lounging on the grass included.  When I reached for the new Eau de Parfum formulation of Diptyque L’Ombre Dans L’Eau, I didn’t expect it to be dramatically different from the original L’Ombre Dans L’Eau. Much to my surprise, it was!

The fragrance was so exhilarating and vivid that a single whiff won me over. I stepped out into the grey afternoon holding the perfume box wrapped in thin, crackly paper. It might have been raining, but as I pressed my nose to my wrist and inhaled the perfume of crushed leaves and earthy roses, I didn’t even notice.

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Since both Suzanna and I are big fans of red lipsticks, I keep tabs on what’s new in the red lipstick world. The news that Guerlain’s fall 2012 collection will feature several new red shades made me anticipate its launch even more. The first tube of lipstick from Guerlain came out in 1870, and recently the perfume house has been busy revamping its makeup collection. On the Guerlain perfume front, I’m curious about the new L’Heure Bleue trio, which celebrates the 100th birthday of this great classic.

L’Heure Bleue was created by perfumer Jacques Guerlain in 1912, and this year its 100th birthday is going to be marked by the launch of the beautiful and very limited edition trio. It will contain a bottle of L’Heure Bleue parfum and 30ml bottles of 3 new fragrances interpreted by the current in-house perfumer Thierry Wasser.

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Miller Harris just launched a new fragrance called La Fumée [Arabie]. It’s the first of several limited edition perfumes  inspired by La Fumée, a smoky woody blend. According to the description: “Created in celebration of the rich beauty and magic of the Arabic cultures, La Fumée Arabie is a sensual oriental fragrance centred around the exotic woods of the Middle East.”

The notes include incense, oud, cistus absolute, cardamom, coriander seed, Egyptian cumin, incense from Yemen, Moroccan cedarwood, birch tar, rose and vanilla. The glass bottle is embellished with the 23 carat liquid gold. Available now via millerharris.com, 50ml Eau de Parfum/£110. Via millerharris.com