2012 launches: 129 posts

Balenciaga is launching its next major fragrance for fall called Florabotanica. The floral oriental perfume was composed by perfumers Olivier Polge (who also created Balenciaga Paris) and Jean-Christophe Hérault.  The inspiration behind Florabotanica is described by Balenciaga as “not just a pretty flower, but a pretty dangerous flower.” Notes include mint, rose, carnation, vetiver, amber and caladium-leaf accord.

The ad campaign is going to be fronted by the “Twilight” actress Kristen Stewart. Florabotanica is set to be released in September. Via WWD

I love when a perfume makes me smile. Sure, I love fragrances that challenge me and make me want to dress up for them, but on most days I want something that’s playful and easy to love. For this reason, sparkling orange blossoms are my perfume staples. The Comme des Garçons fragrance collection has plenty of playful perfumes, even if  some like Comme des Garçons Original and Odeur 71 straddle the line of unwearable for me. But the new trio of Red Play, Black Play and Green Play launched under Comme des Garçons’s casual Play label is squarely in the fun “t-shirt and jeans” perfume category.

Red Play

Does the combination of cherries and leather sound intriguing to you? It certainly caught my attention, and Red Play became my favorite out of the trio. The sweet orange and pepper is piquant and zesty, but the initial sparkle belies the complexity of Red Play. It’s like biting into a luscious red cherry and discovering that it’s actually made of red hots, the spicy cinnamon candies. The tartness–think rhubarb, red currants or green raspberries!–contrasted with the spice makes for an exciting fragrance. Playful is the best description for it. It makes me feel chic, like someone who knows instinctively how to accessorize a dress from H&M with a vintage belt or how to wear a fedora and not look ridiculous.

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There are some varieties of rose that smell fresh and delicate at first and then reveal a piquant, peppery bite. You pull away from the blossom with a start, the tingling sensation still in your nose and can’t help yourself leaning in for another inhale. My first impression of Oud Ispahan, a new addition to Christian Dior’s La Collection Privée, was similar—the compelling sparkle of the top note contrasted dramatically with the darkness of patchouli and oud.

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American reality star and designer, Nicole Richie, is prepared to launch her own perfume Nicole. It will be presented in September 2012, in time to compete with Lady Gaga whose fragrance Fame Black Fluid comes out around the same time. Nicole was inspired by her mother who liked to layer oils and lotions. “I have a very traditional Southern mom — you never left the house without lotion. Over her lotion went oil and perfume — she was very put together from head to toe. It wasn’t just a one-dimensional smell — there were many different layers,” said Richie during an interview with WWD.

Nicole was created by perfumer Steve DeMercado of Fragrance Resources. It includes notes of “succulent blackberry and Seville orange, has a heart of golden amber, Moroccan rose, lily of the valley and papyrus, and a drydown of sensual cashmere woods, sandalwood, sugared patchouli and vanilla absolute.” Of the Art Deco inspired bottle, Richie said that she wanted it to represent different layers of a woman.

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The combination of violet and oud is like a romance between Doris Day and Cary Grant—one is wholesome and innocent, the other is dark and smoldering. Yet, just as Day and Grant set the screen on fire in the comedy, “That Touch of Mink,” violet and oud can be an irresistible pairing as I discovered through Lalique Hommage à l’homme.

Hommage à l’homme is the newest Lalique perfume created by perfumers Christine Nagel and Mathilde Bijaoui. It’s a masculine fragrance, and while it’s much too virile for me personally, I would gladly smell it on men around me. You will not find typical masculine cologne elements wrapped into the elegant shape of Hommage à l’homme. It’s the fragrance equivalent of a leading man in a classic Hollywood film—dashing, suave, and sophisticated. Hommage à l’homme smells like something worn by Cary Grant, whether he dashes around the French Riviera with Grace Kelly or tries to woo Doris Day with mink coats and champagne.

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