2012 launches: 129 posts

Scarves are my favorite accessories. I love the way the sheer organza feels on my shoulders in the summer. The warm heft of a thick, cable-knit wool feels comforting on blistering cold days in the winter. My work uniform of jeans and black sweater can be easily spiced up with a piece of silk in cobalt blue or the Russian style tasseled square in red.  In an overlap with my sartorial wardrobe, I have a whole category of fragrances I categorize as my “scarf” perfumes. They usually stay close to the skin and have a warm, smoky drydown. To smell them on me, you would have to lean in close, and I love the intimate aura they create.

One such warm and smoky contender has been Diptyque Volutes, which I’ve been testing over the past couple of weeks. Volutes in French means swirls, as in swirls of smoke, and as Volutes unfolds gently on skin and wraps me in its warm embrace, it indeed makes me think of sweet cherry scented tobacco. The story behind Volutes is of the transatlantic journeys one of Diptyque’s original founders, Yves Coueslant, used to make as a child, crossing from Marseille to Saigon and back. The vision of the “elegant ladies leaning on the ship’s rail smoking their Khedive cigarettes” inspired this languid perfume. These ladies must also have worn Shalimar, because this Guerlain classic was my immediate association with Volutes.

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Donna Karan has released a new variation on its 1994 fragrance Cashmere Mist, Cashmere Mist Pearl Essence. It’s a white floral twist on the powdery-woody original. The press release says that it was inspired by Tahitian pearls. Cashmere Mist Pearl Essence includes notes of neroli, ginger, jasmine sambac, lily of the valley, tiare, patchouli, sandalwood, and musk.

Cashmere Mist Pearl Essence includes a full line of body products, including bath pearls. 1.7oz  Eau de Parfum retails for $78.00. Available at Macy’s, Lord & Taylor and other major department stores. Via press release and Macy’s.

Ramón Monegal is both the name of a perfumer and a perfume house.  Monegal is a Spaniard with a strong background in perfumery.  His lineage is the House of Myrurgia, a preeminent Spanish house based in Barcelona—the family business—with which Monegal was associated until he decided to embark upon his own projects.  The perfume house has just entered the market in a big way with the release of 14 perfumes!

The most striking thing about the line overall is the stages of development each fragrance goes through. This came as a surprise to me, since many modern fragrances come at you in a rush of notes.  With the Monegal line, what you smell at first may be dramatically different from the various stages of the fragrance.

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When I first smelled the Atelier Cologne fragrances Rose Anonyme and Vetiver Fatal, I immediately fell for the sheer, smoky roses and left the vetiver to languish on my desk. Perhaps that day I craved more flamboyance and more glamour which Rose Anonyme amply delivered. But a week or so later, I absentmindedly dabbed Vetiver Fatal on my wrist–there was no other perfume around–and curled up with War and Peace. Well before Natasha Rostova appeared on the scene, I abandoned the book and sat with my wrist glued to my nose. The scent on my skin was bright but moody, rustic but sophisticated. It smelled of sliced oranges, damp earth and fallen leaves–a little vignette of late summer.

At first, Vetiver Fatal makes me think of green tangerines, complete with their leathery leaves–verdant, zesty and tart enough to make my mouth water. The vetiver takes form stealthily, until you distinctly smell its characteristic scent of earth covered roots and milky hazelnuts. Perfumer Jerome Epinette makes a seemingly simple choice by pairing vetiver with citrus (vetiver oil naturally has a  grapefruit-like accent in its top notes), but the harmony and the addition of other elements makes Vetiver Fatal stand out.

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This year marks the 80th anniversary of Dana Tabu,  a legendary fragrance created in 1932 by perfumer Jean Carles. Tabu was complex and innovative, and it gave us a whole generation of oriental fragrances that were unabashedly sultry and rich. The original included notes of bergamot, lemon, basil, tarragon, jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, ylang-ylang, heliotrope, patchouli, oakmoss, musk, benzoin, and vanilla.

This September Dana will introduce a new limited edition relaunch of Tabu called 1932 By Tabu. It was reochestrated by perfumer Brett Schlitter as a softer, spicier version. It will include notes of bergamot, lemon, basil, jasmine, mimosa, rose, ylang-ylang, cinnamon, nutmeg, heliotrope, sandalwood, moss, amber, musk, and vanilla. With Jean Patou, Balmain, Molinard and Jacomo busy relaunching their classical collections, it’s also good to see Dana trying to resuscitate Tabu. Even if the new version will be less animalic and smoldering, Tabu deserves more attention.