2012 launches: 129 posts

What perfumes will remind you of the summer 2012? What was the highlight of your summer?  

“Dorothy awakens to find the house being carried away by the tornado. After it falls back to earth, she opens the door and finds herself alone in a strange village.”  This characterizes my summer pretty well, and since I already moved three times, each time I found myself in a new part of Belgium, I related to Dorothy from The_Wizard_of_Oz on many levels.  Among the highlights of my summer was the Brussels Flower Carpet, when the city revealed its playful side to me.

This summer smelled mostly of sandalwood to me. I wore a lot of Serge Lutens Santal Majuscule and Olfactive Studio Lumière Blanche, although in the past couple of weeks, Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower and some other big white florals hit the spot.

Whether you are celebrating Labor Day on Monday or not, I wish you a great weekend and a wonderful start for your autumn! Suzanna and I will see you back on Tuesday.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin: enjoying the last days of summer, Antwerp, Belgium.

Un Jour d’Été (A Summer Day) is the newest release from Keiko Mecheri, the prolific Los Angeles-based line whose powdery Loukhoum became a huge cult hit a decade ago.  Mecheri calls Un Jour d’Été a hesperidic fragrance, “an escape in the South of France, on the beaches of St. Tropez.”  This summer day revolves around coconut, a note that Mecheri handles well enough to evade the black, oily flatness and plasticity that a coconut note can impart.  This is done primarily through macerating the coconut in citrus and by evoking European tanning lotions through the use of monoi (tiare seeped in coconut oil).

Although perhaps not intentional, a patchouli base reads as brown and leathery. Here is where a definite image is called to mind—those overly bronzed beach bodies under a relentless sun that used to be part of escapist fantasy but that now just seem imprudent.

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This October, the makeup artist Terry de Gunzburg will launch her first fragrance collection. Collection de Haute Parfumerie de Terry de Gunzburg will include Parti Pris (tuberose, jasmine, ylang-ylang), Rêve Opulent (hyacinth, rose, floral notes), Lumière d’Épices (spicy woods), Ombre Mercure (iris, violet, patchouli, woods), and Flagrant Délice (fig, green notes, gourmand accord). You might know de Gunzburg’s work through Touche Éclat, an innovative concealer and brightener she created while heading up make-up design for Yves Saint Laurent.

The fragrances were created by perfumers Karine Vinchon-Spehner, Jacques Fleury, Arthur Le Tourneur d’Ison, and Sidonie Lancesseur, and according to the press release, the fragrances include iris butter, tuberose absolute, rose essence, ylang ylang, and other precious materials. As de Gunzburg said, “I had to ignore the ‘dos and don’ts’ imposed by trends or by a commercial brief. Free from any restrictions, I have followed my instinct to create pure, original and extravagantly high-quality fragrances.”

Besides her own fragrances, she likes to wear a smoky orange blossom perfume created for her by Francis Kurkdjian. Sometimes she wears different perfumes on different parts of her body: Aromatics Elixir on the wrists, Opium parfum in the hollow of the neck, rose absolute on her clothes.

Each fragrance will be available as a 100ml EDP spray/£105 and a 50ml EDP spray/£68.

Via press release, nouvelobs.com and fashionmonitor.com.

An Austrian niche line Puredistance will release its new fragrance Opardu in November of 2012. Created by perfumer Annie Buzantian, it reportedly contains 32% of perfume oil and features violet, heliotrope, lilac, musk, and woods. “Opardu is inspired by the romance and opulence of the 1920s and by the expressive paintings of Kees van Dongen. The word and concept of Opardu is an invention of  the owner of Puredistance, Jan Ewoud Vos.” As the press release further describes it, “The word Opardu expresses the deep longing for the bygone days of Opulence and true Romance. Opardu has an instant hypnotizing effect that brings back long forgotten memories of love and romance. Be prepared for a perfume that will bring you back to the vibrant nightlife of Paris in the 1920’s. ”

Available as 17.5 ml (165 euros), 60 ml (275 euros), and 100ml (490 euros, with a special leather case).  Via press release

I’ve been reading a lot of Marie Claire lately. You see, if I read it in English, I feel self-indulgent, but if I read it in French, I can justify the time spent as a language practice. Plus, since the French Marie Claire comes with a Belgian insert, I learn a lot about new lines and local products. My latest discovery is Bien-être L’Eau Parfumée des Familles. Besides Caudalie Divine Oil (Huile Divine), the French beauty press has fallen hard for this simple cologne. Described variously as “a little scented trinket” or a “light and bright scent for a midsummer night’s dream,” it caught my attention too, as did its great price  of 6 € ($7.50) for a 250ml bottle.

It’s a light citrusy cologne that dries down to a powdery floral musk. Intended for the whole family, including children, it has the typical scent of French baby products–orange blossom. L’Eau Parfumée des Familles also weaves some crisp violet and grape notes, in addition to cedarwood, and its scent is at once lighthearted and sophisticated.

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