2013 launches: 55 posts

Etro will add another travel inspired perfume to its collection this March. Rajasthan pays homage to India and includes notes of lemon blossom, damascus rose, pink pepper, labdanum, amber, and white musk.

“Rajasthan, the new fragrance by Etro suggests heightened nomadic and yearning femininity, the hypnotic dance of eternal desire, a wild gypsy poetry set in colorful jeweled Maharajaha’s cities which are eternal like the breathing of the earth and the energy of the desert. A poetic and seductive fragrance that suggests an impatient prophecy, the fresh aroma of a winter lemon flower combined with the sweetness of the strong damask rose and the languor of mimosa. The skilled sensuality of amber and white musk are enlivened by a strong pink pepper bite, which gradually gives way to the delicate notes of labdanum which then turn to the magnificence of sweet acacia. A fragrance that promises another summer enclosed in the yellow corollas which are as velvety as talc and as sweet as honey.”

100 ml Eau de Parfum/£112. Via cosmoty.de

L’Artisan Parfumeur is bringing back two perfumes as limited editions this summer. Ananas Fizz (originally created by Anne Flipo in 2004) and Côte d’Amour (by Céline Ellena in 2009) will join the collection in May.

Ananas Fizz is “a celebration of summer and of the Victoria pineapple, typical of the French Reunion Island, in the Indian Ocean.” It’s a blend of citrus, lychee, and pineapple, with a twist of frangipani and vanilla. A light fragrance, it’s designed to be used liberally, as a cologne.

Côte d’Amour is “like a voluptuous, caressing marine breeze,” a fragrance  inspired by a stroll along the coast in Loire-Atlantique, in the West of France. It includes notes of dune flower, cypress, pine, wet woods, marine and salty notes.

100ml Eau de Toilette will retail for £55/70€. Via press release

Several years ago I walked around an exhibit devoted to Marlene Dietrich’s collection at the fashion museum in Paris, The Musée Galliera. Among her famous pant suits, feather dresses and sexy lingerie (you had to look through a peep hole for a glimpse of her lacy underthings), were bottles of  cosmetics and tanning oils. One was labelled rose, and another–jasmine.  I don’t remember who made them or what the bottles looked like, but the image of Dietrich stretching out her gorgeous long legs, her glistening skin catching the fine granules of sand, is what surfaces in my mind whenever I hear the star’s name. I can almost smell the rose tanning oil and salt on her warm skin.

I don’t know if in creating La Fille de Berlin, the dream team of Serge Lutens and Christopher Sheldrake thought about Dietrich, and I have never visited Berlin to understand their source of inspiration completely. For me though, it’s a perfume that I imagine Dietrich wearing. It’s beautiful and surprising, but with a dark side. A classical Lutens, in other words.

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For spring, Tocca is inspired by lily of the valley. The newest fragrance Liliana is a tribute to this delicate spring flower. Liliana includes notes of Italian bergamot, neroli, watery peach, lily of the valley, gardenia, white peony, sandalwood, musk, benzoin, and patchouli.

“A lush, green, rolling lawn is the setting for a roaring 20s party in full swing. Liliana conjures a reveler in the bloom of youth dancing the Charleston amidst flowing bottles of champagne and a spirited jazz band. The lowering sun casts a golden sparkle as an intoxicating bouquet of muguet, gardenia and peony wafts from the gardens, filling the night with joie de vivre.”

Tocca Liliana Eau de Parfum will be available at Sephora, Anthropologie and Barney’s stores, and online at tocca.com, sephora.com, bluemercury.com, and beauty.com beginning March 2013. 50ml/$68 Via press release

I keep misreading Bottega Veneta Eau Légère as Eau de Lingerie. Perhaps not such a strange mistake considering that it’s a silk slip of a perfume.  Sheer and delicate, it wears close to the skin, and just like a beautifully crafted lingerie, it makes me feel sexy and alluring. Designed as a variation (read, flanker) on the brand’s debut perfume, Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum, Bottega Veneta Eau Légère has a similarly elegant character.

Elegance is something I fully expected from Bottega Veneta, but I didn’t anticipate anything interesting from its flankers. Brands rarely spend enough effort to develop original ideas, and since the rewards for flanker launches are small, perfumers often have few incentives to try very hard. Bottega Veneta Eau Légère is neither avant-garde nor trendsetting, but it’s made well enough that it stands on equal ground as the beautiful original. It only depends whether you prefer rich and glamorous or gauzy and sophisticated.

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