“Butterflies all havin’ fun, you know what I mean…”
Even More Scent-ences from the Smelly Interwebs
From the hidden corners of all things perfumed in media, here’s your weekly CM roundup of goings-on from the mad, mad world of fragrances and beyond: (??) Some new and noteworthy nose candy for the nasally inclined. In this week’s scented sagas…
—“My way of working on this fragrance was really not to try to make a unisex fragrance but really more to dive into men’s fragrance…and to show how well it could be worn by a woman.” That’s Chanel in-house perfumer Olivier Polge on his approach in developing Chanel’s latest sheer floral fougère scent, Boy. NST breaks down all the latest on this newest edition to the Les Exclusifs line…
—“… ISIPCA is just like a British clubhouse. They hardly let anyone enter, and even if they do, he needs to correspond to certain expectations…” After five attempts, Zsolt Zólyomi finally made it in to this exclusive club is dead-set on putting Hungarian perfumery back on the map. Hear his story here…
[A Talent for Smelling | Budapest Times]
—“…a formula can contain up to 100 ingredients so to single out a couple of ingredients, often only the natural ones, and only speak about those is very reductive and over simplifies the fragrance.” That’s CM Christopher Street co-conspirator Ralf Schwieger on marketing to specific ingredients. In this interview from the Basenotes archives, he discusses some of the inspiration behind his past work, and the rise of the sugary sweet in olfaction…
[Bittersweet: An interview with Ralf Schwieger on the gourmand | Basenotes]
—“Traditional brands have launched their ‘niche’ lines while niche brands such as Jo Malone, Frederic Malle, Le Labo and By Kilian now belong to Estee Lauder.” Revisiting the confusion that is niche…
[On the scent of a winner | The Business Times]
—“Also known as the art of ‘saho,’ the layering technique comes straight from Japan, and essentially involves building up several cosmetic products…” Introducing two new fragrance primers (“filters”) from Maison Margiela…
[Maison Margiela does fragrance layering with dry body oil filters | Premium Beauty News]
—“Metaphorically, travel is not a destination: it is a feeling that constantly nourishes body and soul, a new experience that can make your heart skip, leaving an everlasting memory,” Louis Vuitton is preparing to re-enter the fragrance game with a September travel-inspired scent from in-house perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud. Get ready for “exotic places and rare materials” as yet another luxury house eyes entry into the niche market…
[Louis Vuitton reenters fragrance category with first scent in 70 years | Luxury Daily]
“I engage in these obsessive hunts in order to avoid feeling my feelings. But in the end it’s the hunt that distracts me from the void and not the hunted thing itself.” Really interesting article from Vice on scent and depression…
[The Smell of Depression | Vice]
“Avon is dropping Maria Sharapova as the face of its Luck perfume.” Lackluster sales and a doping scandal put an end to another celebrity face in the fragrance world…
[Avon to part with Maria Sharapova as the face of Luck perfume | PRWeek]
“Officials in northwest Russia’s republic of Komi are discussing a federal ban on large bottles of cologne in an attempt to stop residents from drinking the perfume…” Now here’s a rather disturbing new trend from Northern Russia…
[Russian Officials Fight Perfume Boozers | Moscow Times]
“Five men in New York have been arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for knowingly selling counterfeit versions of your favorite perfumes made with these disgusting ingredients…” Maybe not exactly what you meant when you asked for that dirty scent. More busts on Canal Street for dangerous knock-offs…
[What two terrible Ingredients in knockoff perfume? | My9NJ]
Leaving you this week with a classic ad from the archives… Kim Basinger for Body on Tap (“Brewed with 1/3 Beer, but don’t drink it….”). And don’t forget, it’s Brooklyn Pride this weekend. I’ll be out enjoying the festivities and taking pictures. Should you happen to be in NYC this weekend, come check it out.
That’s all for now folks. See you back here next week for more scent-ences from the mad world of olfaction.
Until then…
