Mouchoir de Monsieur (Gentleman’s Handkerchief) is one of the many chapters that form the fascinating story of French perfume house Guerlain. While the house’s most significant competitors have dwindled with age or they are no longer recognisable having changed ownership many times, Guerlain is a rare case, producing perfumes that have histories spanning a period of nearly two hundred years. Before 2008, the position of House Perfumer was always occupied by a Guerlain descendant and through this careful guardianship, a family style was established, namely the eponymous Guerlinade – a secret melange of tonka bean, resins, vanilla, bergamot, orris and flower extracts. It is a signature that can be found in almost every Guerlain perfume since Jicky (1889). In addition to this, each generation of Guerlain perfumer had his own individual style and Mouchoir de Monsieur comes from the house’s Belle Epoque era. It was created in 1904 by third generation perfumer, Jacques Guerlain. Although different in terms of olfactory structure, Mouchoir de Monsieur shares a similar dreamy, pastel-tone quality found in Apres L’Ondee (1906) and L’Heure Bleue (1912), which is characteristic of the perfumer’s style before World War I. Mouchoir de Monsieur elaborates on the structure of Jicky, a perfume ... Read More »

Cyber Garden by CoSTUME NATIONAL is co-founder, Ennio Capasa’s latest men’s fragrance. The idea is inspired by a tapestry of curated plants known as the CNAC Wall, one of three spaces in Tokyo’s Aoyama Complex, which houses the brand’s Japanese flagship boutique. CoSTUME NATIONAL commissioned botanist and artist Patrick Blanc to create a vertical garden, the largest of its kind in Japan, which hosts over one hundred species of plant life across a 12 x 3 metre vertical plane. Visitors are able to admire the wall whilst enjoying a drink at the long bar overlooking Blanc’s living installation. Ennio Capasa sees the Aoyama boutique as more than just a retail space, it is “a place of lifestyle and experience where aesthetic, art and nature find the perfect balance.” It is this utopian ideal, which seeds the idea for Cyber Garden. Capasa describes the scent as “the garden of the future.” The olfactory architect behind the concept is perfumer Antoine Lie, a name that is well established in both the niche and mainstream arenas of perfumery. Cyber Garden amalgamates these two worlds, pairing some easy-to-wear commercial notes and accords with some more experimental, avant-garde ones. Artistic perfumes are often marketed with ... Read More »

Last year when I met perfumer Rodrigo Flores-Roux, we spoke about many things. We spoke about his work as a Senior Perfumer at Givaudan, one of the world’s most successful producers of fine fragrances and we spoke about Arquiste Parfumeur, a highly acclaimed collection of niche perfumes that Rodrigo co-authored with his colleague and friend, perfumer Yann Vasnier. It was Arquiste’s owner, Carlos Huber, who kindly offered to connect me with Rodrigo when I visited New York. More often than not, perfumers work silently behind their clients and this meeting was a rare opportunity to talk directly with the man responsible for creating multi-million dollar fragrances for some of the most influential names in the fashion and beauty industry. High above the streets of Midtown Manhattan, Rodrigo’s office read like a resume of his career. His desk was filled with rows of neatly coded laboratory vials, modifications of projects he was currently working on. Finished bottles of Rodrigo’s work sat proudly along the sill of his office window. Amongst these bottles were some personal items, which had played a part in inspiring the perfumer. A brightly coloured piñata became a prop in a story about Rodrigo’s Mexican heritage and he ... Read More »

At the start of the month I received samples of MiN New York’s recently launched Scent Stories Volume One, and over the past week I have been wearing, smelling and pondering over the eleven new perfumes. I have noticed sentiments increasing inside and outside the perfume industry, which are causing brows to be raised, followed by the comment “not another new niche perfume launch!” Niche is now a crowded space and I was very curious to smell what MiN New York’s Chad Murawczyk and Mindy Yang were serving up. As business partners, the pair own and operate one of Manhattan’s finest independent perfumeries. Their Soho boutique is a beautifully curated space, which supports the work of niche perfume’s foremost creative thinkers. How would the pair bring a fresh perspective to this densely populated market that thrives on newness? For one, the approach is different. Instead of allowing the collection to be distributed through multiple channels, this first volume of Scent Stories is available exclusively in the Americas from MiN New York. Small scale production plays into the way the collection is experienced, by appointment only from the Members Vault. Becoming a member requires registration. Applicants are evaluated not by wealth ... Read More »

The story of La Parfumerie Moderne begins in the small resort village of Le Touquet-Paris-Plage on the northern coast of France. Overlooking the English Channel, Le Touquet was an early 20th century playground for holidaying British aristocrats and wealthy visitors from all over the world. Business thrived and grand hotels were built on a palatial scale to accommodate visitors. The most notable grand hotel was the Royal Picardy, built in 1929. It was advertised as the largest, most luxurious hotel in the world. For 20 years the Royal Picardy was the jewel of this affluent seaside village but these lucrative years were short lived. War and the Great Depression crippled business and the hotel fell into a state of disrepair. In 1951 it closed its doors forever.

Years later we meet the main character of La Parfumerie Moderne’s story. In the 1960s, Philippe Neirinck was a young boy. The son of hoteliers, he regularly vacationed in Le Touquet with his parents. The Neirincks spent time in one of the vacant palaces, which had closed to the public. While the adults amused themselves, these empty palaces became the playgrounds of children. Wandering from room to room, young Philippe would imagine the hotel ... Read More »

Guerlain’s Jicky is always eulogised as a symbol of change in perfumery. When Jicky was launched in 1889, it was heralded as one of the first perfumes to use synthetic raw materials and historians call it the first abstract perfume. Although Jicky smells of its composite parts, the overall composition is abstract; it is not trying to replicate the smell of anything that exists in nature. This was revolutionary thinking in 1889. The end of the 19th century was a time of innovation and creativity that nourished all art forms. In the year of Jicky’s birth, the Eifel Tower was inaugurated, Impressionism was in full bloom and the seeds of Modern Art were beginning to sprout. Riding the coat tails of La Belle Epoque, the French perfume industry enjoyed a renewed spirit; it was a time of optimistic effervescence and creative perfume houses made small steps that contributed to Jicky’s remarkable stride forward. In 1882, perfumer Paul Parquet created Fougere Royale, which was the blueprint for Jicky’s structure. Parquet’s structure was so remarkable, it is still used in men’s perfumery today and perfumes that borrow from it are classified under the term fougere. In the seven years that separated Fougere ... Read More »

Fashion critics say a great designer gives you what you want before you know you want it. Before Christian Dior launched Dior Homme in 2005, I did not feel a need for vanilla in the perfumes I was wearing. I was more interested in the fresh tonic notes of fragrances such as Frederic Malle’s Angelique Sous la Pluie and L’Eau de L’Artisan by L’Artisan Parfumeur. The first time I smelled Dior Homme, I distinctly remember my experience. The way IFF perfumer, Olivier Polge, cocooned his base of soft vanilla in iris and leather made immediate sense to me and Dior Homme felt instantly at home on my skin. The experience opened up a new world of possibilities, and lifted my self-imposed vanilla embargo. Not only did Dior Homme smell fantastic, it also reset the narrow boundaries of masculinity as defined by designer perfume brands. It spoke of freshness, modernity and sophistication, without being pretentious or cliché. Dior Homme’s innovation went hand-in-hand with the French couturier’s eponymous menswear label. In 2000, designer Hedi Slimane became creative director of Dior Homme. In the same way M. Christian Dior redefined women’s couture with his “New Look” collection of 1947, Hedi Slimane redefined men’s ready-to-wear in ... Read More »

One of my favourite writers on the topic of perfume is world renowned author and perfume expert Michael Edwards. His book, Perfume Legends, is a key resource when I am researching legendary perfumes of the 20th century. His Fragrances of the World database is a reference I always use when I write about a perfume on my blog. Michael Edwards has an office here in Australia and Mrs Edwards is Australian, so even if a majority of his time is spent in Europe, America and more recently, the Middle East, Michael returns to Australia every year and I have had the fortune of hearing him give talks about perfume for the past two years; his fragrance masterclasses are also legendary. Earlier this year, Michael accepted my request for an interview and I began recording my conversations with him as part of my research. The final recording I made with him was a talk he gave for Sydney Perfume Lovers, a group of Sydney-based perfume enthusiasts that meet regularly – their calendar of events is posted on their Meetup website. For this event, the group’s founder, Catherine du Peloux Menage organised a Q&A with Michael. Catherine and I ... Read More »

Having been a reader of the hugely popular website CaFleureBon for a number of years, I was happy when a recent conversation with the site’s creator, Michelyn Camen, turned into an invitation to contribute.

My first review for the American perfume site is about Sunshine by Amouage. It is a change of direction for Amouage if you consider its existing collections. Like other Amouage fragrances that have been assigned a female gender, Sunshine feels perfectly at home on my skin, particularly once the bright floral notes settle and the cade, patchouli, papyrus and tobacco base notes rise out. This combination of floral, woody and gourmand notes makes Sunshine an interesting floral scent on male skin.

Sunshine is easily one of my favourites for summer with an exclusive Australian launch set for December. Other countries will have to wait until February, unless you have the fortune of having an Amouage boutique in your city. In which case 100ml bottles are now available.

By following the link below, you can read the back-story and my personal thoughts on this new fragrance.

http://www.cafleurebon.com/new-perfume-review-amouage-sunshine-eau-de-parfum-the-midnight-flower-collection-creative-director-christopher-chong-finds-love-and-happiness-draw/

Alternatives: Diptyque Opone, L’Artisan Parfumeur Safran Troublant, Hermes Osmanthe Yunnan

Creative Direction: Christopher Chong

Perfumer: Sidonie Lancesseur, Robertet

Bottle Designer: Bill Trigger

Release Date: 2014

Typology (via Fragrances of the World): Floral

Last month I met Christopher Chong, the Creative Director of luxury Omani perfume house, Amouage. Christopher was in Australia for the press launch of his latest fragrance, Sunshine. It is the first eau de parfum from his Midnight Flower collection, which launched last year. Aside from a conversation about the new fragrance, we talked about his 8-year tenure as Creative Director of Amouage, and we spoke about the brand’s direction for the future. With 40 fragrances for Amouage under his belt, Christopher shows no sign of slowing down. Last year he announced the closure of what he termed Amouage’s first cycle. Earlier this year he launched Journey Man and Journey Woman, the first fragrances of his anticipated second cycle. I had heard that this second cycle related more to Christopher’s own life experiences. In order to understand the future, I wanted to understand the past. Below is a transcript of our candid talk, covering Christopher’s own journey with Amouage, his creative process and some interesting thoughts on what might come next.

WMSSL: How did you begin your work with Amouage?

Christopher Chong: It was just by chance. They wanted someone that didn’t come from the industry. Before we joined, things had been ... Read More »

Journey Man is Amouage’s latest perfume in the house’s Main Collection. It syncs harmoniously with the collection’s existing perfumes, having many hallmarks of an Amouage men’s fragrance. Yet from the point of storytelling, Journey Man is unique. It marks the beginning of a new era in the brand’s evolution. Last month when I met Amouage’s Creative Director, Christopher Chong, we talked about where he wanted to take his audience, having directed one of niche perfumery’s most successful brands for the past 8 years. In his interview he said, “When I first started, people didn’t know who I was. It took customers and the press some years to get to know me. Now I think we have reached a stage where they know more about me than I know about myself. So I decided that in the next cycle, it is much more direct. I want to have a more intimate dialogue with the world, rather than telling my story behind a narrative.” The narrative for Journey Man comes from Christopher’s interest in Chinese film noir, especially films that portray the underworld of 1920s Shanghai. It was a vibrant period in modern Chinese history, and during the early 20th century, Shanghai ... Read More »

Normally I am the one asking the questions during interviews and for a change I am on the receiving end. My first post for 2015 is a link to a podcast I am featured in. Christine Daley from US-based Perfumer Supply House has published an interview with me as part of her podcast series of talks with different people in the world of perfume. Below is a little bit of background on our conversation and what you can expect to hear in this podcast.

The reason I started writing a perfume blog was to learn more about perfumery as I had an interest in becoming a perfumer. I don’t really see myself as a perfumer at this stage. Maybe I am a scent designer? There is a lot of weight that comes with the title of perfumer. Usually these professionals have followed a more traditional path, learning their craft under the tutelage of a master perfumer or completing studies with a recognised and respected perfume school such as ISIPCA in Versailles. Although I have completed some basic training, a majority of my learning has come from my own experimentation with raw materials, trying to copy existing perfumes to discover how they are composed, ... Read More »

Bottega Veneta is one of the more discreet Italian brands, which hangs on the periphery of fashion without too much noise. Founded in 1966, the Venetian atelier developed a reputation with connoisseurs for making meticulously crafted leathergoods. Bottega Veneta’s global expansion didn’t take place until 2001 when the Gucci Group purchased the company and Tomas Maier was appointed Creative Director. Maier helped expand Bottega Veneta from being a niche luxury brand that few people knew to an international luxury brand with boutiques all over the world. With the product offer expanding to include shoes and ready-to-wear, accessories and jewellery, the launch of perfumes was inevitable. After dipping a toe in the market with a small collaboration with L’Artisan Parfumeur making home fragrances, Bottega Veneta partnered with Coty and in 2011 the brand launched its first signature fragrance for women, Bottega Veneta Eau de Parfum. Robertet perfumer Michael Almairac worked on this project and he has been the brand’s preferred perfumer to date. Last year he returned to Bottega Veneta and composed Essence Aromatique. Even though he is not the only perfumer Bottega Veneta has worked with over the past four years, the brand’s olfactive signature has clearly emerged – Bottega ... Read More »

Santal Royal is one of Guerlain’s latest offerings and as the name suggests, it is an olfactory homage to sandalwood. Over millennia, sandalwood has been the substance of perfume legends. In Eastern cultures it is honoured with sacred reverence. Early Sankrit texts give accounts of fragrant sandalwood paste adorning the bodies of gods, kings and lovers. For Guerlain, Exoticism and mythic stories of love have been constant influences. After a modern system of trade was established with the East, 19th century perfumer Aimé Guerlain used Indian sandalwood oil in his abstract creation, Jicky. At the birth of Art Deco, Jacques Guerlain tributed Shalimar to the tragic love story of Moghul Emperor Shah Jahan. Later that century, Jean-Paul Guerlain authored Samsara, a name inspired by the Eastern philosophy of life and death. Originally Samsara was created for Guerlain’s muse, Decia de Powell, who requested a bespoke perfume using sandalwood and jasmine. The original formula contained an unprecedented 30% of sandalwood oil. Researching for his book, Perfume Legends, author Michael Edwards interviewed Sylvaine Delacorte who was Jean-Paul Guerlain’s assistant at the time. She recalled, “Sandalwood is one of Guerlain’s favourite materials. For as long as I have worked for him, he has told me ... Read More »

Master Perfumer Olivier Creed’s latest collection is described as a “living fragrance journal of countless globetrotting journeys with the fine art of perfumery as the narrative.” The Acqua Originale fragrances cover a broad geography, going below the mineral rich soil of Tuscany where iris bulbs are rooted, to colourful and fragrant flowerbeds in Southern India. The new collection captures the soul of the perfume’s raw materials in a modern and expressive way, quite different from Creed’s more classically structured main collection. Aberdeen Lavander sits apart from the other Acqua Originale fragrances because it involves a sense of time travel. The fragrance is tributed to one of Creed’s esteemed 19th century patrons, the British monarch Queen Victoria. The Scottish Highlands were a favourite retreat of the Queen, and with this location in mind, Olivier Creed created a fragrance very much of Queen Victoria’s era. Aberdeen Lavander is a fougere fragrance featuring the calming scent of lavender with patchouli, a fashionable smell in Victorian England. The fougere name came from an innovative cocktail of refreshing eau de cologne, geranium, woods and coumarin, which formed the basis of Paul Parquet’s Fougere Royale in 1882. Since Parquet’s time, the fougere accord has been the ... Read More »

Vetiver has been one of my favourite perfume notes for many years. Personal highlights from my collection include Chanel’s smoky Sycomore, The Different Company’s salty Sel de Vetiver, Christian Dior’s coffee-infused Vetiver, Frederic Malle’s Parisian Vetiver Extraordinaire and Guerlain’s archetypal Vetiver. I could go on listing more. When I heard Creed was launching a new vetiver fragrance to join its existing Original Vetiver, my interest was perked. Vetiver Geranium is part of Creed’s recently launched Acqua Originale collection, a series of five fragrances that have the freshness and radiance of eau de cologne with the tenacity of a more concentrated eau de parfum. Each fragrance is a short and focused essay, exploring raw materials gathered from around the world by Master Perfumer, Olivier Creed. The island of Java, one of the perfumer’s favourite destinations in Indonesia, inspired Vetiver Geranium. I was introduced to the Acqua Originale fragrances by Erwin Creed who was in Sydney for the collection’s Australian launch in December. As the son of Olivier Creed, Erwin is pegged to take over the family business when his father retires, placing him seventh in a family line of perfumers since Creed was established in 1760. Although his training to become a Master Perfumer continues, ... Read More »

Last year when Creed launched its new Acqua Originale collection of fragrances in Australia, I had the opportunity to speak with Erwin Creed who was in Sydney for the collection’s launch. We spoke about his role in the family business, a business that spans seven generations, going back to the mid 18th century. With perfume being the family’s primary activity, Erwin’s father, Olivier Creed currently holds the title of Creed’s Master Perfumer. Eventually this title will pass to Erwin, who currently oversees global distribution of his family’s perfumes. Although he has already authored perfumes for Creed, Erwin’s perfumer training is ongoing. He says he needs to learn how to think like his father, to understand how he creates perfumes. There is no fixed timeline for Erwin to succeed his father and his current training involves interning with a variety of perfume companies to learn the various aspects of his father’s role.

Asked to describe Creed in three words, he smiles and says decisively, “family, respect and quality.” Erwin goes on to say that quality of the raw materials Creed uses is very important. Part of his training is learning about different distillation processes and quality control so he can safe guard the ... Read More »

Almost a year and a half has past since I’ve written anything about Puredistance, one of Netherland’s premier niche perfume houses. This is because the brand has been quietly working on a new fragrance. In previous posts I interviewed Puredistance founder, Jan Ewoud Vos, and I explored his collection of Pure Perfume Extraits. My favourite is Puredistance M, a spicy leather-chypre created in collaboration with perfume guru Roja Dove. In late 2013 I was part of a group of bloggers invited to write about the launch of Puredistance BLACK. Earlier this month I received another package of precious cargo from Puredistance HQ containing the result of their past years work – Puredistance WHITE. The new fragrance will be previewed this week at Esxence in Milan ahead of the perfume’s official launch on April 20.

Great design often takes time and in this fast-paced world we live in, time is a luxury that many brands are willing to sacrifice. Luxury is at the core of the Puredistance ethos. Together with perfumer Antoine Lie, they worked for a year to refine and perfect the formula for WHITE. Lie is also the engineer behind Puredistance BLACK, so for me it is interesting to smell the two together ... Read More »

This week at Esxence in Milan, newcomer Malbrum Parfums will unveil three new fragrances titled Volume 1. Founded in Norway by entrepreneur and scent artist, B. Kristian Malbrum, the collection is an interesting mix of Kristian’s unique Nordic style and French perfumer Delphine Thierry’s classically trained nose for detail and construction. I first met Kristian through Facebook. Since then, we have exchanged the occasional message over the months, discussing raw materials. At the start of the year he messaged me to say his first collection was complete and he asked if I would like to be among the first people to sample his finished work. Knowing he created his perfumes in collaboration with Delphine Thierry, I was naturally curious. I’m a big fan of the fragrances she created for Lubin and Rive Sud Interior. After smelling the Malbrum perfumes and Skyping with Kristian this weekend, we both agreed that his fragrances have Delphine’s signature as a perfumer. I also think Kristian’s rogue influence creates interesting dynamics in all three perfumes, which is one of the reasons why I like his collection so much.

Kristian’s interest in perfume began at the age of 8, when he convinced his grandmother to take him to a ... Read More »

Last week I published an interview with B. Kristian Malbrum, the Norwegian founder of a new line of niche perfumes called Malbrum Parfums. Of the three extrait de parfums I discussed with Kristian, Tigre du Bengale was my favourite and I was grateful to add a bottle of it to my personal perfume collection. Aside from simply liking the way it smells, I was intrigued by the unconventional process Kristian followed to create these fragrances with French perfumer Delphine Thierry. Kristian told me that his starting point for a new perfume was the raw materials. He began without a concept, design brief or story. The perfume’s title and story came after the fragrance took form. For Tigre du Bengale, he wanted to explore the boundaries between spices and leather in a fragrance. Within that journey, the idea of a Bengal tiger’s skin and what that would smell like began to interest him. The spices he had selected for his composition related to the Bengal tiger’s homeland given they were all spices used to flavour Bengali cuisine. As the formula evolved, Kristian sensed the erogenous aspect of the fragrance. When I spoke with him he laughed and said, “The first thing that came to my mind ... Read More »