When I heard, that the new perfume Volutes by Diptyque has been inspired by a childhood memory of founder Yves Coueslant, namely by a passage from Marseille to Saigon, I immediately thought of one of my favorite books – The Lover by Marguerite Duras. I also love the movie and its soundtrack. It’s a blue, bittersweet melancholia amidst the scenery of the fertile landscape of Vietnam.

Perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin has created the image of elegant ladies on a steamboat, standing at the rail smoking Egyptian cigarettes and sending smoke rings into the cool sea air. I imagine the famous scene from The Lover, the little French girl wearing a man’s hat and braids, putting her worn down stiletto on the rail while the Chinese man is observing her.

Volutes is a very feminine, soft scent with spicy nuances, yet cool. Sweet-smoky-spicy-cool to be precise. Iris is very dominant in the composition and functions as a metaphor for the silk dresses fluttering in the wind. It is also a very good contrast to the sweetness of honey tobacco. Dried fruits and oriental spices reveal an aroma of an oriental market, maybe a stopover of this journey. Resins represent the ship’s engine room. Volutes is a very round and strong composition, an intense woody oriental perfume. I don’t find it suitable for men. Amber pulls us into the depths of the ocean while the smoke rings fly to heaven. Volutes spreads the word into all cardinal directions.

Category: unisex

Year: 2012

Perfumer: Fabrice Pellegrin

Notes: pink pepper, pepper, saffron, clove, tobacco, honey, suede, hay, strawflower, amber, iris, myrrh, opoponax

www.diptyqueparis.com

I am a purist, this flacon is not my taste. With choosing the Danish model Freja Beha Erichsen, who seems to be a muse for everyone nowadays, Valentino surely has thought of a very young target group. The strawberry note reminds me of rather girly scents with a sweet and playful structure, like the former Miss Dior Chérie.

When I first tested Valentina I thought “Why do they all create this 90′s stuff now?“ You know trends – it always takes some time and then you get used to them. Same story with the 90′s comeback in perfumery. Suddenly you are very into it.

Today I have taken some time to give Valentina a second chance. A friend of mine told me that she has bought it, because it makes her feel ‘well dressed’. I tried to forget the bottle, thought “it’s not that bad“ and there are two glorious perfumers behind the creation. But: it is, what it is, a well done mainstream scent – a white floral fruitchouly. If you like it sweet, go for it. Okay, it’s not the next Flowerbomb, but it smells too familiar, strawberry and tuberose are way too dominant. The scent becomes sweeter and sweeter as time goes by – like a 90′s model wearing too much makeup. I don’t even get a hint of cedar. Elegant, well, maybe in the opening.

Have a look at the spot, I really love the black Valentino dress. And of course Freja is wonderful! Click here.

Category: women

Perfumers: Alberto Morillas & Olivier Cresp

Year: 2011

Notes: bergamot, white truffles, strawberry, jasmine, orange blossom, tuberose, amber, vanilla, cedar wood

I don’t know what happened to Monsieur Lutens but I feel that something has changed. I’ve first noticed it with Bas de Soie. The perfumes are getting more floral, transparent, less oriental, less spicy. They feel more and more French, loosing its Moroccan or let’s say oriental background.

Vitriol d’oeillet (Vitriol of Carnation) is very clean and light. A scent around carnation seasoned with different kinds of pepper, nutmeg and clove, but the spices are reduced to a minimum. They reveal a licorice effect which turns into a slightly powdery, minimalistic musky base. Is there some violet in it? Seems so. When I first heard about it, I thought it would turn out rather oriental, but it is very French in a way, elegant, comparable to Bas de Soie, but less sharp and less intense. A very clear and kind of simple scent, which I can imagine for the early morning. It feels like a quiet garden when the sun has not yet fully risen, neither are the flowers in full bloom. I associate a sophisticated French businesswoman on her way to the next meeting. Very B.C.B.G. (bon chic bon genre), a French term meaning good style, good attitude.

To be honest, it is not the kind of perfume I would wear. I feel too young and too passionate for this scent. After half an hour it has nearly disappeared and you can only feel an idea of a perfume on your skin.

Category: women

Perfumer: Christopher Sheldrake

Year: 2011

Notes: carnation, clove, cayenne, black pepper, pink pepper, nutmeg

www.sergelutens.com

Let’s start the new year with something fresh – Vettivéru by Comme des Garçons.

When I met my boyfriend he wore Vétiver by Guerlain. I mean the original bottle with the old formula! I really don’t like the new vial and the reformulation.

So, when I tried Vettivéru by Comme des Garçons I had this flashback moment of wonderful vetiver, blended perfectly with bergamot and cedar wood. This is how Vétiver by Guerlain once smelled. And I really love the Comme des Garçons bottle! Even the price is reasonable and this is why every man should try it! You will get a lot of compliments – believe me. Women love men in vetiver. The tart note has something very virile!

Splash the old year away. Welcome to spring 2011; the birds are back in the courtyard, I love it!

Category: men

Year: 2002

Notes: vetiver, bergamot, neroli, cedar wood, white pepper

www.commedesgarcons.org
www.firstinfragrance.com

I cannot wait. I am longing for summer so much, that I always have to remind myself of the feeling by sniffing summer smells. One of the best summer scents comes from the manufacture Profumi del Forte and is called Vittoria Apuana, like a district of the Italian city Forte dei Marmi.

This perfume is so soft, sweet and lazy that you only have to close your eyes and you will wake up at the beach. The ingredients may sound funny: vanilla, coconut, tiaré flower, banana… I want to mention that we are talking about a very shy banana and its companions are very unobtrusive too! Anyone who has smelled this perfume once will agree with me that it is really well done without being obnoxious. Vittoria Apuana is like the sun warming your skin while the ocean dazzles with sunlit shades of blue. No matter how cold it may be outside, Vittoria Apuana covers you like a warm blanket, hugs you and promises that summer will arrive soon.

Category: women

Perfumer: Maria Candida Gentile

Year: 2007

Notes: Brazilian orange, Sicilian Tangerine, Sicilian bitter orange, coconut, tiaré flower, banana, bourbon vanilla, ambergris

www.intertradeeurope.de