This is what I loved to smell this summer!

By the way, did I mention that we had Club Tropicana in Berlin? Gosh, it was so, so hot. But since two weeks it feels like autumn and I am suddenly feeling like buying autumn fashion flipping through the pages of glossy magazines. Every season has its beautiful sides.

For the gals…

L’Artisan Parfumeur: Mûre et Musc
I have found this perfume on fashion blogger Garance Doré’s site. She mentioned it to be THE perfume of the French girls. Of course I ordered a sample the same day and I must say that I completely fell in love with this clean musk fragrance that is so unbelievably sexy at the same time. It smells like blackberry yoghurt and musk mixed with Ô de Lancôme, which is one of my summer staples. And to be honest, who doesn’t want to smell like a French girl?

The Different Company: Pure eVe
Once it was called Pure Virgin, they have changed the name, Pure eVe is one of the most lovely musk scents I have ever smelled – you find me in the summer of musk, maybe a baby powder thing from a new mom. Céline Ellena has combined the smell of the famous French sweets Calissons with aldehydes, linen flower, mimosa, rose, cedar wood and, of course, musk. Clean and sensual, absolutely divine!

Montale: Sweet Oriental Dream
One gourmand for summer is a must. I have chosen Sweet Oriental Dream because it is overwhelmingly sweet, soft and sexy and the staying power is incredible. Reminds me – and a lot of others – of Keiko Mecheri’s Loukhoum Eau Poudrée but this one is less powdery and the almond is more on center of the stage followed by a wonderful rose and creamy vanilla. A must try!

Estée Lauder: Bronze Goddess
After checking other vacation scents like the new Coccobello by Heeley or Beach Walk by Maison Martin Margiela I’ve finally bought a bottle of this year’s Bronze Goddess Eau Fraîche although I dislike the design of the bottle. Too much gold for me who distastes bling bling. Bronze Goddess is very creamy with a dominant vetiver note. Not at all ‘king of coconut style’, this one stays close to the skin and nevertheless you smell it on your clothes for hours. It has something chilly, like the flair of the late-season, when it’s getting a little bit colder in the evening. Somebody compared it to Azurée Soleil by Tom Ford for Estée Lauder (2007). From what I remember Azurée Soleil had smelled somehow very synthetic, which Bronze Goddess Eau Fraîche doesn’t. It’s a smooth operator.

La Perla: Just Precious
Some time ago we were talking about the 1990s perfume fashion. When I received the new La Perla perfume it reminded me in a way of this era. A sweet oriental scent with citrus notes, tiaré flower, vanilla, amber and sandalwood, perfect for a hot summer night. I have gotten a lot of compliments and have to admit that it really feels very sensual.

My all time favorites quickly added: Oranges and Lemons say the bells of St. Clements by Heeley, Louanges Profanes by Parfumerie Générale, Escale à Portofino by Dior, which is gorgeous, the bottle included! Not to forget Eau Dynamisante by Clarins and Ô de Lancôme by Lancôme.

By the way: I tell you my secret for the face during hot summer days: I use the Aloe Vera Toner Sensitive by Santaverde – best thing to wake up and to refresh yourself during the day. The atomizer makes an ultra-fine spray mist and the smell is heavenly! It’s not water-based but made of aloe vera juice and rose water. Also best directly from the fridge. I love this stuff and have just replenished my reserves. Forget thermal water with fuel gas!

And, last but not least I’ve found a new bronzer which I’m going to use throughout the year: Soleil Tan de Chanel. A cream bronzer which smells like apricots and which gives you a golden summer glow every time you need a little bit of color. Amazing!

So far from the Olfactorialist beauty cabinet concerning fragrant products.

For the boys…

J.F. Schwarzlose: Treffpunkt 8 Uhr
A great scent made in Berlin. Treffpunkt 8 Uhr (Meeting place 8 o’clock) combines vetiver, ginger, sage and mango. The mango just rounds up this beautiful perfume, don’t expect anything like a mango lassi note. The ginger reveals a sophisticated crispness. You have to try this, it’s stunning! A great mixture of classic and up to date.

Diptyque: Philosykos
Figs, coconut, cedar wood. This perfume simply smells like vacation in a bottle and is the best for hot summer days and nights.Wearing Philosykos always feels like coming directly from the beach. A gem! Did you see the wonderful travel spray holders with the magnetized cap of the Collection Voyage by Diptyque? Slim, black and so chic!

Armani Privé: Eau de Jade
Something green! Recently I tested the whole Armani Privé line and sprayed Eau de Jade on my wrist. It lasted very long and I sniffed my arm the whole way home and again and again. I really love this wonderful scent with bergamot, neroli, musk and pepper. The price tag is the only reason why this beautiful perfume doesn’t sit on my dressing table yet.

Miller Harris: Fleurs de Sel
Vetiver is the womanizer par excellence. I don’t know any woman who doesn’t love vetiver on a man. Fleurs de Sel is salty vetiver, a dense and intense carpet made of thyme, rosemary, clary sage, vetiver grass, moss and leather. Amazingly woody and herbal.

Byredo: Bullion
Bullion was created for the Arabian market but in Berlin they sell it at Galeries Lafayette, so fortunately I went by and tested this wonderful sultry elixir. It is a very deep and opulent scent for the evening. Black plum, leather, dark woods, musks. A rich and absolutely sensual perfume. Gorgeous and after Bal d’Afrique my favorite Byredo scent.

What did you wear during the summer heat?

The France-Russia-Year, which will take place in both countries in 2010, was the perfect occasion for Thierry de Baschmakoff, Art Director of The Different Company, to pay tribute to his Russian origin. In collaboration with Céline Ellena he has created De Bachakov, a nearly botanical scent with an Asian touch – Baschmakoff’s ode to Russia: “Peppery and mineral notes of herbs which are softly swinging in the wind… The smell of the first sunrays on wood of Siberian forests – driven by Asian offshore winds which bring a fresh breeze of The Steppe.“

De Bachmakov smells like an entire herb garden. One note that is not listed by The Different Company dominates the opening: clary sage. I like this unique and slightly sharp smell, which is present at all stages of this fragrance. Thai basil, coriander leaves, nutmeg, bergamot and woody notes dance around this rather sharp outlaw. A crystal clear composition that seems to be mixed with vodka and ice cubes. Anyway – if I had not known that this was supposed to be a Russian scent I wouldn’t have figured it out.

The creations of The Different Company are all very natural scents, not only the ingredients but also the smells. That applies to De Bachmakov too. I can imagine that this perfume is a very refreshing elixir at the end of a hot summer day when it’s cooled in the fridge.

Category: unisex

Perfumer: Céline Ellena with Thierry de Baschmakoff

Year: 2010

Notes: clary sage, Thai basil, coriander leaves, nutmeg, bergamot, freesia, cedar wood, musk, vodka

www.thedifferentcompany.com

Just imagine that you’re sitting on the patio of a Moroccan riad as a balmy summer night makes way for the new day and the wind carries you a dash of freshly baked pistachio pastry mixed with the fragrance of roses.

With Oriental Lounge, Céline Ellena presents a surprisingly light and gentle fragrance which masterfully unites natural and synthetic ingredients into a modern interpretation of Oriental. She could not have done this with 100% natural ingredients, as she explained in a recent interview with Grain de Musc, “I need synthetic materials to allow the composition to breathe, to give it light and rhythm.”

Oriental Lounge is seductive in an unobtrusive way and, after a fresh bergamot opening, bonds in an unpredictable way with the skin into a creamy vanilla, while the amber note, too, is very tempered. Forget the heavy Oriental perfumes of our grandmothers: here comes a fragrance you can wear during the day and evening. Céline Ellena herself says that she likes to wear it with jeans and a T-shirt and that’s exactly what sums it up: the fragrance is sensual and mysterious in a casual way. It exudes a certain lightness and is thus suitable for those who don’t ordinarily like Oriental fragrances.

Céline Ellena is being modest when she says that Oriental perfumes are not her strong point. With Oriental Lounge, she demonstrates very clearly that she is the daughter of her father, the famous Jean-Claude Ellena, with whom she founded The Different Company in 2000.

I’d like to recommend anyone unfamiliar with Céline Ellena’s blog to have a look at Chroniques Olfactives (in French). This is where the perfumer writes about everyday impressions.

Category: unisex

Perfumer: Céline Ellena

Year: 2009

Notes: bergamot, caloupilé leaves, pink pepper, rose, tonka bean, amber, labdanum, satinwood

www.thedifferentcompany.com