January 2009 Archives

1.) As If I Needed A Reason:
"If you're out on a date, have as much gourmet food and wine as your purse will permit, including all kinds of shellfish and vintage red wines. The reason? Gourmet foods contain pheromones and so you will increase your personal level of pheromones."

Then I'll have the Kobe steak, rare, and the lobster mashed potatoes smothered in a Foie Gras reduction sauce please . . . oh, and bacon!

2.) Can Couture Save Us From Our Gloomy Selves?:
"As sure as each passing season, (haute couture) becomes more of an anachronism, (but) its defenders leap to justify its existence. They wax on about its magical, fantastical nature - how important it is to experiment with the limits of fabric and cut and drape, how important it is to escape the realities of a sometimes hard-knock world . . . John Galliano told reporters: 'There is a credit crunch, not a creative crunch. Of course, everyone is being more careful with their discretionary purchases. I am. But it's our job to make people dream, and to provide the value in quality, cut and imagination.'"

Oh Mr. John, let's cut the bull, shall we? It's not your job to just make people dream -- it's your job to make people dream of BUYING DIOR and so add value to LVMH stock. There's a big fat difference. Video clip below of Galliano's Dior dream, Spring Couture 2009:

Counterpoint -- Couture's not hopelessly irrelevant, it's defiantly decadent: "Either John Galliano's head is buried so deeply in the sand that he has rendered himself oblivious to all things recession-related, or he understands that if there's one sector of society utterly unaffected by economic woes, it's the tiny handful of people who can afford to buy a dress the price of a small house. I'm guessing it's the latter."

Speaking of irrelevant couture, LVMH has announced that it's putting its financial clout behind British designer Gareth Pugh. I'm not so certain I'd call this an "investment" so much as a frivolous indulgence (Delphine Arnault, daughter of billionaire LVMH head Bernard Arnault, is the one who lobbied for Pugh). Pugh's Fall/Winter 2009/2010 Menswear collection below:

Yeah, that'll sell like hotcakes.

In related news, Olivier Theysken has been booted from his position as head designer at Nina Ricci. Below is the Spring/Summer '09 collection that got Theysken axed:

3.) Bulgari Suffers a 4th Quarter Smackdown:
As darling daughter Delphine is busy shoveling daddy's (and LVMH stockholders') money into the black-hole of Gareth Pugh, LVMH brand Bulgari gets the sales rug pulled right out from underneath it -- "Bulgari SpA, the world's third- largest jeweler, said fourth-quarter revenue fell 10 percent on shrinking demand for Assioma watches and Astrale necklaces . . . 'Bulgari is suffering from high exposure to the Italian market and underperformance in Japan and in watches,' said John Guy, an analyst with MF Global Securities Ltd. in London . . . Sales from Japan, the source of about a fifth of the total, declined 6.9 percent .. Sales from the Americas decreased 4.8 percent, while in Europe revenue dropped 17 percent, dragged down by an 18 percent decline in the Italian market, the company said."

It appears that LVMH wants to give the impression to the pubic that a recession isn't a problem for its bottom line, when every quarterly report obviously shows that a problem exists, and is only getting worse. When luxury brand jewelry sales plunge like this, it's a clear indicator that discretionary spending is skidding to a halt.

The one bright spot: "(While) Bulgari's fourth-quarter watch sales fell 21 percent and jewelry revenue dropped 13 percent . . . Accessories sales climbed 5 percent and fragrances and cosmetics revenue rose 4.8 percent."

I can hear the Bulgari management now -- "More perfumes, please!"

4.) China Cries Foul over Auction of Yves St. Laurent Art Collection:
"China is trying to block the sale in Paris of two 18th-century bronze animal heads from the collection of Yves Saint Laurent, the late French couturier, because they were looted from Beijing by a marauding Franco-British army . . . The items, the heads of a rat and a rabbit that were taken in 1860 from the Yuan Ming Yuan garden, the Imperial Summer Palace, on the edge of Beijing, have an estimated sale price of between £16-20million."

Because if there's one thing the Chinese government understands and respects, it's property rights. Excuse me while I dissolve into a fit of irony induced giggles.

5.) Stella McCartney Opens Her First Boutique in Paris:
On January 28th, the British designer opened her first store in Paris in the Jardins du Palais Royal at 114-121 Galerie de Valois. Editors dropped by for tea in the afternoon, but the more relevant happening was in the evening, when the socialites and supporters came out to play (expected were the likes of Paul McCartney, Stefano Pilati, Catherine Deneuve, Marianne Faithfull, Azzedine Alaia and PPR head Francois-Henri Pinault.)

It's a good bet Heather Mills won't be darkening the doorstep, like, ever.

6.) Karl Lagerfeld Debuts Chanel Spring Couture Collection to Near Unanimous Praise:
"Inspired by children's pop-up books, Lagerfeld overlayed the classic Chanel silhouette -- a boxy jacket and A-line skirt -- with bugle beading, embroidery, and hand-cut petals and leaves. The collection showcased the creativity of Chanel's "petit mains" (little hands), the artisans who realise Lagerfeld's fantastical visions. A single perceline cotton dress embroidered with pearls and sequins and trimmed with leaves and flowers by hand took 800 hours to complete."

Video clip below of the Chanel "White-Pages" collection:

If anyone knows how to give the people what they want while socking money into the bottom line, it's Mr. Lagerfeld. It should prove interesting (not to mention enlightening) to watch as he strives to maintain balance in a time of economic crisis.

Case in point: "Chanel did not rent out the Grand Palais in Paris, as it had in previous years, settling instead for the smaller Rue Cambron venue in the city's 1st arrondissement, and Karl Lagerfeld finished a much-vaunted "Chanel Mobile Art" world tour before its scheduled end to save on costs."

In related news, Tom Ford reacts to the recession by introducing a line of $990.00 jeans: "What man wouldn't mind spending $990 dollars on a pair of jeans? Especially if said jeans have an 18k gold-plated front button and special pockets lined in silk . . . Oh Tom. What will you think of next? Diamond studded socks? Cashmere swim trunks?"

7.) Kanye West Muses a Name Change -- Martin Louis the King, Jr.:
"Maybe this is all a ploy to distract us from the sleepers (as we've taken to calling the bleh red kicks - [his incredibly boring monochromatic sneakers for Louis Vuitton . . . ed.]). And that's fine, and maybe even kind of smart. But we're taking a stand on this whole name change issue. MLK is taken (but) Massively Over-Inflated Ego, Project Runway Wannabe, and Tragically Color Blind are all still available."

Or maybe he's just insecure and afraid of death: 'Materialistic consumers with anxiety about their existence are especially in need of the symbolic security that brand connections provide,' write researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Virginia."

Whatever. My bet is on Massively Over-Inflated Ego.

Speaking of Massively Over-Inflated Egos, Sean P-Diddy Puff-Daddy Combs has been served with a lawsuit over the bottle design for his Unforgivable cologne: "In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in US District Court in Springfield, Tom Patti contends that the cologne's packaging - the bottle fits inside a stylish ridged plastic cradle - is a rip-off of two copyrighted tabletop glass sculptures he created in the early 1980s called 'Compacted Gray With Clear and Ribs' and 'Modulated Solar Airframe.'"

The two bottle designers have also been named in the lawsuit. Photos of the bottle and one of the artworks in question below:

Tom Patti art on the left, Unforgivable bottle on the right.

The BF thinks it's all just a shakedown by an obscure artist who's dreaming of settlement dollars, usually represented by a law firm that's taken the case on contingency. Should be interesting to see how it turns out. My bet, in this case, is on the settlement dollars (with no admission of wrongdoing by the bottle designers, natch).

8.) American Tourism Dollars Have Gone Missing in Europe:
"Overall, the number of foreign visitors dropped 5 percent from 2007, but the numbers from North America fell the most -- 12 percent . . . The tourism loss has a ripple effect, agents pointed out. A 20 percent dip in Americans can mean as much as a million admissions lost in museums and tourist sites . . . 'The American people used to fly here and then they'd travel by train to Tuscany, to Venice, a lot of places. Even in large groups,' said Sabina Presta, who heads the tourism office near Rome's Spanish Steps . . . On nearby Via dei Condotti, most clerks smiled ruefully when asked about the long-gone big American spender. 'Where are they?' said Andrea Mosso, a salesclerk at Prada. 'We used to see families. Now, nothing.'"

Now, when I start seeing articles about how Japanese tourism has dried up, that's when I'll know the sh*t has really hit the luxury industry's fan.

Soivohle' is an Ohio based, small-scale boutique perfume house founded by artist Liz Zorn, producing both all-natural and "modern" (synthetics included) fragrances by hand. The two scents I'm testing today are from her all-natural side of the aisle.

TOBACCO & TULLE: Sometimes, with fragrances, I feel like I'm the equivalent of the wine-snob, where I roll the liquid around in the glass and sniff at it and say things like: "Hmmm, I'm getting the smell of dried cherries, a bit of rose, some leather and maybe gravel -- do you smell gravel?" when all that's in the glass is the juice from grapes.

The fragrance and wine fields can be similar in this respect, since the best of perfumers and vintners strive to create impressive illusions through the art of combination. Tobacco & Tulle is a prime example of this. I can say: "I'm getting a whiff of sawdust, a faint layer of dark chocolate, and the retro scent of pipe smoke during a tromp through a wild forest" -- when the hand that's being played is actually a royal flush of tobacco, tuberose, ambergris, hyrax and oakmoss.

Huh. Who'd of thought?

From what I would have assumed is a hodgepodge of twos, sixes and fives (1. whale vomit; 2. goo scraped from the musk sac of a farmed animal; and 3. folded spindled and mutilated vegetation) comes a jackpot play that stuns observers and rakes in all the chips on the table.

It's also five hours later and the all-natural Tobacco & Tulle is still going strong, radiating a golden, lightly toasted aroma that belies its humble origins. Thanks, ambergris!

Anyone who's been hunting for a high-quality feminine tobacco fragrance can park their cash at Liz Zorn's doorstep. The fact that it's an all-natural is just icing on the cake, and kind of blows my mind.

UNDERWORLD: The Soivohle' website insists that Underworld doesn't have anything to do with vampire movies or Greek mythology, and more's the pity, because any creative piece benefits from a backstory.

Fortunately for Soivohle', though, Underworld is fully capable of standing on its own. While Ms. Zorn states that Underworld is primarily a story of vetiver, the grass with its roots deep into the soil, there's a delicious, balsamic current that flows through the base and makes it read more like an earthen, wine-soaked amber than an essay on grasses and roots.

Not as dry as Tobacco & Tulle, but just as deeply satisfying, if not more so. Again, I'm at five to six hours and Underworld is still busting along. Whatever happened to the idea that all-natural fragrances have a lifespan of one to two hours, tops? Apparently, Liz Zorn didn't get that memo (and god bless her for it).

Wrap it up: I can't recommend one over the other -- both Tobacco & Tulle and Underworld are terrific in their own fashion. If you prefer a dustier, woods and musk scent, then T&T is so totally your bag, but if you're in the mood for a dark, earthen balsam (with even a little bit of rose), Underworld will fit your bill and blow out the light bulbs on the marquee while it's at it.

VEERING INTO PHOTOS:

In related news, here are some photos of a 1/2 ounce bottle of the Leather Essence from all-natural Berkeley perfumer Mandy Aftel (Aftelier).

The Aftelier website lists the Leather Essence for sale in only 2ml bottles, but after trying it out, I liked it so much that I asked if it were possible to purchase it in a larger size bottle. The answer, thankfully, was yes.

The Aftelier site describes the Leather Essence as "sexy and warm with notes of amber and other balsams. Perfect for layering with other Aftelier fragrances to add a clean, sexy depth." No kidding. It's also perfect for layering with just about any fragrance you'd care to slip a rich layer of warmth underneath -- it's the bomb when paired with the likes of Shalini:

OFF TOPIC (but fun for ME!):

Hey! Look whose review of LesNez L'Antimatiere got quoted for the new LesNez website:

click photo for larger screenshot

KEIKO MECHERI LOUKHOUM PARFUM DU SOIR: I stayed up way too late last night watching Dead Reckoning: a 1947 black & white film-noir with Humphrey Bogart and a platinum blond Lizabeth Scott. Cool movie -- lots of snappy dialogue and slick plot twists.

There's a scene near the end where Bogart has just been beaten around by some mobster and he goes to see the Lizabeth Scott character at her apartment -- a huge expanse of sumptuous living space done up all in white, and she answers the door in a wardrobe to match.

Suffice it to say, there are recriminations, accusations and tears, and Loukhoum Parfum du Soir reminds me of that scene -- big on the drama and rich on the scenery. This is not a slight wisp of a scent for daddy's little girl, but rather, it's heavy with roses and near toxically sweet, begging for trust and love while plotting how it might just do you in if you don't lay off the twenty questions routine.

If you're inclined to take it at face value, then Loukhoum Parfum du Soir would be a terrific choice, narcotizing any and all resistance with a wallop of rose oil, a clobber of oudh, a right hook of patchouli and a blast of sugared almonds and thick vanilla; but if you're the type who tends to think too much, wondering if A + B really does add up to 42, you might discover that the only thing standing between you and death by Itchy Trigger Finger du Soir is your foot on the accelerator and the car aimed straight for a tree.

It's wise to remember that the "fatale" in Femme Fatale isn't there just for show.

Below is the only video clip I could find from Dead Reckoning -- it's a musical number and not the scene in the white room, unfortunately, but it's Lizabeth Scott singing to Bogart, so perhaps all isn't lost:

DIVINE L'ETRE AIME HOMME: I know I swore eternal enmity against the Everlasting Flower (Immortelle) ever since tangling with Annick Goutal's Sables (and L'Artisan Aedes de Venustas didn't help matters any), but L'Etre Aime Homme might just convince me to call a truce, after all.

The key word in the preceding paragraph being "might" . . .

Divine's latest entry into the male fragrance market reinforces their street cred (L'homme Sage, anyone?) and provides the men in the crowd with one more excuse to ditch the foul, mainstream Gucci sh*t and get with the program (yes, that's right, I just said Gucci by Gucci Pour Homme is cheap and foul, so deal with it and let's move on).

Granted, I like the herbal opening and spicy-grassy mid-point much better than the Immortelle flavored drydown, but Divine managed to put just enough of a leash on the everlasting flower to keep it from chewing up the furniture and chasing down the mailman (bad Sables! bad bad bad!!!), so I can forgive the maple-syrup and bacon that's lurking in the background.

I wouldn't purchase L'Etre Aime Homme for myself, precisely because of the everlasting flower, but it's an interesting piece of work with depth and an admirable balance, and I wouldn't begrudge anyone for wearing it around me.

Listed scent notes for L'Etre Aime Homme: bergamot, lavender, ginger, basil, cardamom, everlasting flower, cistus, sandalwood, vetiver and patchouli. The vetiver and herbs/spices are prevalent in the first half of skin time, while the everlasting flower, cistus (labdanum) and woodsy patchouli take over for the homestretch.

TIMBUKTU: Since my second-chance meet-and-greet with Cartier Declaration went so well, a commenter suggested that perhaps I might want to rethink my initially less than thrilled reaction to L'Artisan's Timbuktu, an incense fragrance created by noted perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour and heaped with so much praise, and from almost every direction, that I'm a little surprised it's still breathing (much less standing).

Duchaufaur is responsible for the likes of Commes des Garcons Kyoto (novel at the time, but now lagging behind the competition), L'Artisan Mechant Loup (a common kitchen spice drawer), Eau d'Italie Baume du Doge (hey, who spilled the vanilla?!) and L'Artisan Piment Brulant (death by green peppers), so it's not like Mr. Bertrand and I spend our spare time knocking back shots at the bar and congratulating one another on our mutual good taste.

I was hoping that a second-chance encounter with Timbuktu might open that elusive bag of charm that I completely missed the first time around, but it's not meant to be. I still find Timbuktu to be tritely floral and lightly smoky in a humdrum way, and I'm not a fan of the cold myrrh plus vetiver drydown, as it tosses a wrench into the forgivable enough elements that preceded it.

The one benefit to Timbuktu is that it could potentially be used for Monday through Friday office wear. You'd smell vaguely pretty (until four-five hours later when the wet grass dank kicks in) but not so unusual or distinct that the fragrance Nazis could single you out as the culprit du jour. Faint praise, I know.

Or you could just slap on some scented antiperspirants and hairsprays and be done with it.

Tell you what -- if you're really looking for a warm, floral, incense scent, try Ormonde Jayne Ormonde Man. If you're a woman, don't pay any attention that it's called Ormonde Man. It smells terrific on both sexes.

AEDES DE VENUSTAS: A fragrance that was created by Duchaufaur for the New York fragrance shop Aedes de Venustas (which is a great little shop, and their customer service is exemplary). The L'Artisan Aedes de Venustas fragrance could be described as Timbuktu's dark drydown on steroids, and I wish I could say that's a good thing.

I know I gave a thumbs-up to Etro Messe de Minuit, a myrrh-heavy spice and smoke fragrance with the heart of a 15th century cathedral, and you'd think this might indicate a perpetually reserved table in my heart for the dark incense crowd, but there's something about the mix in the L'Artisan Aedes that bypasses the dusty cinnamon goodness that made the Etro a keeper and skips straight to the mildew that Tara describes when she talks about myrrh fragrances in general.

Myrrh may not be an actual material in use in L'Artisan Aedes de Venustas, but the worst of its effects are certainly present, perhaps as a result from the combination of the dreaded Immortelle flower plus treemoss . . . ? So Tara, if you're reading this, I now empathize with your objections to Messe de Minuit -- if anyone were to walk past me wearing L'Artisan Aedes, I'd immediately begin checking corners and drains for water seepage.

The shame of it is that L'Artisan Aedes manages to erase nearly all its mistakes just as it's gasping its last breath, but making me wade through five to six hours of soul-crushing mildew to get to the secret room of heavenly spice (and really, it smells great on its way out the door) seems more than a little perverse.

L'Artisan Aedes was produced as a companion piece to the Aedes room candle, so apparently there was consumer demand, just don't ask me to explain why. My first reaction when I sprayed it on was, "People buy candles so that they're whole house can smell like this?" Go figure.

Scent notes for Timbuktu: green mango, pink pepper, cardamom, karo karounde flower, papyrus wood, patchouli, myrrh and vetiver.

Scent notes for Aedes de Venustas: orange oil, pink pepper, cardamom, incense essential oil, black pepper, rose, iris, cedarwood, patchouli, leather, coffee, opoponax, benzoin, treemoss (which is different from, and not as fragrant as, oakmoss), everlasting flower (the dreaded Immortelle), white musk and vanilla.

HISTOIRES DE PARFUMS NOIR PATCHOULI: Roars out of the gate like a sledgehammer on a patchouli bender and I'm thinking, "Uh-oh, this is going to get ugly" . . . but 90 minutes later, the patchouli has calmed down and the fragrance has taken a softer turn.

The Scented Salamander waxes nearly rhapsodic about Noir Patchouli, writing that "Noir Patchouli is one of those perfumes that make one irresistibly think of the sound of the crack of a whip as expressive of a perfume's and woman's sexiness. The end (drydown) suggests that she gives in to her more romantic side," while the gang at Basenotes is far less impressed: "After a patchouli-based accord in the topnotes, the fragrance progresses to a rose heart and base without too much else going on. I'd say patchouli isn't even noticeable after the first half hour, which is fine in a fragrance not named 'patchouli noir'."

I'm siding with the Basenotes crew on this one, except to note that the patchouli is still noticeable even several hours in, it's just not as wickedly potent as it was in the first thirty minutes.

Noir Patchouli scent notes are listed as: patchouli, coriander, cardamom, floral bouquet, juniper berries, black pepper, musk, vetiver, oakmoss, leather, vanilla.

I get patchouli, vanilla and a slight bit of florals over a faint musk -- the drydown is actually a very feminine vanilla-patchouli with hints of chocolate, so I think they're just yanking our chain with all the rest of it.

MONTALE LOUBAN: I may just have to give up and surrender to the notion that Montale and I are not made for each other.

Louban is not awful or terrible by any means, it's just . . . kind of the same-old same-old, as if the company went through the motions and dialed it in: "Wha? We need a new release? But don't we have, like, six hundred and fifty on the market already? Okay, okay! We'll release something new! I must have something stashed away in a drawer somewhere that will suffice."

Montale has done this kind of incense, rose and oud routine before . . . many, many times before, so slapping a new name on it, then introducing it as a new scent, isn't likely to fool anybody. That said, I will admit that the rose that emerges after a couple of hours on the skin is actually kind of nice -- soft but dusky, and defiantly pleasant, as if to say, "Ha! Take that, Montale disbeliever!"

And is that a vanilla I'm sensing way back there in the distance? Oh, no, wait -- that's the Noir Patchouli getting a second wind and choking all the air out of the room. Never mind!

I think what I can appreciate about Louban is that the usual oud suspects are dialed down quite a bit (okay, dialed down "a lot") so that it's not the Brick Wall of Oud scent I've banged up against when testing Montale fragrances in the past. This makes it much more wearable for the average fragrance consumer in the long run, which is a smart move for Montale if they wish to increase market share in a topsy-turvy world.

God knows they have a lot of good to excellent competition out there.

So if you're looking for a masculine, woodsy-rose fragrance (with maybe a fumey-oud undertone?), you could do a lot worse than Louban. Yeah, you could do a lot better, too, but still . . .

Note: Noir Patchouli has a good lifespan on the skin, while Louban has seriously faded into Barely-There land after three to four hours.

1.) Kanye West debuts his footwear collaboration with Louis Vuitton, and all I can see is Marc Jacobs in a skirt and neon-patterned tights.

"No, I didn't say your tights were dope, I asked if you were smoking dope!"

Sorry LV, but when your head designer starts dressing like an escapee from Arkham Asylum, you've obviously got more problems than the economy.

In related pop-culture meets fashion news, film director Sophia Coppola has produced a new commercial for Dior Miss Cherie:

2.) Designers Opting for Safety in New Collections:
"Designers have unanimously chosen a safe, cheerful look to combat recession. This was the central theme emanating from an unusually short fashion week in Milan."

The former global spending spree allowed men's fashion designers to assume that perilously irrelevant collections (i.e. Prada's frilly little tutus and halter-tops last fall . . . for men!) were mainstream worthy, so I guess we can all thank the economic crash for one thing -- wearable men's clothes! Roomy suits, 1920's trousers, new wave lapels, conservative prints. I can fall in love with men's design all over again.

Video clip below of Prada's Fall 2009 collection -- nary a tutu in sight:

3.) Gucci fakes brought to you by . . . Gucci?:
"The ex-wife of a deceased heir to fashion giant GUCCI has been accused of using her former husband's name to make money on her own line of non-luxury products . . . executives at Gucci America claim Paolo Gucci's former wife of 14 years, Jennifer, and her daughter, Gemma, have been selling skin care products, bedding and linens using the family name without its trademark."

4.) But They're Big in Siberia:
"'There is a historic glut of goods,' especially in clothing, says Irwin Jacobs, the former corporate raider who has been a wholesale liquidator for half a century. His Jacobs Trading Co., in Plymouth, Minn., has long sold outcasts to other resellers around the world. But only recently have his goods wound up in certain distant enclaves such as Siberia."

The usual discount chains (TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Overstock.com) have been unable to move the huge glut of merchandise that suddenly frugal shoppers rejected this past season, so high-style is finding its way into the unlikeliest of places while selling for next to nothing. "'Every retailer you can imagine has had inventory problems,' said Hudson Salvage's Mr. Roberts," who also noted that the increase in discounted designer merchandise began in October and has only been growing.

In related news, Burberry cuts spending and jobs, while Coach reports an unprecedented 14% drop in net profit. Adidas also announced a near 3.5% cut in subsidiary Reebok's workforce.

Sales across the board are so bad that LVMH has even stooped to offering a cheap cognac with Obama's name plastered all over it in a desperate bid to generate sales: "The thriving trade in Obama-bilia just got boozier: Hennessy, the liqueur of choice for any self-respecting rapper, has issued a commemorative Obama cognac . . . LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton will offer 180,000 bottles at $30 each of its lower grade V.S. (Very Special) cognac."

5.) Armani bitch slaps Dolce & Gabbana over 'Trousergate':
"Armani, the godfather of Italian haute couture, claims the fashion duo (Dolce & Gabbana) came up with a pair of purple quilted trousers which are an almost exact copy of a design he unveiled on the catwalk last year . . . "The quilted trousers of disagreement" ran the headline in La Repubblica in what is being described as the biggest schism between two world famous fashion houses since Yves Saint Laurent sued Ralph Lauren in the early 1990s for ripping off the design of a black tuxedo dress."

Armani on the left, Dolce & Gabbana on the right

Expect this type of thing to happen a lot more as global sales shrink. Where imitation on the catwalk used to be considered flattery, it's now grounds for a lawsuit.

6.) Roberto Cavalli Gets Equity Cash Infusion:
"High profile Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli is set to sell a 20% stake in the company to private equity firm Clessidra SGR SpA . . . Italian fashion companies, often still run by the founding families, are under pressure to bring in outside capital or management as competition mounts from major luxury conglomerates such as France's LVMH."

Both the houses of Prada and Salvatore Ferragamo were planning to go public just last year, but have put those plans on hold. That doesn't mean they don't still need the cash, however. Cash strapped independent fashion houses will find themselves under increasing pressure to either accept controlling stakes in their businesses (such as with Roberto Cavalli), or merge with larger corporate interests.

Video clip below for Roberto Cavalli Spring 2009 collection:

UPDATE:

Where You Won't Shop in 2009:
Forbes puts together a list of retailers facing trouble this year, including such well-known names as Eddie Bauer, Sears and K-Mart, but the money quote for me was this one: "More pain is on the way. One-third of U.S. women recently surveyed by America's Research Group said they plan no clothing purchases--none--in 2009. Normally, it's just 4%. That means the market is still far too saturated with stores."

The number of women stating that they won't be purchasing any clothing at all jumped from 4% to 33% . . . in one year! The article also mentions that Starbucks might be closing hundreds of locations as discretionary income dries up and consumers (*gasp*) start saving rather than spending.

UPDATE 2:

Hell has officially frozen over: French rivals bury handbag hatchet

"Mr Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH, the luxury goods company, and Mr Pinault, founder of PPR, the retail group headed by Mr Pinault's son, François-Henri, met this week at a peace lunch brokered by Albert Frère at the Belgian billionaire's home . . . 'As France heads towards recession, Mr Sarkozy wants to steady the ship of corporate France and doesn't want two of its most prominent businessmen still in a stand-off,' they said."

In other words, the global luxury business has gone so sour that the two largest luxury rivals have to beat their swords into ploughshares . . .

GUERLAIN SHALIMAR: With the continuous (and seemingly endless) flood of new releases, it's easy to overlook the classics in favor of the now, but I finally sat down for a meet and greet with Shalimar and was happily surprised to discover how attractive and downright chic it is, especially considering its age (Shalimar was originally released in 1925).

A recent post over at the POL forum mentioned Shalimar as a feminine fragrance that could easily be worn by men, and I agree on that point -- there's nothing about Shalimar that specifically throws like a girl, and if scruffy, dirty boys should decide en masse to adopt this mostly vanilla-opopanax mix (with its icy sheen, thanks to the Iris) as their Brave New Scent, who am I to say no?

Beth at Perfume Smellin' Things has a nice post about the nostalgic power of Shalimar: "Shortly after my mother's death I inherited her gray pearls . . . With a deep sigh I looped them around my neck, knotted them and took a deep breath and there it was, the scent of her Shalimar leaving me spinning happily back in time suddenly and completely unafraid and no longer alone."

Since contemporary fragrances have a shelf life of about a nano-second, few of them can compete with an over eighty-year old fragrance for emotional wallop.

And a new post about Shalimar wouldn't be complete without Guerlain's rather jaw-dropping advertising image update for the fragrance (now, if only they'd update that so-last-century bottle):

Note: I tested the extrait (parfum) version of Shalimar. I understand the EDP and EDT versions are somewhat different, though I can't vouch for that personally.

PARFUMERIE GENERALE COZE: Unfortunately for Coze, its song and dance routine was fated to follow Guerlain's entry in the talent show, and the audience is a little too dazed by Shalimar's razzle dazzle to pay the attention to Coze that it probably deserves.

So while my usual quota of enthusiastic praise has been piggishly devoured by Shalimar, I can say that Coze is easily a solid piece of perfumery that leans masculine with its wood, coffee, pepper and smoke combo. There's a very subtly sweetened cocoa note layered across the base that imparts a gourmand feel to the scent, though I wouldn't say it's a gourmand fragrance by any traditional definition.

The Non-Blonde states that Coze is too tobacco/smoky for her comfort: "Tobacco isn't a listed note here, but the smokiness definitely has a strong tobacco feel. So much so, that I find it off-putting" -- though I find the tobacco-like smokiness one of the nicer things about Coze, and probably what sets it apart from the rest of the woodsy crowd.

So, yeah -- there's your yin/yang reaction.

I genuinely like Parfumerie Generale Coze quite a bit (and it's one of those fragrances that increases in appeal the longer it sits on your skin), but if I were forced to choose between the two fragrances, I'd go for Shalimar without hesitation simply because it's more all-purpose and all-weather; however, if vanilla-incense fragrances aren't your bag and you prefer a scent with more of a dark, smoky heft, Coze would be a great choice.

UPDATED AND ADDED:

ANNICK GOUTAL SABLES: I had some extra time on my hands and space on my skin, so I decided to test Annick Goutal's Sables. Ugh. I wish I hadn't. It literally smells like a cat urinated in a bottle of Sauternes. I gave it plenty of time to "develop" just in case the unpleasantness was a minor opening note which then led on to some fabulous forested stroll, but nuthin' doin' -- the Sauternes was ruined.

Wait! That sounds like a case of bad Beat-era poetry: "Nuthin' doin' -- the Sauternes was ruined" . . . now I only need a cigarette and some absinthe. And a beret.

I Smell Therefore I Am says "The scent focuses on immortelle flower, which is oftentimes an overpowering scent, and has been described as smelling like maple syrup," while commenter Vibert on BaseNotes writes that "In case you haven't experienced it, immortelle smells like gallons of maple syrup and a side of bacon."

Add the Mysore sandalwood, vanilla, pepper and voila! The result is a dry yet syrupy-sweet concoction that smells like . . . well, see above.

In all fairness, Sables has its fans (god help them) and the fragrance has been around since 1985 (which means that somebody's obviously purchasing it), so I'll post some of the rave reviews below -- just don't mistake my balanced approach for endorsement:

Bois de Jasmin: "Sables is brilliant because it manages to build on immortelle without either twisting it beyond recognition, or allowing it to assume a rustic demeanor . . . whenever I wear it, I feel as if I am wrapped into a warm embrace."

Would Smell As Sweet: "Marketed as a man's scent, Sables is both sweet and woodsy, with an overall quality like honeyed tobacco . . . I'd say it's a fine gourmand-type scent for women as well. It would be particularly lovely worn in the fall, when the air is crisp and the leaves turn red and gold."

The previously mentioned I Smell Therefore I Am: "The reason I enjoy Sables so much is that while there is indeed a syrupy sweetness, it still maintains a woody dryness overall . . . The sandy, gritty quality mixes beautifully with notes of sandalwood and pepper to perfectly temper the sweetness of immortelle flower."

As pour moi, I'm taking a giant-sized pass.

Note: Marin will probably love it. She wrote a rhapsodic paean to the sour piss-and-honey Serge Lutens Miel de Bois on Wednesday (as well as posting a photo of a scrumptious looking bundt cake that made me so hungry I ordered room service at 2 a.m.), so I'm betting that Sables will be right up her alley.

Note Two: I merged the Sables post in with this post since there was no real need to have two separate perfume posts in one day. My apologies to Marin for the loss of her intellectually brilliant comment regarding cat urine. Now the world will never know.

B NEVER TOO BUSY TO BE BEAUTIFUL DIRTY: Two parts grease monkey, one part pre-dawn locker room and not entirely bad. This is what Nasomatto Duro could have/should have been, instead of the unwearable, noxious mess it actually is.

If you're in the market for a masculine scent that smells like a cool, shadowy, oil-slicked garage, this could be your pot of gold. I wouldn't purchase it for myself, but weirdly enough, I don't mind the stereotypical approach to its consumer demographic in this instance, and I give it a bemused thumbs-up.

NOUVEAU PARIS FERAL FOREST: Mossy, woodsy and with an undercurrent of smooth musks and a dollop of sweet amber. Not as green and twig-snappingly fresh an approach to a forest fragrance as CB I Hate Perfume Wild Hunt, yet I think it's better for it. There's something to be said for understatement.

I like (or maybe I should say, "I admire") the vivid evocation of nature that's CB's Wild Hunt, but I don't ever wear the stuff. This, I could wear. And easily.

L'ARTISAN PARFUMEUR AMBRE EXTREME: Where sweet, mild-mannered Mr. Vanilla meets Mr. Industrial Grade Patchouli.

"It's right here, Ray. It's looking at me!"

It's worth noting that sweet, mild-mannered Mr. Vanilla triumphs in the end.

OFF TOPIC (and veering into photo land):

"The presidency was a joyous experience, but as great as it was, nothing compares with Texas at sunset." -- G.W. Bush

A photo below of Texas (Dallas) at sunset:

I guess I like the smell of old musty churches. Who knew?

Don't everybody raise their hands at once . . .

This deep, retro-inspired incense fragrance goes hand in hand with the exotic yet tailored aesthetic of the Etro line. Video clip of the Etro Spring 2009 collection for men below:

And for women:

We had some friends from California (Julie and Darren) visiting over the weekend, so of course one of the afternoons included some driving and shopping. The new Victory Park development area right outside our doorsteop is now pretty much D.O.A., so we took them to Highland Park Village since the day was sunny and beautiful and perfect for strolling.

Lots of sales still going on, but by now the sale merchandise has been well handled and picked over. I dragged (well, I didn't really have to "drag") Julie into the Jimmy Choo boutique, where the entire wall by the cash register area has been converted to half-price shoes and bags.

I don't know about you, but there's something sad about a $15,000.00 crocodile clutch tossed onto a half-price rack -- well, sad and sort of hysterically funny. I mean, dropping a clutch from fifteen thousand to seven and a half thousand doesn't really change the consumer demographic, which means it's still not going to sell.

It's like putting a house on the market for $45 million, then dropping the price by three million dollars after nine months of no offers and little interest. Sorry, but you haven't opened up a whole new consumer target at $42 million. Same with the Jimmy Choo clutch. Anyone who can afford to shell out $7,500.00 for a single clutch could have easily shelled out $15,000.00 if they really wanted the darn thing. Everyone else will still look at the $7,500.00 price tag and think, "That's 50% off? What, are they smoking crack?"

But we did snag an awesome pair of sunglasses that looked fantastic on Julie. Full price, but it was the only item in the place that genuinely appealed. And is it just me, or has the Jimmy Choo brand taken a trashy left turn of late? I remember a couple of years back that their shoes and bags were definitely stylin' and very fashion forward in a sleek, almost Christian Louboutin kind of way . . . now it seems like a store full of accessories for high-priced hookers, with lots of studded, shiny animal skins full of zippers and bling-laden bags and sales reps that tell customers how "fabulous" a pair of shoes look when it's obvious they don't even fit properly.

Don't get me wrong, animal skins can be done properly (see below) but the Choo way seems to be all about how much shiny metal can be screwed and/or bolted into the hides. No wonder they have a pile of 50% off items still cluttering the store.

We also stopped by the Scoop NYC store, and where it used to be the little boutique full of hip-hip-hipness (Matthew Williamson, Marc Jacobs, Anya Hindmarch, Michael Kors, Missoni), it's now the little boutique with not a whole lot on the racks and a decidedly down-market price-point. No more Matthew Williamson and Anya Hindmarch, while Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors and Missoni have all been replaced by their cheaper diffusion line counterparts: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Kors by Michael Kors and M Missoni.

An entire wall that used to be full of stiletto-heeled pumps and glittering clutches now hosts shampoo bottles and socks, and the sales clerks seemed completely demoralized by the whole process, as if fully aware that they fell from grace and are no longer The Cool Girls Who Work At That Happening "IT" Boutique but are, instead, The Poor Things Who Are LIkely To Be Soon Out Of A Job.

Hip-hip-hipness . . . at 75% off!

We walked past the Ralph Lauren store, and while there were big "SALE" signs in the windows, the curtains were all drawn, giving the place a Going Out of Business vibe. I don't know if it's actually going out of business, but when a store has no merchandise in the display windows and the curtains are all drawn on a sunny Saturday afternoon, it doesn't inspire confidence for their future.

I think the retail high-point of the weekend was when Darren presented Julie with an Oscar de la Renta Python Doheny clutch he had shipped here to Dallas ahead of their arrival. Retailers aren't allowed to sell reptile skin merchandise in California, and etailers aren't allowed to deliver reptile-skin merchandise to California addresses (yeah, I know, it's stupid, and it only hurts California retailers when consumers are forced to go out of state to buy the stuff).

Julie's all about keeping a lid on the sentiment factor, so it was fascinating to watch her fight to keep her poker face in place as she unwrapped the tissue paper and caught a glimpse of the supple glory that lay nestled within.

True love can be measured 14"W x 7.5"H x 2"D.

I saw someone's heart melt right in front of my eyes.

OFF TOPIC PHOTOS:

A few reshoots of the Amouage Homage bottle. I had Julie put some of this on an hour or so before they left for the airport to return home. When I hugged her goodbye, she smelled stunningly beautiful:

Shalini was created by famed perfumer Maurice Roucel (Gucci Envy, Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist, Bond 9 New Harlem, Le Labo Labdanum 18, Hermes 24 Faubourg and a whole lot more) for Indian born designer Shalini Kumar.

Perfume Smellin' Things says Shalini is "a study in transparency and lightness," and I think it balances its tuberose-musk-sandalwood trilogy to near perfection, "gliding down the road like a Bentley, crammed under the hood with power and precision but way past any need to prove it."

There are two bottles for Shalini: one is the full-on 2.2 ounce Lalique crystal bottle with a blown-glass stylized butterfly wing as the topper that sells for $900.00 at present. The other is a simple, squared 0.34 ounce bottle with a more functional aesthetic. Photos below are of the smaller, functional bottle:

Yeah, I know, I'm sorry I didn't get the larger bottle, but I just wanted the perfume, not some Lalique extravaganza that I'd just wind up knocking over and breaking. Because I would, you know . . . knock it over and break it. That's so me.

NEZ A NEZ PARFUMS PARIS ATELIER D'ARTISTE: Nez a Nez has the daring (or gall, I can't decide which) to take vetiver, tobacco, patchouli, raspberry, coffee and vanilla and throw it all in the same pot, resulting in an extraordinarily odd fruity-patchouli.

Totally recherché (i.e. "overrefined; forced"), but the type of woman who would wear Atelier d'Artiste isn't going to be thrown by simple definitions of class and sophistication. She's the queen of her own world and it's goodbye, retro glamor and hello, retro wtf?!

If you feel you really, desperately need a fruity patchouli in your collection (though I can assure you, there is no genuine need), then the rich, plummy patchouli of Indult Isvaraya would be a much better choice. A lot more expensive, yes, but can you really put a price on preventing a stampede of small children screaming for the exits every time you walk through the door? I think not.

COSTUME NATIONAL 21: Another fruity-spicy-herbal-vanilla-patchouli, but this one is just slightly less out-there than Atelier d'Artiste. Still, if you put a gun to my head and said, "Wear it or die" . . . I'd have to think about it.

The fragrance is named 21 because it allegedly contains the 21 favorite scent notes of Costume National designer Ennio Capasa: bergamot, milk, orange blossoms, saffron, cumin, pepper, cashmere wood, royal jelly, moss, clary sage, patchouli, olibanum, amber, sandalwood, oudh wood, cedar, vetiver, labdanum, tonka bean, vanilla and musk.

If you think that sounds like clash of the titans in a bottle, you'd be more than half right.

OFF TOPIC:

Octavian at 1000 Fragrances offers a terrific (and detailed!) description of the upcoming Annick Goutal Un Matin d'Orage: "This is not just a new perfume! It's a fabulous fragrance of an uncompromising quality and natural beauty. Definitely a new direction for Annick Goutal, it floats in a new universe." Go read the whole thing.

The Scented Salamander publishes the official ad imagery.

ARAMIS HAVANA RESERVA: Sampling Frapin's Terre de Sarment yesterday put me in the mood for tobacco, so I pawed through my box of little glass testers until I came across Aramis Havana Reserva.

Havan Reserva is a concentrated version of the original Aramis Havana (released in 1994), which is an EDT formula and somewhat lacks in staying power. The Reserva punches up the longevity while leaving everything else about Havana pretty much intact and untouched: tobacco, ash, a jigger of rum, a bracing splash of Old Spice -- it's as if you're smelling the prototype of a washed and shaven Average Joe with a cigar clenched between his teeth and a highball in his hand, circa 1950's America: scent of generic aftershave and hair cream -- check; scent of cigar smoke and tobacco leaves -- check; scent of liquor on the breath and Eisenhower on the brain -- check.

Havana Reserva doesn't do any cartwheels or solve complicated algebraic equations (for that matter, neither do I), but it's straight-forward about its intentions and I could tell exactly what it was going to be from the moment I sprayed it on. As time passed, the entire concoction warmed up and the rum scent became even more pronounced.

If you're a fan of traditional aftershave scents, you'll likely enjoy Havana Reserva, but in my opinion, it gets double points for the tobacco/rum addition, especially in a culture where no one smells like cigars and cocktail hours any longer.

Basenotes lists a cornucopia of scent notes for the original Havana (Coriander Seed, Anise, BIrch Tar, Juniper Berry, Tangerine, Grapefruit, Orange, Bay Rum, Cumin, Jamaican Pimento Berry, Pepper, Jasmine, Hyacinth, Exotic Woods, Tobacco, Patchouli, Cedarwood, Myrhh, Labdanum, Oilbanum, Tonka bean and Vanilla) and states that while Aramis Havana is still in production, the Havana Reserva, which is allegedly the same formulation as the EDT just more concentrated, has been discontinued. You can still find Reserva online, however, at various perfume discounters, as well as at Amazon.

Note: IMO, Frapin Terre de Sarment is more successful at the cognac and tobacco routine, though it ditches the Old Spice element for a much deeper, smoother ride. It costs $40.00 more than Havana Reserva, but the smoother rides often cost extra.

BELLA BELLISSIMA PERFECT MAN: Another variation on the traditional aftershave. The Bella Bellissima site states that Perfect Man is:"A rich, earthy effusion of soft woody notes provides the warming backdrop for exotic Venezuelan tonka, white thyme and aromatic basil, elevated by an unexpected twist of fresh green mandarin."

But what that description doesn't tell you is that the basil and thyme are predominant in the scent for hours on end, so much so that Perfect Man is never able to completely shrug off the potent herb-kitchen blanket in order for the "exotic Venezuelan tonka" to shine.

There was a brief moment when, while doing some heavy lifting and moving around the condo, that my body temperature heated up and a smooth, warm amber scent wafted up from my skin, but not thirty seconds after I stopped moving and my body cooled back down, the fragrance returned to its herbal reign of terror.

Now, there are some people out there who like the produce section/green herbs effect in a fragrance, and for those of you who do, Perfect Man could very well be a daily go-to cologne on your shelf, but the heavy basil and thyme elements (along with what I could swear is a dash of sour cumin) overpower the tonka and woods too much for my taste -- the sweet tonka and soft woods are definitely there, but faintly, and in the background, when the fragrance would have greatly benefited if it were mixed the other way around.

ETRO MESSE DE MINUIT: Because the first two fragrances of the day were very much of the masculine variety, I thought I'd choose a third that leaned more unisex, and a small decant of Etro Messe de Minuit just happened to be sitting out on the counter, reminding me that I hadn't yet given it its time in the sun.

"Oh hell," I thought, "I may as well spray some on and be done with it!" So I did, and I was thoroughly surprised at its rich, spicy beauty. It's a winter scent extraordinaire -- heavy and dark, full of old smoke and biblical resins, plus a hefty dose of cinnamon bark freshly stripped from the tree.

A thumbs-up from me, but I used to sit inside on sunny days and listen to old Cure and Depeche Mode records, so I obviously have a soft spot for dreary loveliness. If I were to pick a pop-music illustration of the mood that Messe de Minuit evokes, it would be the video clip below:

But I'm linking to other bloggy opinions so that you can get a less one-sided view of the fragrance:

Bois de Jasmin: "The woody sweetness of cinnamon, the cold smoothness of myrrh and the animalic richness of amber create the complex tapestry of the composition, along with the resinous incense."

Sweet Diva: "It feels as though I've escaped the rain by running into an old wooden church full of mildew and incense. This might not sound appealing, but I assure you it is. Something about this fragrance feels so full of history."

Victoria's Own: "The one Etro that really stands out, a masterpiece of swirling scented memories and melancholy days."

Peredepierre: "Every perfume house has (or attempts to have) an incense, and Etro's is rich, spicy and potent . . . Highly recommended for the hardcore incense lover...for the rest, try before you buy."

Perfume Smellin' Things: "This is a very dark dense opaque woody incense . . . For me this is one of the "haute couture scents", something to be admired and maybe even bought, but never really worn in real everyday life.

Wrap it up: 1.) Etro Messe de Minuit wins the blue ribbon for its dark, gothic charms; 2.) Aramis Havana Reserva comes in second with a boozy, tobacco warmth that stealthily creeps up on you; 3.) Bella Bellissima Perfect Man -- basil, thyme and green oranges. I'll take a pass, thanks.

LESNEZ TURTLE VETIVER (EXERCISE 1): For serious, straight-up vetiver fanatics only. No one else need apply. If you have to ask yourself whether you're a serious, straight-up vetiver fanatic, then the answer is clearly no and you should pass this fragrance by.

Me? I like vetiver decently enough (see Mitsouko review below), but I don't consider myself part of its inner circle, so Turtle Vetiver, while obviously well-constructed, is not my cup of grass-root tea . . . but that's fine by me. LesNez has several other fragrances that I genuinely appreciate (i.e. L'Antimatiere, Let Me Play the Lion, Manoumalia), so I don't feel at all miffed that I wasn't invited to this particular Vetiver Lover's Only party.

Turtle Vetiver is a limited edition scent. More info from The Scented Salamander: "TURTLE is an open and chaotic network of diverse but interconnecting ideas, people, projects, events and venues linked by American filmmaker, Michael H Shamberg. Perfumer Isabelle Doyen's contribution is a Vetiver EdT which she makes in small quantities and constantly changing formulas."

FRAPIN TERRE DE SARMENT: Something in me likes a Frapin -- I think it's the closet chef that rattles his tin cup on the prison bars until I let him out to play now and again. He usually ends the freedom session by setting the kitchen on fire and smoking out the neighbors, but he does make a mean meringue, so these things have a way of balancing out.

Frapin 1270 was a delicious mash-up of the dessert menu, chock full of honey, raisins, cocoa, vanilla and candied oranges over a silky smooth sandalwood base. Terre de Sarment isn't quite so foodie extreme, but it's still boozy and spicy and leavened with a dry tobacco note that makes the whole thing smell like a few hours of fine after dinner drinks at a plush brass and leather cigar bar (minus the smoke and ash, that is). Which makes sense, after all, since Frapin is first and foremost a French cognac company.

Listed scent notes for Terre de Sarment: grapefruit, neroli, cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange blossom, incense, benzoin, tobacco and vanilla.

GUERLAIN MITSOUKO: Can someone please explain to me how I could have spent so much time trawling through modern niche perfume houses looking for excellent unisex fragrances when Mitsouko has been around since 1919 and I never even gave it a second glance before today?

I mean, really. I feel like a man who just emerged from his garage after twenty years of dedicated labor to triumphantly hold aloft the wheel. Okay, so it's not new, but it's still a good idea and it's new to me!

Kevin at Now Smell This writes, "On my skin, Mitsouko's overall aroma is of ripe peaches (cushioned on oak moss in a nest of vetiver roots) sprinkled liberally with freshly ground black pepper", and I had a similar experience to his, just with the volume turned way down on the peach, a dash of rose and a lit match tossed into the pepper pot.

The moss nested in vetiver is still an apt description, and gets more pronounced as the fragrance moves into its homestretch. This kills a bit of the enjoyment factor for me as I prefer my drydowns to be less bitter, but it doesn't ruin the fragrance for me entirely (since I'm testing the EDP concentration, it's quite possible the parfum strength has a smoother drydown, though with a more pronounced peach also, I would assume).

I think what surprised me the most is that Mitsouko smells surprisingly contemporary for something that's almost ninety years old. Of course, it's been tweaked to death through the ensuing decades as cheaper synthetic materials have replaced their costly natural counterparts while government regulators slap the allergen label on more and more perfume ingredients. Soon enough, we'll all be left with nothing more fragrant to wear than the sodden tea leaves at the bottom of our china cups (though that would be coffee grounds for the likes of moi).

John Stephen wrote back in 2004: "There is no such thing as 100% allergen free, and the only practical solution is to make sure that the size of the group of people who do react to a particular material is sufficiently small. Then we come to the question of how small is small? If you make it very small, then virtually everything falls into the net and becomes an allergen. Is this the way we are moving?"

I shudder to think.

LOSTMARCH AOD: If I were in Hawaii, or sitting on a lounge chair in St. Tropez, I might have more patience for Aod, but here in Dallas in January, Aod smells watery thin, wan and only mildly of the grapefruit, gardenia and coconut that's promised.

It's sort of pretty in a dull and boring way, but if I'm ever going to actually spring for an aquatic fruity-floral to keep me company in my poolside cabana, it will be Jean Claude Ellena's near brilliant Un Jardin Apres la Mousson. I tested it a few times this past summer while in Maui, and it was an excellent complement to the surroundings.

Wrap It Up: Frapin Terre de Sarment comes in first, because who wouldn't want to smell of cognac and fine tobacco? That's a rhetorical question, so don't inundate me with your cries of "Me Me Me!"; Guerlain Mitsouko places second, but it might have come in first if the drydown hadn't swerved off into bitter, sweaty territory; LesNez Turtle Vetiver places third because even though it's a good example of a talented perfumer serving up vetiver neat, I'm not a fan of vetiver served up neat; and Lostmarch Aod is just D.O.A.

VEERING INTO PHOTOS:

It was time for me to take some new photos of the Jalaine Vetiver bottle. The first photos I'd snapped six months ago just weren't cutting it -- they didn't show off the bottle properly. So when I saw a beam of sunlight streaming across the ledge this morning, I knew I had to hustle my a** and catch it before the magic was gone:

I took several more and added them to the August Jalaine Vetiver post, replacing most of the older photos. Go take a look if you have some time.

TOM FORD PRIVATE BLEND CHAMPACA ABSOLUTE: Leave it up to Tom Ford to produce the only champaca fragrance that smells like it belongs in the Hawaiian Tropic suntan oil series, which means it's a smashing success in offering the consumer a familiar trip down the mainstream aisle even if it doesn't smell anything like a champaca flower.

If there's one thing that Ford knows how to sell, it's the familiar, and especially when it's all gussied up in big sister's clothes.

While the majority of the Private Blend series are decidedly musky and/or woodsy, Ford's Champaca Absolute gives the candyfloss & white floral crowd a huge shout-out, not to mention a high-five, a congratulatory handshake and a chummy pat on the back.

Almost syrupy sweet at the onset, then just vanilla sweet and blatantly feminine thereafter, it reminds me somewhat of Profumum Confetto: one part sticky sweet to one part vague floral, plus some white musk tossed in to suggest a certain va-voom sexiness.

The only thing va-voom about Champaca Absolute, however, is the price. The fragrance itself, like most of Ford's creations, is pretty much a rehash of better things that came before it.

Out of Ford's Private Blend series so far, I'm a fan of Amber Absolute and Italian Cypress -- I can easily live without all the rest, including this Champaca Absolute.

LESNEZ MANOUMALIA: I can't help but think that Manoumalia is everything that Ford wanted Champaca Absolute to be: unusual, singular, exotic -- but the difference between Ford and LesNez is that Ford calculates his self-worth in relation to his net worth, while LesNez just likes to go out on a limb and produce good perfume.

Where perfumer Isabelle Doyen created three light, shimmering fragrances for LesNez that wear like nearly transparent veils, the Swiss fragrance company brought in a new perfumer, Sandrine Videault, for Manoumalia, and the direction in which she steers LesNez is like the next rung on Jacob's ladder . . . I kind of figured we were heading somewhere special, and now we're that one step closer.

At first, I was a bit startled by the salt and sand opening of Manoumalia, not really understanding where to place it in context to their other fragrances, but after giving it about twenty to thirty minutes, the pieces clicked into place and I "got it" -- or, at least, I think I got it.

Ms. Videault appears to be paying a slight homage to the terrific work that Ms. Doyen produced for LesNez while still setting out on her own path. The dust, the light muskiness, the sweet flowers -- Let Me Play the Lion, L'Antimatiere and The Unicorn Spell, respectively -- but Videault anchors the fragrance with an expertly crafted base of grasses and island woods, essentially creating a bridge that connects Doyen's sheer, airy style to the island paradise Videault would like us all to live on.

The blog I Smell Therefore I Am states: "Manoumalia includes the green plants, the woods, some dirt and earthy dimension along with the gorgeous sweet tropics," which is a sufficient summation in and of itself, though I'll just add that it's pretty enough for the girls, and spicy enough for the guys.

Without a hint of a trumpet blast or a single PR chest-thump, LesNez just released a new fragrance that isn't a copy of every other trendy perfume release from the past five years. If only I could say the same about Tom Ford . . .

AFTELIER PARFUM PRIVE: Mandy Aftel is in a league of her own. One of the best all-natural perfumers working today, her works have the heft and density of full-on perfume masterpieces without including a whit of synthetic material. How she does it, I don't know, but if I were an all-natural fanatic, I'd be commissioning a monument in her honor about right now.

As it is, I'm perfectly fine with synthetics in a formula (as long as they're not screechy and cheap), so I'll skip the monument building and stick with rhapsodizing about how terrific her fragrances are.

In an interview with Basenotes, Ms. Aftel said that she created Parfum Prive originally for herself, but so many people liked it and wanted to purchase it for themselves that she began offering it for sale in her shop and on her website.

After applying Parfum Prive to my skin and letting it sit for a while, I took a deep sniff and realized that I was smelling an animal -- a deep, musky scent that reminded me of sweat and skin and hot breath due to its use of genuine ambergris: "It's got "break the bank" ingredients in it . . . the osmanthus, the orange flower, the ambrette seed and the priceless ambergris," she said. " I was so pleased to get some ambergris, I thought I would put it into something and people could smell the real thing. I think it is the ninth wonder of the world or something!"

I'm tempted to agree.

I also picked up a tiny bottle of her Leather Essence accord, a scent that's meant for layering with either her own work or other fragrances. It's a rich, smoky scent that smells terrific even on its own. When used with other perfumes, it imparts a sense of depth and complexity.

Below are some photos of the Aftelier fragrances, and the horse they rode in on:

1.) Beckham beats expectations:
While established brands are taking a hit left and right, Victoria Beckham's new clothing line, DVB, is selling out: "So far she's staged a presentation during NY Fashion week and her recent collection of dresses were a sell out in Selfridges. Bearing in mind that many are counting their pennies, this is definitely an achievement of which I'm sure the folks at Selfridges are rubbing their hands with glee. Furthermore, according to the Guardian Vogue UK editor Alexandra Shulman is a fan of the capsule collection. A sign perhaps that Victoria has succeeded in her bid for fashion credibility?"

NY Mag wonders if Posh Will Save the Economy: "Bergdorf Goodman sold out of nearly half the stock in just a week, and Selfridges sold out within minutes. And now Neiman Marcus is getting in on the action, having snapped up the collection, to be sold there in February."

Video clip below of DVB Spring 2009 collection:

Speaking of established brands taking a hit: Thinning the Herd at New York Fashion Week: "Sometimes we all need a push, and a gloomy economy is a heck of a way to incite changes at New York Fashion Week, which begins next month . . . (Vera) Wang was the first to drop out this season, saving about $50,000 in rental fees alone for the largest tent, which seats about 1,000. She will show her fall 2009 collection in her downtown Mercer Street boutique instead. Carmen Marc Valvo, Betsey Johnson, Naeem Khan, Monique Lhuillier and Peter Som also pulled out of Bryant Park and will show elsewhere."

2.) LVMH eLuxury website will stop selling merchandise:
"'Starting in mid 2009, eLuxury's new mission will be to create an 'e-window' into the world of luxury, by serving as an information reference for luxury in fashion, art de vivre, leather goods, wines and spirits, watches and jewelry, gastronomy, cars, yachts and services,' a LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton spokeswoman told WWD . . . The company plans to close the retail portion of its business completely by June this year, which would be exactly nine years after eLuxury.com lauched (June 2000)."

It may not be just the bad economy, however, as many of LVMH's brands have websites of their own through which they sell their their merchandise, so a conglomerate site was becoming more and more a redundancy. They were also competing with online retail giants such as Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue, and I'm sure the chain retailers were irritated that LVMH was using them as a distribution channel while directly competing with them at the same time.

When the money was flowing, it wasn't such a big deal, but the fighting for the crumbs is more intense now that the consumer spending pie has grown smaller.

In related news: Luxury apparel lines suffer in India -- "Traditionally, close to 60 per cent of all international luxury brands sales in India have been accessories: bags, wallets and belts. Stores such as Armani, Just Cavalli and Dior opened at the 320,000-square feet Emporio Mall in October at Vasant Kunj with their apparel lines that simply haven't found buyers . . . 'Indians who entered luxury retail in partnership with these brands overestimated the size of the market,' says Pradeep Hirani, proprietor, Kimaya Store. Indians, he says, are brand conscious. 'They will buy bags with a showy label -- the Dior sensibility in clothing does not appeal to the Indian buyer. The stores have huge pressure to liquidate stock and update collections, so they have no option but to go on sale.'"

So it's all about the bags and shoes. I wouldn't be surprised to see a good number of fashion lines embrace this fact completely in the next few years, ditching their poor-selling Ready To Wear apparel lines to focus exclusively on accessories for the mass market.

3.) Slowing Economy forces designers to compete for celebrities:
"As sales of designer goods have plummeted over the past several months . . . The competition to dress celebrities is fiercer than ever also because fashion labels feel they are less able to count on getting their message to shoppers via their traditional mode of print marketing, as sales of fashion and other magazines have dropped within the past year . . . As a result, the competition to dress the stars has become even more fierce than usual this year. Designers, who typically loan or give the clothing and accessories to celebrities, say they see the red carpet as a chance to get the attention of consumers, who have been shunning the notion of spending on new fashions."

They're going to make you want their products, no matter how much you try to ignore them. Resistance is futile! Note the last paragraph of the article: Angelina Jolie gets two free pairs of custom made Stuart Weitzman pumps, just in case she decides she might want to wear them with a dress she still hasn't committed to . . . nice work, if you can get it.

4.) Macy's announces it will be shutting down 11 stores:
"Department-store operator Macy's Inc. said Thursday it will close eleven underperforming stores in nine states -- affecting 960 employees -- and lowered its forecast for the fourth quarter after one of the weakest holiday seasons in years. Stores slated to close include locations in Los Angeles, West Palm Beach, Fla., Nashville, Tenn., and St. Louis, among others."

I would have thought that a place like Macy's would benefit from consumers looking to trade down from higher priced chains like Saks, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.

5.) You can never be too thin in Lagerfeld's world:
"In an interview on the Radio 4 Today programme, (Karl) Lagerfeld ... said the issue of size zero models was insignificant compared to the "zillions" of fat people . . . 'In France there are, I think, less than one per cent of people who are too skinny. There are nearly 30 per cent of young people who are too fat. So let's take care of the zillions of the too fat before we talk about the percentage that's left.'

Which, actually, makes a lot of sense when you think of the hue and cry that's continuously raised about the problem of obesity in the Western nations, and especially the United States. It's, like, make up your mind already. If 30% of the U.S. population is considered obese, with an additional 30% tagged as overweight, shouldn't skinny fashion models be considered a good thing?

Of course, thin can always be taken a little too far: Anorexic models inspire German photographer

"Does this outfit make me look fat? Be honest!"

Lagerfeld also dismissed PETA and their continuing anti-fur campaigns as "childish" in a world where we eat meat and wear leather. Designers Jean Paul Gaultier and Giorgio Armani have also come out with recent statements supporting the use of fur in the fashion industry: "The French designer Jean Paul Gaultier last night refused to stop using fur. 'He has always used fur for his creations and he will continue to do so,' a spokesman said. 'We do not use fur from animals killed in the wild, only those that are farmed' . . . Armani has responded by attacking the protesters' tactics. 'We must stress that Peta is exploiting our name to stir up public opinion without acknowledging that we include very few fur items in our collections, while certain competitors of ours base much of their business on furs.'"

Video clip below of Gaultier's Fall/Winter 2008/2008 show, featuring fur:

A few weeks ago, I contacted the Ormonde Jayne people and asked if I could send some questions their way about the company, recent developments in response to economic changes, and plans for the future of Ormonde Jayne. They kindly forwarded my questions to Linda Pilkington, founder and perfumer of Ormonde Jayne, and below are her answers.

Ms. Pilkington is an enthusiastic supporter of the online perfume community, and has made herself available to answer questions from a number of perfume blogs, including Now Smell This, Base Notes, Beauty and the Dirt and Fragrantica.

Question: The talk about town has been the downsizing of the luxury giants, with luxury brands consolidating and rethinking growth strategies. Louis Vuitton has just announced that it's canceling expansion plans in Tokyo even though the Japanese consumer is LV's largest consumer segment. How is the Ormonde Jayne company managing the present economic downturn, and who is your largest consumer segment?

Linda Pilkington: In the luxury market today, the pendulum is swinging back. Consumers no longer want to buy into large conglomerates managed by money men and served by assistants that don't really understand the heritage, the philosophy or the soul of the brand. I think it is for this reason we have seen the small independent niche perfume houses come into their own.

Ormonde Jayne is a tiny business with a big soul - a small team with a big heart. We know our clients and they know us by first name terms, and it is for this reason I have taken my time in developing the company. We have just opened a concession in Boutique 1 in Dubai. I flew out, trained the staff and served the clients; after a three day press event, the team were very on side and I feel they know and understand this exclusive and unique perfume house.

Moreover, we have had a good year with sales figures up, like for like, from 2007 to 2008. Our largest consumer segment is from our everyday customers that visit our Bond Street store. The website represents 30% of our turnover, with a strong following from the USA, Russia and the Middle East. We also have quite a few Parisians visit our perfumery.

Question: The Starwood Capital Group, which owns the Annick Goutal brand, has mentioned a desire to transform Annick Goutal into a lifestyle brand, introducing cosmetics, home linens, lingerie and other ancillary items under the brand's name, perhaps even opening Annick Goutal branded spas in their portfolio of hotel properties. The private equity firm Fox Paine & Company holds a controlling interest in L'Artisan Parfumeur, which has afforded L'Artisan the capital to rapidly expand retail presence over the last several years. Is Ormonde Jayne seeking any private equity investment partners for similar retail expansion -- you must get calls at least once a week! Do you envision Ormonde Jayne as a future lifestyle brand, extending into home furnishings, cosmetics and more?

Linda Pilkington: Ormonde Jayne is a work in progress, my personal vision, and I have lots of wonderful ideas for Ormonde Jayne. There is nothing wrong with Private Equity investors but they would, quite rightly, want a return on their investment and I am not prepared to operate under that sort of pressure. If the money men took a look at our oil costs, they would run out of the building screaming.

So to answer your question, No -- and I can't see Ormonde Jayne bed linen on the horizon. My advice is to stick to what you are good at.

Question: You recently accepted a commission from 20ltd to create Seraphim, an extremely limited edition fragrance that bears the Ormonde Jayne name yet is not sold in any Ormonde Jayne boutiques. Did this collaboration with 20ltd expose Ormonde Jayne to a new clientele? And does a limited edition collaboration like this differ very much from creating a bespoke scent for an individual client?

Linda Pilkington: Seraphim was commissioned by 20ltd, a company that looks for artisans to create a very limited edition of their personal craft. It was not as straight forward as one may think, as it involved a lot of people to make it happen. Brand designers and box creators were brought in to help create the packaging for an exceptional perfume that kept to our original spirit but was created for an unknown market. I had no idea who would buy it or who these people would be, but I was happy to receive a lot of enquires from genuine perfume lovers.

It did turn out to be very expensive, especially as I was ordering a very low volume of everything. The boxes were handmade and the print cost a bomb since the set-up charges were divided by only 50 units. Although 20ltd enjoyed a profit, ultimately I was out of pocket at the end of the project. This was not an issue for me, as it was all a new experience and I enjoyed creating the perfume for this company.

Photos of the bottle and box for Ormonde Jayne Seraphim

Question: You mentioned in an interview that you wanted to open a U.S. location in 2009. Despite economic concerns, are you still planning this, and if so, where in the U.S. do you believe you'd locate? New York is an obvious choice, but are other U.S. cities on your radar, as well?

Linda Pilkington: I am reviewing our expansion plans. For the moment, I want to polish what I have started. 2009 will see our new internet site launched, new product releases, and I want to baby-sit Boutique 1 (in Dubai).

I would love Ormonde Jayne in New York, but I would want it to be just right all around: the location, the style, the offering. Ask me again in 2010.

Question: The Le Labo Fragrance company has perfume counters installed in Barney's stores throughout the U.S. to broaden their exposure outside their own boutiques. What are your thoughts regarding partnership with a retail giant such as Barney's, Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue for distribution outside your website and boutiques?

Linda Pilkington: USA stores are gorgeous and I would love to partner up with one, giving them exclusivity and working together to make it a success. It depends which one would share the same desire and commitment.

Question: You've done interviews with the blogs Now Smell This, Base Notes, Beauty and the Dirt and Fragrantica (among others), and Ayala Sender wrote on her blog about a visit and conversation she had with you in your London shop. While many perfumers keep themselves fairly isolated from fragrance bloggers, you have chosen to make yourself accessible to the Internet community. What initiated your interest in engaging the Internet fragrance community, and are you experiencing growth in online sales that corresponds with your accessibility to fragrance bloggers? How do your online sales compare to sales from your brick and mortar shops?

Linda Pilkington: The internet is a big part of the future. With two small children and dogs, I have become an avid internet shopper and do nearly all my shopping late at night when all is quiet on the Western Front; therefore, I want Ormonde Jayne's site to be a continuation of our boutique and an easy option for our clients.

A lot of our customers are based in London for a few years and then return home, so we want to be able to serve them wherever they are in the world. We are launching (a revamped website) in February and will let you know straight away when we go live. The new site will be very consumer friendly for our international clients.

Perhaps I am more in touch with the cyber folk because I think the Internet is a wonderful tool for embracing the world from the comfort of your own private surroundings.

Note: Ms. Pilikington stated in answer to the first question that "Our largest consumer segment is from our everyday customers that visit our Bond Street store. The website represents 30% of our turnover, with a strong following from the USA, Russia and the Middle East. We also have quite a few Parisians visit our perfumery."

Question: In an interview with the Khaleej Times, you said, "Dubai is my natural and first choice of market outside of the UK given that a few of my significant ingredients like ta'if rose, orris noir and oudh oil are from this region." Now that your boutique is open in Dubai, has the consumer response been what you expected? I read in a newsletter from your company that customers in Dubai were shocked to find lush fragrances containing Middle Eastern materials in a British perfumer's shop. What is your best selling fragrance so far in Dubai? What is a fragrance you most commonly recognize while in Dubai?

Linda Pilkington: My best sellers in Dubai are Ormonde Man and Ta'if. The customers are very different to the UK, and their shopping habits are different. You might not see as many people, but several have called and ordered several bottles each to be picked up by a driver. The way of life is very different there, the sun is scorching and the day to day routine is not necessarily conducted in the way we go about our usual habits and chores.

Dubai has a smell which I caught the moment the glass doors opened from the airport walking into the night air. It is a work in progress.

Question: The Starwood Capital Group reports that just one of Annick Goutal's fragrances is responsible for over 30% of the entire company's revenue. Do you have a star of the Ormonde Jayne line?

Linda Pilkington: Isfarkand is our sugar daddy, worn by men and woman (although that was not by design), and it seems to be our all time favourite with a bullet!

Question: In the recently published book "Whiff!" by C. Russell Brumfield, the author talks about the upcoming scent revolution, where scent will be used in virtually every enclosed public space to enhance mood and influence consumer behavior. Have you ever been approached to design a scent for a public or commercial space, such as a hotel chain requesting a mood fragrance for its lobby spaces?

Linda Pilkington: Eight years ago, one of my fragrances (that was created as a shower gel only) was bought by a big company for a washing powder!!!! They wanted it and I didn't, as I thought it was not fine enough. You never know in this world!

Question: I'd like to finish with a somewhat personal question: Among your present fragrance peers, is there anyone whose work simultaneously challenges, informs and inspires you? Have you ever created a fragrance in homage to another perfumer's work, past or present?

Linda Pilkington: One perfume I adored for many years, and still do, was by Shiseido -- Feminite du Bois, a woody chypre. So different and unique, an inspiration. Ormonde Woman is not the same, but I liked the idea of a green woody chypre as our signature, and hemlock was the perfect ingredient.

Thanks to Linda Pilkington for her time, and a special thanks to Sarah Ehrlich for making it happen.

ADDENDUM:

Following is a link to a YouTube video clip of an interview with Linda Pilkington. It takes you inside the Ormonde Jayne shop in London: click to go to video

Several months ago, I sampled the Patchouli Elixir fragrance from French company Reminiscence. At the time, I couldn't find a distributor for the fragrance anywhere in the U.S. and my email to the Reminiscence company went unanswered. Luckily, I was tipped off by a thread on POL that Beauty Habit now carries the brand, so I finally have a bottle in my hands.

It was worth the wait.

Patchouli Elixir is a stronger, more intense version of the soft, sweet original Patchouli fragrance from Reminiscence, and it easily runs in the same league as Serge Lutens Borneo 1834 -- lots of potent green and camphorous patchouli for the first few hours, gradually softening into woods with a dusting of vanilla-cocoa over the rest of its long life-span.

But I want to stress that the juice goes on very strong. The BF, who's the warm and huggy type, walked up to me for his usual morning squeeze only a few minutes after I'd sprayed some of the Elixir on, but a look of alarm flashed across his face when he got close and he suddenly veered off with just a quick pat to my shoulder, so if you're planning on going out anywhere and you want to wear some Reminiscence Patchouli Elixir for the day, either apply with a light touch or give yourself a couple of hours before walking out the door.

I'm tellin' ya, this stuff is a serious patchouli stink bomb right out of the bottle.

Since the Elixir is a souped-up offering from the Reminiscence line, it runs a little more expensive than their other fragrances and comes in a very distinctive curved, etched and mirror polished gold bottle -- if you're into that kind of thing. I can definitely say that it makes for an attractive presentation for gift giving purposes (nudge nudge).

Photos below:

A thread on the POL forum got me thinking that perhaps it would be a good idea for me to move outside the usual fragrance comfort zone of sweet woodsy, grassy woodsy, smoky woodsy, woodsy woodsy . . . you get my drift.

Not that there's anything wrong with woodsy, but if a miniature alien were to crash land its spaceship into my perfume cupboard, it might be forgiven for assuming that I have some kind of outlandish tree fetish: "Hello control! Come in, control! I miscalculated the atmospheric entry and ended up ploughing the ship into a glass forest filled with stinky tree goo. I'm nearly drowning in a sea of it and all the ship's instruments are short-circuiting!"

So today I dusted off my poor neglected bottle of Cartier Déclaration, which I've worn only once before. I purchased it because of the terrific review Luca Turin wrote in The Guide, but it didn't hit me right the first time around, and I never came back to it again. But there's always room for second chances (the BF gave me way more than my fair share of second chances, and I make certain thrice weekly to pray to the cold, dark, impersonal void in gratitude), and much to my surprise, I discovered that I really like Déclaration.

I like it, like, a lot!

If I didn't know that Déclaration was released in 1998, I'd say it was a lighter, fresher copy of the just recently released Ormonde Jayne Zizan -- they both have a sweet, crisp citrus note that carries throughout the entire life of the fragrance, and both of them incorporate earthy elements in the base to act as counterweights to the bright oils fizzing and zipping about on the surface.

Yet where Linda Pilkington's style is about drama and longevity, Jean Claude Ellena is the undisputed master of the light (if not minimalist) touch, and he's the nose behind Cartier Déclaration, creating a fragrance that's fresh, airy and pleasantly clean, even though it incorporates notes of cumin, cardamom, cedar, birchwood, vetiver and oakmoss revving underneath its oxygenated hood.

Victoria at Bois de Jasmin describes Déclaration as "elegant simplicity" -- a sparkling citrus made smoky and dusky with a large dollop of Iso-E Super, a perfumery material that Ellena has nearly made his personal signature. The resulting work is supremely balanced between light and shadow, and effortless to wear.

I can see it working just as well for both men and women, though the citrus and spice tango lends it an almost retro male-cologne vibe.

I almost gave my bottle of Déclaration away a couple of months ago, thinking that I didn't like it. Thank god I managed to quash that impulse. There are two flankers that Mr. Ellena created as spin-offs of Declaration: Déclaration Essence and Déclaration Bois Bleu, so I obviously have more Déclarations in my future.

Photos of the Cartier Déclaration bottle below (the heart shaped shouldering is a nice touch):

ANNICK GOUTAL MUSC NOMADE: Musc Nomade is an excellent piece of work from the Goutal Les Orientalistes series. I'm not certain why I've ignored it up until this point, but it has a casual, semi-sweet charm that takes the sometimes difficult to wear musk and makes it a no-brainer for any occasion.

The scent is fairly linear, so you're not going to run across any delightful (or undelightful, for that matter) surprises radiating off your skin several hours later. It is what it is, from start to finish, but what it is is a white musk that's injected with just enough ambery notes (tonka, labdanum, almond) to counterbalance its soapy tendencies, leaving you smelling clean, yet warm and easily approachable.

The gourmand almond element particularly distinguishes Musc Nomade from the majority of its white musk competitors.

Re: "easily approachable" as a descriptive term for a slightly gourmand fragrance -- I find that "yummy" and "easily approachable" can often be interchangeable; take, for example, cupcakes: definitely yummy, and certainly very (very!) easy to approach. You don't even have to sneak up on them . . .

Musc Nomade employs a similar tactic. It lulls the wearer by sitting comfortably on the serving platter of the skin, waiting patiently to be devoured noticed, if not complimented.

CZECH & SPEAKE FRANKINCENSE & MYRRH: Opens with that fresh pine & mint-like one-two punch of true frankincense, then warms by degrees, finishing up with a way musty, after the service Catholic church smell (that would be the myrrh mixed with cedar and sandalwood).

This is an old-school incense fragrance and unlikely to please a post-modern crowd, but Czech & Speake is a self-styled old-school perfume house with traditional looking labels and a deliberately crafted country gentleman image, even though it introduced its first fragrance only about twenty five years ago.

It reminds me a bit of Regina Harris' Frankincense Myrrh Rose Maroc, except that the Czech & Speake doesn't have any of that amazing rose that sits at the heart of the Harris fragrance. The one advantage of the Czech & Speake is that it's a spray cologne and not a thick oil, though I don't consider that a whole lot of advantage over the long haul.

Summary: Musc Nomade wins by a K.O.

OFF TOPIC:

Art photo for the day:

A glass vase on the kitchen table. The afternoon sunlight hit it just right.

I wasn't certain what to initially think of Reve en Cuir. It's such a dramatic turnaround from the previously heavy and hyper-sweetened Indult releases (Tihota, Isvaraya, Manakara) that it took me by surprise and I had to test it several times before getting a handle on it.

Translated literally as "dream out of leather" -- and probably a bit more smoothly as "a dream of leather" -- Reve en Cuir distinguishes itself mostly through its lack of concessions to popular conceptions of perfumery. Flowery? No. Fruity? Just the teensiest bit of citrus. Sugared? Besides a light vanilla coating over its chemical fume core, the sweet beast that's been Indult's stock in trade so far has been seriously tamed, restrained and retrained for a new audience.

Re: the "chemical fume core" bit, Reve en Cuir exhibits a bit of that old leather tanning process style -- you know, like when leather workers treated animal hides by first soaking them in vats of urine to loosen the hair fibers, and then softened the skins by kneading them in a mixture of dog sh*t and water.

Oh, you didn't know? Well, sorry to be the one to break the news, but doesn't life in the 21st century just sound better by the second? Anyway, cedar oil was sometimes used in the tanning process, as well, but dog sh*t (and human/animal piss) was easier and much cheaper to come by.

The centuries ago tanning process was so foul smelling that tanneries were located outside the city centers, and finished goods, such as ladies gloves, were heavily perfumed to mask the underlying stink of the urine, dog sh*t and harsh tree oils and solvents that were used to treat the hides.

But foul as it may sound to our antiseptic ears, this 16th century method of processing leather for fine finished goods is exactly what our leather dream fragrance appears to reference: the scent of a leather glove from the 1500's, but with the faint undercurrents of animal piss and harsh tanning oils (oakmoss, cedar and vetiver in this instance) adding depth to the fragrances employed to mask these baser smells, much in the same way that utilizing a drop of shockingly raw civet musk in the foundation of a fine perfume can provoke a sensation of earth and decay beneath the fresh crown of a flower in bloom.

Reve en Cuir is very much an exotic fragrance, but more so because it touches upon a distant time rather than a distant place. The mix is exceptionally balanced, there are rather flabbergasting examples of scent subtleties that weave in and out ("there's the vanilla, no, wait, there's the patchouli, oh, hell, that's the vetiver, or the clove, wait!" and so on), and I can think of absolutely nothing of fault to be found in and with it . . . unless, of course, you're not really much a fan of dirt beneath your flowers (or, in this case, the sh*t and piss that was once used to soften the resulting perfumed leather).

I'd think that Reve en Cuir can safely claim the title of Metrosexual King of the Unisex Fragrance Trend at present for its softly beautiful and yet sort of simultaneously studly charms. Official listed notes are: Bergamot, Lemon, Cardamom, Oregano, Clove Bud, Texan Cedarwood, Patchouli, Oak Moss, Haitian Vetyver and Crystallized Vanilla.

A very smooth operator, with a drydown that smells like smoke, pipe tobacco (that's probably the vanilla and clove) and tree bark.

Reve en Cuir was created by perfumer Francis Kurkdjian, the nose behind Indult's other four fragrances, as well. It's sold exclusively at Los Angeles based Lucky Scent.

Note: If I buy a bottle of Reve en Cuir, then between this and Ormonde Jayne Zizan, I'd be, like, the heppest cat in town.

OFF TOPIC:

The view outside my window this afternoon:

And me as the view in my window this afternoon -- it was in the mid-70's just three days ago, and now it's freezing rain and I'm all bundled up in a ski jacket. Dallas weather is weird. The belt buckle should look familiar:

Scarf by Psycho Bunny. Silver Skull Belt Buckle by King Baby Studio. A Sunday's worth of skulls for Marin.

They had me at "Omigod it's an entire bottle!"

I mean, when a company contacts you and tells you that they're sending you their latest release for review, you'd assume they're going to send some sort of small sample, right? So imagine my surprise (sprinkled with delight, pleasure, joy, happiness, gratification, enjoyment, thrill and glee -- the value of a good thesaurus should never be underestimated) when I opened the box from London and pulled out a full 50ML glass bottle of Zizan, a bright, golden juice that fairly sparkles in its container.

Despite the latest fashionable disdain for gender labels on fragrances (or anything else, for that matter), Ormonde Jayne has no problem coming right out and stating that Zizan was developed specifically for men.

In an interview with Fragrantica, Linda Pilkington (founder of, and perfumer for, Ormonde Jayne) stated that she quizzed all the men who entered her London boutique about their favorite perfumes and scents. Dior's Eau Sauvage was the hands down favorite perfume, while the smell of vetiver root came in a close second. Zizan is a creative blend of both -- "opening with an oil called "Special Citrus Cuts" from a company called Charabot in Grasse" combined with herbs, subtle florals and three different vetivers at its heart for balance.

You know how you always hear that citrus oils are used as top notes because they burn off quickly? Well, that's because every single other perfume company apparently uses cheaper citrus oils with little to no staying power, because this "Special Citrus Cuts" oil in Zizan -- it lasts for the entire life of the fragrance, which is seven hours so far, and counting.

When I first sprayed the fragrance on, it was a serious tumble of lime, lemon and bergamot backed by a light herbal chorus line -- like a genuine traditional men's cologne with that typical bracing bite of citrus and spice, except this time it wasn't bracing, it was fresh and almost edible. Then the muskier, earthier elements start singing and the whole thing breaks it down into Nine To Five Office Man Land, smooth and buttoned down and Mr. Suave with a drink in his hand by the time the clock hits Happy Hour.

Zizan is a welcome addition to the Ormonde Jayne line, and I'm happy to see a perfumer take her professional male clientele seriously enough to craft a fragrance that deals specifically with their needs. Don't get me wrong, the brand's Ormonde Man is a very nice fragrance, but it borders on pretty and flowery, which isn't necessarily what a white collar man needs for his white collar world.

Zizan has both the bite of a masculine aftershave (citrus, juniper berry, pepper, bay leaf) and the earthy warmth and staying power (jasmine, cedar, musk, amber) of a high-quality niche perfume. I don't know how well it will go over in the new Ormonde Jayne boutique they recently opened in Dubai, but I'm pretty sure it will be a bang-up best seller with all the financial types in London.

Me? I'm extremely happy they sent me an entire bottle as a sample. I'll gladly use this stuff up to the last drop -- and here I thought Bois 1920 Vetiver Ambrato was the only Vetiver that owned my heart. Silly me.

***Note: A commenter suggests that the incredible staying power of the citrus in Zizan could be due to the use of a synthetic aldehyde to extend the citrus notes, or maybe the use of other woodsier citrus oils that might serve to enhance or extend the notes of the "Special Citrus Cuts" oil that Ms. Pilkington used.

Photos of the Ormonde Jayne Zizan bottle below:

They also sent me a candle in the same box with the bottle of Zizan. I never burn candles, unless the power goes out or it's some Armageddon type emergency, but I'm burning this one now as I sit here and type this. It's pretty darn potent. The BF walked by and said, "Is that citronella? That's really strong!"

But like I said, we don't burn candles (or incense), so any scented candle is going to come across as fairly extreme in an unscented household.

A New Year's Eve photo of the gathering crowd outside the American Airlines Center in Victory Park Plaza, Dallas, waiting for the clock to countdown to midnight and the fireworks to begin:

And a little bubbly for our own private celebration:

The Very Merry French Bread was put to good use, after all (once we cut off the inedible decorations):

I received several samples in the mail yesterday, including a bottle of Zizan from London-based Ormonde Jayne and a trio of new works from all-natural perfumer Ayala Moriel, so I'm looking forward to getting back to some testing soon, once the new year hubbub quiets down and my routine kicks back into the gear of normalcy.