Thierry Wasser On Habit Rouge
For my final interview to mark the 50th anniversary of Jean-Paul Guerlain’s Habit Rouge, we turn to the scent’s current guardian: Thierry Wasser. In his role as the venerable fragrance…
For my final interview to mark the 50th anniversary of Jean-Paul Guerlain’s Habit Rouge, we turn to the scent’s current guardian: Thierry Wasser. In his role as the venerable fragrance…
In David Almond’s book, Skellig, a young boy encounters a strange man in the ramshackle shed at his new house. He’s filthy, his clothes are in tatters and he reeks…
Could Rien possibly get any bigger? Yes and no. Soon after it bulldozed its way onto the market in 2006, the scent became the very definition of a perfumery juggernaut.…
One of the pleasures of smelling new perfumes is that they sometimes jolt you into spotting undiscovered facets of older favourites. When I first encountered François Demachy‘s suave Colonia Leather…
Most press releases can be scanned and dismissed in a matter of seconds, but the ones from Serge Lutens are always worth a quiet read with a strong coffee and…
When the arrival of Cuir Cannage was first rumoured, the story went that François Demachy wanted it to represent his memories of his mother’s handbag. This very personal anecdote now…
You probably won’t believe this, but I assure you it’s true. When I first sniffed Ingrid, before I knew anything about the movie character on which it’s based, it seemed…
As soon as I adopt a policy of never using the word ‘oud’ again, along comes an agar perfume which deserves a mention.The Côte d’Azur-based brand Reminiscence may seem like…
If you’re going to do something that’s been done before, you’d better do it well. And if the thing you’re going to do is artistically suspect and quite possibly mercenary,…
When Alberto Morillas (CK One, Kenzo Flower) hopped over to London a few months ago to launch Penhaligon’s Iris Prima, he revealed that the perfume contains – shock horror –…
I keep smelling Amouage‘s Epic Man everywhere! Perhaps the substances responsible for its distinctive, ghosts-of-antiquity woodiness are becoming more readily available to perfumers. Or maybe other brands just want to…
Fabrice Pellegrin is particularly skilled at finding a balance between accessibility and distinctiveness. In The Odd Fellow’s Bouquet (one of two works he’s created for the revived house of Atkinson’s,…
Those who take an interest in such matters will be aware that Le Labo mentioned the arrival of its Dubai exclusive quite some time ago; at one point it seemed…
I worry about reviewing another Bertrand Duchaufour creation almost as much as I worry about reviewing another oud scent. They are both extremely ubiquitous; some would say excessively so. I’m…
The marketing of perfume tends to be an intensely gender-specific business, so it’s always interesting to think about which materials and accords signify ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ at any given moment…
When my sample of Opus VII was delivered, Madame Persolaise’s parents were chez nous for tea and cakes. Such cross-generational, bi-gender opportunities are not to be missed: I immediately extricated…
I should think the overlap between jewellery and fragrance is fascinating for perfumers to explore, and Bertrand Duchaufour certainly seems to have had a great deal of fun with the…
It’s so wonderful to be able to approach a perfume with almost no prior knowledge of its construction, especially when it turns out to be as impressive as Cuir Velours.…
I wonder if the clever folk at Parfums Mugler are being economical with the truth. They’ve claimed that in order to create their latest quartet of limited editions, all they’ve…
Image: Claudia Penrroz Scented storytelling is thriving at the house of Amouage, thanks to the unfailing efforts of Creative Director Christopher Chong. The brand’s latest release – put together by…