Sali Oguri moved to New York from Japan at age 5, and has been singing professionally since she was 16 years old. For 10 years, she was the on-camera host for the television series "New Yorkers" on NHK Japan network, and she also hosted the radio show "Switch On New York" for 2 years. You can read a more detailed biography on her website.
Those of you who frequent the fragrance forum at MakeupAlley know Sali as songscent, and she also posts on the Perfume Addicts board as perfsong1. Sali has recently released her first indie solo CD and perfume, Pink Manhattan: Sensorium of Song & Scent. Whatever limited qualifications I have to write about perfume certainly don’t extend to music, so I will say only that Sali has a lovely voice, and I really enjoyed listening to her CD.
Pink Manhattan Purrfume has notes of peach, pear, plum blossom, pink hibiscus, calla lily, gardenia, French vanilla, and musk. It starts with a juicy peach note, and happily, it is neither the heavy, canned peach that I find in some oils, nor the plastic, fruit roll-up variety. It just smells like a nice, fresh peach.
Pink Manhattan dries down into a floral with vanilla and skin musk. Gardenia predominates, but this is much lighter and less sweet than the notes might imply and it would not overwhelm on a hot day in the city. It is an impressive debut, and should please fans in the tropical floral and vanilla camps. Pink Manhattan has very good lasting power, and personally I think it is much nicer than Sali's favorites (see below) Monyette Paris and Coquette Tropique.
I asked Sali to tell me a little more about herself and how she got started in perfumery:
Sali, can you tell me how and when you became seriously interested in fragrance?
I've always loved fragrance because my mother wore fine perfumes. Some I recall her wearing are Joy and Mitsouko. I loved when she went perfume shopping because inevitably there would be samples I could play with, and my introduction to Caron was by way of a Nocturnes shower gel. I haven't been the same since.
My real perfume obsession began when I got pregnant with my first child. Something changed in me and suddenly I became extremely sensitive to scent. That's when I went from being a signature scent gal to a collector, bought the Michael Edwards and Jan Moran books and started surfing the net in search of any perfume information.
And how did you get started mixing your own fragrances?
I started buying oils about a year ago in search of my favorite notes. I searched long and hard for the perfect peach-gardenia-vanilla and never found one, so I decided to make one.
How are the perfume and the CD linked artistically?
Pink Manhattan Sensorium of Song & Scent is one artwork, a sensory (as well as sensual) experience combining aural, olfactive and visual if you count the color pink. I wanted the set to look like a beauty product because that's what I'm drawn to and I think other women can relate. It's also my dedication to the city I love.
Pink Manhattan can be many things: an actual place, a memory, a dream or state of mind. For me it is the New York experience through the eyes of a woman. My music is what it is because I have lived here and have had the chance to be influenced by myriads of styles and genres. My perfume hopefully represents who I am in the same way that my music does, a combination of soft and hard-edged, innocent and sophisticated, a melting pot of styles (classical and pop like I am as a musician), and everything is feminine from the scent of the perfume to the CD packaging.
Other than your own Pink Manhattan, can you tell us a few of your favorite perfumes?
Creed Spring Flower, MAC MV2, Monyette Paris, Coquette Tropique, Joy, most anything Guerlain and Caron, and Lauren.
Huge congratulations to Sali, and I wish her every success. You can buy the Pink Manhattan Purrfume & CD through Sali's website. The perfume is $40 for .15 oz, and samples are available for $3. B-glowing now carries Pink Manhattan as well.
Excellent interview!
It's so exciting to see our very own MUA fragrance friends create their own beautiful fragrances. I always enjoy reading songscent's posts on MUA and wish her nothing but success!
Thanks R! We'll be able to say we knew her when…
I'm so glad you finally got to put up your article for songscent… she's always so helpful and knowledgable. I'm glad to see her site's back up (I'd checked a while back and it was down or gone or something, dunno), and I sincerely hope this brings her some very postive attention and fans. Very nice article, R.
K, Thanks! She was just doing some improvements on the site. The online store is now much easier to use, and there is a lot more background information than before.
Great article on Sali! I knew that many women I encountered on MUA were very talented, and this proves it even further. Congratulations to Sali and best of luck!
And of course, another round of applause for wonderful Robin who tireless collects all sorts of valuable perfume related information to share with all of us.
xoxo
V, Thank you 🙂
You really should hear her CD, it is amazing, and it is a shame that I don't know enough about popular music to talk about it intelligently.
What a coincidence! I'm dabbed on my Pink Manhattan sample this morning, and it's lovely–a sweeter, fruitier cousin to Monyette Paris. It cheers me right up!
Fantastic interview as always R!
Sali is incredibly talented as both a singer/songwriter and perfumer and such a wonderful friend!
If I had to choose a favorite song of hers I'd have to go with “Infinite Tenderness,” I can envision it in a movie!
I too like it better than Monyette Paris and Coquette Tropique, both of which are just far too heavy for me.
I can't wait until she comes out with more albums and fragrances!
ROBIN!!!! Thank you for this incredible interview–your writing is flawless, you put me in the best possible light, and your perfume review is SCARY GOOD; I think you're on-the-money about it appealing to the tropical floral and vanilla camps. I don't know about it being impressive or better than Monyette/Coquette however. Thank you for your generosity in taking the time to hear my story and to give my perfume so much praise. Thank you also for the long wait to print the writeup while I got my site up and running again.
Mreenymo, Katiedid, Victoriaf, Smellslikeleaves, Atreau…Thank you to all of my beautiful MUA friends for your kind words of support and encouragement. I'm very touched by the kindness of everyone here.
I'm truly blown away by all this. Thanks again.
Hey, we know what you put on in the morning!
Completely agree S, it is lighter than either Monyette or Coquette, but at the same time not so light that it is uninteresting.
Thanks…I strive to create dimensional scents, because those are the types I tend to like. As much of a floral person that I am, I prefer them to not be soliflores for this reason. I have a tiny bit of patchouli and sandalwood in the base to anchor the lighter notes, but not enough that they overpower the French vanilla.
It always makes my heart sing to hear that someone is wearing and enjoying something I created. Do you find it sweeter than Monyette? It always fascinates me how differently people perceive PM–I've heard many people say it's on the sweet side, but then some people during market research have asked if I could add more vanilla and make it even sweeter. I originally created PM to suit the Japanese fragrance taste which is generally for very light scents. Gourmands don't go over there, but I thought maybe a fragrance that was just in the middle of sweet and fresh might be different, and work.
If the music made you wanna hear it again, that's all I need to hear. The fact that you called the CD “amazing” is more than I could hope for. 😀
S, we are all very proud of you & I am so glad b-glowing is carrying Pink Manhattan! That is quite a coup to have a major retailer so quickly.
Fabulous! Love Sali — she's gorgeous inside and out. I have and love her CD (my daughter and I steal it from each other) and now I *must* try PM, especially because Monyette and Coquette just barely missed being scents I could like. Great article as usual, R.
Hi G, Thank you! And do try it. Coquette does not work for me at all, and Monyette is a near-miss (I like it but it is too sweet and heavy for me). This is a sweet but has a very light touch.
I find it slightly sweeter than Monyette, but not as smokey, heady, or strong. I really dislike sugary sweet fragrances, but the fruity-vanilla sweetness of Pink Manhattan is just perfect for me. It's lovely!
Sali, when I first smelled your delicious concoction, I was reminded of Coney Island cotton candy meets a Tahitian sunset.
Your joy and love of great blends has honed your keen sense of smell to take us on a wonderful journey.
This is just the start!
Marian Bendeth
Fragrance Expert
Sixth Scents
Toronto, Canada
Dear Marian, I am honored by your presence and touched by your kind and beautiful words. You've encouraged me to continue on this journey which I've only embarked on. I seek your guidance along the way and hope I can learn and grow as a fragrance lover, that you will see progress in my work in coming years. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and I look forward to hearing more about you and Sixth Sense soon.
Peace & love, Sali
PS–And thanks again to everybody on this wondrous thread that keeps giving me love (xoxo to fabulous Robin).
Please forgive my careless misspelling of your company name, Sixth Scents.
Today I received a “grab bag” of 12 fragrance samples and after looking carefully at all of them I selected the Pink Manhatten to try first. I had no idea what to expect but liked the packet and description. What a beautiful scent! The ripe sensual peach is the first delicious and wonderful impression, then slowly the other elements develop – the lovely vanilla and perfect musk. This is so feminine, pretty, and happy – I love it! And I am so pleased that there was a NST review so I could learn more about the perfumer and the perfume. Thank you.
A warning: I don’t think it’s sold anymore, although you can check out Sali Oguri’s website.