As an interesting corollary to last week's Sexy Perfumes poll, check out today's Sunday Times (UK), which has a great article by Luca Turin on perfumes as romantic bait:
Can perfume really help a woman get her man? After all, by the time a guy is hooked, it matters little whether she’s wearing Novaya Zarya’s Lights of Moscow or Chanel’s Cuir de Russie. There’s little hard evidence to suggest scent is any more powerful than other dating tactics, such as laughing at his jokes and showing a bit of cleavage.
Yet the power of attraction is one of the foundations on which the fragrance industry is built — spray on our perfume and you’ll be irresistible.
Read the rest here. More reading: Marcello's review of Luca Turin's Secret of Scent.
I loved this article! Some of the same ideas that I discussed with a friend not to long ago.. esp. the radiace fragrances.. that linger in a room after you are gone…LOL I love it!
Reformulating Mitsouko? Gah! No no no! What are Guerlain thinking? They have been making some very odd choices lately – recent efforts have lacked the old subtlety, charm and sensuousness (I'm thinking of the throat-rasping harshness of L'Instant, but also the clumsy top notes of Insolence). I dread a Mitsouko swamped in grapefruit, honey, amber and fizz.
So depressing, this trend for messing with perfection. The sort of people who would reformulate Mitsouko are the sort who would paint Bernini statues, or retouch Botticelli's Venus. If they can't conquer their urge to fiddle, I hope they just bring out a 'Mitsouko v2.0' and keep the original going alongside it.
OK, I'm going out this afternoon to buy real Mitsouko in case they're stupid enough to get rid of it. And possibly a bottle of Cuir de Russie. That's a fabulous scent – can't believe I forgot it on the other sexy perfumes thread…
Great article, thanks! I too fear the re-engineered Mitsouko.
Yes, I liked that part too!
Oakmoss has been labelled an allergen by the EU, among other things, so they have to either reformulate or have a warning on the package, I think…
Most everything is getting reformulated these days. Buy while you can! But I don't think there is any danger of them discontinuing Mitsouko.
You know, the thing is that we all know about the reformulations at Guerlain because of Luca Turin, but perfumes get reformulated all the time without our even knowing about it, and for that reason, I don't get quite so “up in arms” about it as I might otherwise. But if I adored Mitsouko, I'd be stockpiling now too
Great read.
I treasure my Mitsouko parfum. It's a shame I can't wear it.
Hmm, well, I'm glad to have your reassurance, and I do sympathise with allergy sufferers. But I hope Guerlain just go for the warning on the packaging. I'm allergic to aloe, for instance – which is more common than most people imagine – but I'm perfectly satisfied that it is my responsibility to read the packaging of every cosmetic product I buy (plus washing powders, washing-up liquid, and toilet paper).
I would much rather manage my own condition, however tiresome it is, than insist that no one else was ever allowed to use aloe products again.
I don't think it is that anyone actually suffered from the perfume — it is just EU labelling requirements, and it is too late — they are already known to be reformulating it. It created a huge stink (pun intended) on Luca Turin's blog Perfume Notes when he first announced it. Real oakmoss is probably going to disappear from perfume.
Terrific article, thanks for posting it! FYI, I checked and Turin's book is finally in stock and shipping today at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Thanks, T, I didn't know it was out here yet.
You're welcome! As far as I know, yesterday was its first official sale date.