No fragrance review today, sorry. Just keeping up with the new releases is becoming very nearly a full time job, and leaves very little time for actually smelling anything, much less writing a review. According to Michael Edwards' Fragrances of the World database, there were 693 new fragrance launches in 2006 (via moodiereport), and this little tidbit appeared in today's New York Times article about Chanel:
Kate Greene, the vice president for marketing fine fragrances in North America at Givaudan, said that 800 new fragrances are expected to make their appearance in 2007.
800! That is over 2 a day, people. And strictly speaking, both figures (693 and 800) are undercounts, since they don't include the zillions of independent perfume releases that don't make it into the official counts. If you want to keep up with Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (here are their latest releases, I was going to count them but gave up) and what is in the department stores, you have quite a task ahead of you this year.
How is a perfumista to keep up? Come December, will we even care what launch no. 799 smells like? Even two years ago, I very much wanted to smell everything new; now, it is hard to summon any enthusiasm even for the major releases. Just thinking about the 12 (12!!) fragrances in the upcoming Private Blend from Tom Ford makes me weary — after all, it took me two days just to get the aromas of the 6 new Les Exclusifs de Chanel correctly matched up with their names. I forgot which of the three new garden scents from The Different Company was which within minutes of putting them on, and I have to confess that I never went back to figure it out. The names were too long to remember anyway.
I shouldn't complain; the real sympathy should be reserved for a) the perfumer who is handed another brief for a fresh fruity floral to appeal to 19 years olds, to be completed by next Thursday, and b) the poor marketing people who face the Herculean task of trying to get consumers to pay attention to the latest perfume launch. You just about have to name your fragrance Don't Get Me Wrong Baby, I Don't Swallow to get anyone to listen.
There, that took me just as long to write as a fragrance review. Isn't that the way?
Note: avalanche image via University of Maryland.
In the eighties, when I started wearing fragrances, there were only about 800 scents on the market. Maybe a thousand. The idea that there will be more or less that many launched in a single year is mind-warping. Most of them will die, of course, but they will still have existed, and next year there'll be more hundreds of new scents, and hundreds more new ones the year after that.
I'm like you; I want to smell everything. But who could possibly keep up?
I think I'm going to have a nervous breakdown if I don't successfully repress this information.
I certainly hope I'm not still blogging when they hit 1000 a year, which at this rate, won't be long from now.
There is, of course, no incentive for an individual company to cut back, but they all lose if they don't find a way to slow it down. Advertising a new fragrance has become outrageously expensive, and the returns are hardly worth it unless you end up with a blockbuster.
What information? Nothing to see here, move on please.
It's simply ridiculous, isn't it? I've found that I've become ruthless abut new scents; where I would once rush to arm-test just about everything, now I sniff briefly at the sprayer or ignore altogether. The juices that get skin-room have to be REALLY interesting, and if they haven't developed into something good within 15 minutes I get the sponge out… Life is too short to waste on Britney's Out of Control Midnight Curiosity, or even a Serge that takes 2 hours to get to a place where you don't have to wrap your arm in towels to stop your eyes watering…
I agree. I am tired. Please, somebody, make them stop for a little while.
Of course one could make a decision not to try the new releases but somehow one gets caught up in a hype and can't rest till one gets to sniff the most exciting ones…arrgh
Well, that will make your life easier, LOL…no way will I review even a 10th of this year's output
N, your last sentence absolutely cracked me up…the funny thing is that something just about has to make me “wrap my arm in towels to stop my eyes from watering” in order to get my attention. I am becoming more and more partial to weirdness in perfume, just to relieve the boredom of effervescent fruity florals.
Great article, R! I think that there will be cuts very soon and that many niche companies will tank (the ones that produce the same dull stuff as everyone else). Some Darwinian selection of species must take place. The ironic thing is that the juice is the least important aspect of a fragrance launch. So, we have more and more fragrance with less and less interesting scent.
Me too! Me too! *jumping up and down*
Me too. I live vicariously re. most things, anyway. I don't care to test everything any longer (or even a tiny proportion of the new stuff).
There are too many books being published too. It's not just perfumes one can't keep up with these days.
What's become of the 'quality over quantity' motto?
M, I think I am way more jaded than you. There are many new scents on this year's list of upcoming releases that I want to try, that I'm even looking forward to trying. But there isn't a single one that I'd *rush* to the store to try, or that I'd jump through hoops to get a sample of. I can rest just fine, knowing that most of what comes is going to be dull beyond all imagining. It is saving me money too, since as near as I can tell, the more they release, the less I want to buy.
So very true! For many years, I read 3 book publications religiously: The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Book Review, and The Washington Post Book Review. I let them all go last year, I just couldn't take it anymore — it was just a constant reminder that I could no longer keep up with the output.
It died. Somewhere recently I read an old quote from Estee Lauder about how a new perfume had to have several years on the counter to find its audience…boy, those days are gone. No more counter space left for a perfume that can't find its audience immediately. It is just like the movies — it has to make millions in the first weekend or it is a failure.
Yes, I've found myself in the 'Mentholated Rubber – kewl!' zone more and more often. However last week H sniffed my neck tenderly…then sniffed round the downstairs loo…. “I think there's a sewage backup somewhere,” he explained. I wondered aloud why my sillage had been his first point of call, and he pointed out that some of my perfume choices are…'adventurous'. Perhaps I've gone one step too far down the Path of Perfume Weirdness?
What is really sad is that niche companies will fold and nobody will even notice…we'll all be too busy reading about the latest launches. And completely agree that the juice is an afterthought 90% of the time.
LOL! That is hysterical.
But it is true, the only antidote to the latest Cherry Blossom Hello Kitty Pink Glitter (Victoriaf's invention, BTW) is to spray on a bit of something a little odd.
It really is ridiculous and why I basically don't even bother w/ dept. store scents any longer. I just don't have the time, patience or money. I rely on the blogs and perfume boards to alert me to the stand outs and just focus on the limited number that possibly merit some attention. However, as has been discussed here before, it annoys me to no end when there are multiple simultaneous exclusive releases (yes, I'm looking right at you, Tom). Spread. Them. Out. Oh, and speaking of multiple releases – I called up Matthew Williamson's head office and spoke to someone named Melissa who said that the Incense in the Collection is the only incense they'll be releasing this year. She said she couldn't comment on whether or not the original will *ever* be rereleased, but she said it wouldn't be this year and she made it sound like it was just a bit unlikely it ever would.
So agree with Spread. Them. Out. — it would have been cool to have 1 a month, even. As it is, now Tom Ford is virtually inviting comparison to the new Chanels, and while I'm quite prepared to be pleasantly surprised, that doesn't seem likely to work out in his favor.
And thanks for the info on MW — that is about what I figured.
Yep, books and perfume–two of my favorite things in life! But I read the LA Times Book Review section, and I become so frustrated. Too many books that I want to read, so little time.
And, I haven't even gotten through my Chanel Exclusifs decants. I am wearing the third one today, and will probably postpone testing the Eau de Cologne one until the weather gets warmer.
And, don't even talk to me about the Tom Ford releases. I am skipping that one altogether. I'm just not going to go there…really!
Hugs!
I'm really impressed with the new layout–it's lovely and the blue backdrop gives off a mellow vibe :).
*sticks fingers in ears* Lalalalalalalalala. I'm not listening!
The good news is that way more than half can just be out and out ignored, probably closer to 3/4. But I do hope there is some winnowing. I wouldn't mind two or three big multi-scent launches if there were less than 100 scents released all year.
Thanks, I was trying for something soothing and so glad it worked
I'd be happy if we could even stick to say, 500. I do like having choice. But once you get over 2 a day, the whole thing just becomes a joke, especially with the flankers. I can understand wanting to build on an existing customer base, but when you're launching Dior Addict 2 Summer Peonies — very nearly a flanker of a flanker — you need to stop for a moment and think about how much your customer base can stand before they just stop listening.
3 book pubs! [ThirdShift explodes into a cloud of stripper glitter out of jealousy.] I barely have time to glance through their booklists. The other day I was looking at the NYT Bookcllub reading list and I despair of ever catching up. Remember those carefree summer days of being a kid and reading MORE than all the other kids and getting extra EXTRA brownie points?
You have to be selective, R, or you just go crazy!
I tested a couple of the Etat Libre line…no longer interested! I am not even looking at the new Tom Fords…sensory overload! The releases you mention on your blog…most of the time, I simply read about them and MOVE ON! It's just too much for my little pea-sized brain to absorb.
Perhaps Victoria is right: The bad/boring lines will weed themselves out thus abating this avalanche of new releases.
Hugs!
Etat Libre, I think, released way too many scents way too quickly. Last I looked, 13 in the space of a few months. Give people a chance to get to know your brand and what you're all about before you inundate the market, please! You might have been able to do this even a few years ago, but in today's market, I think it is too much too fast.
I used to read easily 2-3 books a week, now I barely finish 1 a month. I usually blame it on having a child (and a blog), but sometimes I wonder if it is just another example of overload — too many books coming out, I give up!
A only tangentially related item: you can actually read a list of every book Art Garfunkel has read for the last 30 years here:
http://www.artgarfunkel.com/library.html
It is a fascinating list. He reads a lot, and he makes wise choices.
Hope you will like at least one of the Chanels, R, I think they are very well done. They seem to be getting a mixed reception at MUA though.
I'm getting a little tired too. I cheat some by reading reviews to see what sounds interesting, and I don't bother with the flankers if the original didn't do it for me. But that *still* doesn't eliminate enough. Also the names are getting more difficult to come up with, I guess: did you see the new MDCI names? Maybe I'm putting my foot in it here … but they confused me. (Do I sound dim?) It was like TDC Garden series that I also can't remember the names of.
From a niche perfumer intimately involved in this subject please let me assure your readers on a couple of issues:
The perfume is our #1 concern. We sympathise with your concerns over hundreds of bland releases. We loathe them as much as you do.
Being responsible for finding a retail place for our first perfume takes up the majority of my days. Retailers themselves have become jaded and sceptical about ANY new perfume.
Expect your readers to have a higher percentage of quality stuff with original characters being released in the future. Consumers are not dummies, they will simply walk away-without making a purchase. Fruity florals simply cannot survive in such numbers and circumstances.
We are passionate about creating perfumes of beauty. We want the wearer of our perfume to enjoy the experience. Making money is very important to us But I can survive knowing we have done the best to our abilities and hope we are not left with a truck load of unsold stock.
I did see them M, and have already forgotten them, LOL…
It is always heartening to hear from someone who cares about perfume, but: “Expect your readers to have a higher percentage of quality stuff with original characters being released in the future.” — hey, I'll believe it when I see it! As near as I can tell, the fact that “Fruity florals simply cannot survive in such numbers and circumstances” does NOTHING to discourage companies from releasing more of them
So *this* is why he hasn't been making any music since the 70s!
His Favorites read like req. reading for World Lit. I'm intimidated just looking at the list. and Suskin's “Perfume” is on his list of Fav! OK OK enough of books, I'll stop now.
LOL — exactly, he's had his nose buried in a book! Still, it is fascinating. Wish I'd kept a list all these years!
Maybe I should have elaborated a little. Finding the new perfumes of note will be a difficult task. Surely many will disappear through lack of exposure and poor sales ( that's if they can get shelf space and not just rely on sales through the internet) as was noted by others. But frustration breeds creativity and attempts to create and sell interesting perfumes will be made. Not by too many of the big firms if they are happy with their current sales figures.
Possibly a contribution to the avalanche of dull perfume releases is reflected in the tastes of the status quo. If consumers don't know (and don't get the chance to experience) the difference between nodescript perfumes and perfumes created with an attempt at making something special then they will go on accepting whats easily available to them.
How do we help the younger consumer make a confident and informed choice when purchasing perfume? Through workshops, education and experience. Maybe then the tide will begin to change.
Anyway Robin, great forum, thanks
I love this rant and agree 100%.
Agree with all of that, S, and despite my grumpy rants, I do also think that frustration can breed creativity
Thanks
Demeter and CB:I Hate Perfume also have 'weird' scents, like playdough, glue, and roast beef. LOL. All hail the adventurous perfume tester
Roast beef is amazing — wouldn't wear it, but it's amazing. Haven't smelled glue or playdoh!