At a meeting a few weeks ago, I sat down the table from the General Manager of a successful sportswear brand. He raised his voice to emphasize the importance of stories to raising money for a nonprofit organization. “I don’t care if it’s wristwatches or Porsches,” he said, “Emotion makes sales.”
This is certainly true for perfume. Stories create emotion, and emotion creates an attachment that logic can’t touch. His statement, though, brought up a larger question: how much of a person’s connection to a fragrance is its bottle, advertising, and stories, and how much is the perfume itself?
Cosmetics companies wouldn’t spend millions on advertising and public relations if it didn’t work…
New at dillards: Ralph Lauren Ralph Wild.
New at luckyscent: Domenico Caraceni 1913, Ivy League & Loren, Montale Aoud Roses Petals.
New at parfum1: Gwen Stefani LAMB L, Hermes Kelly Caleche.
Crazylibellule and The Poppies has launched a new trio of solid twist-up perfumes, Les Batons.
De Bon Matin ~ “Early in the morning, a spruce olfactory awakening. Starting the day in good spirits and full of heart. Fresh, floral and fruity.” With notes of black currant, apricot, mandarin, cyclamen, rose, jasmine, orange blossom, sandalwood, amber, cedar, musk and vanilla.
Après-Midi en Douce ~ “On a quiet afternoon, an olfactory idle for the afternoon, like a short nap…
As every serious Serge Lutens fan knows, every year, one fragrance from the “exclusive” collection (i.e., those that aren’t exported to the US) is selected as a limited edition addition to the “export” collection (i.e., those that are). These fragrances get packaged in the regular export bottle (i.e., the tall rectangle) instead of the bell jar you get in Paris, and they hang around until they sell out. Last year’s pick was Fumerie Turque; this year, we’re getting Chêne. I don’t know why it is never Iris Silver Mist or Tubéreuse Criminelle, but I keep waiting and hoping.
Chêne was launched in 2004, and described as “the comfort and magnitude of oak” (chêne is the French word for oak). It was developed by perfumer Christopher Sheldrake, and the notes include cedar crystals, wood sap, black thyme, immortelle, beeswax, silver birch, rum absolute and tonka bean. Chêne opens on the rum absolute and sweet green wood sap, lightly honeyed…