Lancôme will launch Magnifique, a new fragrance for women, this coming August under the tag line "You are unique; you are Magnifique". The fragrance is fronted by actress Anne Hathaway, star of The Devil Wears Prada.
Magnifique is a spicy woody floral "meant to be an olfactive interpretation of red". It was developed by perfumers Olivier Cresp and Jacques Cavallier, and features notes of saffron essence, cumin, Bulgarian rose, Mai de Grasse rose, jasmine, sandalwood and vetiver. The fragrance also includes a nagarmota* note; according to Cavallier, "As far as I know, it's never been used before in feminine fragrance".
Lancôme Magnifique will be available in 30, 50 and 75 ml Eau de Parfum and in matching body products. It will be exclusive to Bloomingdales for the month of August before going into wider distribution in September. (quotes via wwd, additional information via cosmeticnews, moodiereport) Update: see a review of Lancôme Magnifique.
* aka nagarmotha aka cypriol, a member of the cyperacae family (which also includes papyrus).
Cypriol, saffron and cumin? Could it be that they are actually going to go out on a limb with this one? It doesn't seem possible. Can't say I'm a big Anne Hathaway fan, and that tag line is ridiculous, but this sounds oddly promising…
Cumin, saffron, and vetiver!?!?! My heart be still. I almost want to ask where the molten pink cashmere mango pulp will be worked in.
Anyone else catch the rhyme between “unique” and “Magnifique”?
It doesn't seem possible to me either, esp. after Hypnose. We'll have to wait & see!
LOL at “molten pink cashmere mango pulp” — but sounds like they really are going for spicy/woody.
I'd have to try a whiff, can't say I have my hopes up though…
I'd be interested to see how the saffron, cumin, sandalwood and vetiver & nagarmota notes play out. Perhaps they are trying to accent the spicy/dry grasses? Have to visit my Lancome SA to see!
Sounds interesting. I really like the saffron and rose combo in AMAZE.
Nope,I don't have enough jet fuel (coffee) in me yet!!
I really like Amaze too, and the Washington Tremlett saffron/rose.
Would think the SAs would have smelled it by now, so perhaps you can dig up some clues…
This will probably be too spicy for me, just like Liberté from Cacharel. I really like the bottle design though, I'm ready for some 80's glamour!
I'm on it!
What a ridiculous-sounding tagline! And the bottle and packaging to me seems more masculine than feminine, and neither that nor the fragrance notes evoke Anne Hathaway, which seems more suited to “pretty” fragrances.
L'Artisan's Safran Troublant is also a rose/saffron concoction, although the rose note is not dominant, so I suppose it's really a saffron/vanilla scent with a rose accent. Still, very nice.
Magnifique sounds lovely, and not a fruit note in sight. There's hope for the future! And Olivier Cresp AND Jacques Cavallier? Doesn't that sound promising?
I like ST too
Cresp & Cavallier are both great perfumers, but I don't always love their scents: Nina Ricci Nina, for instance, and YSL Elle. Loved their Midnight Poison though!
Come to think of it, that bottle looks sort of like Liberte…
It reminds me for some reason of the L'Oreal hair dye — “because I'm worth it”
A great many people are never going to forgive Cresp for creating Angel, but love it or hate it, that one scent puts him in the history books. And Cavallier! He's had a hand in a great many scents I love, including Nu, M7, Ultraviolet Man, Le Feu D'Issey, Boucheron Trouble, and, as you say, Midnight Poison. He always gets a pass.
They've both made some duds, too, but not every canvas that Picasso painted was a work of genius.
Yes…one of the first things I picked up was the rhyme!
Oh, I entirely agree — did not mean to diss either man.
It reminds me of “Tres Tres Chic” by The Mocean Worker (from “The Devil Wears Prada” soundtrack). The choppy slogan is almost good enough to be included in that flippy song (as much as I enjoy the track)!
The “molten pink cashmere mango pulp” bit is just a riot!!!
The notes makes me think of Kingdom. If it is in the same way of kingdom, this'll be a must buy to me.
I can see in one year (or less). Magnific summer peony, Magnific bright pink, because by the notes it doesn't look, unfortunately, that's going to be a huge sucess (saddly, because this sounds very interesting).
I don't like when copy is in second person. It's so… dated?
It sounds interesting, certainly. I'm not a rose person, so here's hoping it's not too rosy. I am excited by the spice, though. I'm gonna hope like hell for this one to be interesting and different (in relation to other department store releases, of course)).
Let's wait and see what happens…we have witnessed many “daring” fragrance launches that turn out to be marketing coups. I too find the notes interesting but somehow I don't think Lancôme will be extremely audacious…given how much the company is spending (simultaneous launches in 165 countries isn't free). Still, IMHO it's too early to tell.
If it is even vaguely related to Kingdom, I'll be impressed — that would be very risky for such a big launch.
Agree, seems unlikely.
I'll be hoping with you…
The cumin terrifies me, but it sounds intriguing otherwise.
LOL — we need a 12 step program for those of us (including me) who are scared of cumin
I thought that was hysterical too. Bring on the MPCMP!
I was not impressed with Hypnose… but I will smell this to see if they have a winner. It's worth a try, for a new note that's hasn't been used yet…
It is not a new note, although it may be new to mainstream women's — it is in several niche scents, and Tom Ford For Men claims to be the first to use it in mainstream men's fragrance.
Lancome makes me a bit crazy….
There was a limited edition eau de toilette called Lancome Rouge Now or never. It was quite spicy too… almost too hot on the pepper, it almost made you sneeze
I gave it to a friend as a birthday gift, and she took it, but a couple of months later gave it to me to “regift” to someone else, as she found the thing too hot.
I think they do not take their perfume seriously enough, they should have a small website with historical releases, etc.
But then again, most of the “big” houses do not have that either.
I will take a look at it as soon as it arrives on these shores.
unrelated p.s.: I got to smell the Davidoff adventure… nothing adventurous at all.. even smells “classic” in a bad way for a man's cologne… top and middle very generic (citrus, cedar, etc) and drydown barely reminiscent of Guccy envy for man, maybe too much cardamom… The black sesame.. nowere to be seen IMHO.
Hey, that Davidoff is still missing in action here, as is the Calvin Klein Euphoria Man Intense. Or maybe they're at Macy's since I was last there…
It is very odd to me how few of the houses bother to put historical information about their fragrance line on their website…I mean, it isn't like it is expensive to do so, and why not capitalize on your heritage?
Lanvin does post all the fragrances. I think others are afraid to show their “records” in case they need to use the names again. (It wouldn't look too good if one has to write “Trésor” twice with asterisks all over…)
I got a whiff of this on a card yesterday…It was pretty ho-hum. I did not pay enough attention to give any kind of detailed description and can't imagine it becoming a huge hit (no competition for sensuous)…
But in response to the commenter above: I had a bottle of Now or Never!!! About 10 years ago… And I did love it. It was hot and spicy cinnamon/vanilla…Wonderful for cold weather…It probably wouldn't be quite up my current alley, but I am so glad gad it was mentioned so I could remember it fondly
I'm reviewing it tomorrow. I think I might have liked it better than you did, although I don't adore it either.