Leslie Blodgett of Bare Escentuals has launched the second fragrance in her limited edition Perfume Diaries series (see vol 1, Perfume Diaries Bare Skin), Santa Barbara:
Picture yourself sipping a cool drink on the pier, staring off into the sunset without a care in the world. The crisp ocean breeze tousling your hair, the warmth of the slowly disappearing California sun on your back, a smile in your heart. Leslie Blodgett has captured a perfect Santa Barbara afternoon through scent with this laid-back blend of subtle fruits, soft white flowers and mellow woods.
The notes include pepper, lemon, cassis, peach, iris, jasmine, muguet, moss, musk, cedar, patchouli and benzoin.
Leslie Blodgett Perfume Diaries Santa Barbara is available in 50 ml Eau de Parfum (above left; $55), .07 oz solid perfume (above right; $35) or 10 ml Eau de Parfum rollerball (not shown, $16), and can be purchased now at Sephora. (via sephora)
Im sure this will smell pretty good, but i doubt it could evoke that exact imagery in the description. Im kinda getting sick of these so-called perfume stories, poems, diaries, volumes, etc. Its a scent people, not reading material.
I think companies feel they have to have a backstory in order to stick out in the crowded marketplace.
I read something in a magazine a while back that may have been total crap, but I thought it was still interesting. The writer was saying that the average person knows nothing of perfume notes, and so you have to give them something to work with. Someone may not have a clue about what benzoin smells like (hell, I’m not sure that *I* do), but “the warmth of the slowly disappearing California sun on your back” at least evokes something in the would-be buyer to entice them to try it. Hence the wacky ad copy we so often read. Again, could be total crap, but it does make sense to me.
No, I do think there’s something to that. I also hear again & again that perfume houses feel that stories are the best way to “connect” with the customer.
advertising copy is “fanciful” that’s for sure—but I gotta tell ya, after hiding inside from the snow, wind and temps in the teens these last few weeks—-the promise of California sun on my back sounds mighty darn enticing! I’m sure I’d snap out of the adver-schmoozing haze before I plunked down my credit card though!!!
Oh, boy. I think it’s finally hit. Stage 5 Perfumistaship. The cynicism. I see a pink bottle, and roll my eyes.
Is this good? Is this bad? Is this inevitable? Is this just a stage I’m going through. We’ve never talked about Stage 6, Robin. Is there such a thing?
Signed,
The Glass Looks as Though it Could Either be Half Full or Half Empty, and I’m a Little Concerned About This
LOL! What you don’t realize is that in stage 5, you see dreck everywhere you look, and so you appreciate the not-dreck EVEN MORE. It is not an all bad thing.
Stage 6, I think, is where you lose interest in new fragrances all together, and settle down quite happily with your sizable collection.
“Settle down?!?!”
LOL! Not suggesting anyone reach stage 6 on purpose, mind you.
Excellent. At that point, I can throw a nice big bucket of water on this flamin’ Visa card of mine (actually, I think the flames are dying down already: the advantages of Step 5) and wallow in my hard-earned gallons. Looking forward to it, R.
Meh… I tested the first one twice. It was nice, but too linear and definitely not FB-worthy, imo.
I thought it was nice but not spectacular too.
Log a third vote for nice but not spectacular, as well.
Name me one pink fragrance that’s absolutely fabulous.
Cynically yours,
Eek. Is That Glass Half-Full with Something Fruity-Floral?
Hermes Rose Ikebana! And there must be others I’m not thinking of.
Oh…Paula Dorf Zita!
I have not tested the first one but some how these don’t interest me.Maybe its because Bare Escentuals is every where somehow its like over kill.
Are they? I don’t know the brand well.
I don’t know what ‘stage’ I’m in but maybe someone else has experienced this: At this time, I’m not even remotely interested in sniffing something that came out last Tuesday. Regardless of the latest thing’s list of purported notes, it all smells like the same dreck anyway. I’m more into discovering the ‘classics’ that have been around for decades (even if they’ve been tinkered with over the years). They’re timeless and don’t try to be ‘modern’ or trendy. Show me the Patous, the Piguets, the Chanels and various Guerlains. Fragrances from those houses have not lasted so long by sheer luck; it seems that a lot of time, thought, care & expense went into crafting them. What’s that old adage? “They don’t make them like they used to.”? Could not have said it better myself. Apologies in advance for the grumpiness. – Julien
Given that so many old fragrances have been reformulated past recognition, I’m rather the opposite, esp. since I’m too poor & lazy to buy vintage.
And that would be Stage 5(a).
They call that Stage Five, Julien. If you mean VINTAGE Patou, et al.
As someone who lives in Santa Barbara, all I can say is:
(a) the iconic thing by the beach is called the WHARF, not the pier.
(b) they could make millions of dollars if they put this in every gift shop in town, from the sublime Biltmore Hotel to the ticky-tacky tourist spots on the wharf. Hmm. Maybe they need a marketing placement freelancer to get this in more doors…
Also, for whatever it’s worth, that crisp ocean breeze (tinged with the scent of natural petroleum tar seepage… quite evocative, actually) at sunset does more than tousle your hair… it chills you to the bone and sends you shivering indoors searching for a thick fleece pullover, even in August!
If they were to re-work this and add in that tar note, I would totally buy it.
HA. I’d take SB at the moment, whatever it smelled like.
Laughing because it’s true! The first thing I thought was that I’d rather be drinking a hot drink than a cold one on the wharf. And I’d be wearing a fleece-lined windbreaker too.
BTW, I totally thought this was called “Perfume Diaries Santa” at first glance. I thought maybe everyone had officially gone off the deep end, and were just naming perfumes whatever: “Umm… Piece of Lint!… No…Letter from Grandma?… Not so much? Ok, how about Easter Bunny! What, you don’t like Easter Bunny? Ok, well… Santa? Are we all good with Santa? Santa is it is!”
Of course this is all just in my head, and not an actual industry problem.
LOL!
I don’t know if I’ve hit stage 5 yet. I’m still discovering newish niche gems and wishing more of them had department store frag prices. My appreciation for the classics is multi-faceted, but part of it is that they’re absolutely wonderful and can be found for what I consider reasonable perfume prices, and some are an absolute steal considering how amazing they are like Mitsouko, No. 5 and Narcisse Noir. I can’t help thinking they’d be two or three times the price if they launched now, while I’m trying how to factor in how I’m going to score some recently discovered Farmacia SS. Annunziata dal 1561 and Omnia Profumo loves.
Adding very un-pink notes like tar to an otherwise very pink frag would be great! I can see it now. Notes of raspberry will be blended with an unexpected twist of gun powder accord or strawberry, pink pepper and cement. I’d love to try those, or see if the perfume industry could go an entire year without the use of pink bottles/packaging and how that would inspire the creative process.
Truly, there are so many releases now that EVERY possible color is overdone. There are too many black, purple, blue & green.
That reminds me of an amusing wine review that included the phrase “hints of wet concrete”..!