It's funny how my brain will absorb and retain information from fashion-and-beauty magazines when I'm getting so forgetful in some other areas. When I heard that Serge Normant was planning to release a fragrance, I nodded sagely to myself and thought, "Ah yes, Julia Roberts's stylist." I'm not even a Julia Roberts fan, so why do I know and remember this fact? Obviously, the ink used to print women's glossies has some sort of peculiar chemical-bonding effect on my brain.
In any case: stylist Serge Normant's first fragrance is Avah, a composition of ylang ylang, jasmine, amber, soft woods, and musks with the tagline "Enter the exotic." It's formulated to be worn on hair as well as skin, which makes sense for the brand. The name "Avah" supposedly means "desire" and "life," although I haven't been able to track down that etymology. (Let me know if you have a better idea of its origin!) In the "making of" video for Avah and its ad, Normant mentions his interest in making women look (and smell) "sexy without hitting people over the head" and he describes the scent and its visuals as having a style of "rawness with a little touch of sophistication."
That all sounds just about right. Avah opens with some ylang ylang, but most of the fragrance is a linear pairing of creamy jasmine and warm musk notes. The musk actually reminds me of the "Egyptian Musk" oils sold by street vendors and health-food stores, although it's been cleaned up considerably for Avah. The musk is still slightly raw, and the jasmine is more sophisticated, so there you have an olfactory match for Norman's artfully "undone" hairstyles. Avah stays close to the body and has somewhat low staying power for an Eau de Parfum, but you're probably meant to apply it more lavishly than I did and, furthermore, it's probably intended to be a "skin scent." I'd guess that Avah is geared towards women in their later twenties and up, who can afford high-end hair products and have outgrown their taste for berry-and-vanilla-scented personal care products. Avah is "sexy" in the same way that Normant's flowing, subtly highlighted hairstyles are sexy. This isn't my own style (for fragrance or hair), but I can understand its wide appeal.
Avah's formula balances its alcohol base with the addition of jojoba, aloe vera, and vitamin E, which would make it less potentially drying to hair. Although, I have to say, it always mystifies me when women put their hair through the processes of coloring, chemical straightening, etc. and then they worry about the effect that a spritz of perfume will have; really, is it going to cause more damage than dye or even a flatiron? This sort of question reveals that I'm probably not the target market for Avah. However, if you do follow Normant's tress-aesthetic and you like the idea of a jasmine-and-musk skin scent that you can wear all over, give Avah a try this summer.
Serge Normant Avah Eau de Parfum is sold as 50 ml ($60) through the Serge Normant website; it will also be available through the Barneys and C. O. Bigelow websites.
Despite that fact that I can barely tolerate musk, I am very intrigued by this. I think it’s in large part because of the “sexy without hitting people over the head” aspect. I do love jasmine, but I think I may just buy this one on General Principle.
I have grown so weary of the blatant, in-your-face sexualization of everything. I am ready for some old-fashioned seduction, I suppose!
Is it an indolic jasmine ( a la Joy) or a bright one (Jasmine et Cigarettes)?
Hello, Jolie! I’m not usually a musk-wearer, either, but I like the fact that this product is aimed at grown women, lol. It’s neither berry-sweet nor “fresh,” which is a nice change. I’d say that the jasmine is creamy-milky. (Gaia from The Non-Blonde actually found the floral notes too creamy for her taste, but I liked them.) When I sniff the sprayer of my sample, I can only smell Egyptian Musk, but the florals are much more evident on skin.
Well I had never heard of Serge Normant so you are way ahead. I took a look at the website but those women with scary hair chased me away.
I’m in Australia so I am not going to chase the perfume but I like the idea of it. It’s inexpensive and does seem to be designed to be worn lavishly, in a nice, carefree, spritz-all-over kind of way. But surely once you have trussed and tressed and spritzed yourself in some of Serge’s many hair care products, your hair would already be heavily scented? The perfume would have to compete with all that other stuff. Well, just a thought …
Wow, you are right, AnneMarie – most of the hair on that site is bizarre!
I haven’t tried Serge Normant’s other products, mainly because they don’t address my curly-wavy needs… so I don’t know how they smell. I don’t find the hair on that site scary as much as I find it a bit all-the-same… long slightly-mussed-but-still-styled waves.
I’m hip to artfully undone tresses.
(Though I’d never let a flat-iron near mine/) This sounds kind of nice. Could have been a lot worse, eh?
Indeed! Is it Chanel no. 5? No. But it does what it promises.
I’m intrigued by a jasmine musk combo that I could wear to meetings and such, and I like the idea of a hair scent. Might have to try this for summer.
It definitely wouldn’t attract too much attention, unless you really doused yourself in it! Certainly office-safe.
“Normant mentions his interest in making women look (and smell) ‘sexy without hitting people over the head’ and he describes the scent and its visuals as having a style of ‘rawness with a little touch of sophistication.'” So that’s why the model is covering her naughty bits with a sheet instead of letting it all show! Silly me…. Anyhow, I do like the sound of this (I love wearing perfume in my hair), just wondering how long before this hits the discounters.
NP
I don’t know… I wouldn’t bet on seeing it at discounters, because I think it’s probably managed/distributed differently than many perfume lines. But yes, the nakedness-under-a-sheet thing is a classic ad move, right?
I’m a hairdresser and this sounds like a luxe product to add a touch of musky sent to clients hair, a nice little finish to blow drying and styling ! My clients would love this….. Thinking outside of the box ! Some hair products are very sweetly scented, this I would imagine to smell very sexy , polished , undone! I want some !!!
Sinnerman, I keep meaning to say that I like your user-name… it reminds me of Nina Simone! And yes, I’m always happy to find a hair product that doesn’t smell like orange juice or oatmeal cookies or so on…
I like the idea of anything I can spray with abandon. I do spray perfume in my hair anyway because I agree that if all the hair color I put in doesn’t concern me as far as damage goes then a little fragrance isn’t going to hurt. I like jasmine and woods so I’d give this a whirl. I’m also one of those people who likes when my hair smells really nice and I catch a whiff of my fragrance when I turn my head. I’ve come to the conclusion that I wear fragrance for me to enjoy. Yesterday hubby asked what I was wearing and then said it was strong. I told him to hold his breath.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that I wear fragrance for me to enjoy.” — my sentiments exactly! If I get compliments, yay, and if not, I smell good to me.
I feel the same way. And I do usually give a spritz to the hair above the nape of my neck, because it seems to hold the scent well.
“When I heard that Serge Normant was planning to release a fragrance, I nodded sagely to myself and thought, “Ah yes, Julia Roberts’s stylist.””
Jessica, this made me laugh.
For what it’s worth, I DO think there’s something insidious in the ink.
It’s an evil conspiracy!!