New at bonton: Juicy Couture Malibu & Malibu La La.
New at first-in-fragrance: Erik Kormann December.
New at sephora: Cartier Pasha Noire.
New at ulta: Jean Paul Gaultier Le Beau Male.
Christian Dior Hypnotic Poison Eau de Parfum & Fahrenheit Parfum ~ new fragrances
Christian Dior has launched a new Eau de Parfum concentration of 1998’s Hypnotic Poison (not the first, mind you) and a new Parfum concentration of 1988’s Fahrenheit…
Highly precise terms for smells
Just as English has precise color terms like “mauve” and “cerulean,” Jahai has highly precise terms for smells – such as cŋεs, “the smell of petrol, smoke and bat droppings,” itpɨt, “the smell of durian fruit, Aquillaria wood, and bearcat,”pʔus “a musty smell, like old dwellings, mushrooms and stale food,” and plʔεŋ, “a bloody smell that attracts tigers.” English speakers, meanwhile, tended to rely on broader smell terms like “smoky,” “sweet,” “piney” and so on.
— Read more at This Language Names Odors As Precisely As English Speakers Name Color at Discover, about the Malaysian language Jahai.
Tauer Perfumes Phi Une Rose de Kandahar ~ fragrance review and a quick rose poll
Phi — Une Rose de Kandahar is the latest from indie niche line Tauer Perfumes, and when my sample arrived last year, I sprayed it once, then put it right into the purgatory basket, where samples go to languish when I can’t decide if I like them or not. And Phi did not capture my affections right away. It’s the second fragrance to join Tauer’s Collectibles series (the first was Zeta), which is based on rare natural materials. Since the scents are dependent on specific harvests, they may change slightly from batch to batch as new materials are sourced. As you might have deduced from the name, Phi was inspired by a natural extract of a rose from Afghanistan.
Anyway, I did not love Phi — I wasn’t even sure if I liked Phi — so I let it sit for a few weeks, and then a few more, and then I came across it at random and gave it another shot. Maybe it’s the colder weather, or maybe it’s that I wasn’t in the right mood the first time around, but now it seems perfect.
The first thing you need to know about Phi (assuming you haven’t already smelled it, and many of you probably have) is that it’s not a big floral rose, nor is it a feminine one…
Persephenie Vetiver Attars ~ new fragrances
Los Angeles based aromatherapist and perfumer Persephenie has launched Vetiver Attars, a series of traditional attars made with vetiver oil. The scents include Blue Lotus, Hina, Parijata, Kewda and Tuberose.