Roja Dove, a high-end British perfumer who has a shop in Harrods, is known throughout Europe and the Middle East for his oud fragrances, which use real oud oil and can cost upward of $500 a bottle. This summer, he introduced a Tutti Frutti Aoud line to appeal to younger customers who were drawn to the ingredient, cutting the agarwood with notes like raspberry, strawberry and violet.
— As a counterpoint to the article I posted earlier about why Hermès is not doing oud perfumes (see Those who follow the money), do read Power Perfumes Return to the Scene at the New York Times.
So, the pendulum begins to swing back – it’s about time! Now I’m curious about Andrea Maack Coven and the Turkish line, Nishane.
The idea of a Tutti Frutti Aoud is really funny, though. 😀
It is maybe my favorite perfume name from 2015.
It might be the best silly perfume name/concept of all time. 😀
I’ll be curious to hear what you think if you get a chance to try the Nishanes–I took a quick pass at them and was not taken, even the one I felt hopeful enough about to try on skin, but I didn’t spend a lot of time, so I could def be wrong (as ever 🙂 ). Not to mention, oud’s not my thing, so if that’s the reason they’re at Twisted Lily, I’m not the target audience anyway.
Nishane caught my attention.
I wonder if part of the appeal of power scents also relates to consumer dissatisfaction with spending a fortune on perfumes that last only an hour or so? I wouldn’t want to go back to the days of Giorgio Beverly Hills ( I had a flat mate who wore it back in the day…ooof) but I do get a bit ratty with $200 dollar scents that fade and disappear too quickly.
But I guess the point of the article is about the shift towards the Middle Eastern market.
Interesting stuff.
And as the article points out, it’s also a reaction against the very clean stuff currently on the more mainstream market. But in general, I think the article is mostly wrong — the 80s power perfumes are not back in any big way. They’re talking about a small subset of the population.
I hope the article is mostly wrong! I live in a small university town and although I’ve been here ten years I’ve only ever once been aware of another person’s perfume…L’eau D’Issey Miyake. I get the impression that any perfume is considered show off-y.
As I said just above, I think it’s not at all that there will be a general turn towards heavy perfumes…
Sorry, I was meant to be replying to your reply
1) Tutti Frutti Oud sounds like dessert that went terribly wrong.
2) The article neglects to mention Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, which has really influenced so many indie lines!
3) In keeping with that, I do not think it is a power move per se as it is the creation of more niche shops, more access to shops via the internet and shipping, and more people living in cities.
I always forget about BPAL. What kind of shops is it sold in, or is it purely online?
Can’t one like ouds in different style, as one option. (And by the way some “real oud” scents smell suspiciously like what used to be called “musk”s?
As for the “power scent” return, I think the most “powerful” thing is for your scent to be smelled only by those very close to you, so the perfume is part of the connection between you. In the business world context, to me, this would be during an actual in person conversation* and still should be subtle. If some women are creating a cloud of oud, they are probably wearing way too much. Real power does not rely on pushing yourself on others, but drawing others into you.
I love the picture of those chic black-clad 20 year olds all rushing for a fume called ‘Coven’! The great conformity of the non-conformists 😀
Truly 🙂
My thing here is that I thought it was saying Twisted Lily had brought in the Amouage attars, which would imply that those are dis-discontinued?? I would def be curious to try them! But I think it was a misunderstanding. Alas.