Amouage has launched a new fragrance duo in honor of their 25th anniversary. Jubilation 25 for women and Jubilation XXV for men…
…encapsulate emotions of hope, magic, passion and celebration utilizing the intensity of traditional Omani frankincense, a trademark for which the House is renowned in its goal to preserve the millennia old history of Arabian perfumery…
L’Artisan introduced Les Epices de la Passion, a coffret with three spiced “love potions”, in 2002. I’ve been having an on-again, off-again love affair with Safran Troublant since I first smelled it (more about that tomorrow), but the other two fragrances, Piment Brûlant and Poivre Piquant, I pretty much ignored after trying them briefly on test strips some time ago. Both scents were created by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour, and since he is seriously in the running for my own little parallel-universe award for Perfumer of the Year (and I’m sure he is quite excited about it too), I thought it would be worth giving them more serious attention.
Piment Brûlant was inspired by the Aztec drink xocolatl, a bitter mixture of chocolate and cornmeal spiked with chili peppers, cinnamon, achiote and other spices; the Aztec emperor Montezuma reputedly drank up to 50 cups every day from a golden goblet…
Eau d’Italie has launched two new fragrances, Bois d’Ombrie and Sienne l’Hiver, both developed by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour:
Bois d’Ombrie is named for Umbria, and features whiskey accord, cognac accord, wild carrot, iris, copahu balm, myrrh, leather, opoponax, patchouli, tobacco and vetiver…
Red was the second series of fragrances launched by Comme des Garçons, following the now sadly discontinued Leaves series. It debuted in 2001 with 5 fragrances, all revolving around the theme, obviously, of things that are or might be red. The series includes Harissa, Sequoia, Palisander, Carnation and Rose. Harissa and Sequoia are both by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour (who also created Monday’s Dzongkha and Tuesday’s Méchant Loup) and those are the two under consideration today.
Harissa is named for the North African spice mixture; other fragrance notes include blood orange, red chili pepper, angelica, saffron, nutmeg, cardamon and tomato. The top notes are muy fabuloso: basically lots of orange and lots of hot pepper. As it dries down, other spice notes join in, and while cinnamon is not listed and there probably isn’t any, after 15 minutes or so it reminds me very much of Red Hots melting in fresh orange juice…
L’Artisan launched Méchant Loup in 1997. Like yesterday’s Dzongkha, it was created by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour; it is usually described as a “deep, spicy, woodsy scent” and the notes include pepper, star anise, licorice, sandalwood, honey, hazelnut, myrrh, tonka bean and cedar.
The L’Artisan website translates “Méchant Loup” as Big Bad Wolf, and it is very nearly just that. It has a kind of roasted hazelnut and burnt sugar accord that is vaguely reminiscent of Hermès Vetiver Tonka, but Méchant Loup is darker and richer, and the hazelnut mingles with honeyed woods, musty dried leaves and a touch of something that smells like whiskey and cigar smoke and old leather chairs…