Comme des Garçons will launch their third fragrance in collaboration with Monocle magazine, Scent Three: Sugi. Scent One: Hinoki launched in 2008, followed by Scent Two: Laurel in 2009…
5 perfumes for: Foodies
Recently, I re-watched El Bulli: Cooking in Progress, Gereon Wetzel’s very scrupulous, very German 2011 documentary about one of the final years at the restaurant many food followers believe to have been the most influential of the last two decades: elBulli, brainchild of rumpled Catalan genius Ferran Adrià. Besides falling in love again with both the mad scientist menu and Adrià’s right-hand man, dashing chef de cuisine Oriol Castro, the thing I really noticed on this viewing was how familiar the scenes might seem to our readers. Adrià and sommelier David Seijas discuss what families scents fall into and how to emphasize notes from individual ingredients with other ingredients. Adrià, Castro and Eduard Xatruch go to the market, and are frustrated by the variable qualities and availability of the raw materials they need. In the lab and kitchen, there are endless “mods”, sampling and editing sessions and passionate discussions about the time-lapsed impressions a product gives. Everyone sniffs, and then stares thoughtfully off into space.
Of course, if you’ve been following perfume in the news, none of this will be a surprise. Chefs and perfumers have long recognized their mutual interests. Cooks have used essentials oils in recipes since the thirteenth century, and medieval cuisine included dishes like ambergris pudding, rose and almond milk pottage, candied calamus root and marigold (calendula, or “pot marigold”) stew. Perfumers, meanwhile, have always sought to make their creations mouth-watering, and a few contemporary ones, like Christophe Laudamiel, started on the flavorings side of the trade. It certainly seems, though, that both fragrance and food industry spokespeople have recently become more vocal about publicizing collaborations, particularly on the luxury ends of the markets…
Comme des Garcons Blue Invasion: Blue Encens, Blue Cedrat & Blue Santal ~ fragrance reviews
As Robin here at Now Smell This and I decided who would review the new Comme des Garçons Blue Invasion trio of perfumes, she said: “I thought they were all nice, but maybe CdG needs to get out of this woody/incense sandbox? They have done some really great stuff…but even their weirder stuff is no longer surprising. Maybe there are no surprises left?”
Robin and I have three points of agreement:
- I like the new Blue Invasion perfumes;
- I agree Comme des Garçons has driven the woody incense genre to a dead end (or at least into a cul-de-sac, where it goes round and round and round);
- I also wonder if there are many surprises in store for me as a dedicated perfume sniffer.
Now, to Blue Invasion….
Comme des Garcons Black ~ fragrance review
After a long dry spell in which nearly every new fragrance I smelled was either boring or just plain awful, late spring / early summer 2013 is turning out to be a good time for perfume, at least for me — there are so many winners it’s hard to decide which to review next. I just about drew straws to come up with today’s subject, Black, from Comme des Garçons. I’m especially thrilled about Black because Comme des Garçons is likewise a brand with which I have gone through a long dry spell. As a new perfumista they were one of my favorites, but I’ve been less than enthused about the last few years’ offerings.
Black is a return to form of sorts — it’s satisfyingly weird, and some people may find it less than suitable as a personal fragrance. And I cannot claim it is new territory for Comme des Garçons, quite the opposite…
Comme des Garcons Blue Invasion ~ new fragrances
Comme des Garçons will launch Blue Invasion, a new trio of fragrances — Blue Encens, Blue Cedrat and Blue Santal…