Go ahead, perfumistas, think of all the perfumes you know with a pompom attached to the bottle. I am sure there are more — do comment! — but I could only think of four off the top of my head. Three of those are from Ariana Grande (Ari / Frankie / Sweet Like Candy) and the fourth is Annick Goutal’s latest launch, Tenue de Soirée. If Ariana Grande and Annick Goutal strike you as unexpected bedfellows, think again, because the times they are a-changing at Annick Goutal. The new buzz words are “fun, quirky and young”, and they’re looking to shake up everything from the packaging to the logo to the brand name itself. Tenue de Soirée (evening dress or evening wear) is the “bridge” between the old Annick Goutal and the new, brand-name-yet-to-be-announced. Expect to see the full results of the rebranding by 2018, and for Goutal’s existing line up to be pared down to about 20 or 25 fragrances…
Dame Perfumery Chocolate Man ~ fragrance review
“Kevin, would you like to smell chocolaty?”
“Are you kidding? Besides onions, garlic and seafood, that’s the last thing I want to smell like! I hate candy perfumes.” (Insert head-toss)
It’s a short walk from baked goods (I like scents with bread and cake notes), spices, and sweet “fancy” dessert aromas of violet and rose to — chocolate bars, fudge and icing. I took the necessary steps by buying a sample of Chocolate Man from Arizona-based Dame Perfumery last summer. I finally tried Chocolate Man this week, three months later, and am eating my anti-chocolate-perfume words…
4160Tuesdays Sunshine and Pancakes & Centrepiece ~ fragrance reviews
If we live until we’re 80, we have 4160 Tuesdays. That’s all. Let’s not waste them.
I’ve waited too long to try some fragrances from 4160Tuesdays. That’s strange, because I’ve been a fan of Sarah McCartney since she was LUSH’s copywriter and head of brand publications (seriously, I still own some tattered circa-2003 issues of the “LUSH TIMES”) and I’m drawn to independent fragrance houses that combine humor with a poetic sensibility. One reason: 4160Tuesdays isn’t available in any brick-and-mortar shops in New York. Another: the brand’s explanation of its name makes me feel a bit nervous and sad (and mortal).
This summer, I’ve finally seized the day and ordered a few samples of 4160Tuesday scents. My first pick, just because of its name, was Sunshine and Pancakes…
Christian Dior Poison Girl ~ fragrance review
Who else but Camille Rowe could have embodied the alluring and nonchalant femininity of Poison Girl? At twenty-six years of age, and with one hundred and twenty-eight thousand and counting Instagram followers, the model represents a generation of uninhibited, fun-loving, optimistic young women.1
Ah, who else indeed? In case you were wondering how many Instagram followers you might need to front a major youth-oriented fragrance campaign circa 2016, now you know.1 And you know Christian Dior’s latest, Poison Girl, is geared young, because they’re talking up Rowe’s Instagram in the first place, plus she is writhing on a dance floor wearing hotpants and later, strutting around in not even so much as that, whereas Natalie Portman, who fronts the somewhat more “mature” Miss Dior (Ms. Portman is thirty-five), wears Dior couture and smells rose petals and whatnot, plus, she isn’t even on Instagram. (Then again, Charlize Theron, who fronts J’Adore and is now forty years of age, has 1.2 million followers.)
So anyway, Poison Girl is geared young, and not surprisingly, it smells like it…
Prada Candy Kiss ~ fragrance review
Before we review Prada Candy Kiss, let’s ruminate for a moment on wit in perfume. We often hear fragrance described as pretty, sexy, moving, dark, moody, and just plain gorgeous, but it isn’t often thought of as witty. Yet perfume can definitely pack wit. A witty fragrance says, “I’m over-the-top, and I know it. Go ahead, laugh with me, but you have to admit I’m fabulous.”1
To me, Tauerville Fruitchouli Flash is witty — the name alone lets you in on the joke. Rochas Tocade’s raving overdose of vanilla and rose is witty. So is Prada Candy. Everything from Prada Candy’s bottle to its marketing to its name lets you know it’s an indulgence without a lot of nutrition. Somehow, it gains merit by laughing at itself. It’s a fun perfume.
Then we come to Prada Candy Kiss. Can a joke go too far…