Kenzo has introduced warm weather versions of two of their popular fragrances for women:
Flower by Kenzo Spring Fragrance / Eau de Printemps 2009 (shown above left) is a new variation on 2000's Kenzo Flower, and follows last year's Winter Flowers. Developed by perfumer Alberto Morillas, the new scent is lighter and fresher than the original, and features notes of mandarin, litchi, ginger, violet, freesia and white musk…
The Eaux de Fleurs collection is the latest from Kenzo. They are starting off this year with a trio, Eau de Fleur de Thé (tea flower), Eau de Fleur de Soie (silk flower) and Eau de Fleur de Magnolia (you can figure that one out), and they're planning to add a new flower to the series every year. Like the Guerlain Aqua Allegoria collection, these are meant as a “return to nature”, and they're advertised as “subtle” waters based on flowers picked from Japanese trees.
Eau De Fleur de Thé is meant as a tribute to “the tea flower”. It was developed by perfumer Aurelien Guichard, and is described as “a floral infusion with green tea and musky notes”. It's a slightly smokier (although only briefly; I wouldn't call it a smoky scent in general), more-tea-less-citrus variation on Bvlgari's Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert…
When I reviewed Mark Buxton's Wood & Absinth last week, several people mentioned another vetiver + anise fragrance, Kenzo Air (or Kenzoair, as I believe the brand prefers). How I made it all this time without smelling Kenzo Air is a bit of a mystery to me, but I suppose the name “Air” was not all that appealing? Obviously I needed to smell it, and since it didn't seem to be available locally (and it's too cold to go outside anyway), I ordered some right away. I'd like to point out that I made it a full 13 days into 2009 before breaking rule no. 1 (or no. 2? I can't remember) and buying something unsniffed, but this was cheap enough that it wouldn't have killed me if I'd hated it. And lo and behold, everyone who commented was right: it's wonderful.
Kenzo launched Air in 2003; it was intended as…
… a breath of fresh air… it lets a man discover his inner child. The fragrance denotes an elegant, masculine presence, awakening childhood sensations and familiar impressions, shaking things up and reinventing them…
A video spot for Kenzo Air (just because it came up several times in the comments yesterday) starring actor Vincent Martinez and model Katy Braitman. Martinez is singing Bob Dylan's classic, Blowing in the Wind.
Amour Le Parfum is Kenzo's new limited edition Parfum (extrait) version of 2006's Kenzo Amour. It was inspired by the “gold of the Orient”, if that helps you in any way, and was developed by perfumer Daphne Bugey, who along with Olivier Cresp created the original Amour fragrance.
Amour Le Parfum does for Amour what Kenzo Flower Oriental did for the original Flower: it sticks with the main theme but tempers the sweetness with a darker, woodier base. Amour's pale opening of cherry blossom and rice steam (other notes in the original: white tea, frangipani, heliotrope, thanaka wood, incense, vanilla and musk) is amped up and winterized with warmer notes (amber, incense, benzoin and patchouli). It is very dusty-resinous in the early stages, later, it's flatter and more ambery-woody…