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Browsing by tag: vanilla

5 perfumes ~ vanilla fragrances for fall

Posted by Robin on 27 October 2017 42 Comments

(Quick PSA: I am on the road today and heading to a place with very limited internet access. I’ll be slow to answer comments or questions all weekend long, but I’ll do my best.)

Fall is not my favorite season, but even I will admit that it’s probably the best time of year for perfume. You can wear just about anything, and for many of us, it’s a joy to finally pull out some of the heavier woods and orientals that we’ve been neglecting all summer. I’ve already done autumn posts covering iris, incense and vetiver, now I’m turning to vanilla (and Angela will join in the fun on Monday, with 5 fruity chypres for fall). As always, these are just my suggestions, and again as always, the line between the seasons is perhaps a bit arbitrary and/or personal: some of these fragrances wear just as well in summer or winter, and some of them work perfectly fine all the year round.

Indult Tihota: Vanilla cake, yes, but vanilla cake from perfumer Francis Kurkdjian…

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Annick Goutal Nuit et Confidences ~ fragrance review & a quick vanilla poll

Posted by Robin on 17 October 2017 101 Comments

Annick Goutal Nuit et Confidences brand image

tl;dr a decent middle of the road vanilla.

If you wanted a good illustration of the muddy distinction between niche and mainstream perfumery, you could hardly find a better example than Annick Goutal. The house mostly made its name with classic colognes like Eau d’Hadrien and Eau du Sud, and a handful of pretty feminine florals. When I reviewed Eau de Camille and Eau de Charlotte back in 2007, I noted that…

The Annick Goutal line occupies a rather in-between place among perfume fans — the company probably qualifies as niche based on their size and their limited distribution; still, they are available in a number of mainstream stores (three department stores in my local mall carry them),1 and the line doesn’t feel niche. The feminine perfumes are emphatically pretty, romantic even; they don’t, like so many niche perfumes, challenge traditional notions of what a woman ought to smell like.

What I perhaps didn’t emphasize enough was how few mainstream brands were making nicely done yet emphatically pretty fragrances at the time…

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Aerin Tangier Vanille ~ perfume review

Posted by Robin on 31 January 2017 47 Comments

Aerin Lauder for Tangier Vanille

Morocco is a magical destination—I’m so inspired by its colors and culture. I also associate it with a cover shoot by Jonathan Becker I did, along with my father, for Town & Country magazine. I love those photographs, they really capture a sense of place—I wore an amazing brown and blue Rochas dress that echoed the backdrop of desert and sky.1

That’s Aerin Lauder, talking about the inspiration for Tangier Vanille, which she released under her casual-luxe Aerin lifestyle brand last year. Of the fragrance itself, Lauder promises that it “opens a secret door that leads you into the mystery and splendor of Morocco”.

Cultural appropriation is nothing new in perfume marketing, and Morocco, of course, is fertile ground. If there is any harm done by taking a nice deep whiff of Serge Lutens Chergui and imagining yourself in an exotic / romantic Moroccan landscape that glosses over colors and culture and plenty else besides, so be it…

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Aedes de Venustas Cierge de Lune ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 2 January 2017 14 Comments

Aedes de Venustas Cierge de Lune brand image

Not every perfume is a groundbreaking work of art. It’s best that way. Some fragrances earn their keep as supporting characters — everyday auras that hum along and let you provide the personality. They’re flexible perfumes friendly to just about any situation, mood, or season. They’re “go tos” when you don’t want to think too much about a scent, but simply want to spritz one on and forget about it.

Perfumes I count on to fill this role include Guerlain Vol de Nuit, DelRae Mythique, Caron Nocturnes, Bois 1920 Sutra Ylang, and, to some extent, Chanel No. 5. If I had a bottle, Hermès Eau des Merveilles would join the line up. For someone who loves amber, Aedes de Venustas Cierge de Lune might be a solid choice for this kind of “aura” fragrance…

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Elizabeth and James Nirvana Rose & Nirvana Bourbon ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Jessica on 8 September 2016 20 Comments

Elizabeth and James Nirvana Rose & Nirvana Bourbon

A few years back, I was enjoying cocktails with friends at an upscale, old-school hotel bar on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and I saw one of the “Olsen twins” seated nearby with two older male companions in suits. I was intrigued by the sight of this former child star evolved into a successful entrepreneur, this waif who swathed herself in layers of urban-bohemian black clothing for a meeting with two executive-looking men in such a traditional setting. Her eyeliner was generously applied, yet her demeanor was serious, even somber. It was an interesting set of contrasts.

I’m having a similar response to Nirvana Rose and Nirvana Bourbon, the two new fragrances from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s Elizabeth and James brand. I liked Nirvana Black and Nirvana White, both launched in late 2013 (and followed by matching roll-ons, perfume oil, solid perfume compacts, body oil and dry shampoo), so I was curious about these latest offerings. I’m happy to report that Rose and Bourbon are two more smart fragrances that straddle the line between “grown-up” and “free-spirited”…

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From NST at Twitter

  • Updated notes for Prada Infusion de Figue https://t.co/9vfqkWf0I3 https://t.co/0c82XDet82, 6 hours ago
  • Guerlain is not done celebrating the 170th anniversary of the bee bottle https://t.co/8EbndL5UEX https://t.co/QbPMFKukdq, 7 hours ago
  • "Lev Glazman Owns 500 Fragrances, But Favors This One The Most" (zoe report) https://t.co/3BvOaQwTYm, 8 hours ago
  • "Art and Olfaction Awards Announces 2023 Finalists" (perfumer&flavorist) https://t.co/3TtJ43pVwy, 9 hours ago
  • "Fashion brand Brunello Cucinelli breaks into beauty with fragrance launch" (cosmeticsbusiness) https://t.co/ZGvr0Nvgs0,

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