Serge Lutens goes down

I smelled before the official release the 2 new Serge Lutens, Louve and Sarasins and I didn't felt any need to review them. When I read today an excellent review done by Colombina I felt that I was not the only one to have the same feelings about SL.
Louve is like a "knock-off" of the wonderful Rahat Loukoum, but a cheap one. The raspberry note inside is what is in all the new launches: from L'Instant Magic to Diesel Fuel, passing by Yves Rocher. Everybody follows the "trends". Once upon a time Serge Lutens was a trendsetter. But I think it's over. Uninspired name, bad fragrance...it's all gone. Even the jasmin idea of Sarasins is in the already launched perfumes: from Etat Libre d'Orange to J'Adore Jasmin and Diesel Fuel. The same very nice jasmin bases from Firmenich and Givaudan. I know them by heart and by molecules and new Serge Lutens unfortunatelly make me smile.
The time when Rose de Nuit inspired even Guerlain (Rose barbare) is gone.
I have no idea what's going on at Palais Royal...but good, innovative, trendsetting fragrances away from the rest are not to be expected anymore. I think an era is finished (it's allways like this)!

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art

Prada Infusion d'Iris

The fragrance is a brilliant example of what good marketing can do… In the same time it was available in Paris at Colette, Sephora, Galeries Laffayette/Printemps/BonMarché, with big ads in Vogue (4 pages!) or in the streets. In the same time everything in it is clever marketing, from the packaging to the scent.
The name Infusion d'Iris and the pale green colour suggests a very natural (and expensive) product.
The logo Prada Milano dal 1913 means tradition, and indeed with all that you expect a perfume with history, and maybe an old formula revisited!
All around the packaging (and in the ads) some natural raw materials are listed, a quite new strategy. In fact saying mandarine d'Italie, neroli de tunisie, bois de cedre, benjoin de laos, encens de somalie is like putting the press release with fragrance description right on the bottle!
With all that in mind name+ingredients+colour the "all natural", "expensive, exclusive aura" trend is right here + the assuring and expertise of the "tradition".
The fragrance itself reveals how everything is marketing. Very well done but it has nothing to do with an orris infusion, or with "natural". It has inside plenty of good synthetics and some of the stuff written outside. It's a good Dior Homme pour Femme mixed with Prada for Men!
But more important in terms of marketing is the "signature scent" inside. I think they (Prada) want to create something similar to the idea of Guerlinade. Both Prada, Prada for men and Infusion d'Iris share some accords in the dry down. Like an olfactive fingerprint of Prada. And if you look to all their range of perfumes there are some notes…amber (a modern Ambre 83 type), orange flower, orris.
And, in the end, it's a niche concept that is not supposed to stay in the shadow but to go in the front row!
From a marketing point of view it's a brilliant lesson like Calvin Klein did in the 90's (say it class, play it mass).

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art

Estée Lauder's myths

There a lot of stories in perfumery. It's a way to approach the invisible. Some are real, some of them are pure inventions and most of the time they are called marketing. After years it's hard to distinguish between truth and invention and that's how myths/legends are born.
One is Estée Lauder. Looking back it's hard to say what is really history/facts/reality behind all the inventions. But sometime it's just ridiculous.
In her autobiography book (Estée: A Success Story), Estée Lauder describes how she created Youth Dew (and the other fragrances). In fact there is an entire chapter devoted to it. Before the public knew that perfumers even exist and they work in big companies like Firmenich, Givaudan, IFF, the queen of the american cosmetics industry explains how she discovered she had the best nose in the world, how she mixed all the oils, etc. In fact you read that she literally made the perfume. Now we know that most of her perfumes (until recently) have been done by IFF.
And that Youth Dew is not a natural fragrance, but it contains (among other important synthetic ingredients): aldehydes (C11 and C12L), Galaxolide and musk ketone, Salycilates (benzyl and amyl).
It's funny to read a text written more than 20 years ago to see how the world of perfumery (and marketing) changed.
The text is a must read to see how marketing used to be in these days and how…sophisticate is today.
By the way, Estée (1968) is quite close to the floral aldeydic type of Madame Rochas/Calèche. Very "parisian" !

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art

Cuir de Lancôme (the new one)

Is it really the real "Revolte", rebaptized Cuir, what I'm smelling right now? I truly doubt. It is a reformulated and modernized version that reminds the original, but still far away. I was quite surprised to smell some very common modern notes inside and to discover an over diluted cuir fragrance. Compared to Scandal by Lanvin, this one is really soft, nice and "safe". It's somewhere between Cuir de Russie Chanel and Bandit by Piguet. It has both the styrax aspect and isobutylquinoleine side. It has also aspects of 2 bases - Cuir de Russie (Synarome) and Mousse de Saxe (De Laire) and something almost chypre, though the patchouly is not in a big dose here. The very potent birch tar note is really in homeopatic doses here. The 2007 version is not as robust as was the original but more subtle and so…more commercial.

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art

Soviet perfumes in 1938

The perfumes were: Severny (with the polar bear), Red Moscow, Kremlin, Red Poppy and other 3 I couldn't identify.

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art

Scent of Scandal

I read with a lot of interest the news on scentedsalamander about Chandle Burr, coruption, perfume reviewers, etc. It seems that there is a lot of concern that some people would receive perfumes/bottles/samples to review them. I don't know where the problem might be. Working for many years in the fashion business I can tell that the fashion journalism is full of that (gifts, small attentions, vouchers, etc) up to the biggest names of press magazines. It has always been like that, that's why it's very rare to see a critic in fashion magazines (except Suzy Menkes from IHT, and few others). For the beauty press.... it's the same. A lot of PR because press is seen in fashion (and fragrance) as an extension of their marketing.
Maybe the problem with Chandler is that he writes for NYTimes, and not for Vogue.:)
What if tomorow someone would pick the next Luca Turin book and would insist on the fact that he received also samples.... etc.?
Fragrance reviewing is a form of marketing today and I know marketers who think seriously about that. Maybe today very few are "paid" but I'm sure that in the near future there will be brands who will start with their own "fragrance reviewers". In other industries it's already old story (buzz, viral, how to use the leader's opinion... etc).
I don't think one should be naive to think that fragrance business is the last just about beauty, dream, truth, honesty, etc.... It's an industry like anyother, with + and - (and I saw a lot of the bad, also).
Even the books about fragrances, most of them were possible because of the brands. History of the brand is a marketing tool also. That's why you have so many nice books on Guerlain, Chanel, Dior, etc. And none on Houbigant, such a big name of the fragrance history.
I still believe in Chandler's articles. Paid or not, with samples or not, I don't care... because I know that above all he has something of an expert!

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art

François Coty's formulas

What amazes me every time I look upon early Coty's formulas is the simple writing, the unsual combinations and sometime the unusual quantities of strong raw materials, though well balanced.
Looking through most of the formulas I would sumarize:
- animalic tinctures: amber, mosc (a lot), civet
- a lot of infusions, some of them essential for the character of well known perfumes: clove, vanilla (from Mexico), tonka, vetiver, oakmoss, jasmin (jasmin lavage). The infusions gave remarcable notes, subtle and un obtainable by other means. In Chypre he used the oakmoss infusion (not the absolute as in later chypre perfumes) which made a very present accord with the patchouli, sandalwood and vetiver.
- no castoreum at all
- no aldehydes (I heard that he hated the aldehydes, too strong for him)
- a lot of ionones, sometime in impressive amounts
- some bases/specialties: Persicol and Dianthine (Chuit Naef), Flonol, Ambre 83 and Bouvardia (De Laire), Ambreine Samuelson, Orchidée No2. Flonol - an orange flower-neroli base is used a lot in Origan. Dianthine is one key of the Origan.
- floral absolutes from Chiris: PNSC - produits naturels sans cire
- some aromatic/herbal/spicy notes: myrte, cumin, carraway, chamomila
- the sweet notes: heliotropine (Origan), heliotropine amorphe, vaniline, ethyl vaniline (Ambre Antique)
- the formulas are quite short: Rose Jacqueminot has around 10 ingredients, Chypre is less than a page and no bases!

It's hard to find today, unles you visit the Osmotheque, a real Coty-vintage fragrance. Almost everything that was produced after his death, in USA (the company was sold) had no more the quality of their parisian versions. Coty started to become mass market and all the Chypre, Emeraude, Origan produced in USA war reformulated. They were pale versions of the masterpieces.
So, if you come on e-bay to a Coty old bottle and are interested in the perfume, not the bottle, make sure that it's before 1940 and that it was made in Paris.

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art

Roja Dove - Scandal and Lanvin

I read this week on Scented Salamander blog that Roja Dove, the famous fragrance expert in London will release 3 new fragrances, done "with no marketing" but precious and rare ingredients. A big challenge when you are an expert and lover of Haute Parfumerie. I was rather "shocked" by one name - Scandal. I still find quite unethycal (but what has business to do with ethics today?) from an expert to use the name of a masterpiece of 20th century, as E.Roudnitska described Scandal (Lanvin). But at the end it's only a trademark problem, you can or not to use a name. I checked on the french website of The National Institute of intellectual property to see who owns Scandal and.... surprise. It's still Lanvin - a french trademark. Check here and do a search after the owner (Lanvin). The original Scandal is available at the French Osmotheque.
I'm still curious to smell this fragrance despite this issue.
It's not the first time in the industry when the names are re-used.
Ivoire by Balmain was first a fragrance of Chanel
Habit Rouge by Guerlain was first a fragrance of Paquin.
Ange ou Demon by Givenchy is not new either.
:))
I'm curios to know the end of this story and how Lanvin will react.

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art

A heaven for samples

Reading the news on nowsmellthis I found this extraordinary site - The Perfumed Court were you can buy samples/decants of new but the most interesting - vintage fragrances.
Some treasures inside:
- a whole range of very rare Guerlain
- Chanel No46
- some Lucien Lelong

Can't wait to smell some of them and analyse them.

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art

Luca Turin on Etat Libre d'Orange

Luca Turin gave a wonderful presentation of the niche brand Etat Libre d'Orange in his latest article. I have no idea about the nitrile he is speaks about... and I have to smell again Secretions Magnifiques. I still have problems to understand those fragrances... most of them fit perfectly to the brief/idea/name.... the story is ok. But is it enough? or the fact of a fragrance being wearable, nice (and not only "arty") is already "passé" ? From the collection the one that I find the most interesting for me is "Charogne".

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art

An interview Francis Kurkdjian

Thanks to Aromascope a new interview with Francis Kurkdjian is available here. Thanks Ina for this fantastic moment!

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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art