Is Lagerfeld counterfeiting YBRY?

When I was the first to write about the new Lagerfeld Kapsule trio (Coty) inspired by several famous art Deco bottles produced by YBRY in the 20's (but not reveiled in the official information from Coty) I thought that it was just about bringing back an idea from the past. Last july I thought that YBRY was just a chapter from the history but now, thanks to a reader of that post, I realize that things are much more complicated.

It seems that there are trademarks for YBRY bottles and there is also YBRY today. Go on their (new) site and check the beautiful images.

The names (perfumes) featured on YBRY website are: Désir du Coeur, Femme de Paris, Devinez, Ruban Rose, Mon Ame, Amour Sauvage. I highly hope that there will be also fragrances (or vintages to try as I do not know all their historic perfumes).

If you look back and compare original YBRY and recent Kapsule, what Coty did for Lagerfeld has all the elements to be characterized by the name counterfeiting. If YBRY perfumes will be put on the market, it will be even worth. The cheap glass and low price of Kapsule compared with the price and quality of YBRY luxury perfume will be similar to any other case of mass market perfume that is copying the more expensive. What Lagerfeld did for H&M (design for the masses) seems not to work in the case of the fragrance bottles. You simply cannot copy the design of a bottle like many brands copy the design of a dress (that by the way cannot be protected in USA to my knowledge).

But this post is less to inform on the future of Lagerfeld and more on a possible new line of fragrances from YBRY. 

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Saffron, Yellow Rose and Orris

What do they have in common except that their highly praized notes have been used in several exquisite Serge Lutens perfumes?
They contain safranal, ionones, irones, methyl ionones, damascones and damascenones, natural molecules related to a special family called carotenoid molecules and believed to be produced by the plant by the degradation of those carotenoids. A strong yellow-orange-gold color is often a sign that this great family is present - "caroten pigments". Saffron contains safranal, freesia and yellow rose contain ionone beta, osmanthus contains ionone and damascones like molecules and even some shrimps contain a very small dose of safranal (as reported by Roman Kaiser for Givaudan). They do not smell the same but they share several facets, and of course the color. Safranal seems to occur in other plants like osmanthus, black tea, grapefruit juice, mate, paprika.
Safranal, aside from its specific organoleptic properties, contains an important ionone ring (ionone = violet scent) a duality already expressed by the visual aspect of the plant (see how Serge Lutens describes saffron).
The first description of the volatile compound contained in the glucozide of saffron was published in 1884. It was safranal but in those days the germans did not know its chemical structure. The name safranal appeared in 1934 when other german chemists isolated the molecule, named it and described its properties. 2 years later, in 1936, they published the synthesis of Safranal and got a German Patent on that. Was it part of several (now lost) flavor/fragrance specialties? This is unknown to me as well as what happened right after WWII when Allies took the german chemical patents. Unlike other great molecules of the past, safranal was more in the flavour area and never in great public demand, compared to vanillin.
But the story of saffron and safranal is not finished yet.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

The Fragrance Studio

The way that fragrance industry works today has something from MGM studios back to its golden age, the 20's and 30's. Rising stars, featured perfumers, forgotten perfumers. Looking back to the names of early 80's and perfumers that authored big launches, it's not hard to see that something similar to "box office poison" (to describe the relation between at the end of the 30's between big studios and their female stars). There is something of being put in the shadow while the "studio" maintains its power. Or changing the company as has happened when Givaudan merged with Quest and several perfumers had to find a new job. Meanwhile, it's not hard to notice that several great perfumers working for the "big boys" are not featured very much to the public.
Maybe the next step, like in the movie industry or even design, will be the "booking agent" of the perfumer - to negotiate money and projects - as it is normal today in any artistic industry. There is also something honest from the consumer point of view. When you buy a good fragrance, you give more money for the design/ingredients/ads and not to its creator. If you accept that in contemporary society marketing is inevitable (and not always negative) a simple question comes to me: Why would Charlize Theron deserve more than the creator of J'adore? Another case is the use of the perfumer name and his professional image for the promotion of a fragrance. If you (a brand) intend to integrate the "behind scenes" of the creation of a product … would you pay more its creator? We are inevitably going in a direction that will emphasize even more the perfumer. It's simply to understand what happens in a market with 950 launches. When somebody speaks about his creation and its process, the fragrance seems less a product on a shelf and more a "creation". It becomes "human", unlike mass produced products in a supermarket. Chanel understood that decades ago when the brand started to speak about the jasmine fields and put Jacques Polge in the spotlight (he was featured a lot in the 80's and 90's, before Internet era).
And in the end, after reading what will be put on the market by Guerlain in 2009 (Mitsouko Fleur de Lotus, Eau de Shalimar Flower, La Petite Robe Noire, the new Habit Rouge) I think that Thierry Wasser is not the IN HOUSE perfumer for Guerlain, and the news + the event last year was just to fool the press. Another lie from Guerlain like the bad joke with Champs Elysée re - edition (10 000 EUR for a non original formula).
(In other words, we want Thierry! :)

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Tokyo in Paris

There are less than 24 hours before the opening of the Fashion Fair in Paris - Who's Next and Prêt à Porter. This time, like 1 year ago, scent will be included in the Trends area.
The theme for Autumn-Winter 2010 is “New Generation Cities”, with Tokyo, Rio, Stockholm and Los Angeles as well as Paris selected by Explosion de Modes curator Alexandra Senes as the world’s new wave of urban influencers. I found a sensorial approach for Tokyo and info on FivebyFifty but now I'm excited to see what other surprises I will see for Rio or LA. As for Stockholm, a city where I lived in the past, I'm curious to see what aspect will be interpreted (now I have in mind a special cookie with saffron).
"Inspired by Tokyo’s fashion-forward areas, scent designer Kaori Oishi used essential oils and a blend of potpourri to create a palette of scents that evoke the characteristics of Aoyama, Jingumae, Nakameguro, Sarugakucho and Shimokitazawa. In order to recreate Tokyo’s “scent-scape” for Pret a Porter and its visitors, we drew inspiration from each area, putting together a list of adjectives that describe them."

Nakameguro - heavy woody notes, leather and patchouli scents.
Aoyama - marine, floral and shiso notes.
Jingumae - light woody notes, yuzu.
Sarugakucho - aromatic, powdery, almond, mimosa.
Shimokitazawa - floral, spicy, oriental scent.

You can read more on FivebyFifty
Also, wait for my personal impression on the scents, next days at Porte de Versailles.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

New fragrance in 2009: Manoumalia (LesNez)

There is one place in Paris that is like a gate to another universe. If during the years I've built my own "GPS map" in the land known as "Contemporary and Classic Art" plus "Far East Art" there is at least one that has not been mapped for me. Musée du Quai Branly is that place where every time I have the feeling that I know nothing from this world and there are so many unexplored lands and cultures in terms of sensorial experiences. If we know today that "fragrances have been used since ancient times" it equals to zero in terms of details. As if one would say about XXth century " they used rose, jasmine, lily of the valley and violet". The exploration of less known cultures is rather vague in terms of fragrances and what we know today is rather linked to several exotic plants that were analyzed in the past 20 years. Maybe the only well known "product" to the western nose is the monoï - the original material became a standard formula in skin care formulation. Sandrine Videault opened this door and showed us with Manoumalia a sparkle from this universe - the Wallis culture in New Caledonia. If "exotic perfumes" or "exotic inspiration" became a standard for big brands selling colored juices in duty free shops (see Lancôme and Estée Lauder) and their "exotic note" is often an exotic fruit to seduce the consumer in the first 3 seconds, there is something different in Manoumalia. It is created around local ingredients, using several local ingredients and most of it inspired by the perfumer who explored that world and their scents and production methods. I can only think of Gauguin and how the discovery of the local traditions changed the Art.
But unlike Gauguin, Sandrine Videault is not working with the strength of the contrasting colors, nor with brutal strokes. Everything in Manoumalia (LesNez) is "tout en douceur", like the sun, the wind or the caressing white flowers. The accord violent ylang- smoky vetiver with its known pungency and violent vibration was transformed by the perfumer into a soft breeze. The roots (vetiver) and the flower act like an Axis Mundi "sous le vent". The fragrance holds an "ethnic sensation" - something like a preparation done with milk, white flowers, succulent green leaves, coconut, brown sugar. On a metaphoric level it's the "unguenta" from Antiquity that has been recreated inside the recognizable notes of the perfume, a nectar of white flowers - honey and milk. The dry down is sweet, almondy, creamy - woody while the entire perfume reflects a certain humid (opulent not transparent) note found in tropical forests.

New Caledonia smells the paradise for the perfumer. Here, 6 species of gardenia are endemic and their names are Gardenia urvillei, G. aubryi, G. colnettiana, G. conferta, G. schlechteri, and G. oudiene. Those gardenias do not look very much like the gardenia we know. Gardenia aubryi is also known as "Caledonian tiaré". Gardenia tahitiensis is used on several Pacific Island for the preparation of Monoï. But the main flower featured in Manoumalia (LesNez) is Fagraea berteroana, referred to as pua kenikeni, or simply pua. I've never smelled it but I found an analysis of this flower, done by Robertet in 2008. It showed that it contains linalool, methyl benzoate, dehydrodiisoeugenol (spicy - ylang) plus Benzyl alcohol, Nerolidol, Benzyl benzoate, Benzyl salicylate, eugenol and isoeugenol, Jasmin lactone, Oct-1-en-3-ol, Benzyl tiglate (tr), Methyl salicylate (tr).
You can also read my interview with perfumer Sandrine Videault.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

The price of Luxury

Looking for several chemical papers published last year I found this quote that is relevant for the real cost of very expensive modern products.
"When developing new fragrant flower extracts to be used in fine fragrance compounding, one must consider some parameters which affect the cost and hence, ultimately, the selling price of such new natural raw materials. Two key parameters are the cost of the starting material (fresh flowers) and the extraction yield. For example, the cost of Tahitian tiare´ flowers which are involved in the production of 1 kg of absolute oil from hexane concrete is ca. E 26,000 . In the (hypothetical) case of Hawaian frangipani, the cost of flowers necessary to produce 1 kg of absolute oil from HFC134a concrete would be ca. E 19,000 . As a result, regardless of the olfactory value of a new flower extract, such cost burdens make any commercial application unrealistic."
Daniel Joulain - Robertet (in CHEMISTRY & BIODIVERSITY – Vol. 5 (2008), page 906)

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Accords with saffron

Inspired by the multifaceted smell of saffron and its old tradition I selected several accords to bring out the its special scent / flavour. They can be used in fragrances but also in food/pastry. In perfumery saffron notes are brought mainly by safranal (main principle in saffron), safraleine (Givaudan), ethyl safranate, isopropyl safranate (and maybe other esters of safranic acid), safrandione and several hydroxy β cyclocitrals. Saffron essential oil / absolute is not available on the market to my knowledge, but it has been prepared in the lab with a yeld of 0,2% and maximum 1,3%. Also in niche perfumery a natural saffron extract can be prepared (but you have to deal with the price, colour or proceed to a special extraction). The classic accords with saffron are: rose, spicy, leather, violet, woody (sandalwood and cedar). It goes very well with accords containing damascones, damascenones, ionones, irones, red fruits but also white exotic flower absolutes, osmanthus absolute, tobacco absolute, agarwood. Saffron is used in asian perfumery, like in the indian "saffron attar". The use of saffron in various asian traditional perfumes with local ingredients is almost unexplored to the western nose. Writing that phrase I realize how far from luxury are several brands that sell "luxury perfumes" and how poor is the olfactive experience of the western consumer within the actual range of fragrances (quality + inspiration).

Saffron with fruits:
Apple, plum, melon, raisins sec, dattes, but also combinations like peach-apricot, pear-lemon, raspberry-cassis, litchi-cassis-rose water,
Saffron with spices:
Cardamom, ginger, cinnamon
Saffron with gourmand notes:
Milk, yaourt - sorbet, white chocolate (plus 2 combinations, with pinneapple and passion fruit), very dark chocolate, mousse de chocolat, irish coffee, Crème brulée - honey and a classic arabian dessert with almond-rose water-honey-cinnamon
Saffron can also create inspiring notes for fragrances with licorice, algae, rice molecules.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Manoumalia - Interview du parfumeur Sandrine Videault (in french)

Pour garder intact l'esprit des mots de l'interview avec le parfumeur Sandrine Videault, auteur de Manoumalia (LesNez) je publie aussi la variante originale en français.

1. La parfumerie traditionnelle aux références ethnographiques est un territoire presque vierge pour le nez contemporain. Comment pourriez vous décrire les expériences olfactives vécues pour la création de Manoumalia?
Authentiques. Je me disais régulièrement que c'est un Vrai cadeau pour un parfumeur que de vivre des expériences olfactives ancestrales au XXIème siècle. D'autant lorsque l'on voit la vitesse à laquelle les savoirs-faire peuvent se perdre
2. Comment la parfumerie traditionnelle et les expériences ethnographiques pourraient enrichir sur le plan de la composition ou de la technique de production la parfumerie moderne?
Sur le plan de la composition, la parfumerie ancienne prenait compte de l'harmonie esthétique du parfum mais aussi du pouvoir médicinale, psychique, physiologique...du parfum. Ce qui n'est pas trop le cas aujourd'hui. Sur le plan de la technique de production, la parfumerie ancienne peut nous ramener à des applications, des supports oubliés.
3. Quelle seraient pour vous les empreintes olfactives de la Nouvelle Calédonie?
Le gaiac, le santal, la cassie, le mimosa, le lantana sur un fond cuiré-fumet ou qeulque chose comme cela.
4. Quelle est la relation entre le parfum et l'homme dans la culture qui vous a inspiré?
La parfum parle pour lui socialement, affectivement...et lorsque René Schifferlé de la marque LesNez a fait de la phrase suivante : "le parfum, c'est un ami invisible qui parle pour vous", le slogan de sa marque. J'ai trouvé qu'elle collait tout à fait à la perception que les Wallisiens ont du parfum. Le parfum parle pour eux.
Comment est portée une odeur ?
En colliers, en couronnes, en guirlande, sur la peau, les cheveux, sur tout le corps. Je les ai vu se laver les mains avec du parfum et non avec de l'eau et du savon.
Quelle est sa relation avec le sacre et le profane, est-ce qu'il y a des odeurs aimés et des odeurs presque interdites?
Il y a une relation avec le sacré, ne serait-ce parce que les wallisiens se parfument surtout et beaucoup lors des cérémonies, des moments de coutume et des messes. A cela, avant de réaliser un parfum ancestral tel que le Tuitui, ils font un discours. Pour ce qui est des odeurs aimées, ils aiment les vieux chyprés, les ambrés, les fleurs blanches capiteuses et surtout la graine de Héa qui est très, très rance. Trop rance pour les occidentaux. Quant aux odeurs interdites, je ne les connais pas et j'avoue que j'ai encore beaucoup à apprendre de leur culture.
5. Pour quelqu'un qui n'a jamais senti le fagrea, quelle est la plus juste description?
Un frangipanier blanc assez gardénia. Crémeux qui pique un peu le nez. Une puissance identique à le fleur de tubéreuse.
6. Vous parlez dans Manoumalia d'une culture olfactive sincère et profonde qui vous a inspirée. Comment peut-on s'enrichir et s'inspirer d'une telle culture si on vit dans une ville comme Paris ou New York?
En sortant de ces deux villes, en voyageant. Les voyages devraient faire partie des emplois du temps des parfumeurs.
7. Est-ce qu'il y a maintenant de matières premières qui vous inspirent, vous intriguent et même qui vous résistent?
Tout dépend du moment de création, du sujet que je travaille...elles ne sont jamais vraiment les mêmes. Pour Manoumalia, la plante qui m'a le plus inspirée est le fagraea, la matière qui m'a le plus intriguée est le santal de Nouvelle-Calédonie et celle qui m'a le plus résistée est le Vétyver de Java.
8. Quel est le plus beau souvenir que vous gardez de la rencontre avec Edmond Roudnitska?
Un des plus beaux souvenirs que j'ai gardé en mémoire est le moment où je lui ai dit que je suis calédonienne. Il s'est levé en levant les bras et en disant : "C'est la Calédonie qui vient à moi. A la fin de ma vie, c'est la Calédonie qui vient à moi". Puis, il s'est posé et il m'a raconté qu'il était devenu parfumeur parce qu'il voulait aller en Nouvelle Calédonie. Un ami de ses parents leur parlait souvent des comptoirs de la maison Chiris que dirigeait son cousin en Nouvelle Calédonie. Il avait 20 ans...la Nouvelle Calédonie, les antipodes, il s'est mis à rêver. Il a alors postulé chez Chiris mais cette société, renseignements pris, n'avait pas de comptoir en Nouvelle Calédonie mais à Cayenne. L'ami avait confondu les deux pénitenciers. Cayenne ne l'intéressait pas. Il a alors postulé auprès d'une autre Maison de Parfumerie où il a fait ses premiers pas. Si il n'avait pas voulu aller en Nlle Calédonie, l'idée de postuler auprès d'une Maison de Parfumerie ne lui serait jamais venu.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Manoumalia (LesNez) - Interview with perfumer Sandrine Videault

Perfumer Sandrine Videault is the author of the new release from LesNez, Manoumalia, a fragrance inspired by Wallisian culture in New Caledonia (where she also lives) and featuring a special flower - Faagrea (Fagrea berteriana). It is also called the Perfume Flower Tree or Pua Kenikeni or Ten Cent Flower (said to be the equivalent of the Tiare flower to Tahitians). It is not the first time that Sandrine Videault brings old traditions to the modern world. Through fragrances, atmospheric perfumes or olfactory exhibitions she brought us
- Kyphi (reconstruction of the ancient Egyptian perfume and exhibited at Cairo Museum),
- Metopion (reconstruction of the unguent and interpretation of the Egyptian cones for an exhibition dedicated to the beauty of ancient Egypt at Sephora)
- "The song of songs" (olfactory exhibition with perfumed fountain and scented columns for The Arthus Bertrand Unusual Prize)
- "Afrikabrak in every Senses" (Olfactory Illustrations of Hervé Di Rosa Sculptures)
- "Ambre Indien" (atmospheric perfume for Esteban)
The use of the fragrance as vehicle of meaning appears at least in 3 types of projects she worked on: Olfactory exhibitions (Metallic Bubbles), Olfactory Decorations (Original Land and Flowery Path) and Olfactory Illustrations (for different art exhibitions).
Before the review of the special Manoumalia from LesNez, I interviewed last week Sandrine Videault to learn more about the fragrant world she sent to us from an unknown, exotic universe with pure sensorial experiences.

1. The traditional perfumery with ethnographic references is almost an unexplored land for our contemporary "nose". How would you describe your olfactive experiences during the creation of Manoumalia?
Authentic. I often said to myself that it is a Real Gift for a perfumer to live such ancient olfactive experiences in the XXIth century. Even more if you see how fast ancient traditions (savoir faire) can be lost.
2. How traditional perfumery and ethnographic experiences can enrich in terms of composition or technique (manufacture) the modern perfumery?
In terms of composition, the ancient perfumery considered not only the esthetic harmony of the fragrance, but also the healing power, its medical / psychic / psychological power. It is not often the case today. In terms of fragrance manufacture the ancient perfumery can bring us applications or forgotten supports.
3. What are for you the "fragrant fingerprints" of New Caledonia?
Guaiac, Sandalwood, Cassie, Mimosa, Lantana on a leather-smoke dry down or something similar.
4. What is the relation between fragrance and man in the culture that inspired you?
The fragrance speaks for him socially, affectively and when René Schifferlé from LesNez made the statement " the fragrance is an invisible friend that speaks for you" (the brand credo), I found that this was close to the perception that Wallis have about fragrance. The fragrance speaks for them.
How do they wear a scent?
They wear it like necklaces, crowns, garlands, on the skin, on the hair, on the whole body. I saw them washing their hands with fragrance and not with water and soap.
What is the relation between fragrance and the sacred / profane world, are there any favorite scents or even forbidden scents?
There is a relation with the sacred world, they wear a lot of fragrance and even more during ceremonies and rituals. Before preparing an ancestral scent like Tuitui, they make a "speech". Their favorite scents would be the old chypre notes, the ambers, the white opulent flowers but even more, the Hea seed that is very rancid. Too rancid for the occidental nose. About forbidden scents, I do not know them and I admit that I have much to learn from their culture.
5. For somebody that has never smelled "fagraea flower", what would be the closest description?
It's a white frangipani, very gardenia. It's creamy and a little bit pungent for the nose. A power that is identical to the tuberose flower.
6. You speak in Manoumalia fragrance about a sincere and profound olfactive culture that has inspired you. If somebody lives in a big city like Paris or New York, how this culture can inspire and enrich?
Leaving behind those 2 cities and traveling. Travels should be a part of the schedule of a perfumer.
7. Are there any raw materials that inspire you right now, that intrigue you or even resist you?
Everything depends on the moment of creation and the theme I'm working on. They are not really the same. For Manoumalia, the plant that inspired me the most is fagraea, the material that intrigued me the most was the Sandalwood from New Caledonia and the material that resisted me the most was the Vetyver Java.
8. What are the most beautiful memories you keep from the meeting with Edmond Roudnitska, your master perfumer?
One of the most beautiful memories I have is the moment when I said to him that I'm Caledonian. He stand up with his hands and said: "It's Caledonia that comes to me. At the end of my life it's Caledonia that comes to me." After, he sat down and told me that he became perfumer because he wanted to go in New Caledonia. One friend of his parents often told them about the branch of Chiris House managed by his cousin in New Caledonia. He had 20 years and started to dream about New Caledonia. Then he applied for Chiris but this house had no branch in New Caledonia but at Cayenne. The friend confused the 2 places. Cayenne did not interest Roudnitska. Then he applied for another Fragrance House where he started. If he didn't want to go in New Caledonia, he would have never came with the idea to apply for a job in another Fragrance House.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Vanille Galante (Hermès)

If Jean Claude Ellena is more into Cezanne aquarelle and his style is to modern perfumery what Mies Van Der Rohe was for XXth century architecture, in this new Hermessence fragrance he goes back in time and in art history. Vanille Galante is a modern take on XVIIIth century in the same spirit as Sophia Coppola offered a vision of Marie Antoinette through modern eyes. If you look at several paintings done in the XVIIIth century (Watteau, Fragonard, Quentin de la Tour but also Tiepolo) there is at least one thing that makes them different from the next neoclassic David. La legereté (if it's your life statement, they call it "frivolité").Things are depicted in their delicate and ephemereal motion and the light is like a veil. A powder that surrounds life with something from the sfumatto of previous Da vinci. It is also a real powder in the case of much prized "pastel art" as seen in Quentin de la Tour. That obsession with fragile light, material like the powder of the wigs, but also the blue-gray sky in Paris (those clouds that are so close in nuance to bleu Trianon), but also like the dust of great houses, dissapeared from our culture but was kept intact elsewhere. The pastry and the great tradition of sweet sins in France. Transforming the sugar and the vanilla into a delicate powder, a cloud or veil that gives a subtle flavor to a plate and by this working against the gravitation seems to be the theme of the perfume. From Shalimar to Vanille Galante we are in the process of dematerializaton of sugar. The heavy becomes a cloud. The bean becomes a feather. It is also about pastry "grand art" obssesion of transforming the heavy into the lightest - soufflé, meringue, crème fouettée. What was achieved with "molecular cuisine" seems to be achieved in this perfume. The vanilla becomes the veil that surrounds everything (the verb in french is "effleurer"). The heavy bottom note (usually sirupy) become a diffusive particle and defies gravitation. It doesn't matter if it's vanillin, ethyl vanillin or an exquisite expensive vanilla absolute (that can contain even 80% vanillin) it's the construction of the perfume that is amazing. In fact, what Jean Claude Ellena offers here is neither a vanilla perfume, nor an exotic orchid. His take seems to be more a small detail of many flowers - that particular "sweetness" that goes beyond the individual note (think of the sweet "qualia" of honeysuckle, tuberose, gardenia, etc.). Looking into the GC of many flowers there is almost always a very very small dose of vanillin or related compounds. But a flower is radiant, diffusive while it is not the case for the heavy crystaline vanillin. The quality and the work for Vanille Galante should be tested not on the blotter but in the air surrounding the fragrance (another perfume to test that great and amazing difference is l'Heure Bleue). Jean Claude Ellena offers here is pure "sillage" and "atomized" vanilla. Both Hedione and Salycilates (cis 3 hexenil, benzyl and to a lesser extent isoamyl) have a great property - an impressive diffusion. They will fill the space like white flowers do in the evening and Jean Claude Ellena surrounded them with a sweet veil. If classic perfumery assumed to vanilla/vanillin and other sweet balsamic notes the property of fixation (an anchor inside the perfume to decelerate evaporation), Jean Claude Ellena put wings on the crystals. Like in several XVIII th century paintings he put the notes on the canvas in a diffusive movement of imprecision. There are no defined limits and his airy sweet flower can be a lily, a delicate tiaré, a wisteria or anything else. The shape is flou. The perfume is also about decomposing a note and recomposing it after analogies. For those who appreciate chemistry, it's a history about "the phenolic structure" and all the different odorants born from the same "root". Think of eugenol/isoeugenol/vanillin/Ultravanil/methyl Dianthalis/guaiacol, and so many other molecules somewhere between sweet/spice/smoke/animalic. The perfume was also a lesson for me - how to evoke the strange note of wisteria, that purple grape flower with such a massive amount of methyl eugenol in its GC. For the new century, vanillin crystals escaped from caramel and became air. It has a name in physical chemistry but can be done only under special pressure conditions. For Ellena that condition had a name: ART.
Vanille Galante is the modern version of 2 classic pastry concepts - Meringue + Soufflé - the air moulded in a solid with a sweet delicate taste. Suave et exquis, un délice pour Zéphir! The image is from Vogue.fr and I have no press material or sample from Hermès :)

Second image is Jean Honoré Fragonard, Les hasards heureux de l'escarpolette - 1767

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Saffron by Serge Lutens

I was looking for several interpretations of the saffron flavour and I found a wonderfull book called Le Safran by Jean Thiercelin. Inside, to my surprise, I discovered a wonderful text written by Serge Lutens about this very special ingredient.
"Le Safran est ambivalent. La première fois qu'on le voit, on est très surpris: cette fleur est un crocus, elle est violette, mauve, avec un coeur plus foncé, des pétales plus clairs. Mais on s'attendrait à une fleur jaune, jaune d'or. C'est incroyable, c'est une fleur froide qui donne de la chaleur! Dans le souffre, il y a aussi du froid, dans la composition moléculaire du safran, on trouve du camphre. Le safran offre une note très ambiguë, mais c'est précisément cette ambiguïté qui est intéressante! Voilà le paradoxe. Le safran naît d'une couleur considérée comme froide, proche du mysticisme, qui évoque très peu la sensualité…mais qui contient la sensualité. Cas d'une couleur qui contient le contraire de ce qu'elle propose. Violette, elle donne du jaune - qui n'est pas du jaune, mais le jaune safran, un des milliards de jaunes que l'on pourrait trouver. Je travaille sur le safran, avec du safran, toujours. Ce n'est pas évident dans mon travail, car je ne l'ai pas mis en exergue. Le safran se lie parfaitement bien avec la rose. Plus les roses sont riches, plus le safran est formidable… Je sens le safran très solaire, comme un feu frais… J'ai du safran l'image du menteur: la safran est menteur, il est menteur tout le temps, on le vend rouge, bordeaux, voire pourpre et il devient jaune, or jaune, il devient de l'or."

Serge Lutens used saffron notes at least for 2 perfumes - Santal de Mysore and Cèdre.
The book was published in 2008 but I can still speculate (or hope) that Serge Lutens will give us one day his metaphor for saffron as he did for cinnamon in Rousse.
If the use of saffron note (safranal, ethyl safranate, safraleine) is quite recent in western perfumery despite the fact that saffron was known and used in many ancient perfumes, like the roman Crocinum or Succinum. But there is a perfume from L.T.Piver that was either inspired or contained saffron. Safranor - appeared at the beginning of XXth century (around 1902) and maybe with the same "Ancient Rome" inspiration like the great Pompeia. I have never found a full bottle of Safranor to test the original formula and see what was the saffron note in those days or what accord had the perfumer Pierre Armingeat in his head. Just to remember that at the turn of the century Piver was one of the most advanced fragrance houses, using the latest molecules developed in Paris by prof. Darzens. Safranal has been prepared before the 60's, ethyl safranate was already in use in the 70's (at Naarden, later Quest, now Givaudan) and a saffron extract (oil or absolute) did exist before 1930, "used in very expensive oriental perfumes", to quote an essential oil report from that time, being compared to several fatty aldehydes (aldehydes prepared by prof. Darzens and used first by Piver).
I would not be surprised to learn that safranal has been prepared early XXth century, via citral (3 steps), a molecule that was used a lot that time, mainly for the preparation of ionones.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

William Arthur Poucher

I choose this picture because it has a symbolic meaning for the current state of the fragrance industry. It represents an extinct world. In the image is William A. Poucher holding a bottle of musk ambrette, ingredient that now is forbidden. William A. Poucher, born in 1891, was the most known perfumer before the 60's, outside the fragrance business, and the most known British perfumer - which was highly unusual when fragrance was synonym with France. He was well known because he used also to be a writer and the book he wrote in 1923 about the formulation of fragrances/cosmetics and later the index of raw materials was for a long period of time one of the rarest source of information. He was also the chief perfumer of Yardley. But if his very old books are still reprinted today and he seemed to be a star perfumer in his time, his fragrances do not exist anymore. Despite the fact that he exposed several theories about fragrance creation, we are not able today to test anything. Add the fact that we know little about what exactly he had created.
The possible irritation produced by several raw materials in cosmetic products was not unknown in those days but each perfumer had its own method to fight this aspect, before IFRA was founded. In 1956 The American Perfumer interviewed William A. Poucher and asked him the following question:
Hydroxycitronellal is not generally considered a desirable ingredient in skin cream and lotion fragrances due to its irritation. Do you know of any way of overcoming this while still retaining its characteristic odor?
Poucher: Strange as it may seem, I have found one make that is free from this possible disadvantage, and it has been used for years as a constituent in a perfume for a whole range of cosmetics made by a world famous company. The best way to test this synthetic is to first compound a series of Muguets or Lilacs with some of the best known brands, adding always 1% of Peru Balsam as a soothing agent for the skin, and then use, say, 0,5% of the finished compound, to perfume the skin food. The results may well come as a surprise to both research perfumer and chemist.
Nowadays, Poucher would learn that even Peru Balsam is restricted.
One of his personal creations he was very proud of, was Bond Street (Yardley) - but the fragrance in its original formula has disappeared long time ago to see how Poucher applied his theories in fine fragrances.

Before refomulation, hydroxycitronellal was used in great amounts in Diorissimo, l'Air du Temps, Vent Vert.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Turtle Vetiver (LesNez)

Vetiver has been a long time favorite woody note and if there are not so many vetiver like notes there are a lot of interpretations of the single vetiver oil, vetiverol, vetiveryle acetate and vetiver acetate. Working on a vetiver is like a haute couture technique - you play with details and texture. It seems to be a perfect material for a sculptor as you can carve it or polish its facets. In this first exercise, Isabelle Doyen worked like a modern painter. She took a huge dose of viscous vetiver and throw it on a great canvas with a large gesture. The action of the gravity applied on that massive spot gave the texture that becomes almost a brutal painting. It looks like Soulages but it's dynamic. The fragrance sits somewhere between the old Djedi (Guerlain with iralia, styrax leather base and coumarine) and modern Vetiver Extraordinaire (Dominique Ropion, a limpid earthy vetiver with cashmeran and floralozone). It is the opposite of beautiful Sycomore (Chanel, soft velvety vetiver). The earthy vetiver with its smoky, dry and pungent notes has been polished by this "action painting" like technique. The gravity has filled the asperities of the note and Isabelle Doyen began to smooth the lines. The dry burnt woody note (similar to guaiac) is softened with almost an imperceptible sweet almondy note, while the bitter grapefruit note, often brought by nootkatone/methyl pamplemousse is more perceptible than in Vetiver Haiti oil. If Jacques Polge was more into creating the ideal vetiver effect (the concept of vetiver feeling) Isabelle Doyen worked like an alchemist. Obtaining the perfect vetiver oil in an endless distillation. A vetiver that defies time and inevitable evaporation. Small effects can be perceived on the skin - rose/jasmine/moss/evernyl/cedar/vertofix/tobacco/spicy smoke/iodine/salty - they are like reflections in the light of the vetiver oil. Are they really notes or are they illusions brought by the natural oil used inside the perfume? To keep with the unusual composition, on the skin it seems to evolve au contraire. Fresh, almost citrusy grapefruit notes starts to appear after a period. But why a top note would come after a base note? Well, that's the unconventional technical aspect of the perfume ... or simply an illusion produced by my skin. An exercise to follow!
Additional information can be found on LesNez.
For those who love (like me) this particular note, I recommend you the Vetiver Series, written by perfumeshrine.

Photo: Notre Dame du Haut Ronchamps (Le Corbusier) There is something in the rough texture of this masterpiece that can be found in the perfume, something of the later brutalist architecture.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Everyone’s a Critic

In the last Perfumer&Flavorist, Jeb Gleason had an editorial that I enjoyed very much.
Everyone’s a Critic: Are Fragrance Bloggers and Critics Good for the Industry? It's about the new media, critics, criticism, blogs ... and everything that is new and sometime feared by conservative minds in the industry.
"At industry gatherings over the past year, I have been pulled aside countless times by perfumers and other fragrance industry colleagues and asked what I make of fragrance critics and bloggers. These colleagues tend to be filled with a mix of anxiety, irritation and distaste born of a sense of being either misunderstood or misrepresented in venues outside of the industry’s control. While I share many of these misgivings, one cannot paint with too wide a brush or ignore the fact that new media has changed the playing field for all of human communication and interaction—and it’s not changing back."
I still have doubts and questions about criticism and how it could be done right for fragrances but I do have to admit, as a consumer, that it's not easy to find the best product in the plethora of launches + the classics. In december I read that Michael Edwards estimated the number of new launches for 2008 at 950. Imagine how sad I was not beeing able to smell all of them, not to say that in Paris you don't find many of the perfumes produced right here.
Now you can read the entire story from P&F in GCIMagazine.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

News from Symrise

The latest number of Symrise magazine is dedicated to kids - their tastes, world and inspiring universe. An award winning project caught my attention - Naschgarten garden in Holzminden "plant, pick and eat it all yourself" but also another experimental project "beverages designed by children for children". I also learn that Symrise has a new fine fragrance perfumer, Nathalie Feisthauer, previously with Givaudan. Lately, Symrise showed a lot of new, interesting and exciting visual change but also a great project on "luxury fragrances" and another one with contemporary designers. The last issue of Perfumer&Flavorist shows another great idea, but this time developed by IFF (concepts of the new artistic generation expressed by their perfumers).

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Mugler "La part des anges"

When Thierry Mugler was inspired by the maceration of alcohols (cognac) to produce its special edition of Angel "La part des anges" in 2007 using a special wood to impart a new note to the extract, it was not just marketing. And not just a simple collaboration with Remy Martin and a cherrywood barrel. It was an invention and they got a patent on that! European Patent number EP1992679 published on 21th of november 2008.
"Process for improving the fragrance of a perfume extract, comprises maceration of the perfume extract in a wooden barrel. An independent claim is included for a perfume extract obtained by the process".
I loved very much that idea when the perfume was released but now I realise how important is to protect it. Now for a certain period, only Thierry Mugler will be abble to produce and claim such an extract. Or at least, it will be the only authentic macerated extract in a wooden barrel!
The irony is that at least for 2 brands with roots in the cognac tradition (Frapin and Kilian) it will not be easy to express their heritage. I can only think of Kilian's black barrels and his "la part des anges" in the brand story. They will macerate their perfumes in our imagination unless a deal with Mugler is perfected.

Some excerpts from the French Official Patent:
"Le procédé de l'invention porte à la fois sur la maturation d'un concentré de parfum seul dans un fût et sur la maturation d'une solution plus élaborée de parfum dans un fût. En d'autres termes, le procédé de l'invention s'applique à tout extrait de parfum connu.[...] Selon l'invention, l'étape de macération de l'extrait de parfum dans le fût de bois peut-être conduite pendant une durée de 1 jour à 24 mois, par exemple de 1 jour à 12 mois, par exemple encore de 1 jour à 6 mois, par exemple encore de 2 jours à 20 semaines, par exemple encore de 2 jours à 15 semaines. Cette durée peut être plus courte ou plus longue. Elle dépend du parfum, en particulier de ses constituants, de l'essence constituant le fût de bois et du résultat de bonification que l'on souhaite obtenir.[...]Selon l'invention, l'étape de macération de l'extrait de parfum dans le fût de bois peut être conduite à toute température appropriée pour obtenir ladite macération, par exemple à une température de 8 à 40 deg. C, par exemple de 8 à 30 deg. C, par exemple de 8 à 25 deg. C. Cette température peut, bien entendu, être inférieure ou supérieure à ces exemples fourchettes de température.[...] Avantageusement, selon l'invention, le fût de bois a, avant l'étape de macération, été soumis à un traitement consistant à le chauffer. Cela permet de faciliter les échanges alcool / bois. Le chauffage peut être réalisé par exemple à une température de 150 à 250 deg. C. Ce chauffage est suivi d'un refroidissement à une température de 8 à 40 deg. C avant d'y introduire le parfum ou l'extrait de parfum. "

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Meet Mr. Costus!

On my fragrance organ there is a bottle that is almost untouched. It is the very strange curiosity named costus (Saussurea lappa). If there would be an nightmare inside the "clean dream" that would be costus and not the civet or the known accord indole-pcresol. Costus is not Godzilla, but the King Kong of our sanitized world. While an entire generation is spending hours on eliminating body hair to obtain a pure, perfect and idealized Photoshop body, costus is the perfect opposite of this trend. It's the metaphor of hair! Its smell is strange, a curios mix between violet/orris and hair, sebum, dust, vetiver and everything that is opposed to the clean ideal. It is not dirty by nature. It has also a slight resinic note, like myrrh, elemi or opopanax. With such a description that is the opposite of "easy beauty" it's not surprising to find this material in several creations of the greatest perfumers of all time - Jacques Guerlain, Jacque Fraysse and Edmond Roudnitska. Costus oil has been one of the first victim of IFRA and disappeared from the shelves before Internet Age, being replaced often with Costus Oliffac from IFF. Several great and innovative perfume from the 70's and 80's combining very green notes and costus have been discontinued. Classic fragrances with costus notes include Fille d'Eve, Musc Koublai Khan, Scherrer, the first Diorama, the first Cabochard, Rumeur. Great accords contained costus, cumin, phenylacetates and angelica with several musks or costus, galbanum, iralia, patchouli-chypre notes.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Lancôme paradox

L'Oreal owned Lancôme is a mass market brand that used to produce beautiful artistic bottles before the 60's and good fragrances in the past century. Now in Sephora I'm faced to a marketing paradox that has been brought to me by Lancôme.
On a shelf I see Magie, first produced in 1950 and now part of La Collection Lancôme. In the small booklet I read: "Four masterpieces of composition of surprising complexity whose strong olfactory presence, achieved with the rarest materials, guarantee clear, simple perfection". Sold at 30 EUR, special offer.
Next, on the Lancôme shelf I see their latest release, Magnifique - a magnific olfactory failure with a red packaging close to the Pantone Code of the new Absolutely Irresistible Givenchy. More than 43 EUR for a harsh rose-methyl ionone-fruity formula with no relation to the official description.
And now the first question:
Why a "masterpiece with the rarest materials" can be less expensive than a "regular" new perfume?
And the second question:
Why a "normal" perfume does not use precious materials, if they are not that expensive, to bring richness to a simple and harsh chemical mixture?
You probably know the answer to those questions (There is not that much precious materials inside Magie reformulation) but that's not my point.
In the past 2 years we assisted to an abuse of the word exclusive/rare/precious and when a notion starts to lose its first meaning it is not a good sign. The "premium-isation" as seen even in common products sold in supermarkets could drive to something called "luxury fatigue".
The price and the honesty are the next big challenges for the fragrance industry or to quote Lagerfeld in fashion "bling is over".
Yesterday, when I was on the point to be cheated by Dior with about 10% of the price (those money were higher than the real cost of the perfume) I thought of 2 things: I'd rather pay for a high quality juice or contribute to a good cause and not to a big corporation.
Ethic is a word with many senses today. Thanks to my job I can smell the quality and I would pay for it. But millions have no option. There will be more and more "victims" to the abuse of the word "exclusive, rare, precious". Ethic for me is not only "ethical production of raw materials" but also an ethical attitude with the consumer and the transparency of information. The question of reformulation of classic perfumes and the use of their name is about " ethical aesthetics" - the respect of the beauty. A non ethical company from this point of view is Lancôme - their Cuir and Peut-être, from "La Collection" used the "marketing of the past" but offering modern perfumes with little relation to their ancestors. Another non ethical "aesthetic approach" is the new Diorissimo, with a quality lower than any of its knockoffs sold in the past (see also that classic Dior's changed their packaging in the past month).

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

New fragrance in 2009: Un Matin d'orage (Annick Goutal)

I discovered Un Matin d'Orage last year, when Isabelle Doyen was still working on the formula and it didn't take me much to empty the 20 ml bottle I received. This is not just a new perfume! It's a fabulous fragrance of an uncompromising quality and natural beauty. Definitely a new direction for Annick Goutal, it floats in a new universe. When I sampled the fragrance with carmencanada, I told her that for me Un Matin d'Orage is for gardenia what Carnal Flower is for modern tuberose. Natural perfection! It smells like a very fresh and dewy gardenia bouquet in a wind caressing the magnolia grandiflora petals. The gardenia inside is a headspace type but unlike Tom Ford, the mushroom notes given by tiglates are very delicate. The creamy lactonic aspect of the flower, often obtained with jasmolactones is also less present. The flower is opulent but not heavy. The magnolia note works like a sensual white shadow for the perfume providing the exact amount of darkness and humidity. The magnolia note is similar to l'Instant, minus the sweet notes. The communion of 2 flowers is blessed in a cloud of transparent jasmine with several spicy-peppery and green notes on top, and a subtle skin musk on the drydown. In its amazing construction, the perfume maintains the initial sensation of freshness, green and dew for several hours. The combination between Hedione, cyclopentane type molecules and several lily of the valley ingredients gives the sensation of breath and life. You seem to wear a living perfume that is present more and more. A similar idea (natural fresh green gardenia) has been explored by Loc Dong in 2001 in Marc Jacobs fragrance. But the idea has evolved and Annick Goutal's perfume seems like a genetic miracle in an Asian garden. Everything that was said about this perfume (I mean the marketing info) is true - it is the image of a short rain when drops become white petals of flower. More, it doesn't smell "man made" - it's like the perfume of a flower and nature-like poetry becomes here hyper realism. The concept of "far east natural beauty" can also be seen in Un jardin après le Mousson (Hermès) and Fleur de Liane (Artisan Parfumeur) but here it different.
Isabelle Doyen usually "paints" with big strokes and her creations have a great character often accentuated by unusual (but intended) exaggerations. There is something brutal, crude, raw, virile in her perfumes. Something that is left unpolished that makes her the exact opposite of Calice Becker (the most delicate floral portraitist). But in Un Jardin après l'orage Isabelle Doyen left the acrylic for the aquarelle. The notes are smooth, delicate and evolve like a melody or like the ink strokes in a Chinese painting. First the sound of the rain with linalool and peppery notes, then the drop like a mirror that shows the green horizon with hexenols, tiglates and benzoates, after the drop evolves into a petal that become a gardenia. The flower grows from the water and its shadow becomes a magnolia leaving behind a subtle trail like the ghost of a second. The second of an unusual and ephemeral beauty.
I hope you will like it. For me it was pure emotion and it moved me like no other floral perfume in 2008.

You can find Un Matin d'Orage on Amazon.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Guerlain Champs Elysées

This post contained original information / historic elements / formula review / aesthetic judgments about the Guerlain perfume named Champs Elysées created by Jacques Guerlain before 1914 and recreated in 2008 in a turtle shaped Baccarat bottle, sold for 10 000 euros.
I erased the content on 25th of june 2009 because I do not approve the unethic policy of Guerlain, their reformulated products unfaithful to the original and the constant misinformation of the public and their relation with the new medias. Guerlain company today do not answer my ethic and aesthetic expectations.
I apologyze for any inconvenience and I apologize my readers that left a comment but I cannot accept that my work from the past would contribute to a false prestige of a brand neither to misguide my readers or possible fragrance customers. For any historic information for a private use you can write me an email.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Beware of SEPHORA !!!!

In time of financial crisis when sales are not what they were supposed to be brands are literally able to do anything to maintain profits. Including cheating or fraud, taking money from your pocket without your consent. It happened to me today at noon at Sephora Champs Elysées and the brand that wanted to cheat me was Dior (notice that both are the biggest so called luxury, LVMH). I wanted to buy Dior Homme Sport, a new Dior launch, very advertised and with many animations last months in the same store. The price for EDT 50 ml was written every where 46,20 EUR, under the blue label "new/nouveauté". But I was charged 51 EUR - 10% more and that's a huge difference! It was only by accident that I checked later and went on the counter to discuss the problem and finally get my difference back. After, nothing changed and the 46,20 EUR labels remained there waiting for a new client. If saving money through reformulation can be judged as an esthetic option what happened today to me (and possible to other thousands of buyers that entered the store in December) has a specific name in the laws of commerce. And it's not marketing and bla-bla. If you know Sephora, you might have noticed that their marketing team has a specific policy about prices in their store (it's written somewhere on the website). It's again a lie that can be checked very easy looking on different shops in Paris. I did it after for Dior Homme Sport that has each time a different price showed, but never the difference is so big as on Champs Elysées, where affluence of non speaking French tourists is the greatest.
As an advice: every time when you buy an LVMH fragrance check twice the price and the quality of the fragrance that every year seems to be worth for a given perfume through reformulation.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Fragrance resumé

Some classic fragrances were built like architecture (structure, form, decoration) and their long formula is often a clever selection of elements. Often it is not the proportion but the ingredients that made an idea. In many cases a 200 ingredients formula can be reduced to 10 key elements that are work like structural bones. Play with each other and dozens of new formulas can be produced, both different and similar with the original.
Here you have the bones of a major perfume of XXth history. I did not put numbers because it is very easy to balance and obtain instantly the recognizable accord.

Bergamot
Aldehyde C11-en, 10%
Galbanum ess oil 10%
Rose absolute
Hidroxicitronellal
Patchouli oil
Vetiver Haiti oil
Animalis SP
Ambrarome 10%
Coumarine
Muscone

Add to this small amounts of Iralia, Oak moss 10% and Styralil Acetate 10% and voilà a classic idea in the purest Jean Carles tradition: fundamental accord, modifiers, top notes and accessory ingredients. Creation is more about capturing the essential and not about small modifications around a GC. Usually a great perfumer doesn't need a GC to express the identity of a fragrance.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

The flavor of avangarde

In 2008 I showed a particular interest for flavors, their creation but also their "inspirational" factor. How ideas from food (pastry in my case) can be used in the creation of perfumes and how fragrance ideas could be transposed back in creative cooking and flavor associations. In many aspects the work of a flavorist is similar to a perfumer but there are also strong differences. If in the past flavor art was opposed to fragrance art like in the distinction between naturalism and abstractionism… things evolved a lot in the past 10 years. If nature was the source of inspiration and the goal was to recreate it with perfection 2 things changed. The model and the style. What started to be "copied" is no more a natural model but rather a man made creation - something that is already abstract. Flavors like "tiramisu", "white chocolate", "toffee", "macaroons", became stronger references that strawberry, cranberry, grenadine… in diary or beverages. Maybe a revolution is about to happen like in perfumery in the XIXth century. On the other hand, if hyper realism is still the main word for flavorists who work like a high resolution printer capturing the smallest details of the evoked model, there is also a new direction. Creative flavors started to appear and they do not copy anything known but are rather new and interesting associations. Not only chocolate has been redefined in France but what is proposed in supermarkets or niche stores has a great appeal for the perfumer. The boundaries between flavors and fragrances were blurred to me last week when I found a juice apple-violets or a delicious fig-pomegranate chocolate.
Perfumers like Jean Michel Duriez or Francis Kurkdjian brought their artistic vision creating some delicious pieces of "food art" in the past and Pierre Hermé created even a "ketchup macaroon" for Colette Store.
If the sweet sector can bring endless inspiration to the perfumer, there is one sector that is problematic but on the edge. The Times has an article this week about the meet and the dessert or how bacon became "an acceptable crossover". Several unusual dishes from NY restaurants are given as an example: the maple syrup pudding with bacon, the bacon chocolate crunch bar, the chocolate bread pudding with bacon crème anglaise, the bacon baklava, the bacon dipped in chocolate, the bacon and egg ice cream.
Other "foody" notes have already been incorporated in perfume - the milk (Le Feu d'Issey and Sira des Indes), the rice, the mushrooms (the modern gardenias), the vegetables (mainly in the 90's), the honey plus all the recent spices & tropical fruits (but not yet the durian) while the blood note is said to be present in Secretions Magnifiques
If truffles waited many years until perfumers turn to them what about the bacon? Is it possible to turn the new sugary bacon dessert into a creative perfume, not experimental or just for fun like the recent burger fragrance?

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Inside Fleur de liane (Artisan Parfumeur)

The green sap, the rain, the wood … today on the counter of Artisan Parfumeur I discovered 3 small bottles like those I use for my samples. They were the 3 accords of the perfume prepared to better understand the concept of the perfume - the sensations gathered by Bertrand Duchaufour in the midst of a tropical jungle during the rainy season.

Seve de Liane is the green soul of the plant and is built around a very beautiful lily-hyacinth note. It is green, light, airy but also quite animalic. A beautiful hyacinth acetal is surrounded by salycilates and a p-cresol derivate and of course the lily of the valley molecules. It is very soft and petaly, green but also a little powdery with a beautiful rose alcohol inside. Because the accord is quite complex and subtle, for some it can also suggest the white magnolia (the big one).
La Pluie evokes the fresh rain inside the tropical forest. It is a very cold and almost marine with notes similar to lilial, bourgeonal, calone, azurone and lyral. Very fresh and metallic it has some common notes with the Bloom marine accord from Givaudan. It is also very diffusive with a small green-fruity aspect like galbanum or pineapple.
Bois tropical is the soft woody note hidden under the tropical plant. And indeed it smells earthy, musty, very dark like patchouli leaf mixed with Kephalis, Cedramber, Iso E Super and maybe some ambroxan and coumarine. It is a very known woody accord, extremely pleasant and comfortable.
It is interesting to notice that these 3 simple accords are very long lasting and they do not change their scent. Also they seem not to have any common facet but the 3 blotters combined give a 3D sensation of the beautiful fragrance that is Fleur de Liane.
Splitting a perfume into its main accords is not something new in fragrance marketing but often this tool is used to explain the fragrance during the creation or during the training of SA. It is a very good tool to explain a perfume because sensorial experience is stronger than words. For those who love a certain fragrance it is also a good tool to understand how it is built and to see more facets that might be hidden. A similar approach was done for Kenzo Amour last year.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

Nuit de Lonchamp (Lubin)

Recently Lubin brought back one of the gems of its past, Nuit de Longchamp created around 1927, possibly by one of the members of Prot family, owners of Lubin for more than 100 years (read also the review on graindemusc). Nuit de Longchamp belongs to a new period in the history of the house, after the era of Paul Prot, known for his rejection of new synthetics. With the 20's a new age started for Lubin that expressed clearly the modern era. Nuit de Longchamp was a very fashionable perfume, modern by its structure, and expressed the same ideal of youth like the fragrances of Jean Patou. Unlike Guerlain, it was the opposite of opulence and classic "night perfumes" of the era, and was closer to the modernist geometric simplicity of 1927. The fragrance is part of a tradition that started with Crêpe de Chine (Millot, 1925) and ended with Chant d'Arômes (Guerlain 1962) with a brilliant Ma Griffe (Carven, 1946) in the middle. You recognized probably that this is the glorious chypre floral aldehydic family were the floral bouquet is created around a gardenia accord with styralil acetate. Nuit de Longchamp is not as chypre as Crêpe de Chine because the accent is put on the flowers. It can also be considered just a floral aldehydic perfume if compared to Arpège, released the same year.
The green and pungent gardenia is combined with a lilac base, with a fresh rosy-lily of the valley base and some jasmine-rose-ylang accords are here to soften the bouquet. The green note is in a permanent contrast with a very powdery accord, possibly caused by the lilac mixed with orris notes and coumarine. The drydown is soft woody with delicate notes of the vetiver-cedar family and something that recalls the famous Sophora base. Two different effects appear in the middle notes. One recalls Quelque Fleurs (Houbigant) and other coumarine-vetiver-musk note of Chanel No5 while a green fruity note (pear-apple) seems to modify the fresh rose. The aldehydes used inside are from the family of C11 and C12 but also one of what was called in the past "the green aldehydes". With this perfume a new element in the evolution of aldehydic note appears to show the link between No5 of Ernest Beaux and the perfumes created later by Francis Fabron and his team. What was modern in Nuit de Longchamp is the soft and silky sensation of the drydown and a certain ideal of freshness and air. Sensual without being heavy or opulent, an ideal that will become the core of L'Air du Temps. The echoes of this perfume were strong enough to appear later in several soviet perfumes or American creations (from Avon).
The modern Nuit de Longchamp (EDT) seems to be lighter compared to the old one (the extract) and less animalic. Maybe it is the closest reproduction possible today.
Nuit de Longchamp was not the only floral aldehydic in 1927, but other great creations appeared in a very competitive market: Chinchilla Royal (Weil), Bond Street (Yardley), L'Aimant (Coty), Le Début Noir (Hudnut), Rêve d'or (Piver), one from Lucien Lelong, Arpège (Lanvin). But also many gardenias bloomed the same year like those from Isabey or Babani.
There are several bottles known for Nuit de Longchamp but the one used today has a standard shape used by Lubin after WWII (also similar to N - Lucien Lelong, Zut - Schiaparelli, Poivre - Caron, possibly inspired by the curvaceous Femme Rochas or a very old Gabilla bottle). The bottle was used also by several Maurer & Wirtz perfumes (mass market) and one well known in the 80's is the Nonchalance line (the first dates from the 60's and was also a chypre floral aldehydic like Nuit de Longchamp).
As an anectode, there was also a famous base in that time called Lilac Longchamp that expressed the next trend in the lilac family after those made by Givaudan, Chuit Naef and De Laire.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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

1000 fragrances for 2009

I wish you a 2009 full of beautiful discoveries and fragrant inspiration! I also have a surprise for this year and you can see a preview of what will come on www.octaviancoifan.com.

Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.

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