Thursday, October 28, 2010

HALLOWEEN PICK UP LIST


SPOOKY, FUNNY, SWEET, SMELLY, SCARRY, WEIRD... 
ALL THE THRILLS OF THIS HOLIDAY IN SCENTS, JUST FOR YOU!!


A POTION TO KILL...
MIDNIGHT POISON BY DIOR



A TRICK, INSTEAD OF TREAT
ANGE OU DÉMON BY GIVENCHY


CHOCOLATE FOR TRICK OR TREAT
CHOCOLATE GREEDY BY MONTALE


LOLLYPOP TO SWEETEN ANOTHER TRICK OR TREAT BASKET
LOLLIPOP BLING BY MARIAH CAREY


HOLY WATER IF YOU GET TOO SCARED! 
IT WILL PUT EVERY CREEPY CREATURE AWAY FROM YOU!
HOLY WATER BY DEMETER FRAGRANCE LIBRARY


A ROOT TO MAKE A MAGIC POTION
MANDRAGORE POUPRE BY ANNICK GOUTAL


A HALLOWEEN FRAGRANCE
HALLOWEEN BY J. DEL POZO


A FRAGRANCE AS HURTFUL AS A NECK BITE!
VAMPIRE

WEREWOLF
MÉCHANT LOUP BY L'ARTISAN PARFUMEUR



BLOODY FRAGRANCE
CTHULHU BY H.P. LOVECRAFT


A BLOODY SOAP
BLOOD SCENTED SOAP BAR BY VILLAINESS

A GHOSTLY SHAMPOO
ETERNAL GRACE BY PHILOSOPHY


A GOTHIC FRAGRANCE
JOHN GALLIANO BY JOHN GALLIANO

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Nirmal EDP by Laboratorio Olfattivo - The ultimate hug - fragrance review

To Roberto Drago, the nicest Italian I know!

NIRMAL EDP BY LABORATORIO OLFATTIVO

Country of origin: Italy

Launch: 2010

Perfumer: Rosine Courage

Gender: Unisex

Olfactive notes: carrot, iris, violet, cedarwood, accord Daim.

Brand's description: A candid tissue that softly grazes the skin. The white color that becomes perfume of sweetness, serenity and quiet. Imagining a cloud of candid notes that spread in the air, the Nose has drawn a fragrance from the soft lines, accented by soft tones and accords. A perfume in which clear feelings and positive thoughts are mixed.
Description by + Q Perfume Blog: POWDERY GENTLE FLUFFY CLEAN slightly earthy.
Rating:♥♥♥♥
Where:
♥♥♥♥♥ - I am dancing on clouds!
♥♥♥♥ - Furry Fluffy Flowery
♥♥♥ - Immaculate but not super
♥♥ - So furry I would spritz only on cats and dogs
♥ - Soft as a fat belly
Sillage: Close range
Fixation: Good
Development: Almost linear
Could pair with: Heeley's Iris de Nuit
You will find all Laboratorio Olfattivo fragrances at their WEBSITE and at KAON.

Laboratorio Olfattivo is an Italian niche perfumery brand, with such an uniqueness and sophistication that has captured my heart this year. As explained by the brand, perfumers are free to create according to their own experiences and artistic creativity. The result is a collection of five beautiful perfumes and six luxurious home fragrances. The Italian passion for quality and style is very well presented in each of the fragrances. They are luxurious and very well executed.
(If you wish to read some of my past reviews of the brand's fragrances: click HERE for Cozumel EDP fragrance review; click HERE for a quick review of Daimiris EDP).


Nirmal EDP is their newest launch, and it can be included in the latest trend of pureness and transparency presented by other brands, such as Lutens, DKNY, Hermès, Issey M., etc... and it could also be easily included in my last article about comforting fragrances.(To read the article mentioned, click HERE). Unfortunately I received the samples after I had already published that article. If you are a follower of my blog, consider this fragrance included in that list.

In Nirmal EDP the idea was to represent or to be inspired by the white color.
At first when I read the brand's description, I imagined a dandelion being blown. I brought from the past, images from my childhood, when I used to look for dry  dandelion florets to blow. I remembered how magical it was to see the little seeds fly away like tiny umbrellas floating on the air. So, that was the first idea of Nirmal EDP for me: Little white perfumed "umbrellas" falling on my skin softly caressing me.
Top notes of carrots bring earthy sweetness at the very first whiff. I also found a hint of lavender, not mentioned by the brand. As the perfume develops, the aromatic-earthy sweet opening is replaced by a very delicate powdery accord, with very subtle notes of black pepper. They are there to enhance beauty without being too peppery. They also bring a slightly woody touch to the perfume.
Although the perfume feels silky and discreet, the images of floating umbrellas faded away, and were replaced the coziness and the tenderness of a wool sweater. The warmth of the wool heating the body...Maybe because I found a peppery touch in the accord? Interesting!



Being silky and able to bring the fresh and the clean sensation of a recently taken bath, but also being able to comfort and bring a cozy fluffy sensation, is  the very reason why I find this fragrance is so brilliant. I add more points concluding that I can wear it a year round, so the Cost versus Benefit equation worth the purchase. 
The brand mentions the word serenity, relating it to the soft tones of the accord. I can't think of a better word to describe the feeling this fragrance brought to me! Remember how serene and peaceful you felt when you were little and you hugged your teddy bear? I guess this is the kind of naivité that comes with this fragrance.  It takes you back to times where everything was peaceful and 100% happy.



As Nirmal means pure/immaculate in the Hindi language, perfumer and brand wanted to create a fragrance that is delicate and sincere like a loving caress. To me it is something more profound. It is more like a loving hug. 
As the fragrance has penetrated deeper in my skin, I found contrasts and duality in this fragrance: silk/freshness peripheral sensations contrasting to fluffy warmth depth (the delicate caress concept, contrasting to the long loving hug sensation). It has the trendy concept of nude, the idea of a white aura, but you don't feel naked. On the contrary, you feel hugged!




As I continued to evaluate the fragrance, I found the iris- violet accord well blended and very Italian. It is a dry delicate accord, without any earthiness nor green accents. It is flowery but nor mellow; it is chic but not snobby. 
Nirmal EDP is not the kind of fragrance that comes with a statement, but it will develop a personal bond between the wearer and the fragrance. "Wear me and I promise you tranquility!" This perfume is certainly a gift that you buy to yourself, and if you receive it from someone, it can only mean that this person wishes you only well and love. 
(HELLO, the perfect gift for this Christmas!).
The dry down is slightly woody, slightly leathery (not so leathery on me unfortunately).
The amber note of all Laboratorio Olfattivo fragrances is very rich, and here it's not an exception.


If you have followed the runways of fashion weeks and the winter/fall collections, you will agree with me that Nirmal EDP goes wonderfully with the collections presented by Chanel and Sonia Rykiel. It will also make an amazing pair with Gucci in white - spring 2010 and spring 2011 collections:


CHANEL - fall 2010/01

CHANEL - fall 2010/02


CHANEL - fall 2010/03

Sonia Rykiel - fall 2010

Gucci - spring 2010

Gucci - spring 2011


And for Barry WHITE video "My First, my last, my everything" click HERE
For Snow White kiss (finale theme song) from Disney, click HERE


Photo credits: Elle magazine; Chanel; Gucci; Sonia Rykiel; artfiles.art.com (Henry K.); geekecologie.com; lemonpoppyseed.com; flickr.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Frascos & tendências

Crédito fotográfico: Pierre Cardin


Em 1960 a moda sofreu uma grande transformação influenciada pela nova geração, a chamada de baby boomers, ou os jovens do pós-guerra. Várias propostas surgiram e a moda única passou a ser coisa do passado. Estilistas como André Courrège, Paco Rabanne, Yves Saint Laurent ditavam a moda. Visões futuristas como as moon girls de Courrège, o tubinho minimalista de YSL e o psicodelismo de Pucci faziam sucesso nas passarelas e nas ruas. O geométrico, o sintético e o colorido estavam em todos os lugares. Paco Rabanne introduziu o alumínio em suas criações que eram vestidos - obras de arte.



No final dos anos 60 surgiram vários movimentos que influenciaram a moda e a arte: o movimento hippie, o flower power, a pop art, black power, women's lib etc...
Os jovens se rebelaram, lutaram pela liberdade de expressão, que culminou em 1968 com a revolução estudantil na França. O mundo estava mudando, a cultura lançava a contra-cultura e a moda floresceu como nunca. 
No design de objetos, as linhas espaciais também estavam na moda: a luminária lava lamp com bolas de lavas flutuantes, luminárias com fibras óticas que mudavam de cor e cadeiras com traços disformes eram muito populares.
As bijuterias de acrílico, pingentes gigantes e braceletes com formatos geométricos, anéis astronômicos eram o hit da moda.
Assim como os estilistas de moda, designers de frascos de perfume se inspiram no passado para criar o presente.
+ Q Perfume Blog traz para você algumas criações com um jeitinho muito "sixties" (anos 60) de ser:


Blusa floral (flower power) usada pela famosa modelo Twiggy:


E na mesma linha: Bath & Body Works Forever Sunshine:
Anéis Chunck:




Imitando os anéis chamados de "Chunck", do próprio Paco Rabanne, O último lançamento lady Million:


Assim como as bijuterias, as fivelas dos cintos  e os relógios também eram bem geométicos e de metal:






Gucci, em Gucci Guilty traz um frasco do tipo fivela de cinto, com formato de retângulo arredondado - muito comum na época:
Bijuteria Courrèges

Mais ovais:


Calvin Klein traz em Beauty os pingentes ovais dos colares dos anos 60 - do tipo Courrège 


As luminárias dos anos 60 eram muito criativas e seguiam a linha espacial. Surgem vários materiais como o acrílico:
O Secret Obssession de Calvin Klein parece uma luminária da época (do tipo pingente):

O design de mobília oferecia estampas psicodélicas, coloridas com formas geométricas arredondadas
Emílio Pucci traz em Miss Pucci um frasco que além de parecer um relógio dos anos 60-70, possui cores muito comuns da época:

 E Guerlain oferece em Idylle EDP/EDT um formato de gota -  uma forma geomética muito explorada nos anos 60:

Papel de parede dos anos 60:


Garrafa em vidro verde - Blenko

Bloco de vidro com esferas - objeto de decoração de 1960

Michael Kors em Very Hollywood usa um tipo de trabalho em vidro muito comum dos anos 60 - inspiração: janelas, cinzeiros, copos e outros utensílios criados pelo designer Blenko, com esferas facetadas:

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Steve McQueen parfum D'Homme, zombies, vampires and halloween!

HALLOWEEN SPECIAL!

"The return of the dead celebrities to endorse perfumes"
A scary story of fine fragrances by + Q Perfume Blog.




Back in february I announced in Trends& Blends, (my blog for trends and perfume launches only), in a post called "Punk is dead but returned as a perfume", the launch of The Sex Pistols' fragrance,. Although not all the members of Sex Pistols died of a heroin overdose, like Sid Vicious, the original punk movement they have initiated in 1975 is certainly dead. So it came to a surprise to all of us that they would endorse a fragrance. First for not being exactly the model of people who would buy fragrances or take showers in the first place, but mostly for being "dead" celebrities in a certain way of speaking. Endorsing Fragrance & Beauty Limited's idea of a punk perfume really stroke me as a the weirdest thing in this industry.
Later in February, a Josephine Baker fragrance was also launched by Etat Libre D'Orange, apparently to be sold at Sephora in France, as a continuation of the music celebrities' perfume collection, after the previous Sex Pistols bottle.
Ok, we can buy that idea right? Bring dead famous music celebrities/bands to endorse fragrance is not such a crazy idea, because we continue to listen to them, although they are already deceased or no longer playing as a band.


BUT, what about bringing a dead celebrity to endorse a fragrance? Weird? No! Creepy!
I am and always was definitely IN LOVE with the RIP celeb Steve McQueen. He was gorgeous.The ultimate king of cool, as people used to call him. My number!
And he would still be, if he was alive today. But now we have our juicy celebs that are pretty much alive, such as Brad Pitt, Daniel Graig, Russel Crowe...  etc etc etc... don't we?
Fascinated by this marketing strategy, I entered to the website of the fragrance to learn more about it. According to it, "Mr. Mc Queen is the timeless evocation of the masculine appeal, who happens to be now, embodied by a fragrance that reflects the man he was".
As in the site: "the ideal medium for evoking the absent, reviving the legend and becoming immersed in the myth." 
And how do this absent being came back to the living? Smelling like a burst of green citrus opening of marigolds, green apples and lemons, with spicy notes of cardamom, sage and cinnamon, and a base of patchouli, amber and cedar. Woody, leathery, citrusy and spicy.
The fact is, the past has been used by many brands as inspiration when creating new fragrances. French niche brand Histoires de Parfums for example, has a vast array of celebrities from the past as inspiration of their perfumes, such as Julius Verne, Casanova, Mata Hari, and many more. But here I sense another behavior. It is the same behavior that makes series like Buffy the vampire slayerThe Vampire Diaries, True Blood, or the phenomenon/saga Twilight a worldwide success. 
After all the blood sucking series, zombies are back. From the cult movie The return of the living dead (1985) to Beatles zombie movies, lesbian zombies movies, and the latest Resident Evil (number 50 by now) or Zombieland (2009), I can't help it to think that we do have an obsession with the dead returning to life to haunt us!
If it became such an obsession, that now fragrance brands are spending their millions in fragrances endorsed by them, we have to point it out right? So let's see where it all began:
Since the early ages we are interested in the dark side of life, strange and frightening creatures, death and "the other side". Exploring the unknown, the forbidden or the terrifying is to deal with our primal instincts and its fears: our vulnerability, our loss of identity, our fear of death, our fear of sex etc etc...
Weather a story, a poem or a movie, the horror genre is commonly macabre, scary, chiller, strange/spooky, disturbing or sometimes, very close to reality.
Horror films go back to hundred years ago and as far as movies were produced. From spooky ghosts; swamp monsters; zombies - Franksteins; mummies; and  evil spirits, to vampires; mad men; psychopaths; possessed children; and alien/sci-fy creatures, we humans like to watch how these forces of evil end up defeated, and the normality is re- stablished. We like to be scared by them, and watch them being defeated by our heroes.
Many religions, cults and myths had blood drinking as a source of power, such as cannibalism for example. And from them, we developed our curiosity for sucking blood creatures.

Nosferatu

In 1897 Brian Stroke wrote his vampire novel Dracula. After many short terror movies, in 1922, Nosferatu was produced by F. W. Murnau and considered the very first genuine vampire feature. Followed by them, came the living dead monsters, such as Frankstein (1931) or mummies, as in The mummy (1932) staring Boris Karloff. During the 40's mummies were very popular. But nothing beat the zombies. Inspired by the Haitian voodoo, the zombies debuted in a book called The Magic Island by William B. Seabrook, about the adventures and horrific encounters with the living dead in an Haitian island.
Zombie in the bantu language means ghost or departed spirit. The shambling hulks with expressionless faces and unfocused starring eyes, hungry for human blood or flesh or brains was first seen in 1932, in a movie called White Zombie




Many zombie movies came along. The most famous ones were The night of the living dead in 1968, The return of the living dead in 1985, Re-animator also that year, Pet Sematary (by king of terror Stephan King) in 1989 and Resident Evil -  succeeding for nearly 2 decades.
Terror is installed in our minds as a scape valve since the early age. From fairytales to children and preteen stories, witches, bad queens and monsters -  they all come to install fear.
Tim Burton made zombies-like creatures (or creatures from "the other side") available to kids in Beetlejuice, Corpse Bride, The night before Christmas and Coraline.
American writer R.L. Stiner is one of the favorites among pre teens with his collection Goosebumps and Horrorland.
We love to think that Elvis was abducted by creatures of another planet or that Jim Morison will come back someday.
Paranormal Activity by Israeli film director Oren Peli sold millions worldwide recently. The young couple haunted by a supernatural presence coming from the other side, spooked the hell out of all of us. It was such a success that movie number two is already here to spook again. If becoming obsessed by the dead is such a common human behavior, no wonder someone decided to use it in the beauty industry, and bring deceased celebs to life, "to revive the absent", in a beautiful and glamourous way to endorse a fragrance. 




Why not wear this fragrance in a Halloween party this year?


We will watch the trend closely, believe me or I will come after you one day!!!


To watch the return of the living dead, click HERE.
To watch Michael Jackson's famous Thriller video, click HERE


For the fragrance, click HERE.


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