Random Picks - Pierre Balmain Amber Gris EDP

AMBER GRIS EDP - PIERRE BALMAIN - 2008 - FEMININE (SHARED)

First time when I smelled this fragrance I had a somehow thought of golf players. 

Elegant men in cashmere sweaters and argyle socks, upscale country clubs with selected members...caddies holding leather golf bags, metal clubs, wood clubs...something elegant, quiet, something GQ magazine would approve...

Than it became a little bit louder...a caddy bagging the socialite in a private bungalow? Caddyshack style?

and finally it hit me! Pierre Balmain is to me just like Golf's love-and-hate experience to comedian and "golf-a-hole-ic" Larry David - click HERE for the entire article - New Yorker magazine.

First stage - anger - "There was a time when I was always angry on the course. Driving fast in the cart. Throwing clubs. Constantly berating myself. “You stink, four-eyes!"

Back to Ambergris EDP - "You are not a real ambergris fragrance, you say you are but you are not!! I will break this bottle... I must say the cap looks like a golf ball, but the perfume, not a hole-in-one! I am feeling cheated...

Second stage - denial - "The Anger phase lasted for years, and then I entered the next phase, Denial. “All I need are some lessons,” I told myself. “Why should everyone else be able to do it and not me? Why are they good? I’m coordinated. I have a jump shot! I can go to my left. Obviously I have it in me".

Ok, it is not a real ambergris but it is wearable...kinda nice...flowery, rubbery, slightly woody and slightly animalic...people bought it and gave sorta nice reviews... I am not even an ambergris fan...to much sex involved there...

Third stage - bargaining - "The third stage was Bargaining, and I did my share of that. “Please, God. All I want to do is hit the ball. What is it You want? Good deeds? Give me a swing and I’ll give You good deeds up the wazoo. I’ll help sick kids, the homeless . . . well, sick kids. I’ll stop all the mocking. I’ll give up cookies, coffee, coffee cake, cashmere".

All I wanted was to try to like an ambergris fragrance...a real one...what did I do to you Mr. Balmain? Give me one and I promise you a good review...pleeease?

Forth stage - Depression - "Then I drifted into the next stage, Depression. I was never going to be good. Never. Think what I could’ve done with all that time. Learned French. Piano. I’d be playing Chopin now if it weren’t for golf".

Never!!! this is never going to be good... I would be playing Chopin by now if I wasn't wasting my time here with this fake fragrance...

Last stage - "And now I find myself in the final stage, Acceptance. I will never be good. There, I said it. I like saying it. I’ll say it again: I’ll never be good. It’s just not something I’m suited for. That’s O.K. I’m good at other things".

It is just one more commercial perfume...so what? If you like it, be my guest to wear it and have fun...It is something that does not suit me...I prefer other things...

Random Picks - Belle au Parfum de Oud - Esteban

BELLE AU PARFUM DE OUD EDP - ESTEBAN (2012) - FEMININE

Official olfactive Notes: Mandarin, cistus, saffron, ylang ylang, Lys, nargamotha, oud, labdanum, patchouli. Sold for 90 Euros/50ml at 1000 & 1 Seife (sample provided by the shop via Erik K.)

Bohemians were outsiders who lived in an unconventional way and who did not care about society's approval. They were often described as vagabonds, wanderers, adventurers, or artists who believed in free love, frugality and poverty. The term emerged in France, when artists moved to neighborhoods where the rent was lower and where gypsies lived. I would say they were somehow the hippies of the 19th Century...

If Belle au Parfum de Oud was called by other reviewer's as a hippie - flower child fragrance, or had the aura of the woodstock days...I would say it does have the aura of freedom, peace and love, but with the european bohemian style, not a hippie one.

Natasha Poly - Bohemian Rhapsody for Vogue

It is a flowery-leathery French-y kind of fragrance. It has the simplicity of bohemian's life style. It has both a dirty and freshness that comes from the minty and dirty-chocolat-y notes of patchouli, not remotely reminding me of Marijuana as others noted.  Hippies did not take showers at all, and were stoned from pot all day long. This is not BAPDO! It does not refer to pot or human filth. 

It is unconventional in a sense that it is not rich nor a heavy oriental like many Ouds you have already tried last year. It smells cleaner than dirtier.

It contains a bit of the simplicity and frugality of bohemians. Flowery prints and leather jackets. 
It has the vibe of a bohemian balade in Paris.

It has the happiness, the musicality and the colors of gypsy songs and clothes.

It is less wild than hippies. It is Bobo. More sociable acceptable. More commercial, more Western styled.

Random Picks - Kerosene

UNKNOWN PLEASURES EDP - BY KEROSENE (John Pegg) - LAUNCH 2013 - UNISEX (FEM)

Official Olfactive Notes: Honey, Earl Gray, Zing of Lemon, Vanilla, Bergamot, Caramel, Tonka, Waffle Cone (provided by MiN New York, sellers of Kerosene fragrances and Fragrantica). Price at MiN - USD140/100ml.

Although John Pegg, the owner of the brand, describes his fragrance as a walk down a street in a Manchester, in a cold day, listening to Joy Division, sipping a cup of warm London fog...and named the fragrance unknown pleasures...I would call it:

The MAD TEA PARTY (as in Alice's Adventures in Wondeland by Lewis Carroll)!!

In the book, the tea party had to be eternal because the Mad Hatter was being punished eternally by Time. John, our Hatter Perfumer, decided that we have to be whiffed eternally by tons of cups of notes of earl gray tea and bergamot marmalade. And when just when you think you can't handle that amount of sugar, here comes caramels and waffle cones!

Analisys of the Mad Tea Party chapter of the book, presented by sparknotes:

"When Alice discovers that Time is a person and not merely an abstract concept, she realizes that not only are social conventions inverted, but the very ordering principles of the universe are turned upside down. Not even time is reliable, as Alice learns that Time is not an abstract “it” but a specific “him.” An unruly, subjective personality replaces the indifferent mechanical precision associated with the concept of time. Time can punish those who have offended it, and Time has in fact punished the Mad Hatter by stopping still at six o’clock, trapping the Mad Hatter and March Hare in a perpetual teatime. The Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse must carry out an endless string of pointless conversations, which may reflect a child’s perception of what an actual English teatime was really like. Alice must adjust her own perceptions of time, since the Mad Hatter’s watch indicates that days are rushing by. However, the party has not moved past the month of March, the month during which the March Hare goes mad.

Though the tea party challenges Alice’s understanding of the fundamental concept of time, the Mad Hatter’s answerless riddle reaffirms Wonderland’s unusual sense of order. The riddle seems to have no answer and exists solely to perpetuate confusion and disorder. Some readers have suggested that the riddle does in fact have an answer: Edgar Allen Poe “wrote on” both the subject of a Raven and “wrote on” a physical writing desk. In Wonderland, chaos is the ruling principle, but a strange sense of order still exists. Though riddles need not have answers, language must retain some kind of logic. The Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse point out to Alice that saying what she means and meaning what she says are not the same thing. Alice has said that she cannot take “more” tea because she has not had any yet. However, as the Mad Hatter points out, Alice can indeed take “more” tea even though she has not had any, since “it’s very easy to take more than nothing.” The language games at the tea party underscore the inconsistency of Wonderland, but also imply that the ordering principles that govern Alice’s world are just as arbitrary".

Alice's Adventure in Wonderland is one of the many books written during the Victorian Era, a theme already presented in details here in the blog.

So what made me smile about John's creation, is not the smile he expected from me, as he described his perfume "sure to make any gourmand lover smile", but the fact that he succeed to create an URBAN version of a VICTORIAN PERFUME.

Don't jump to say "what is she talking about??", give me time to explain...

It is not a Victorian Perfume per say, because Victorian fragrances were delicate florals. It contains the vibe of Victorian Days. I see here the exodus of English families to the cities in the search for work. I see the crowds of Manchester streets (no Joy Division for me...). I see the Victorian afternoon parties. I see the madness of the Mad Hatter in the concentration of sugary treat and bergamot marmalade of this fragrance. I see tons of Reimer and Delair's vanillin (1876) combined with caramels and waffle cones...

Alice tried to fancy to herself what such an extraordinary ways of living would be like, but it puzzled her too much, so she went on: `But why did they live at the bottom of a well?'

`Take some more tea,' the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.

`I've had nothing yet,' Alice replied in an offended tone, `so I can't take more.'

`You mean you can't take less,' said the Hatter: `it's very easy to take more than nothing.'

`Nobody asked your opinion,' said Alice.

`Who's making personal remarks now?' the Hatter asked triumphantly.

Alice did not quite know what to say to this: so she helped herself to some tea and bread-and-butter, and then turned to the Dormouse, and repeated her question. `Why did they live at the bottom of a well?'

It also presents me a Victorian riddle. A charade. A question that does not necessarily has to have an answer...Where does he intend to go from here?

'At any rate I'll never go there again!' said Alice as she picked her way through the wood. 'It's the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!'

Just as she said this, she noticed that one of the trees had a door leading right into it. `That's very curious!' she thought. `But everything's curious today. I think I may as well go in at once.' And in she went...

It is not the stupidest tea party I ever been. Far from it. But it made me curious as well...

And just like Alice did, I think I will might just jump into the next fragrance of my random picks!

Tem gosto e cheiro para tudo

Minha fascinação pela integração olfato-gustativa vem da infância. Quem nunca passou os dedos num livro Scratch n'sniff? Lembra? Aqueles livros com figuras de comidas e frutas que a gente arranhava com o dedo e sentia o cheirinho da ilustração? Eu ficava enlouquecida com essa idéia de poder arranhar um desenho de maçã e sentir o seu cheirinho...

Anos depois...

Em 1992 Angel EDP criado pela Givaudan para Thierry Mugler trouxe uma inovação para a perfumaria mundial. Pela primeira vez odorantes com aromas de alimentos foram compostos para criar uma fragrância da família Oriental, que posteriormente Michael Edwards passou a denominar como subfamília oriental "Gourmet". 

Os perfumes gourmet de lá para cá se multiplicaram, e novos odorantes foram introduzidos pelas casas de fragrâncias. Notas de bebidas, refrigerantes, sobremesas e até notas salgadas de sal, leite, caviar entraram nas composições dos gourmets.

A integração cozinha - laboratório, ou melhor dizendo, paladar e olfato, foi se desenvolvendo e muitos projetos bacanas saíram do "forno", como o da marca francesa Laudurée que lançou uma linha de fragrâncias inspiradas em seus doces.

Chefs de cozinha lançaram perfumes. Perfumistas lançaram livro de receitas...

Vimos também um barman que traduziu composições olfativas como o Chanel Nº5 em coquetel (tastologie)...Empresas de bebidas também lançaram versões olfativas de seus produtos, como a marca de whisky Macallan, Vinhos Sonsierra, etc...

E quando a gente pensa que já viu de tudo um pouco...surge a marca americana Demeter de perfumes, que traz em seu portifólio fragrâncias estranhas como sushi, lagosta, cogumelo, vagem...

Pois é, segundo a filosofia olfativa de Luca Turin e da esposa Tania Sanchez, bacon é o cheiro que mais atrai os homens. 

Na verdade, o cheiro do bacon já era motivo de interesse desde a década de vinte, quando John Farginnay, um açougueiro francês,  quase que acidentalmente descobriu que ele podia aumentar o "humor" de seus fregueses com uma receita secreta que era composta de 11  óleos essenciais, e que cheirava como...Bacon! 
Infelizmente em 1924 a receita foi queimada num incêndio e o negócio foi fechado. Anos depois a receita virou um perfume que hoje é vendido sob o nome Farginnay, em duas versões: a clássica, com notas de bacon, bergamota, laranja, melado de bordo, limão, grapefruit, pimenta preta, cedro, vetiver e madeira guaiac; e a versão gold, com notas de mandarina, bergamota, grapefruit, limão, noz moscada, pimenta preta e junípero.

Marcas de fast food resolveram dar um passo adiante no mercado de perfumes gourmets, e lançar suas próprias fragrâncias.  Isso também não é bem uma novidade como parece! 

Em 2006 os fabricantes do queijo Stilton lançaram seu perfume, que recriava o aroma pungente, frutado e terroso do queijo. O projeto comercial foi comissionado pela associação de produtores de queijo do tipo Stilton, com o intuito de aumentar o interesse do consumidor pelo queijo Stilton.

Dois anos depois a rede de fast food Burger King chocou a mídia e muitos apaixonados por perfumes quando lançou o seu perfume, que segundo a marca continha "o cheiro da sedução com um toque de carne na brasa".

No ano passado a rede de fast food Pizza Hut resolveu também se lançar no mundo da perfumaria. O perfume é resultado de uma pergunta lançada no facebook da marca: "Você ama o cheiro de uma caixa de Pizza Hut sendo aberta? Nós acreditamos que sim. Se esse cheiro fosse um perfume, qual seria o seu nome?" 
O volume de respostas (feedback dos clientes) foi tão grande que a empresa resolveu comissionar o perfume, que supostamente tem um cheirinho de massa de pão, cartolina, talco e queijo.

Então meus queridos amigos e leitores, não se enganem achando que essas marcas esperam que as pessoas saiam por aí cheirando  a hamburger, bacon ou pizza.
Se fosse assim, Lady Gaga, que já se apresentou no ano de 2010 no MTV Awards com um vestido feito inteirinho de carne...aliás todos os acessórios eram feitos de carne, teria lançado em 2012 um perfume com esse cheiro!
Isso são estratégias de marketing olfativo, simplesmente.
As únicas pessoas que eu vejo usando esses perfumes são aquelas que vivem numa larica constante! Para elas indico o perfume de maconha da mesma empresa que fabrica os perfumes de sushis - o Cannabis Flower, que segundo a marca é um perfume para usar e não para fumar!

E como nem todas as misturas olfato gustativas dão certo... fica aqui a minha opinião sobre uma tentativa de Thierry Mugler de novamente inovar no mercado de fragrâncias - Womanity EDP, com notas salgadas de caviar, é um perfume que não deu certo. 
Mulher nenhuma quer comprar um perfume que vem com a mensagem subliminar de que cheiramos a peixe!

Eau de Fröehliche - Be my perfumed Valentine!

+ Q Perfume Blog - Valentine's Day - Perfume Choice

EAU DE FRÖEHLICHE - NEW EDITION

Photo credit: 100 & 1 Seife exclusively to + Q Perfume Blog

In times when love and romance have to compete with applications such as "Bang with friends" ...

For Christmas 2012 Erik Kormann from 100 & 1 Seife launched his first Eau de Fröehliche or translated to English -  Eau de Merry -  a gourmet treat for the senses with irises, chocolate,frankincense, rosewood, coriander, Frambione, musk, patchouli, cardamom, vanilla, tolu balm and coumarin. At that time I described the fragrance as "A hint of cacao, a hint of iris, a hint of cardamom freshness and you are smiling my dears! Eau de Fröhliche will make you look younger without turning you into a teenager. It will change your mood to a better one because it has a sweetness that is rich, without being boring. It will make you more attractive because it has a tenacious and a vivid spirit all the way till dry down". (you can read the full review by clicking on the link above).

It was indeed a cuddling olfactory experience that I could have enjoyed all year round if  my sister would not have taken it from my collection with the most delightful statement "I have to have this, I am taking it home with me!" So she took it. Both versions - the EDP and the EDT. ;-)

Photo credit: 100 & 1 Seife exclusively to + Q Perfume Blog

Well, giving is rewarded with receiving...so this year Erik has send me his new edition of Eau de Föhliche. 
Not a flanker thou... it is not the original formula adding this or that. It is a complete new perfume but with one common ground: frankincense. 
Truth is that he launched it for Christmas 2012, but I was away from home, and that was the reason why I could not review it before. Frankly, it is a perfect gift for Valentine's Day!!!

If you are not interest in just banging with friends, or better saying, bootie calls or mean-less sex encounters, and you still believe in the romantic concept of sharing a special day with the one you love,  make the most of it by presenting her/him with something to remember this day everyday! A perfume is one of the most wanted and most popular Valentine's presents because the loved person will think of you every whiff.

So why Eau de Fröehliche?

Because it is romantic and sensitive. Because it brings an exquisite combination of rose and black pepper, with a bonus minty finishing. Because not many rose fragrances are that fresh (it also contains bergamot). Because it is a rose perfume, but it has an urban beat. Because it has a smokey aura that is subtle, not pierce. It is a rock n' roll rose. And most of it, because it contains CATTITUDE! Meow!

Photo credit: 100 & 1 Seife exclusively to + Q Perfume Blog

If you need more reasons I have plenty! The bottle comes with this super cute purrr cat illustration by Jo Zarth. It has a fragrance concentration of 20%. It last longer enough to be hugged and kissed for many hours. It can be nice to both genders.

Eau de Fröehliche Nº1 was a cuddling perfume. So is nº2. Interesting how different concepts can bring the same idea, but with a different intention. One cuddles you more like a friend. This one will also hug you tenderly, but the hug is just the first move...

You can find and purchase Eau de Fröehliche in the brand's website: 1000 & 1 Seife.



Another rock n' roll cat!