From the Fragrance Frontlines - Day 1 1/2: Sperm Whales, Donna Karan, and Virgins, Oh My!
Filed under: Events: On the Scene, Fragrance, Interviews, Beauty Tips
Senior Fashion Editor Sarah Cristobal is on assignment this week in France to discover what goes into creating the world's top fragrances. Read her daily blogs as she travels to perfumeries in Paris and Grasse, and dutifully observes the ooh la la of French culture.
A lot has happened since my first dispatch. The IFF tour was amazing! Oh, the things one can learn about the origins of our favorite fragrances. Here are some interesting -- and rather surprising -- facts:
- I am not a one-fragrance kind of gal, but Balmain's Ambre Gris is one of the favorites in my arsenal of scents. In terms of fashion, the label is currently the chicest on the market, but who knew that
Balmain's latest odour (launched in 2008) is based on the rarefied excretions of the sperm whale? The mammal is a squid eater -- bones and all -- and when the skeleton is broken down in the whale's body it is eventually compacted to about the size of a football. By the time it is passed, the crush of bones is so light that it floats on the water. Apparently, oil extraction from this extremely pricey commodity smells horrid at first but eventually transforms into a sweet earthy musk. Tres chic!Balmain's Ambre Gris, a.k.a. Eau de Sperm Whale?
- The two main perfumeries in France are IFF and Givaudan. Together they account for the creation of most of the world's fine scents. In order to win a bid on a scent, the perfumers (or "noses") are presented with a brief by an intermediary on behalf of a production and branding company such as Unilever or Coty, Inc. Teams of perfumers then compete both internally and against outside perfumers to come up with the scent that best represents the label or celebrity for which the brief was created. Whomever wins the brief takes all, and the rest are out of luck. Can you believe doing all of that legwork and then not getting paid? Insiders say that it's considered an extremely outdated model, even among top fragrance brass.
Hillary Duff is quite the fashion scenester lately, with her 
Alex Rodriguez must be quite the charmer. Either that or he's got a huge *ahem* catcher's mitt. First he seemingly cast a spell on one of Hollywood's elite, Madonna. But now that she's reportedly romping with a Brazilian boytoy, Jesus Luz, another older woman has her sights set on A-Rod.
There are a lot of things that make us go "huh?" about Hillary Clinton. Like the fact that she stood by her cheating husband, or that she got in bed (metaphorically speaking!) with drug companies after previously espousing the ideal of an egalitarian health care system. Or why so many people have voted for her so far... stuff like that..jpg)
Once again, anti-fur coalition forces have decided to set their sights on the home of fashion empress Donna Karan. This time, a group called the Paint Panthers decided that it would be a good idea to 
