Posts with tag fragrances

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 Ambre Gris, a.k.a. Eau de Sperm Whale?
  

  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!

• 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 Insiders say that it's considered an extremely outdated model, even among top fragrance brass.

So many ladies have differing opinions on the right way to spray perfume. Do you spritz it into the air and then walk through it? Or do you spray it directly onto your body?

As the world of fashion reacts to the tanking economy, some high-end players are making bold new compromises partnerships in order to break into a recession-friendly lower price point. For example, in an attempt to scoop up some consumers that will be broke bargain shopping for the foreseeable future (like us), Esteé Lauder will be launching a trio of fragrances exclusively at the fashion hub that is Wal-Mart.

The new line will be sold under the name C-Thru, as in the bottles are transparent -- or as in 'wow, the economy must really suck for Esteé Lauder to make such a transparent attempt to reach out to Wal-Mart shoppers.' While the move is totally uncharacteristic for the historically highbrow cosmetics firm, launching a Wal-Mart line is probably one of their best chances to grow in these tough times.



The C-Thru trio will consist of gem-inspired fragrances like Ruby, Purple Diamond, and Blue Opal. After their exclusive launch at Wal-Mart this December, EL's low-end fragrances will eventually be sold at other luxury stores such as Kohl's and Target. Weird.

[via HauteConcept]

We love all of the amazing independent designers out there. In order to find out more about just what makes all of these creative types tick, we present to you an ongoing segment called Indie Designer Interviews.

We'd like you to meet Diana Rajchel, owner of Magickal Realism Natural Perfumery. Diana creates all-natural fragrances in addition to massage oils and conditioning oils for your hair, and bath milks and soaking salts.

Clearly it's not enough for Naomi Watts to be just an Oscar-nominated actress with a beautiful baby and a super-famous best friend. No, the King Kong and Funny Games star has designs on the modeling industry, too -- she has just been signed up as the first celebrity face of Thierry Mugler's Iconic Angel perfume.

Any eagle-eyed dress-watchers at the Metropolitan Museum's Costume Institute Gala Benefit in New York last week will have spotted the suitably angelic appearance of Watts' dress... of course, it was a Mugler design. Crafty.

I'm a big fan of all of the amazing independent designers out there. In an effort to get inside the mind of the indie designer and find out just what makes all of these creative types tick, I present to you an ongoing segment I call Indie Designer Interviews.

Fragrance designer Diane Fisher is a woman obsessed. Obsessed with one singular scent: vanilla. Only she's come up with a variety of ways to make boring old vanilla seem...well, not so vanilla. Diane recently launched a new line of perfumes called Vmagique, all based around this common scent. I interviewed her to find out more about this new project.

Despite the bad news about the (RED) campaign, the retailers involved aren't giving up yet. The latest is the Emporio Armani Product Red fragrances. Giorgio Armani collaborated with Ghanaian contemporary artist Owusu-Ankomah to create the look for his Product Red collection. The Emporio Armani fragrance duo, called Emporio Red offers the same fragrances as Emporio Armani White, only the external packaging is different. Both bottles feature an interpretation of a pictogram with a bright red representation of "The Wild Child" an illustration of African youth. Giorgio Armani is contributing an average of 40 percent of the gross profit margin from sales of all Emporio Armani (PRODUCT) RED Products directly to the Global Fund.

[via The Moodie Report]