Perfume Giveaway: Win a Free Bottle of Eau de Parfum plus an Extrait de Parfum mini!

It is my privilege and honor to make the very choicest acquaintances through the pages of this site. People with varied interests from the arts and with a budding or steadier interest in perfume reach me all the time with insightful comments and emails and sometimes with enriching experiences. One of them is Lia. She is not only a lovely, warm personality but a person immersed in the arts who has been testing fragrance after fragrance and discovering bits and pieces to delight a perfume addict's heart cockles. In a supremely generous gesture, she is giving away a 2oz eau de parfum of Lauder's classic oriental fragrance Youth Dew in a (indeterminate) vintage edition, accompanied with a mini 0.12oz extrait de parfum of Youth Dew in the classic style flacon! These sure look pretty, don't they?

The draw is open internationally and you're eligible by leaving a comment below; ask a question or make an observation or say what you enjoy most when reading blogs etc. I will announce a winner by the end of the weekend.

"Dior and I": the Documentary Soon Hitting US Screens

Film & TV distributor The Orchard has acquired all rights in the U.S. and Canada to director Frédéric Tcheng’s fashion documentary Dior and I, which premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival to outstanding praise. This marks the third fashion film for Tcheng, who previously co-wrote and co-directed Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel and co-produced Valentino: The Last Emperor. The documentary captures the entire process behind Raf Simons debut couture collection in his new position as Creative Director of Christian Dior Couture. 

"I am extremely excited to be working with the Orchard on bringing the film to its North American audience," said director Frédéric Tcheng. “They clearly have a passion for and understanding of the film that will translate to a successful roll-out.”

In 2012, legendary French fashion house, Christian Dior Couture, announced designer Raf Simons as its head Creative Director.  Dior and I pays homage to the work of the talented Dior atelier and takes a privileged, behind-the-scenes look at the makings of Simons’ debut haute couture collection and how it returned to the origins of the house of Dior.  

The film takes an intimate, vérité-style glimpse at the inner workings of the Dior atelier, capturing the entire eight-week process up until the premiere of Simons’ collection. This includes the little-seen atelier workers – the heart and soul of the fashion industry – some of whom have sewed for Dior for decades and do so with an unbridled passion. Together, they form a support system for Simons and help to create his masterpiece collection, with every line they sketch and bead they sew.

A whirlwind of creativity, stress, determination and triumph, the movie boasts mass and niche appeal. 

“Dior and I is a visually and emotionally stunning film about an oft unseen part of the process in the world of high fashion,” said The Orchard’s SVP of Film & TV, Paul Davidson. “Frédéric Tcheng has crafted a documentary that, much like the elegant creations in the world of Dior, deserves to be seen."

The film is slated for a 2015 theatrical release in the US and Canada. The deal was negotiated by Danielle DiGiacomo of The Orchard and Josh Braun of Submarine.

Watch the clip here. 

The Unwavering Popularity of Vanilla Scents

"Vanilla isn’t plain to product developers. It’s the x-factor in most fragrances, conjuring feelings of craving, warmth and familiarity. Other scent trends come and go, but vanilla shows no sign of waning popularity, fragrance experts say. That is fueling a chase to find new iterations."

via

Thus begins the article by Ellen Byron on Wall Street Journal, more of an advertorial for the new Bath & Body Works Wild Madagascar Vanilla, but interesting all the same. Such as this nugget:

"Preference for vanilla appears to form before birth, helped by mothers using and eating so many things that contain it, says Pamela Dalton, a faculty member at Monell Chemical Senses Center, a scientific-research institution. Vanilla can be found in amniotic fluid and in breast milk so people are exposed extremely early on in life, she says. […]
By adulthood, most humans have had so many interactions with vanilla’s scent and flavor that nostalgia drives even more preference for it, says Dr. Dalton, who has studied humans’ ability to perceive the vanilla scent, even at low levels. “We’re very receptive to it, even when it’s blended in other mixtures,” she says."

There's also the Dame Perfumery Scottsdale Black Flower Mexican Vanilla fragrance, out this past summer, which I haven't personally tried but which sounds promising. Vanilla is like the little black dress, an easy solution to a complex dilemma, a sure bet, a staple, the perfect nude lipstick of the beauty world.

Which prompts me to bump up my Vanilla Series on Perfume Shrine which highlighted some of the varieties of styles that vanilla fragrances can take and the top vanilla perfumes in each of them. Always current I suppose!

Oscar de la Renta: 1932-2014

The Dominican designer Oscar de la Renta had to die at 82 years of age for me to find out his very Hellenic middle name, taken on from his mother's brother side, shame on me. Aristides, "of an excellent kind". How apt!

Amal Clooney's wedding dress was designed by Oscar de la Renta, photo via Vogue

the man via

The multi-awarded trainee of Cristóbal Balenciaga, and then at some point head designer for Balmain, who truly loved and cherished women throughout his opus, soon showed a keen eye for color, for red carpet gowns and for ensembles that dressed First Ladies and Hollywood film stars alike to great aplomb. He also designed Torguga Bay, a small boutique hotel, among the best in the world. And of course he diversified into elegant perfumes right from the 1970s onwards: Oscar original (1977), several Oscar flankers, So La Renta, Ruffles, Volupte, Something Blue, Live in Love, Esprit d'Oscar…

via vintageadbrowser

dresses from the Fall 2012 colection

Fern Mallis, Executive Director of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, had called him some years back "The Sultan of Suave". You couldn't have done better than that if you tried.

from the Exhibition "Five Decades of Style" showing dresses and tailleurs worn by First Ladies

L'Artisan Parfumeur Re-Launches Two Long Lost Fragrances

The cult status of some perfumes, alongside the demand from a vocal audience online, has resulted in several companies re-releasing fragrances that we thought gone for ever. This the case with Venezia by Laura Biagotti, Yohji fragrances, the Patou Ma Collection line of vintage perfumes, or the 2014 relaunch of the three Helmut Lang fragrances (Helmut Lang eau de parfum, Helmut Lang eau de toilette and Cuiron).

via

Usually it doesn't help that either the newest launch differs somewhat from the older one for reasons of conforming to current perfumery allergens regulations (the case of Venezia), or that the price is significantly elevated (i.e. the Helmut Lang trio).  But it's small consolation in the heart of the dedicated fan all the same. L'Artisan Parfumeur has already re-issued one beloved fragrance from the discarded pile, Jour de Fete (review of 2014 version & comparison with vintage on this link). 

Now they're re-issuing another cult favorite, Tea for Two, much lamented and fetching high prices on auction sites, as well as an oldie from the 1980s, Eau de Caporal. Both are going to be part of the permanent collection with retail availability later this year.

L'Artisan Parfumeur L'Eau du Caporal was originally composed by the founder of the brand, Jean Laporte in 1985, and was an aromatic fougere laying mint over lavender and oakmoss adhering scentwise to an outdoorsy rough image of a military man.
L'Artisan Parfumeur Tea for Two is the original smoky tea, an aromatic spicy from 2000 composed by perfumer Olivia Giacobetti, reminiscent of Lapsang Souchong brews and something of a reference; a witty blend of black tea and gourmand delights, gingerbread and honey.