A Special Mother's Day Celebration: Lucky Draw

As usual with special commemorative days we host a lucky draw on Perfume Shrine today.
Courtesy of the ever gracious Jovan van Drielle of Tijon Fragrance Lab and Boutique, the draw involves Mothers inspired by the upcoming Mother's Day celebration this Sunday May 10th.

So, here's what you should do to enter the draw:

Tell us a story about your favorite Mother's Day Surprise!
Contest is open to everyone and winners will be drawn on May 10th.
Grand prize winner will receive a gift certificate worth $250 in products that can be used for ordering anything on the Tijon.com website. Since Jovan is very generous indeed, there may be more than one winner, so check it out!

Just to give you a taste I'm featuring below the Macaron Trinket Boxes (for whatever you may think of that fits in, from pills to hairpins) which come in assorted pastel colors.

And the Vintage-inspired Crystal Perfume Bottle Pendant Necklaces! Even better than looking like a true perfumephile, you can actually unscrew the top of the bottle and put a bit of perfume or essential oil in there for touch ups. Cool, huh?

Neela Vermeire Creations Pichola: fragrance review

The impressionistic school of perfumery seldom fails to fall victim of one or two cardinal sins. Either it won't replicate the received impression we, the audience, have of a particular referent (perversely enough there seems to be a collective "idea" of how particular places & things smell like), resulting in  confusion, despite adhering to the definition of the artistic term. Or the clarity of structure will be subordinate to the "harmonic" effects resulting in something that "falls apart on the blotter", as perfumers say. Not so with Pichola, the latest fragrance launch by the cult favorite niche fragrance brand Neela Vermeire Creations, overseen by a true perfumephile, its founder and guiding force, i.e. Neela, and composed by the steady hand of independent perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour.

Rie Rasmussen, Vogue UK December 2005, photographed by Norbert Schroeder via

Pichola was inspired by Lake Pichola in India, since the canon of Neela Vermeire Creations draw inspiration from the peninsula. But fear not, ye armchair traveler of little faith in your abilities of envisioning vast expanses of water with flowing flowers. Much as Pichola draws elements from the impressive scenery it is not a carte postale style of fragrance for Americans in need of issuing a passport. As Carson McCullers put it "We are torn between a nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange. As often as not, we are homesick most of the places we have never known..."

Pichola is not a travel "selfie". This shape shifter of a fragrance has backbone, finesse and above all the charm that makes a fragrance go beyond the mere pretty into addictive.

It impressed me in that I have tried the scent three times and Pichola performed differently on ALL three occasions, which hasn't really happened before. You can blame it on Rio, I guess, but I did find that the temperature of my skin brought to the surface different elements.  The first time Pichola by Neela Vermeire projected as an intensely white floral with a cleaned up jasmine and orange blossom, plus a budding gardenia note. It gave me a nod of Pure Poison, to be honest, which was impressive since that one is a very loud (albeit beautiful perfume) and not  Bertrand Duchaufour's "style" (who is more subdued and much less obvious).
On the second testing Pichola was much milkier white floral and had a green-husks velvety touch floating about, like coconut and fig leaf (stemone, massoia lactone, something along those two lines) which did remind me of Duchaufour and his masterful translation of earthy tones and woody notes, such as in L'Artisan's Timbuktu. Third time it was distinctly orange blossom and lush, scrumptious but not really indolic tuberose, plus a sandalwood milkiness chased by a huge clean musk note.

This creature purred...and I purred with delight over it.


Fragrance Notes for Neela Vermeire Creations Pichola:
Top Notes
Neroli, Clementine, Bergamot, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Saffron, Juniper, Magnolia
Heart Notes
Orange blossom, Rose, Tuberose, Jasmine sambac, Ylang ylang
Base notes
Haitian vetiver, Benzoin, Sandalwood , Driftwood

Related reading on Perfume Shrine:
Neela Vermeire Fragrance Reviews & News: Trayee, Mohur, Bombay Bling
"Creamy" fragrances: scents of rich clotted cream 
Indolic vs. Non Indolic: White Florals of Passion
The Jasmine Series: Perfumes highlighting the King of Flowers

A Sweeter La Petite Robe Noire for Just the American Market?

In a move that aims at boosting the presence and moreover brand awareness of Guerlain in the North American continent, the venerable French company is going ahead with a whole new rendition of the ultra-popular perfume La Petite Robe Noire.

pic via kizmi.com

Targeted at a specific American market "who want something more refined and subtle than the mass market perfumes", according to William Lescure, president of Guerlain Canada, the new edition of La Petite Robe Noire will launch in 2016.

Lescure mentioned in the Montreal Gazette that although the fragrance is an international hit, the composition is considered not sweet enough for North American tastes. So the new version will be even sweeter.

 I personally find that detail kind of odd, considering that La Petite Robe Noire is among the sweetest fragrances in the Guerlain stable (contrast it with Jicky, Shalimar, or Vetiver to talk only about best-selling classics), a fact that has probably accounted for its commercial success in the first place. Many of us, perfume lovers and dedicated Guerlain customers, find it already quite sweet!

Therefore the question does arise on whether there is a point in fixing something that is not broken (La Petite Robe Noire was first and foremost an American consideration) in order to attain a goal for which the one lonely scent is but one pillar of the building. There is also the question whether there will be two editions, the American market one ultimately engulfing the international one or the two co-existing at the supreme confusion of travelers and duty free buyers. What do you think?

Perfumes that Smell Like a Hooker (but in the best possible sense!)

Slutty fragrances is a funny subject as there are few things more subjective than the perception of scent. For most people "slutty" in that context means cheap, loud, worn in abundance and easily accessible; maybe like pants bought off the rack at Victoria's Secret.

Yet perfumes, especially French perfumes, have used questionable effects and sexy fragrance "notes" to build a cultural history that reads like a naughty bodice ripper. What perfume lovers have coded as "skanky"....in the best possible sense!

poor dear, to be included in a post with this title...no relation to hookers, just beautiful (via Getty)

From things to accompany a vinyl bondage skirt and hard, blood red lipstick or a romantic lacy sheath, to scents that mentally transport you to the boudoir rather than being worn in one, I have had fun compiling a slideshow of 8 "naughty, slutty perfumes" for Fragrance.about.com on this link. Won't you leaf through the slideshow to find out which perfumes made the cut?

I had to limit myself to just 8 but please add your own suggestions in the comments! 

The winners of the draw...

...for the perfume book are:

Kayceebee
Eva
Phyllis Iervello
Robert
Karen M

Congratulations! Please send me an email with PERFUME BOOK DRAW in the title of the mail, sharing your full name and shipping data plus a phone for the courier to use just in case, so I can arrange with the publishers to get your book in the mail for you soon.

Thanks everyone and till the next one!