Today a college asked me what fragrance I was wearing, he said it smelled like an old ladies perfume. I was wearing Chanel no 5 and yes it could be described as an old ladies perfume, it's an old perfume launched in 1921 but still popular. Remarkable that a perfume could live that long and still be so popular. In those days it was a perfume that was real different than the rest, the perfumer Ernest Beaux used an unusual high percentage of aldehyde's. Aldehyde's was not something new but it was never used in that kind of percentage. There are many different stories about this perfume, one is that the assistant of Ernest Beaux who did the mixing of the formula given by Ernest misread the percentage of the aldehyde's and put in to much of it. The result was so exciting that they decided to keep it like that.
Ernest Beaux
I'm not that of a fan of Chanel no 5, I like it but it's not my fragrance, Chanel no 19 is my favorite. I wear it to observe the perfume or better to say I study the perfume to find out what's so special about it. My college said that it smelled like an old ladies perfume but that it smelled expensive as well. I think that's true, it smells expensive maybe because of the high amount of jasmine absolute they used.
I found an article about the trends for perfumes in 2006 you will find it here here you'll see that everyone has his own idea's about it. Personally I find Japanese influence in perfumes and oriental notes as well but not in the way it was used in the 80's, the orientals are lighter.
What do you find the hottest fragrance notes for 2006?
8 comments:
Do you think the Asian influence is Japanese specifically? Of course, I'm Japanese living in the US so to me, all of these "influences" are Western interpretations, or Western Orientalism. I love many "Old Lady" perfumes. I prefer to use the term 'retro" so as to avoid offending any persons, but I understand the need for a term which means a scent doesn't seem youthful. Generally speaking, technically I think heavier scents seem more sedate whereas lighter scents feel more active and upbeat, thus giving the impression of youth. I tend to perceive soft and powdery scents as being old-fashioned--1. because I think of retro perfume ads in which women were told to be soft and never come on too strong, and 2. I equate perfumes like No.5 with the specific era in which they were born. I still wear whatever I want and deal with comments as they come. As long as smelling like Old Lady isn't something they're trying to discourage and it's just an observation, it's cool.
Sorry--I wanted to add that I think this year's "hottest" note is coconut. It's everywhere.
Hi Sali,
Retro is the right word for it but I translated exactly what my college said. I think the Japanese influence is high just as other Asian influence, and yes they are western interpretations of it.
I'm glad that there are still retro perfumes around, I hope they will never dissapear. And it's wonderful that people still wear them, some perfumes are so great they will never die I think.
Coconut is used a lot but also other milky/nutty notes like almond milk.
Sali can you tell me more about your perfume Pink Manhattan? Did you create it by yourself and does it have Japanese influence as well?
Oh, yes, good observation--lots of nutty notes out there, and I think greens have made a huge comeback. Thanks so much for asking about Pink Manhattan. I think it's something like a half-way point between American and Japanese tastes: a little fresh Floral (and green), a little sweet and daring (Oriental-Gourmand), and peach + white floral which is a personal favorite combination. Some people have said that it reminds them of mild-tasting Japanese candies, like the kind served in tea ceremonies, so I think there's Japanese influence I'm not aware of in it. I blend the perfume myself. I had help with the packaging design by a talented young artist named Tiffany Kimmel whose handdrawn skyline design is on the see-through roll-on bottle and handmade pillow sleeve (box).
(Sorry for the edit) I wanted to add that the perfume was part of a dual launch with my music CD, also called Pink Manhattan. Thanks again for asking.
That sounds lovely green and white flowers yummy! And I love pink. I'm always attracted to pink. How did you learn to make perfume?
I'm glad you like pink, too. Pink's a happy color to me. :-) I'm a trained musician but self-taught in perfumery, and I've only begun. Somehow the art makes sense to me being a musician. I guess it's really closer to cooking (which I don't do), but it's still about creating structures with highs, mids and lows like music. I became a perfume addict over the years and spent the last few years just analyzing blends. I bought perfume books and studied notes and one day, when I couldn't find a blend I wanted to wear on the market, I made it myself. Someone else liked it, then another, then I decided to share it on a larger scale. How about you? Any traditional schooling or are you winging it? I think it's fine to do things on your own the non-orthodox way. Some of the best musicians in the world are self-taught, too.
In perfumery we talk about notes and accords so there is a conection between music and perfume. I'm a self taught perfumer also. I've read a lot of books and experimented for 6 years now. I started a group on Yahoo
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/perfumemaking/
where we discuss all parts of perfume making. Your welcome to join.
Thank you so much for the invitation! I'll definitely come visit.
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