Monday, November 6, 2017

Best-selling fragrances for women: Russia 2011

Best-sellers in fragrance have been a mainstay of the Perfume Shrine blog, because they represent the taste of the average consumer. And any student of human nature is interested in the average consumer.
For this chapter we revert back to 2011 and the women of Russia. The source is an official one, the Euromonitor, and the results are predictable to a degree, still quite interesting to see.
The stats come from buying figures from major department stores concerning scenting needs a few years back.

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Here are the Russian mainstream market 2011 best-selling fragrances for women on PerfumeShrine.com. Links point to fragrance reviews by Elena Vosnaki.

1. Dior J'Adore
2. Chanel Chance
3. Versace Versace pour femme
4. Estee Lauder Pleasures
5. DKNY Be Delicious
6. Chanel Coco Mademoiselle 
7. Chanel Allure
8. Gucci Gucci Guilty
9. Guerlain Shalimar
10. Dior Miss Dior
11. Paco Rabanne Black XS for Her
12. Estee Lauder Sensuous
13. Gucci Flora by Gucci
14. Gucci Gucci Eau de parfum
15. Givenchy Very Irrestistible
16. Clinique Happy
17. Cacharel Amor Amor
18. Gucci Gucci Envy
19. Gucci Gucci by Gucci
20. Dior Dior Addict
21. Lancome Tresor
22. Chanel Chanel no.5
23. Giorgio Armani Code for woman
24. Lacoste Love of Pink
25. Elizabeth Arden Green Tea
26. Kenzo Kenzo Jungle
27. Estee Lauder Pure White Linen
28. Lancome Miracle
29. Hugo Boss Boss Intense
30. Guerlain Insolence

The winning genre choice is for the floral, with floriental competing eye to eye. Fragrance developers, take note.

Related reading on PerfumeShrine: 

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween Fragrances

Halloween is here once again and everyone who has worshipped at the shrine of perfume, Vincent Price, Tim Burton, Hammer films and Edgar Allan Poe rejoices at the opportunity to go all ghoulish and creepy; indulging a little bit of inner terror is good for the soul.


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Here are some previous lists and articles on Perfume Shrine which might interest you.

Everyone Hail to the Pumpkin Song: Scents of Halloween

Halloween Preparations: Scent and Beauty

A Dish for All Saints and Day of the Dead: Bittersweet Koliva

Trick or Treat? Autumn Fragrances for Every Mood

Lancome Magie Noire fragrance review: the perfect Halloween scent

Happy Halloween with ambience scents

Black Widow fragrance review

Autumn's Small Indulgences

Have a very happy Halloween!!!




Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Hermes Twilly d'Hermes: fragrance review

Perfumer Christine Nagel's style could be likened to an Italian sunset. Probably has to do with her paternal Italian side. The bleeding of the colors into the sky and the transformation of dusk into darkness could be compared with her inimitable mastery at blending luminous and bright notes into chords which resonate deeper and darker as the scent develops throughout time. You're never on a simple path with her perfumes, such as the stupendous Maboussin, the balsamic wonder of Les Larmes Sacrees de Thèbes among her limited edition perfume trio for Baccarat, or the intricately sweet Si fragrance by Giorgio Armani, and of course the stupendous Theorema by Fendi, a case study in how to make a non threatening oriental fragrance.
and there's always something to discover in the process.
I find this quality quite enjoyable in her latest creation, Twilly by Hermès, the house Nagel now acts as in-house perfumer for.

double exposure photography artwork by Antonio Mora via

Although Twilly d'Hermès possesses that optimistic flair (via its fresh citrusy opening) that people find more summery than wintery, I find that the composition veers into another direction very, very quickly thanks to the brilliant combination of fresh ginger and a floralcy which is hard to pinpoint (official sources say tuberose, but it's a totally unexpected kind of tuberose). A kaleidoscope of green, floral, and even earthy and woody nuances pass before your nostrils in quick succession, as if buoyed by the golden light of a glorious afternoon full of grace when everything seems to happily melt unto itself.

Twilly d'Hermès doesn't remind me of any other fragrance I know (which is remarkable in itself) and it's playful enough and light enough to appeal to younger women without appearing condescending in the least. Nevertheless, its very memorability lies in the delicate and rather sophisticated interweaving of fresh spiciness and carnal sensuality without recalling any particular genre: is it spicy floral? is it a citrusy woody? is it floral woody musky? It's a puzzle, but a good one.

Her last two fragrances for Hermes showcase the treatment of light and delicate juxtaposition.
Eau de Rhubarbe Ecarlate is a study in this duality, whereupon the succulent yet fresh rhubard note is envelopped in high-tech musks to give a persistent buzz like a bubblebee around nectarous blossoms. And Galop, for all its deluxe price, does not smell like it's trying too hard; a bet lost by many of the luxury segment brands nowadays, who, intent on presenting something posh, lose the golden measure and load the perfume with insurmountable heaviness. Galop, on the contrary, breathes!

Twilly increases its appeal with repeated wearings, so I suggest you give it some thorough testing before pronouncing a definitive assessment. It's young and probably not too serious in intent, but we all have our heavyweights for the days we want to immerse ourselves in existential ennui I suppose.

Friday, October 13, 2017

Room Sprays as Personal Fragrance: Maximising Pleasure

Most people using home scent do so to refresh a room: deodorise smoke from cigarettes or staleness; drive away the miasma of fried oil cooking; re-invigorate the air with new stimuli instead of the same emitions its inhabitants produce daily. But there are some of us who actually use home scents -and sprays in particular thanks to their instant gratification benefit- to give an instant edge.
Moody fragrances with complex profiles, sprayed on the curtains and the cushions, can complement melancholic thoughts when one wants to wallow in them; make one more concentrated in their intellectual work; or induce greater peace of mind and serenity, when the world outside has gone a tad rougher than anticipated.

via

I freely admit my fondness for sprayed forms of fragrance; the quick phssssst makes for instant gratification having the volatile molecules disperse to their room's air and surrounding me in waves of pleasure. I also admit to often decadently use some of my pricier scents in the home exactly for that purpose: suffusing a room with my signature scent, or altering its ambience in a couple of instants. Kids today say YOLO, do they not? They have a point. But there are scents purposefully meant for spraying in the home called "room sprays". Admittedly niche brands have limited their available scents in that medium which begs a question as to why, yet there are still a few excellent choices out there.

Aedes de Venustas for one developed a limited edition scent in collaboration with L'Artisan Parfumeur, which focuses on the mystical symbiosis of Japanese incense and tons of intense musk for a balancing act that creates a deep and resonant ambience. I fell in love the very first instant I smelled it; it was a gift from a special friend I knew from the US, directly from the source, but it also played on all my heart's fondest strings. I hadn't actually been so mesmerised by a room spray's apocryphal message since smelling Essence of John Galliano by Diptyque (now lamentably discontinued). It merited enjoying in full. Visitors to my house thought the same thing.

The niche boutique soon saw the potential and issued a proper perfume with this structure boosting the spicier aspects with pepper and cardamom as well as milder pink pepper and called it L`Artisan Parfumeur Aedes de Venustas eau de parfum.

In the room spray (the scent of which also comes in a candle, still available on the website) the balsamic tones which dominate are enhanced by a sensual and full-bodied musk that seeps through and takes the upper hand soon; they have a way of inducing thoughts of adventure and unbridled passions but the incense keeps things grounded. In the grander scheme of things I know I'm an armchair climber of Everest and not a literal one. But there's no shame in that.

More room sprays I have loved over the years include Figuier (Diptyque), Noel (Annick Goutal), Opopanax (Diptyque) which I reviewed here and the monumental Essence of John Galliano (by Diptyque, alas discontinued).

Do you do the same? Share your experiences in the comments.

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