Actu des blogs

Old and new, "natural" vs "artificial" ?

Le 26 août 2008 à 10:32 sur 1000fragrances

Today the actual relation with nature is more a virtual one for many consumers. It often consists in ads or words & green color on products, 2 weeks holyday in an exotic place, some pots of plants in the house, a small standardized garden and many gardening magazines (if they don't live in a (...)

The clean American dream ?

Le 25 août 2008 à 20:20 sur 1000fragrances

One of the most often "stereotypes" of our days and mainly when speaking about smells & culture is the "American obsession of cleanliness" put in contrast with the French animal almost dirty "pleasures" - from food to perfumes. How much of this so talked about subject is a) a true fact b) a (...)

Fragrances in ... Honolulu

Le 24 août 2008 à 16:52 sur 1000fragrances

Thoughts on new releases

Le 24 août 2008 à 12:09 sur 1000fragrances

Bulgari Jasmin Noir is an extremely good perfume, dark, opulent, sophisticated but not heavy. An interpretation of jasmine absolute without its typical animalic note. Instead a soft amber in the dry down plus milky woods that reminded me some facets of Black Orchid and Eau de merveilles. Could (...)

Some precious absolutes

Le 23 août 2008 à 10:37 sur 1000fragrances

The history of fragrances is not only a history of trends/brands and consumer tastes but also a history of ingredients, some of them unknown to the modern nose. Many leading French fragrances created before WWII had in their formula bases unavailable today but also essential oils or absolutes (...)

The Quinolines (I)

Le 21 août 2008 à 15:09 sur 1000fragrances

Around 1880 a new class of heterocyclic aromatic molecules was discovered by organic chemists and some of their members became very soon of a great interest for perfumers. The quinolines are virtually the 2 rings of naphtalene where one atom of carbon is replaced by nitrogen. The smell of their (...)

Guerlain Couture ?

Le 21 août 2008 à 11:03 sur 1000fragrances

Will LVMH do the unthinkable, the movement that no one did before? Will Guerlain add a fashion line as in the past fashion houses added fragrances? I was reading today the July number of the French magazine Inrockuptibles, an issue devoted to the designer Hedi Slimane, former master of Dior (...)

Headspace but 140 years ago

Le 20 août 2008 à 10:04 sur 1000fragrances

The Living flower technology is a useful tool used today in many perfumes to express the natural odor of a plant. The air captured around a flower in a glass is analyzed through GC-MS and then the scent is reproduced. IFF had some interesting patents on that in 80's-90's and now virtually all (...)

De hyena odorifera

Le 19 août 2008 à 14:45 sur 1000fragrances

Many animals have particular odours. Many of them have been used in old perfumery but today only the names of musc, amber, civette and castoreum have survived in modern perfumery through reconstitutions. "De hyena odorifera"(De hyaena odorifera exetasis) is a title of a work published in 1638 (...)

Shocking & Jean Paul Gaultier

Le 17 août 2008 à 16:27 sur 1000fragrances

New fragrances are often inspired (design, name, concept) by other fragrances, already on the market. But do not think that brands would go deep in the history for their inspiration. Jean Paul Gaultier Classique bottle is inspired by Shocking - the success perfume from the 30's of Elsa (...)