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The big trend right now in fragrance is gourmand, or food-based aromas, according to perfume expert Mandy Aftel. So what does it all mean anyway? Are you a floral kind of gal or does chypre do it for you? In case you're uncertain, check out six of some of the more popular fragrance category definitions below. Then, impress your friends with your olfactory group knowledge about the "juice" — Read more
Chypre — that's French for cyprus — is a family of fragrances featuring fresh notes (usually citrus) blended with herbaceous, woody-animalic notes like patchouli, oakmoss, and/or labdanum. Woody and warm, chypres often have leatherish characteristics, and are often paired with fruity or floral notes. Since Coty's 1917 perfume called Chypre was so wildly popular, the term chypre (pronounced Read more
If Revlon's fruit-perfumed nail polishes and Mattese's cocktail-inspired scented lacquers don't agree with your nose, there's a luxe new competitor in the scented polish field. Nail lacquer impresario Jane Schub hired Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, the perfumer responsible for DSH perfumes, to help her create Richly Perverse Perfume Polish ($28) for her line StrangeBeautiful. The polish has a violet Read more
Rihanna's first foray into fragrance doesn't launch until next year, but a few images of Reb'l Fleur — a modification of her grammatically wobbly French rebelle fleur neck tattoo — have trickled online. The bottle, reminiscent of an upside-down high heel, feels a little Dynasty, but it's kind of fun. The scent itself is a fruity chypre with notes of tuberose, violet, hibiscus, and coconut Read more
Who ever said niche perfume had to be all stuffy and pretentious? Not the folks behind Smell Bent, the LA perfumery that's making quite the name for itself. Recall the outrageous Halloween fragrances they created a few months back. With carefully thought out (and named) fragrance offerings such as Horny Little Devil, Tibet Ur Bottom $, Commando, and Debonair, what's not to love about this cheeky Read more
By the Creators of Le Labo, the brand's new collaboration with Anthropologie, is the very best kind of atavism. The solid Concrete Parfums ($28) are concealed inside pretty old-fashioned brass weights, and the Spray Parfums ($62) come in faux 18th century poison phials. All the scents in the collection have an antique aspect as well, and they smell old-money luxurious even though they're less Read more
In another move away from her Gossip Girl character, Taylor Momsen has become the new face of John Galliano's latest fragrance. Parlez-Moi d'Amour, a floral and fruity chypre, launches in mid-October; the ads feature the languorous teenage actress lounging backstage. WWD reports that the ad is meant to portray Taylor as a world-traveling rock star. Isolated in Berlin with no access to the Read more
If you're the kind of person who loves going to museum exhibitions but feels that the average gift shop isn't beauty-centric enough, the famed Victoria & Albert Museum has anticipated your needs. The London spot has begun commissioning fragrances to go with its exhibitions. To accompany its Autumn 2010 exhibition, Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, the V&A had perfumer Read more
One of the fragrances that I've tried lately and liked best is an unapologetically odd juxtaposition of incense and bubblegum. The perfume, Encens Et Bubblegum by Etat Libre D'Orange ($69), really does smell like both its namesakes. While I can't say that I would have thought of putting them together on my own, now I'm on the hunt for more divine odd couples. What about you? Do any pickles and Read more
Recently, a fragrance that I've loved for years, Comptoir Sud Pacifique Vanille Peche, disappeared from Sephora and from store shelves in general. I use a ton of different fragrances, and I fall in love with something new every week, but there was something special about this one; it just smelled like me. I was incredibly bummed and almost panicked. Even Mr. Bella was sad. But then I decided to Read more
