BellaSugar

Bella Interview: Chandler Burr, Perfume Critic

BellaSugar — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:15:41 -0700

So, it's official: I am smitten with Chandler Burr's latest book, The Perfect Scent. Read it; you won't regret it. Burr, the perfume critic of The New York Times, was gracious enough to talk with me about perfume last week. Be sure to read his opinions on why a celebrity scent succeeds or fails, and read on to find out why a perfume can seem so great on paper, but can smell different when you wear it.

In your book, you mention that perfumes are now created to smell good on paper when you're in the store, rather than being formulated only for the skin.
It's the new construction because of the way people buy perfume. The way that people buy perfumes today has a huge impact in how a scent is constructed. It used to be that one would go into the atelier at Guerlain or Coty in Paris, and put the perfume on, and the assistant would bring cakes and tea. You'd smell the perfume and it would stay on your skin past an hour or two hours - for an entire afternoon. Today, you're trying to grab 10 minutes between the movie or the next business appointment, and you're not putting perfumes on skin because you're already dressed. It's like buying clothes without trying them on.

For Chandler's advice on shopping for perfume, read more.

So how should we shop, if the typical way doesn't work?
It's easy: Even if you have 10 minutes before the next meeting, go to work without any goddamn perfume on! Go to Sephora, you do a little bit of homework online, you think about what you want, you walk in, you have four perfumes you want to try. Put one on your wrist of your left arm, one on the wrist of your right arm, one above the elbow on your left arm, and one above the elbow on your right arm. Walk out of the store - and you wear them. You smell them, and you smell them 10 minutes later, 30 minutes later, an hour later, and four hours later. You live with the perfumes, and that's how you do it.

Sometimes I'm confused when perfumes are described by their notes alone. How can we train our noses to identify certain scents?
It's actually a problem, because you can't use any of the raw materials. Somebody should set up a series of courses; those would actually be popular. If somebody entrepreneurial ever did this, I think there would be quite a market for it. Somebody should set up a place where you can go in and actually do a perfume course, and have raw materials - your basic woods, your basic greens, your basic musks - and learn what these mean. Obviously I've thought about this quite a bit!

If you can't do that, then you should just do what's in the industry called a market product. Woodsy scents, for example - Gucci Pour Homme, that was a sort of paradigmatic wood perfume. If you're going to do floral, you should know Joy, you should know Chanel No. 5, you should know L'Air du Temps. Chypre, you should know Coco. And you could actually go in and learn the categories by smelling the perfumes.

Certain scents are associated with their time. For instance, Obsession was everywhere in the '80s, but now it feels very dated. Are there any scents that you wish would come back, or are there any that you think will be linked to this point in time?
Scents are always related to their points and their eras, even if they continue to be successes, like Chanel No. 5, which was a 1921 perfume. Or Eau de Sauvage, which is a 1966 perfume. Angel is early-nineties. These things have a life. Rive Gauche for women is one of the quintessential 1970s perfumes, as is Opium. And you can still wear them. Vintage works, I think, better in perfume than it does in clothing in a lot of ways. It really depends on the scent. Some of them simply smell so much of their era that you wouldn't want to wear them. And others are more timeless.

I think Gucci Rush - and maybe I'm deluded - is going to prove very strongly resistant to time because it's so unusual and it's so beautifully constructed. It's definitely a modernist perfume, but I think it will wear very well.

Bella Interview: Chandler Burr, Perfume Critic

BellaSugar — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:00:50 -0700

Yesterday I wrote about The Perfect Scent, Chandler Burr's fascinating book about a year in the perfume industry. (You can read an excerpt to find out why I'm so smitten with his prose.) When it comes to fragrance, Burr is one of the world's most knowledgeable experts. That's why I was so excited to speak with him about everything from celebrity scents to perfume shopping. Check out the first part of our interview, and be sure to come back tomorrow for more.

Both fragrances that you wrote about - Un Jardin Sur Le Nil and Lovely - have been successful. But what kind of story might have happened if they hadn't been?
I thought about that a lot, actually. I was very, very happy to be able to write about two perfumes that I really liked, two perfumes that were commercially successful. Had they not been, I really don't know. Julie Salamon was invited to follow the making of a movie. She did the same thing I did, but with The Bonfire of the Vanities. The novel was called The Devil's Candy. It was about the making of an absolutely disastrous movie. If that had happened to me, I would have done the same thing.

For Chandler's thoughts on celebrity fragrance, read more.

You wrote about Lovely, and it was a phenomenal hit. When a celebrity-backed fragrance does well, is it usually because of the scent itself or the celebrity factor?
The first three months is entirely the celebrity, and then the juice kicks in. If you create a juice that's a piece of crap, then people simply are not going to buy the second bottle. It's the second-bottle phenomenon. The second bottle is about the juice - virtually always. It doesn't matter who the star is or how much you love him or her; people are simply not going to buy that second bottle if the juice isn't good.

I think Britney Spears Curious is a good scent. Jennifer Lopez Glow is a good scent. Paris Hilton's first perfume, made by Steven DeMercado, is a good scent-not great, but it's a good standard, commercial, competent perfume.

Come back tomorrow for more of our interview!

Bella Book: The Perfect Scent

BellaSugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:17:31 -0700

Last weekend, I spent a wonderful afternoon devouring Chandler Burr's book The Perfect Scent: A Year Inside the Perfume Industry in Paris and New York. As the perfume critic for The New York Times, Burr explores both the business and creative sides of the fragrance industry. In The Perfect Scent, he writes about his year covering the development of two fragrances: Un Jardin Sur le Nil from Hermès and Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely.

This is such a well-written, fascinating, and enjoyable book that you'll find much to love even if you aren't obsessed with fragrance. I spoke with Chandler Burr on Friday, and I'll be bringing you some of his wit and expertise later this week. But for now, let me tell you about the book. For the synopsis, read more.

In France, Burr follows Jean-Claude Ellena, an accomplished perfumer who'd just been tapped to be the first in-house "nose" for Hermès. Saddled with the challenge of reviving the luxury house's lackluster perfume sales, Ellena has to maintain a delicate balance between formulating an artistically beautiful scent and pushing Hermès forward in the multibillion dollar perfume industry. (The scent, Un Jardin sur le Nil, launched in 2005.)

You're probably familiar with Lovely, the first scent created by Sarah Jessica Parker. Burr observes the actress over the year, beginning with a walking tour of Sarah Jessica's favorite New York smells and moving forth into the development of her scent. Unlike many celebrities who launch fragrances, Sarah Jessica was highly involved in the development, packaging, and marketing of Lovely. Even ignoring her fame, the story of Lovely would be an interesting one; still, it's difficult not to love SJP after reading about her favorite scents. (They aren't what you might imagine.)

The book is packed with countless fascinating bits about fragrance (did you know that molecules in jasmine have the smell of a corpse?), and Burr's writing is as witty as it is pithy. I could go on and on, but sometimes you just have to read a book. And this is one of those times. Read it; I know you'll enjoy it. And come back tomorrow to read the first part of my interview with Chandler Burr.

Link Time!

BellaSugar — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 07:02:53 -0700

Emma Watson: 2001 to today - InStyle
Afrobella tests Davines, B&B and Lush products on her curls - Afrobella
Four-step eyes from Smashbox - Makeup and Beauty Blog
DEX Founder shares mineral shadow tips - Beauty Snob
Chandler Burr says this fragrance is "deeper and more thoughtful than 90 percent of the launches in the 21st century" - The Moment
Do you believe in beauty addictions? - Allure
Which makeup looks best on Stella McCartney? - FabSugarUK
This relief comes from Iceland - The Cut

Link Time!

BellaSugar — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:00:33 -0700

Donatella Versace inspires a makeover - Fashionologie
Katy Perry's photo shoot with InStyle - InStyle
Easy four-step eye makeup - Makeup and Beauty Blog
Why Anna Wintour won't change her hairstyle - The Cut
Chandler Burr finds a five-star scent - The Moment
How to look hot at the beach - Lemondrop
Mauve lipsticks galore - FabSugar UK

Lovely Links, 9/20

BellaSugar — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 07:00:48 -0700

The New York Times' Chandler Burr reviews Flower by Kenzo and even gets in a David Foster Wallace reference (RIP).
Jezebel poses some tough questions about beauty marketing.
Having egg on your face doesn't have to be bad. Use your eggs to make a face mask, and go out for brunch.
Jessica at Allure goes through makeup artist Kristofer Buckle's makeup bag.
Missbehave magazine's blog posts a clip of Jessica Simpson discussing her new fragrance that's kind of a PR nightmare (around 1:18).
A wall made up of bricks of Neutrogena bar soap? Style.com has pictures to prove it.
Blogdorf Goodman uses a power outage as an excuse to test the Seikisho Mask. The verdict? Apparently, it hurts so good.

Source

Lovely Links

BellaSugar — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:59:40 -0700

Real Simple has expert advice about what beauty products you can cut out of your routine entirely. See ya, serum!
Mouthwash in your hair? Oh, yes. Beauty Snob has a couple D.I.Y. hair recipes that we're curious to try.
Babyassface has found her holy grail cleanser.
Um, Memphis Bleak made a rap song for Garnier. The Around The Way Girls speculate as to why.
The Cut's Chandler Burr on Lucienne von Doz's quest to recreate her mother's scent.
Full House may be in reruns, but over at Beauty Addict, D.J. Tanner's hair is in full force.

Lovely Links

BellaSugar — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 07:00:27 -0700

Makeup and Beauty Blog has first looks at MAC's Cult of Cherry Collection.
This profile of the MAC AIDS Fund is both interesting and inspiring.
Check it out - Eyelure has just launched a line of false eyelashes for men.
Whoa. Freakonomics asks people to rate themselves on their appearance.
Armani has a new scent called Privé Vétiver Babylone. Perfume-rating dreamboat Chandler Burr gives us the rundown on this "exciting hint of synthetic fresh" juice.
Talk about a beauty blooper! This spa experience ended in a trip to the emergency room. Beaut.ie tells us about lavender getting in a woman's eye during a routine facial - ouch!

Lovely Links, 7/19

BellaSugar — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:00:11 -0700

Hey Dollface and I want to know if you've tried out the crazy cool-looking new Phenomen'Eyes Mascara by Givenchy.
Spoiled Pretty has more news about Jessica Simpson's new fragrance, Fancy, set to launch in August.
Exciting news! Fashionista has uncovered that Kate Moss will be creating a makeup line with beauty giant Coty.
Looking for a new Summer scent for each day of the week? Makeup and Beauty blog talks about seven of her favorite fragrances.
Chandler Burr reviews Hilary Duff's With Love fragrance and gives it two stars. In summation, it's "a perfectly good perfume."

Lovely Links, 7/12

BellaSugar — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:00:55 -0700

Ha! Beauty Addict and I are both giggling as Doogie Howser shills for Old Spice.
Want to become a cosmetic chemist? The Beauty Brains outline the process.
Marc-y Marc Jacobs is releasing lighter versions of his fragrances. Nylon fills you in.
Hair today, gone tomorrow: Beauty's Spot alerts us to an at-home peach fuzz remover.
Beauty Banter gives us a rundown on all of the new MAC collections. It seems like there's too many to keep track of lately.
Fashionologie has the first looks at Jessica Stam's new dark cropped hairstyle in ads for the Fall 2008 Giorgio Armani collection.
Chandler Burr gives a five-star rating to unisex fragrance Sienne l’Hiver. He describes it as "virtually perfect, a truly intelligent scent." I can't wait to check it out.