Buongiorno Perfume Lovers! Day 2’s report begins with a rewind to Night 1. Last night we celebrated the Fifth Anniversary of Esxence at a fabulous setting. The party was held at the Hotel Magna Pars Suites, what makes it a great place for this party is Magna Pars is a converted perfume factory, thus the “Pars” in the name. It was a night for accentuating our clothing with gold. I chose to wrap my hat in a gold ribbon. The perfume news of the night was the revelation of the five finalists for the Young Perfumers Competition to create the Scent of Esxence 2013. Today in the exhibit hall I had the chance to try the five finalists. They are displayed in bell jars with ceramic blotters but in the case of one I found that spraying it turned it into something entirely different and much better. The five finalist’s names are: A Fiore Di Pelle, Etoilegance, Iris Magnifica, Magnolia Esxentials, and Stella. After sniffing the bell jars Etoilegance and Stella both seemed closed up and not very assertive. When I sprayed Etoilegance on a strip and then my skin, what a difference. It burst into life on my skin with a vibrancy that was lost in the bell jar. Stella smelled similar to what was in the bell jar and so my vote went to Etoilegance but I’m a bit worried that I maybe should’ve done the strip test with the others, too.
The Five Finalists Available for Voting
My next stop was the panel on Niche Retail hosted by Sarah Colton of The Perfume Magazine and Beauty Fashion Magazine. On a distinguished panel Francois Henin of Jovoy and Roja Dove stressed the importance of aggressive curation of new fragrances and building a long-term customer over making a sale. To hear two such distinguished and respected members of the artistic perfume community speak so boldly to an overflow audience was inspiring.
Then it was out to the floor to meet Neela Vermeire and to try the next release, coming in June, called Ashoka. Mme Vermeire is once again working with Bertrand Duchaufour and Ashoka sizzles with fig, leather and osmanthus over a complex resinous base. As much as I’m looking forward to Ashoka she also showed me the fragrance coming after Ashoka's summer/fall release. I am still sworn to some secrecy but she will let me tell you that it is based on a floral note which will create a fragrant bridge between India and France. Let the guessing begin. If you’re nice to me I might even give you a clue.
Joe Garces was busy getting ready for tonight’s 65th birthday celebration for Robert Piguet Fracas but Luc Gabriel of The Different Company took me over to his booth to try the brand-new Aurore Nomade. It is the latest addition to the Collection Excessive series by Bertrand Duchaufour. This is a warm oriental as only M. Duchaufour does so well with a deep floral core of ylang-ylang, geranium, and immortelle. This is surrounded with woods and spices to make a memorable new fragrance. In my morning of being sworn to secrecy I also smelled two of the, three to four, new entries in the L’Esprit Cologne Collection. Emilie Copperman has expanded the collection with these two I sniffed in ways that are interesting explorations of traditional cologne notes but given a modern twist.
It was time to go participate as a panelist on the Olfactory Maketing panel where I spoke of how scent has moved beyond marketing and is now turning into a way to define a brand. It was a tri-lingual panel of Italian, French, and English. With a simultaneous translator in my ear I felt like I was in a perfume United Nations.
My final stop of the day was to M. Micallef where Martine and Geoffrey were holding court and they finally have removed the wraps from their collaboration with Haute Couture fashion designer Denis Durand. I was given a sample previously but was sworn to secrecy. Now after its debut at Fashion Week I can talk about this purring slinky beast of a fragrance. It is centered with oud and rose but this time the oud-rose combo growls with passion. I think this is one of the best ouds Mme Micallef has ever made.
I’ll be back tomorrow with more from the floor here in Milano.
Until then, Ciao Perfumistas!
–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor