One of my favorite fragrance stories of the last two years has been the slow and steady resurrection of the Lubin perfume house. I reviewed both of the more recent releases of Black Jade and the extrait version of Idole de Lubin. At the recent Elements Showcase I was reminded that there was a set of three other fragrances from back in 2010 that I also thought were pretty good, too. Inspired by either Le Vetiver or L’Eau Neuve these were more than flankers. If the press materials hadn’t bothered to point the relation out I’m not sure I ever would have presumed them to have the same olfactory DNA. I even spent some time with both the original and the derivation on side-by-side and I still don’t see it. Other than a note here and there these fragrances stand on their own and that’s the way I’m going to write about them.

Like many when I hear Figaro I think of the Beuamarchais opera “The Barber of Seville” or maybe the classic Looney Tunes episode “The Rabbit of Seville”. In any case the fragrance named Figaro neither shares the seriousness of opera or the kitschy silliness of Bugs Bunny. Instead perfumer Thomas Fontaine focused on the first three letters of the name and created a fig-centric fragrance. The early going of Figaro is all citrus zestiness courtesy of grapefruit with a pinch of pink pepper. A light application of pine and coriander transition Figaro to the heart of fig along with a tart apple note which adds both complement in its fruitiness but also contrast with the crisp aspect of apple intersecting the fleshy depth of the fig. The fig eventually dominated and carries Figaro into a creamy sandalwood and vetiver base. I’m not sure if Figaro hits all of the high notes it should, or could, have but it is a pleasant enough diversion. Perhaps more Looney Tunes than La Scala after all.

Itasca is named for the lake in the state of Minnesota. According to the press release Itasca is meant to evoke the frontier days represented by Davy Crockett and his time amongst the Native American tribes. It does a wonderful job of getting the trees right but it sort of misses the forest represented by its inspiration. Citrus, juniper, and marigold are the top notes of Itasca. The more astringent nature of juniper and marigold are on display. The heart is an inspired mix of clove, clary sage, and green geranium stitched together with a nutmeg note. The light trio of spices are excellent foils for the geranium. The base is where this all gets very pedestrian as it becomes pine and nothing else on my skin. According to the note list perfumer Lucien Ferrero was supposed to have incense, myrrh, vetiver, and amber included. They needed a search party to be sent out to find them because I never experienced them while wearing Itasca. If those notes were present Itasca might have emulated a woodsmoke infused Native American encampment. Instead it is like being lost in a pine woods. The pine is nice, Itasca is nice, but the promise could have been much more.

Bluff is my favorite of these three fragrances. Any fragrance which lists as its inspiration the cola soda has my attention. Thomas Fontaine creates a richly sweet fizzy heart that feels like the real thing. Before we get to that heart M Fontaine uses natural spice complements of cinnamon and nutmeg along with a little lime as the top notes. Clary sage begins to clear the way for the cola nut to take its place. The best move M Fontaine makes is to use iris as a floral attenuator to the cola nut. It allows the nuttier aspects of the cola note to have more prominence so the slightly sweet quality does not spiral out of control. The base is a precisely balanced mix of grassy vetiver, rooty patchouli, clean cedar and creamy sandalwood. All four of these create a nice woody harmony. There is no bluff here only aces over kings full. In other words a winning hand.

All three of these fragrances had slightly below average longevity and average sillage. I have to admit the lack of longevity is a bit of a problem for me because these feel like they shouldn’t be as fast developing on my skin as they are.

As I said these three fragrances were the warm-up acts for what would be a pretty spectacular 2011 for Lubin with Bluff being the indication of things to come. I am really looking forward to what we will find from Lubin in 2012.

Disclosure: This review was based on samples provided by Lubin.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

Robert Piguet is introducing five new perfumes, all  have no previous history and will debut in June 2012. Douglas Hannant de Piguet was a harbinger of a new direction for the renowned House that has spent the past several years reformulating its classic fragrances with a great degree of success.  Douglas Hannant (one of Mark Behnke's top 25 fragrances for 2011) is a blend of the classic with the contemporary and was the last fragrance in what is now known as the Classic Collection. 

The Nouvelle Collection's five new scents were created by Master Perfumer Aurelien Guichard of Givaudaun (who is also responsible for Douglas Hannant, Visa, Calypso, Futur and Baghari).

Bois Noir: The blend opens with facets of gaiac and cedar wood. Heart notes include warm sandalwood and patchouli. The drydown features the richness of balsam

Casbah: Top notes include the warmth of angelica root, black pepper and nutmeg. Mid notes feature smokey incense, orris and tobacco facets. Base notes include rich cedar wood and vetiver

Mademoiselle de Piguet: Composed of orange flower complimented by almond and apricot, Mademoiselle de Piguet also features notes of bergamot and tonka bean.

Notes de Piguet: Notes opens with bergamot and clary sage. Mid notes include geranium and orange flower. The drydown is warmed by oakmoss, vetiver and tonka bean

Oud de Piguet:Saffron is the opening of Robert Piguet’s take on the very contemporary trend  on one of the oldest notes in perfumery- oud.  Fir balsam, styrax and myrrh are at the heart  with gaiac wood, patchouli and oud at the base.

At press time, there is no pricing or store information; however through a chance encounter with Robert Piguet's CEO Joe Garces of Fashion Fragrances & Cosmetics Ltd at the Elements Showcase  I learned  that each fragrance will have one retail partner. For more information www.robertpiguetparfums.com

 -Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief

Editor's Note: I hear the siren song of Mademoiselle de Piguet. What fragrance in the Nouvelle Collection is calling to you?

Love the Guild – Join Feb. 1 – 14, 2012

The Natural Perfumers Guild brought you "Joy in January"* and now we're bringing you, someone who has thought about joining the Guild, "Love the Guild" in February. *click here to view one of the blog pages for the Joy project.

Join now, and you will enjoy 12% off the membership fee for your first year. Use the code 1B6DE36B0C to receive the discount on the Join page (see link in the menu).

By joining the Guild as a Perfumer, Associate, Supplier or Friend between Feb. 1 and Feb 14, 2012, you'll be entered in the random drawing and may win a gift from generous perfumers, associates and supplier Guild members. You may enter your choice on the application form on the Join page. Prizes will be awarded February 15, 2012

1. Allured Publications: Steffen Arctander CD: Steffen Arctander's best-selling books, Perfume and Flavor Chemicals (Aroma Chemicals Vol 1 & 2) and Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin. $500 value.

2. Arlys Naturals: Arlys Naturals gift basket Pamper Thyself Gift Basket 4 ml. Lavender-English Essential Oil, Lavender Rose Bath Teas, Sweet Dreams Botanical Soap, Simply Lavender Candle 2 oz., Stargazing CD, Renewal Aromatic Tea 2 oz. Gift Tin Swizzle Sticks (2) $75 value.

3.Tambela/Belly Flowers Perfumes: Choice of three all-natural, rich, luxurious handmade soaps, and a three milliliter spray vial of perfume, your choice. A $40 value.

4. Eden Botanicals: An edited selection of 34 sample vials of essential oils, absolutes and CO2s, coordinated according to the aromatic groups of floral, citrus, wood, green, spice as offered in Anya's Garden Aromatics Kit #2 $90 value.

5. Anya's Garden Natural Perfumery Institute: Basic Perfumery Textbook, 350 pages, including full-color photos and illustrations, and the full set of charts, forms and supplemental documents. $500 value.

6. Ellenoire Bath and Body Fragrance: Gift basket of naturally-scented handmade bath & body care products. $50 value.

7. Mermade Magickal Arts: Two lucky winners will receive one of Katlyn's new In-Sense Perfume balms plus a few extra fragrant goodies. $20- $32 value.

8. Pacific Perfumes: Pure Legend solid perfume in award-winning beautiful sustainable packaging. $40 value.

Benefits of Guild Membership

There are many benefits to being a member of the Natural Perfumers Guild. Please visit the Membership and Benefits page to read more about them. We'd love you to join our family of natural perfume and fragrance lovers. At the perfumer, supplier or associate level, there are Internet projects that really bring attention and a lot of camaraderie to all in the community. Join us today!

Prizes will be announced on the Guild Facebook page and winners will be notified by email.

Every time I am at a trade show the best part of it is when I find a something completely new to me. That moment of discovery is where the magic is. At the most recent Elements Showcase that bit of serendipity occurred midway through the first day as I approached the Di Ser Eau de Parfums booth. What was there was a display of ten fragrances completely unknown to me and I’m guessing the rest of the attendees as well. The perfumer, and founder, behind the counter, Yasuyuki Shinohara, took me through the fragrances. There was a pair based on Wood, Kyara and Sasora. Sasora’s mix of yuzu and hinoki was the most intriguing of this pair. There is a four fragrance collection based on Goddesses, Diana, Iris, Lucia and Muse. Muse’s mix of rose, jasmine, and frankincense was my favorite here. The final four are part of the Elements collection which represent the traditional Japanese Elements of Tsuki, Mizu, Taiyo, and Kaze ( Moon, Water, Sun, and Wind, respectively).  It is here where this collection really took off for me. On my first, of many, visits it was Tsuki’s green geranium that captivated. The next time it was Mizu which combined jasmine and boronia. Later on Taiyo’s classic mix of rose, jasmine and sandalwood caught my attention. On every visit the one that really fascinated me was Kaze. There was not one visit where I didn’t spray this because it was just so interesting.

Of the entire collection there are two things which need to be mentioned. First Shinohara-san uses only natural ingredients and if you think you know what a Japanese fragrance smells like this collection will surprise you. Other western perfumers have made a point of designing for the Japanese market and what they tell us is this market wants clean definitive lines and simple constructions. The entire Di Ser collection flies in the face of that. If I gave these to almost any perfumista blind and asked what the country of origin was, I expect Japan would be far down the list of guesses. That Di Ser has thrived for 12 years in Japan makes me think the conventional wisdom is not as smart as it seems. Kaze is a good example of that as it uses familiar notes of neroli, petitgrain, and vetiver crossed with Asian influences of shiso and yuzu. Kaze is as bold as the elemental wind it is named after.

Like the wind Shinohara-san draws you in with that Asian-inspired breeze of yuzu and shiso. The past year has seen yuzu used as a citrus equivalent in a lot of perfumes. In Kaze, Shinohara-san shows what someone truly familiar with the note can do with it as the herbal quality of the shiso contrasts the citrus aspect of yuzu and makes it the brightest I have ever found the note to be in a fragrance. Neroli and petitgrain add a Western flair and the neroli in Kaze is especially beautiful on my skin. With the shiso and yuzu still lingering it felt like an olfactory diplomatic mission. Fragonia and rose continue to increase the intensity of Kaze. The combination of this tea-tree derived essential oil and rose works very well together and is an inspired choice by Shinohara-san. Kaze finally comes to rest on grassy bed of vetiver and it is a lovely sharp version of it.

Kaze has average longevity and average sillage.

For those of you who think you know what a Japanese fragrance smells like be prepared to be surprised when you get the chance to sample the Di Ser line of fragrances. All of the elements I want to find in a fragrance line, imagination and complexity, were on display at the Elements Showcase courtesy of Shinohara-san’s beautiful compositions.

Disclosure: This review was based on samples provided by Di Ser at the Elements Showcase.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

This season, the team at CafleureBon has written about their favorite  winter warmers and comforting fragrances for this cold and dark time of year. It is certainly true that many of these fragrances have helped me through a wintry January in Denmark  (among those a fair few vanilla, leather and tobacco fragrances). Now a  new release  from Giorgio Armani's Prive line has captivated me.

Being an admirer of the Armani Privé line, I was naturally very curious about their newest addition to the Arabian nights’ collection; ‘La Collection des Mille et une Nuits’, Cuir Noir. I have always enjoyed the perfect simplicity of the private line, (Bois d’Encens to me is a reference incense,)  its opposite lush oriental tales of 1001 nights, as well as the utterly gorgeous limited edition La Femme Bleue, which have made me come to expect great things from the Privés. This time, according to the ad copy, the inspiration came from the art of leather tanning, a craft which has its home from the Spanish city of Cordoba, and all the way down past the city of Marrakesh to the Atlas mountains. Cordoba- although today a Spanish city- was ruled by Muslims between 711 and 1236 and is heavily influenced by Arab culture and a world heritage site, hence it fits in nicely with the oriental themed perfume.

From the name I was expecting a leathery vanilla, but this Arabian tale opens with a genie out of the bottle; Oud. Supported by creamy honey-like sandalwood, the oud mixed with delicate rose unfolds proud like the tower of a minaret. Perhaps because of the very subdued spices of nutmeg and coriander, there is a medicinal tinge to the opening oud very akin to that of saffron, and it gives that same shimmering aura off as well as making me associating a golden radiance to this stage. Although I must ruefully confess to not being a keen admirer of oud, I absolutely adore the opening of Cuir Noir, and could keep applying this all day just to get the kick of this particular blend of stunning top notes.  Who knows maybe this will be the open-sesame moment in terms of me actually coming to love agarwood?  In those first moments of the fragrance one is truly transported to a land of Sheherazade, minarets and golden sunsets fading into dark nights with a crescent moon.

From my infatuation with the oud-opener, the fragrance develops into a soft tobacco leather scent, the leather here being very smooth and suede like, a subtle whisper of an oriental leather, not a fetish outcry of saddle and tar. You feel the smokiness and a slight hint at booze of the vanilla, with the woods and resins highlighting the dry tobacco effect. As the resins start to dominate, it all adds to that dusty dry feeling of sun-heated palace walls.

I love the way that the perfumer manages to make the last stage of the fragrance quite sleek and not turning it into an opulent  amber, this is very much in keeping with the line and with the flowing fabric quality of the Armani couture I find, and the way the perfume stays close to your skin in the latter stages of its aromatic life feels hushed sexy. It’s all resiny, the benzion leaning in the vanilla direction, and still a tiny bit woody, with just the slightest bit of a leathery touch left from the oud.

This smoky leather-vanilla fragrance holds its own on a market which has already seen its fair share of this kind of scents. Although not exactly reinventing the wheel, it’s a truly beautiful rendition of this theme and a fragrance of highest quality. It’s a luxuriously well blended and golden leathery fragrance, which is both rounder and warmer than the sombre name suggest, and, with a little help from genies, I think it will soon find its way to my perfume cupboard.

Let me end this post with a little quote for perfume lovers from One Thousand and One Nights:

“I found the floor overspread with saffron, and the place illuminated by golden lamps and by candles, which diffused the odours of musk and ambergris; and two large perfuming-vessels filled with aloes-wood and ambergris, and a perfume compounded with honey, spread fragrance through the whole place.

I saw also a black horse, of the hue of the darkest night, before which was a manger of white crystal filled with cleansed sesame, and another, similar to it, containing rose-water infused with musk; he was saddled and bridled, and his saddle was of red gold".

- Jasia Julia Nielson, Contributor

Art direction: Michelyn Camen E-I-C

We will be offering  a draw of 1ml of Cuir Noir. In order to be eligible, please leave your comment about your love/hate relationship with oud and why you would like to try Cuir Noir by February 6, 2012.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option… or your dream prize will be just spilt perfume

Bond No.9 debuts its seventh ode to New York City's great parks for Spring 2012—Central Park West— which was inspired by two-and-a-half mile length of the City’s greatest urban grassland, just across the street.

Elegant thoroughfares with palatial buildings are in evidence elsewhere in Manhattan, but they’re the specialty at Central Park West, which urban planners and architectural critics regard as one of the most coveted addresses in America.  Central Park West is the epicenter of NYC elegance and history; the apartment enclaves of Central Park West—the Dakota, the SanRemo, the Majestic, the Century—are quintessential New York, complete with their ballroomsize, marble lobbies, private elevator halls, and banquet-style dining rooms.  And whether in Italian Renaissance, Beaux-Arts, or Art Deco style, many of these buildings look amazingly like the movie palaces of the Twenties—which may explain the street’s longstanding attraction for celebrity-residents, including Zero Mostel and John Lennon. It’s also home to the American Museum of Natural History, the New York Society for Ethical Culture, the New-York Historical Society, the acclaimed gourmet restaurant Jean Georges, and the Hayden Planetarium.

Central Park West Notes: Narcissus, ylang, pepperorris, jasmine, linden, gardenia, white oak, vetiver, and musk.

Central Park West will be available March 15, 2012 and will be sold at Bond No. 9’s six New York stores, Saks Fifth Avenue, and bondno9.com. Price: 100ml, $250; 50ml, $180; body silk, $130; candle, $110; shower gel, $75.

The number of CaFleureBon's unique readers, (not the amount of visits) as defined by Google Analytics, tripled from 2010- 2011. (Editor's Note: Unique Visitors are the number of individual visits CaFleureBon received in 2011. If you visit every day you only count as 1 not 365. So the number you're trying to figure out is how many individual unique visitors did we get?

We reveal the number: 251,556 unique visitors

Scentual Healing guesses 251, 006 and is the first winner

Felicia G  final guess was  252,012 and is the second winner

Anya McCoy, Anya's Garden 3.5 ml StarFlower with organic vanilla absolute from madagascar, ghana cocoa, patchouli with a chocolatey note  Scentual Healing

1 ml of vintage Lentheric Tweed- Felicia G

Keiko Mecheri Loukhoum 50ml-Scentual Healing

2.5 ml Peche Noir from En Voyages Perfumes- Felicia G

5ml of Elle from Xerjoff (five carded samples) Scentual Healing

30mL bottle of Lord’s Jester Ares Courtesy of Lord’s Jester Felicia G

50mL bottle of L’Artisan Parfumeur Fou D’Absinthe Courtesy of L’Artisan USA. Scentual Healing 

50mL bottle of Etat Libre D’Orange Tom of Finland Courtesy of Fragrance and Art Scentual Healing

Angel by Thierry Mugler (0.80oz refillable bottle) of EDP to give away. Felicia G

0 .2 oz (6.2mL) travel rollerball of Perfect Coconut Milk by Sarah Horowitz Thran of Sarah Horowitz Parfums  Felicia G

Please contact michelyn@cafleurebon.com  with the list of your winning prizes, and the subject header is Unique visitors by Friday February 3, 2012. Like any other contest if the winners do not contact us  it is considered spilt perfume.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option… or your dream prize will be just spilt perfume

One good thing about January is there is a little bit of a pause post-Holidays and it allows me to catch up on things which keep getting displaced in my review on-deck circle. One of those new houses which I have been very interested to try is A Lab On Fire. I love their ethos that great perfumers can make interesting perfumes without charging over the top prices to be laudable. As a research chemist, in my day job, I also am just drawn to any fragrance house that has lab in their name. Although in my line of work if the lab is on fire things have gone terribly wrong. In the case of A Lab On Fire I think we are meant to think like the old saying they’re “going like a house on fire” to indicate a lot of creativity. I’ve had the chance to fully experience the first fragrance from A Lab on Fire L’Anonyme ou OP-1475-A which was created by Olivier Polge and one of the later ones Rose Rebelle SC-7545 for which the perfumer is not named but perhaps has the initials SC? Again I have to love the names because I label my experiments “MB-###-A” and these names make me feel like these are ongoing fragrant experiments. So come on up to the lab……

L’Anonyme ou OP-1475-A is an excellent example of how a few well-chosen ingredients by a perfumer like M Polge can produce a very good perfume for $15.That’s right my bottle of L’Anonyme cost me $15. I’ve had many bottles with a zero on the end be much less interesting than this geranium fragrance. A sparkly bergamot comes first followed by a green goddess of a geranium note. I am sure this is just a judicious use of the aromachemical geraniol but it smells more alive than it ought to. Light cedar, the ubiquitous white musk and suede leather complete the notes. In many ways L’Anonyme feels like M Polge is showing by action that an interesting perfume can be created from the most overused and common aromachemicals going. L’Anonyme doesn’t smell cheap or derivative, and considering the price, it is as successful an opening experiment as you could want.

Rose Rebelle SC-7545 is also modestly priced and also really surprisingly good for the price. On the website it is described as a combination of pink rose and cocoa. Both of those notes are there but there are at least a couple of things not listed as well. As with L’Anonyme, Perfumer SC has chosen to work with some of the more common aromachemicals but use them in a uniquely balanced way. A Lab On Fire is owned by S-Perfumes and Rose Rebelle feels like a kindred spirit to 100% Love as it opens with its own berry note of currant along with something green. Then the rose and cocoa take over in the base and here they are desiccated versions of their more common presence. This feels like they have been freeze dried into a fragrant dust and used to infuse this fragrance. The base is a synthetic musk but a full musk not the sheer white kind. Rose Rebelle is page two in the A Lab On Fire notebook that very interesting fragrances can be achieved with common intermediates.

Both L’Anonyme and Rose Rebelle have outstanding longevity and above average sillage.

Now that I’ve been up to the labs I am going to be following these aromatic scientists of the olfactory very closely. Especially when I check out the website and see Dominique Ropion (What We Do In Paris Is Secret) and Thierry Wasser (Sweet Dreams 2003). You can see me shiver with anticipation.

Disclosure: I purchased the bottle of L’Anonyme and purchased a sample of Rose Rebelle from The Perfumed Court.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

‘’On perfume making’’ by Frédéric Malle, illustrated by Konstantin Kakaniss Frédéric Malle, “perfume publisher” as he defines himself, invites us on an uncommon journey through his tale, “Frédéric Malle on Perfume Making”. He unveils for the first time how a perfume is made and his particular way of working. This book tells the story of each of his collaborations with the most talented perfumers, their inspirations, complicities, and trade secrets. This first publication from Frédéric Malle is illustrated by Konstantin Kakanias with the foreword provided by Catherine Deneuve. It offers an honest, personal and sensitive vision of the close-knit community of renowned perfumers. It is published by Angelika Taschen".  -Nathalie Prichard's Newsletter

http://angelikabooks.com

Michelyn Camen, Editor-In-Chief

For all that a person craves the light there is an almost unnatural fascination with the dark. In the light you see everything laid out before you. The dark conceals things. You can’t tell where things end.

Thanks to our friends at Atelier Cologne we have a very special draw of one 200mL bottle of Ambre Nue. The winner is Adele

Please contact Michelyn@cafleurebon.com with your address details and Ambre Nue as  your subject line by February 2, 2012 9:00 am.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilt perfume