Perfume in the Glossies: September

This month, Allure again pleasantly surprises with the amount of perfume-related coverage. There is a an essay, Scents of Self, by the detective writer Kate Atkinson (One Good Turn), in which, after a somewhat unnecessary intro on the history of perfume through the ages and the countries, Atkinson talks about the fragrances of her heroines, her love for Arpege, Joy, Coco, and her decreasing ability to actually smell them, as well as about childhood and other memories associated with some smells (I love that she too finds the smell of lilac melancholy: "the near tragedy of lilacs"). She concludes the article with the following advice: "Don't mess about with whole wardrobes of scents; go for one clear message (...) I know one day (...) one of my daughters will be stopped in her tracks by the scent of Arpege, and for a second I will exist again for her, fully formed." Another remarkable article in the issue is Message in a Bottle by Brooke Le Poer Trench, about fashion houses and their fragrances. The author quotes perfumers (Grojsman, Wasser), perfume consultants (Gotlieb) and designers (Kors, Giannini) to explain the link between the fashion and the perfume and the appeal of scents for the brands and their clients. Le Poer Trench then provides a perfume-chronology for seven fashion houses (Dior, Chanel, Wang, D&G, Calvin Klein, Lauren, Armani) as well as a categorisation of some designer scents according to the scent families. Some interesting tidbits: "...we conducted a quick survey in Times Square with two fragrances - Daisy by Marc Jacobs and the new Gucci by, yes, Gucci. Twenty women were asked to close their eyes, sniff, and guess which is which. Seventeen out of 20 got it right" "A very chic aunt who was always surrounded by a cloud of tuberose inspired Michael Kors's signature scent." "Chanel's saying "I had a chance, and I took it" inspires the name Chance..." "It's a modern vision of sexiness", [Olivier] Cresp says." [about Light Blue for Femme] Other perfumes mentioned in the issue: Eau d'Italie Bois d'Ombrie, Mark Jewel; "musical notes" of Mariah Carey's, Usher's and Sean Combs's scents. Fashion publicist Bonnie Morrison loves Angeliques Sous la Pluie by Frederic Malle. Model Helena Christensen thinks Le Labo Rose 31 "has a hypnotic and very intoxicationg scent.Everyone asks me about it when I wear it." The issue also come with a sample of Donna Karan Cashmere Mist. All in all, for a publication not specializing specifically in perfume, this a wonderfully perfume-full issue. Kudos to Allure yet again.