The luxury fragrance world is always a lovely place in which to spend some time, especially on a gray day. The bottles look like jewels, and when they’re arranged with an expert eye, they’re absolutely magical (we’re looking at you, Roja and House of Silage). Recently, our Dandelion Chandelier Style Council sniffed around a bit in Manhattan to see what’s new in ultra-luxury fragrance. What we saw was transporting, and made us feel that spring cannot possibly be far away. There are fresh bouquets of new floral fragrances, plus new collections based on personal characteristics to which we all aspire – and also a wildly sexy new offering from a historically staid British perfume house. And a fowl way to freshen your home with a chic floral fragrance. Perhaps our reward for sticking to our new year’s resolutions should be a bottle of one of these.
Clive Christian has debuted a new Private Collection of 10 fragrances (half for women, and half for men) that reflect the various elements of the founder’s personality. For example, the female “C” is Green Floral, with “a fruity green top note of apple, pear, bergamot and aromatic chamomile, with crushed green grass and touches of fresh dew.” The gentleman’s “C” (see what we did there?!) is Woody Leather, “a deep woody Oriental that imparts a seductive smokiness thanks to its fusion of saffron and tobacco, with mandarin for balance.” The other female fragrances are Floral Chypre; Woody Floral (our favorite: “a sparkling blend of dry amber, cedarwood and bright mandarin encapsulating the delicious dichotomy between dark and light”); Fruity Floral; and Green Fougere. Lovely to smell and to look at: the bottles are – as always with this brand – really stunning. 3.4 oz/ 100 ml for $625.00.
Clive Christian Private Collection
If you’re more in the mood for wild abandon, Clive Christian has also recently launched the Addictive Arts collection, just in time for snow days, long winter nights and Valentine’s Day. The prose gets a bit purple, but the bottles are slim and an elegant sapphire blue. The line includes Chasing the Dragon Hypnotic; Vision In a Dream Psychedelic; and Jump Up and Kiss Me Ecstatic (“a shameless blaze of opulent tuberose”) If you’re looking for Fifty Shades of Grey in an ultra-luxury fragrance, your search may very well be over. 2.5 oz/ 75 ml for $825.00.
Eric Buterbaugh, über-florist to the stars and to British royalty, has launched a line of fragrances and scented candles based on his expertise with flowers called EB Floral Edition. Partnered with Swiss fragrance company Fermenich along with master perfumers, there are seven unisex fragrances and six new floral blends. The stunning crystal perfume bottles are displayed at retail alongside bouquets of fresh hydrangeas and roses that are also for sale (very clever, that). The darker and more “green” fragrances are meant to represent the stem of a bloom, and the lighter ones evoke the petals. The idea is to pair them – one scent on your left side, and one on your right – so that when you greet people European-style, with a kiss on each cheek, they’re getting a whiff of one followed by the other. We have no idea if this would actually work, but what a charming idea! Love it. 3.4 oz/100 ml for $295.00.
Eric Buterbaugh EB Floral Edition
Another wonderfully subversive idea that mashes up an LA sensibility with old-world European style is Buterbaugh’s answer to home fragrance: the florist crafted taxidermy roosters with Honorine Blanc, a French nose. Says Buterbaugh: “two bottles of fragrance go on the feathers without damaging them. I have a naughty sense of humor so I call them the ‘Flock of Coqs.’ There are beautiful roosters out there. We place them on marble podiums, and they make your home smell amazing.” $3,500 if you want the chickens to come to your home to roost.
Strangelove NYC recently debuted its first floral, lostinflowers. The cool-kid luxury fragrance brand is known for its dark and unusual scents, but this one “evokes the thrill of new love, capturing that electric moment of discovery when destinies collide: lost in time, lost in romance, lost in flowers.” The notes are jasmine, champaca, gardenia enfleurage, saffron and rare oud. 3.4 oz/100 ml for $795.00.
At a slightly gentler price point, Maison Lancôme is the L’Oreal brand’s new series of haute parfumerie floral fragrances. Launched last year, contemporary perfumers were asked to pay homage to Lancôme’s founder, Armand Petitjean. Each fragrance is crafted with a combination of varieties, origins, and extractions that are all specially selected according to precise criteria, and the glass and gold bottles – designed by French artists Alex & Marine – can be engraved with a gift recipient’s name or a special date (this service is complimentary). Tubéreuses Castane is comprised of Tuberose Absolute, “harvested at nightfall when the scent of the flower is strongest,” and Tuberose Distillate, which “diffuses the delicate, fresh and evanescent whiff of a bud.” It also contains notes of roasted chestnut and Venezuelan Tonka Bean. Ôud Bouquet has notes from a trio of woods: 20-year-old oud wood, smoky Guaiac wood and sweet Copahu wood 3.4 fl. oz for $195-205.00.
Maison Lancôme Haute Fragrance
Creed debuted its first major new men’s fragrance since 2010, Viking, just before the holidays. It “bottles the fearless spirit of boundless exploration for the modern man who goes against the grain.” The bright red bottles are unmistakable, as is the scent. It has notes of Calabrian bergamot, Sicilian lemon, La Réunion Baie Rose (pink peppercorn), peppermint, sandalwood and patchouli. 3.3 oz/100ml for $495.00.
Finally, a couple of months ago, Ermenegildo Zegna launched a line of five new fragrances for men called Elements of Man: The Life Collection. Each scent embodies a characteristic of traditional masculinity: Integrity (herbal Clary sage, pink pepper spices, pimento berries, amber, and African geranium); Talent (Asian yuzu, Sichuan pepper, bergamot, black tea, patchouli and cedarwood); Wisdom (Italian mandarin, winter lemon, green verbena, coriander leaves, French lavender and neroli branches); Strength (tobacco, honey, apricot, agarwood and pine needles) and Passion (olibanum, rum, cognac, saffron and amber). 1.7 oz/50 ml for $220.00.
There you have it: a magnificent seven to sample and dream about, and perhaps just what you or someone special in your life need to brighten even the darkest mid-winter day. Spring is coming, we promise.
