Toronto Fashion Week part 2

just a quick blog post here to bring anyone interested up to speed on my time here at Toronto LG Fashion week, Ive had an interesting few days and had the chance to meet many new people related to fashion and perfume. This has thus far been my best real world education as I was able to talk to the corporate (fragrance) buyers for a few major retailers. I also took the time to talk to store managers, and SA's to gain insight on all levels of how to execute a successful fragrance. Aside from perfume I was also able to meet with some very interesting and talented people, notably the master tailor from the Tom Ford brand, as he was in town for a promotion at the same time we were here. It's really awesome to talk to someone so passionate and learned about their craft!

Right now I'm preparing some notes because I have a television interview tonight about perfume, I've never done one but I have been practicing talking about perfume to new audiences during the week, I had a lot of fun speaking with the SA's at the Chanel boutique yesterday!

Wish me luck for tonight! ;)

Strictly Perfume Reviews Search Engine

Hey everyone, I have been toying with some google code to make a search engine stricly for perfume reviews, meaning that it will only return content that are specifically perfume reviews and blog posts from our favourite resources on the internet. Try it out so far it should work, for example you only need to type in the perfume house and the name such as

Example "Serge Lutens Arabie" or "Musc Ravageur Frederic Malle"

I thought this would be a usefull tool incase you are reading a review of mine and I reference a perfume that you might not be familiar with, now its easy to find it within one click. I will move this to the sidebar in about a week so its always easy to find when you are reading a review :)

NEW: Here is a dedicated version of it perfumesearch.blogspot.com

LG Toronto Fashion Week 2009

'Tis the season for fashion weeks across many of the fashion centers of the world, and this week I will be visiting LG Fashion Week in Toronto, Canada. I will be going on industry passes with a friend of mine for whom I am doing some consulting work. I am eager to see what it will be like as oddly enough I have never attended a fashion event in here in Canada! I think I may be part of some interviews and I will likely have to say something interesting on the topic of perfume and the industry in Canada. I have been doing my homework all last week and also putting together some outfits to fit in with the fashion crowd ;)

I think its going to be alot of fun and I hope to meet some people also interested in perfume during such an event - Wish me luck :)

Shiseido Inoui

This took a few wearings to figure it out (not that I will ever FULLY figure it out ;) and then even a few more before I could even attempt to write a blog article about it. The first thing I notice about it is that it is very much of its period. The initial blast of the topnotes oddly has a very animalic touch that recalls Halston, however the miracle is that this facet fades dramatically in the first few minutes and receeds very far into the background. Once one gets past the opening the impression is that the style of Inoui was heavily influenced by the 1971 launch of Chanel's no.19 as they are very similar in the skeleton. Where the differences in these two perfumes lie are truly apparent are in the decoration, and while I love both perfumes I think I may somewhat favour the herbal and piney heart of Inoui over the more feminine floral heart of No.19. The most interesting part of Inoui is despite its assured green and herbal notes, it never steps over the line of crisp; this perfume is never piercingly sharp or sour as many of its family members can be. I believe this restraint was achieved by the counterbalance of fruity notes (Freesia, Aldehyde C14 Peach). One minor fault in my humble opinion, I do truly enjoy the beautiful iris/ionone note in No.19 which to me is the defining feminine smell (I associate with cosmetic products), that is sadly not in full force in Inoui. Inoui is very harmoniously blended, in the old ethic of the "abstract perfume", a very subtle perfumed into its drydown but by no means a skinscent. What I love is how it does not lose its complexity or impact over the course of its development. In fact, its drydown in my opinion is more beautiful than any other part of it, it is so soft and perfect it seems almost angelic.

Unfortunately, this fragrance was reportedly discontinued because a key ingredient was no longer able to be sourced - to me this is baffling! The question is; was this a decision made out of artistic integrity? It is a mystery since if it was a particular natural ingredient that became too expensive, could there not be a synthetic analogue, or if it was a discontinued base could not a similar base be found/made? Maybe this story is just a rumour covering up the real reason for its demise... Perhaps one day I will find the answer but for now it is as much a mystery as the magic of this perfume!

If anyone knows the name of the particular in-house perfumer of Shiseido that made this fragrance could you please leave it as a comment, thx :)

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