Perfume Blog

Every morning my husband plays with our baby Benito while I work on the breast pump. He carries Benito when it is time for the yaya to eat her dinner. In fact, people get surprised when they hear that Paolo changes Benito’s diaper. I find it funny because, at home, pitching in is really second nature to my husband.

So, for Father’s Day, I will treat him to a Clarins massage. And for my peace of mind, I’ll also buy him more SPF products that he can use when he’s out playing golf. Happy Father’s Day!

Amina Aranaz-Alunan on husband Rafa

“I ALWAYS knew Rafa would be a great father. His funny child-like nature has always been one of his strengths! He is wonderful with Lucas, very playful, loving and doting in spite of his busy schedule! During our recent vacation, our parental skills were truly put to the test as we travelled without a yaya! As a treat, this Father’s Day, I would like to give him a “self-pampering kit” filled with products from Clarins, Murad, L’Occitane and Clean, and topped off with a bottle of Acca Kappa eau de toilette.”

Olivia Francisco on dad Lito

“MY DAD is special to me because he has everything there is to look for in a dad. From him I learned value for work, passion for sports and hobbies, respect for friends and colleagues, and real love and devotion for family.

I got him Thierry Mugler cologne cause I love its light fresh scent. I hope he enjoys it!”

Kat Tantoco-Lobregat on husband Paolo

“I LOVE him because… he’s my best friend, he’s a great companion, fun to be around, an amazing dad. The list could go on… My gift for him is a Inis Nobile Acqua Di Parma Perfume”

Bea Montecon on dad Bito

“I LOVE my dad because we have the same shallow sense of humor. He totally gets me, that’s why we get along so well. He’s the best! For Father’s Day, I’ll give him Pond’s Age Miracle Cream, because he uses it and I know he just ran out of it.”

Erica Paredes on dad Jim

“I LOVE my dad because he never gave up on me, never doubted me and has loved me even when I was the hardest person to love. He taught me a lot of lessons by example, and has helped me through the many situations I got myself into throughout my life. I never felt like he looked down on me or didn’t take me seriously, even when I was a child. Now, our relationship is a good mix of parent-child and friend. I can talk to him about anything without feeling embarrassed or scared. He’s a super cool dad. He’s been a father figure even to my close friends. He likes to meditate so I’m giving him a Dyptique candle for Father’s Day to help him relax and get in the zone.”

Gec Chia on dad George

“I AM truly appreciative of all the support and understanding my dad has given me over the years. He has served to be an inspiration to me and my family. I am blessed to be his son. I plan to give him my personal favorite: Gendarme Perfume. I also want to give him Thierry Mugler perfume and Hierbes di Ibiza so he has a variety of perfumes to choose from.”

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Cologne is the little black dress of perfumes. It’s a basic, it’s a classic, it will suit you forever and every girl (and boy, for colognes are unisex) should have at least one in a fragrance collection.

This scent is a refreshing antidote to the simpering, cloying and cynically commercial fruity florals now clogging up perfume counters. With its zesty, citric top notes, it is as refreshingly crisp as a newly laundered white shirt, making it an ideal splash or coolant in summer. Its dilute concentration makes it as subtle, translucent and evanescent as chiffon to wear.

But take note: you wear a cologne, it does not wear you. And the long history of eaux de Cologne it is one of the most antediluvian of perfume genres makes it, like the little black dress, unlikely to go out of style. Fragrance, like fashion, is currently revisiting the classics, and the cologne, with its fresh, bright nature, is one of perfumery’s most enduring products.

The word cologne in perfumery can denote one of two things. The first is broad, relating to the concentration of actual perfume used in a particular formula. An eau de Cologne contains between 3 and 5 per cent pure perfume, whereas eau de toilette usually contains 12 to 14 per cent. But the word refers to more than just strength; like the terms oriental and chypre, it describes the type and personality of a perfume and indicates that specific ingredients, usually citrus, will be used.

“Cologne defines a form of perfume that is always predicated on the feeling of freshness,” says Francis Kurkdjian, the “nose” who created Gaultier’s new Fleur du Male cologne. “Historically and traditionally, the colognes are structures which rest on freshness.”

The core ingredients are hesperidic citrus notes notes of bergamot, lemon, orange, grapefruit and tangerine. According to Pierre Guillaume of Parfumerie Gnrale, which has produced the new Cologne Grand Sicle: “These will be combined with at least one product of the orange tree (neroli or petitgrain, for example), various aromatic (rosemary, basil, etc) or floral (jasmine, iris) or spicy essences (coriander), and the woody notes of cedar and musks.”

The resurgence in colognes has been something of a Noughties phenomenon. Acqua di Parma, a cologne dating from 1916, became a modern cult when it was revived in the 1990s; it was subsequently bought by LVMH in 2003. A cluster of newer colognes have followed in its wake. Comme des Garons released Series 4: Cologne in 2002; it comprised three gigantic bottles of scent, each a cologne variant, inspired by those huge bottles of fragrance normally found in Spanish supermarkets and farmacia.

Also in 2002 came Thierry Mugler’s tingling, acerbic cologne. And, in 2004, the nose Jean-Claude Ellena produced a mellower, sweet, rindy conflation of citrus notes, called Cologne Bigarade, for Editions de Parfums Frdric Malle. In February 2007, Chanel’s sharp, dry Les Exclusifs Eau de Cologne followed.

Cologne enthusiasts will have noticed the crisp, refreshing properties of Prada’s Infusion d’Iris, launched last summer, which has that freshly laundered linen smell, engendered by orange blossom and mandarin top notes.

But it’s summer 2008 that’s set to see the real renaissance of the genre, with several cologne or cologne-like citrus fragrances to be launched. Miller Harris’s Le Petit Grain; Dior’s Escale à Portofino; Lorenzo Villaresi’s Acqua di Colonia; Caron’s Les Plus Belles Lavandes; Comme des Garons Series 8: Energy C; Missoni’s Arancia an array of zestful, lemony-orangey fragrances are about to arrive at the counters.

“Since the early Nineties, there’s been a trend for very fresh fragrances pioneered by New West, l’Eau d’Issey and Escape,” says the perfume expert and founder of Harrods Haute Parfumerie, Roja Dove. “What’s more, the market is currently saturated with new launches which are bland. Young women have never smelt colognes before and suddenly the oldest thing that our grandparents wore has become the new ultra-cool must-have.”

In a world obsessed by the provenance of the ingredients in beauty products, the cologne provides a natural alternative to the deluge of synthetics in perfumery. As Dove points out, classic colognes are 100 per cent natural, so they suit a modern lifestyle that’s moving away from the chemical and the synthetic.

Parfumerie Gnrale’s Cologne Grande Sicle isn’t just 100 per cent natural, it is 99.4 per cent certified organic. “I like to think the return of the cologne is a sign of the prevailing need for authenticity, simplicity and naturalness,” says Pierre Guillaume of Parfumerie Gnrale. “It’s a guarantee of quality, a kind of return to basics, a ‘break’ for our olfactory senses.”

The genealogy of cologne can be traced back to the 10th and 11th centuries, when the Persian doctor and philosopher Avicenna was one of the first people to document the art of distillation as a means of producing essential oils and alcohol. By the 14th century, Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary was bathing in and imbibing a cure-all concoction of herbs steeped in alcohol, known as Hungary Water: an early antecedent of eau de Cologne. And by the 18th century came Aqua Mirabilis a concoction of lemon, orange, bergamot, rosemary, bitter orange and neroli created by Jean Paul Feminis of Milan. In 1693, Feminis settled in Cologne in Germany, and the scent became known as eau de Cologne.

Many of the venerable eaux de Cologne are still around today. The 4711 brand, a light conflation of lemon, orange, bergamot, neroli, rosemary and lavender, as recognisable as Coca-Cola, is still one of the first perfumes teenagers discover in Boots. It was invented by a Carthusian monk in Cologne in 1792; he gave it to a young couple as a wedding gift.

Roger & Gallet’s Extra Vieille, created by Jean Marie Farina in 1806 and believed to have been used by Napoleon, “has a wonderful intrinsic honesty”, says Roja Dove. Guerlain’s acerbic Eau Imperiale, another landmark scent, arrived in 1853. So did Acqua di Genova (available from Dove’s Haute Parfumerie and Les Senteurs), a delicious, high-summery splash of an ancient cologne, created by the famous distiller Stafano Frecceri and still handmade, with notes of lemon, bergamot and sweet orange giving way to a heart of rose and neroli and base of woods and citrus concentrates.

Traditionally, colognes had many uses: they were sprinkled on bed linen, poured into bathwater, diluted and drunk as a cure-all, dropped on to handkerchiefs during fetid summer weather. “To me, colognes are as much grooming products as they are perfumes,” says Frdric Malle. “One wears them to smell clean and sharp, often as a final touch to his or her morning routine. I believe that one can wear massive doses of colognes without ever smelling too strong. That’s why colognes should be splashed, rather than sprayed, which is the best way to make them last.”

As Malle attests, the mood-brightening astringency of a cologne can become something of a summer addiction. Thankfully, their lemony lightness means that you can, in fact, never wear too much.

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Sniff Test, wherein our experts hit the perfume counter to spritz, sniff and take a deep whiff, appears Thursdays on The Ampersand. The experts: Dave Lackie is the editor of Cosmetics magazine and FP Weekend’s men style columnist. Nathalie Atkinson is a perfume enthusiast and the National Post’s resident stylephile. Today’s scent? Burt’s Bees new Natural Skin Care for Men line of face scrubs, soap, shave cream, aftershave and accompanying Natural Cologne ($29.99 for 59 ml at drug, grocery, health and natural stores across Canada).

He Says:
Who would have imagined Burt’s Bees would introduce the finest men’s scent this year? This crisp, woodsy cologne opens with lemon and orange notes before quickly drying down to bergamot, cypress and fir. Imagine a cross between Polo Ralph Lauren and Aveda’s signature scent. It’s fresh and modern. What’s more, all ingredients are 100% natural –and the bottle is made of recycled glass. Brilliant! 4 / 4 noses

She Says:
The cologne is initially bracing, tart with essential oils of tangerine, rosemary and bergamot (that small Italian fruit that makes Earl Grey smell so inviting). The bonus? Bergamot is also an effective natural insect repellent (Burt really thinks of everything). Beneath the brand’s signature honey sweetness there are faint notes of guy-in-the-woods stuff like pine needles. It’s a good, honest smell. All men should smell this good and at this price, there’s no excuse not to. 4 / 4 noses

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Men are coy about skincare but, thankfully, they’ve been warming up to the idea of men’s scents.

With fragrances that stress masculinity and enhance a man’s individual aura, these aromas can be a veritable wardrobe when worn to the right occasion.

Scents make for great gift ideas, but choosing one isn’t as easy as it seems. Avoid buying cologne for someone you don’t know very well. He might not enjoy it if it doesn’t suit his style or personality.

But if he’s more than an acquaintance, consider the following tips:

1. If it’s for your significant other, you can usually choose what you like, as men will likely appreciate it if their partner particularly enjoys the fragrance.

2. Use his personality and present job as a guide, and always try the fragrance first before deciding.

3. Choose between an everyday perfume or one for a special occasion. Did you know that in winter men and women wear stronger perfumes, but in summer they go for lighter, fresher types?

4. If you’re not sure, buy 50ml or 30ml bottles. A gift set with face moisturizer and gel adds complimentary products that he might prefer over the scent.

I interviewed athlete and boxer Jon Hall to find out his perfume preferences.

“I’m using Clinique Happy now since a lighter scent is more suitable for the summer,” he says.

At night, I use Giorgio Armani-Agua, but for every day, I use Nautica Competition.

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