Perfume Blog

Find out what’s hot in summer perfumes and get great advice on how to wear your favourite fragrances without falling prey to overpowering scents

Pack up your scarves, cableknits and mukluks, summer’s coming! Oh, and pack up your perfume, too.

Yes, just as it’s time to trade in your heavy winter gear for airy dresses and strappy sandals, it’s time to switch to a lighter summer scent. “We reflect our surroundings through what we wear,” says Sixth Scents’ Marian Bendeth, an internationally known Toronto-based consultant who uses her formidable fragrance expertise to help clients build fragrance wardrobes that fit their personalities and lifestyles.

Bendeth points out that winter is all about dark colours and rich, cosy textures, and that summer is about fresh air, green grass, hot sun, cottage getaways and glowing sunsets. “We have appropriate clothing for those things; it makes sense to have appropriate scents, too.” Here are her tips for smelling scent-sational this summer.

1. Lighten up

Heavier fragrances work better in cold weather than in warm — heat activates the perfume oil to release more scent,” Bendeth explains. As the air warms up, heavy perfume can become overpowering, so consider switching to something lighter.

If you can’t bear to break from those heavier notes, don’t worry: Fragrance lines often include companion products such as shower gels and body lotions, so you can hydrate and scent your skin with your favourites without the intensity of the actual eau de parfum or eau de toilette.

2. Look for summer versions of your faves

“Fragrance companies know you have your favourites and they want to keep you as their customer,” says Bendeth. “Many, like Stella McCartney, Issey Miyake and Jean Paul Gaultier, offer summer editions of their best-sellers, lighter versions that pump up the softer notes and knock back the intensity of others. Some, like Calvin Klein with Eternity, release entirely new scents designed to appeal to a brand’s established consumer.”

3. Let seasonal activities inspire you
Summer is about sipping cool beverages, lounging in the garden, relaxing at the cottage and frolicking at waterfront picnics. “Hold off on incense-inspired, intense vanilla, very sweet florals and sweet fruity fragrances,” advises Bendeth. “Think energizing citrus, fresh white flowers, crisp green, woody or aquatic scents.”

In the citrus family, try Fresh Sugar Lemon or Elizabeth Arden Pure White Linen Light Breeze. If white flowers appeal, try Vera Wang Sheer Veil. Demeter Grass hits the green notes, and Miss Boucheron is a sophisticated woody scent. In the aquatic arena, go for Davidoff Cool Water Woman Freeze Me and L’Eau d’Issey Summer Eau de Toilette.

4. Give up the alcohol
Alcohol in your fragrance isn’t a problem in winter but in the summer, sun exposure plus alcohol can irritate the skin and make the scent smell funny. “Summer scents usually substitute water for the alcohol, so the fragrance will sit lightly on the skin,” says Bendeth. “Because these formulas are so light, you can spritz on a little more — in fact, you can spritz them all over your body.”

5. Avoid extended sun exposure
Yes, this tip is about sun damage — but not as related to SPF. “The sun can react with fragrance to discolour the skin and turn the scent bitter,” Bendeth cautions. “As well, it can attract insects.”

6. Try something a little headier for evening
Sexy and a little naughty certainly works for hot summer nights — Jean Paul Gaultier Classique Summer Fragrance or Ed Hardy Tattoo would turn up the temperature on a dinner date.

Bendeth suggests Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Figue Iris for an indoor rendevouz, and Givenchy Harvest 2007 Organza Jasmine for an evening under the stars. “Just be careful if you’re going to a night-time barbeque,” says Bendeth. “You don’t want to attract bees and mosquitoes!”

7. Um… are there year-round fragrances?
“Of course,” says Bendeth. “Soft florals are always in season, and they’re appropriate for most situations, including work.

Rose is another all-year-long scent, but those tend to be more romantic, more heady, so save those for non-work environments.” If you like soft floral scents, try Celine Dion Sensational or India Hicks Island Living Spider Lily. If you like rose fragrances, try Jo Malone Red Roses, Demeter Bulgarian Rose, Lacoste Dream of Pink or Valentino Rock ‘n Rose Pret a Porter.

Whatever your “scentsibility” (sorry, couldn’t resist), breezy summer scents round out your wardrobe of floaty frocks and kicking-back gear. More than that, they banish the last wretched threads of a most bitter winter — and who doesn’t love that?

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By CHANDLER BURR

One of China’s hottest sellers is a nonessential Western luxury product that the Chinese have historically never bought and that has virtually no Chinese cultural roots: perfume.

With perfume sales in much of the rest of the world slowing or declining, the industry, primarily based in Paris and New York, hopes for significant growth in China. The market there remains small, though sales are rising exponentially. Nobody knows the exact growth rate, but Patrick de Lambilly, the vice president for Asia for Coty, says, “You can see 20, 30, and 40 percent a year.”

Alexandre de Chaudenay, Asia-Pacific managing director of the perfume licensee Beauté Prestige International, said, “I’d say 20 to 40 percent seems correct, but the figures are extremely difficult, and people tell you anything.”

Still, even if the Chinese market is potentially hugely lucrative, doing business there is far from easy. The regulatory system is uncertain. The complexity of its bureaucracy is daunting. The department stores are of varying quality, and because Chinese tastes are changing rapidly, a store that attracts crowds one day can be deserted the next.

To add to the uncertainty, many in the business say the concept of perfume is so new that a lot of Chinese consumers are, in fact, not buying a perfume but rather the brand to which a bottle of perfume happens to be attached. “China is about brand, brand, brand,” Mr. de Chaudenay said.

And the importance of brand raises the question of the market’s future stability. Although many in the industry talk about the strength of the luxury brands in China, “Are those brands’ perfumes selling well?” Mr. de Chaudenay asked. “I think so. Are the consumers coming back? We don’t know.”

For that reason, Mr. de Lambilly says his perfume company and others are tempering their enthusiasm for the Chinese market with realism. “We’re learning as we go,” he said. “Particularly in fragrances. All of us here are doing the same thing: getting data from the marketing sources, comparing it to other sources, trying to figure it out.”

Hans Wohmann, head of Procter & Gamble’s Asian operations for scent, said sales in China of what are known as “prestige fragrances” — perfumes made by designers and luxury houses like Chanel, Estée Lauder and Dior — were around $120 million versus the $9 billion European market or the $4 billion American market. Even the Japanese market, the largest in Asia, was $500 million in 2006.

As Mr. Wohmann put it, “So 20 percent of the world’s population has only 1 percent of the global fine fragrance market.”

Perfume is a relatively recent phenomenon in China. Mr. de Lambilly said the Chinese started using scented shower products only in the early 20th century. But they were light and simple, he said. “They were for freshening the body and also to avoid mosquitoes.”

Western-type perfumes have been produced in China only since the mid-1980s, said Bill Jin, manager at the PearlChem Corporation in Parsippany, N.J., an importer and distributor of perfume raw materials.

Ralf Ritter, a consultant to the scent maker Takasago, said he would be “surprised if even 50 percent of the perfume bought in China was actually used.” And that, he said, is largely because in China fragrances serve multiple purposes. “They’re fragrances, but they also repel mosquitoes, they have moisturizing properties, and they are used in the summer to freshen up,” he said. “Chinese consumers care that the product does more than just fragrance the body.”

Mr. Jin says there are a just a few local perfume brands. Pearlscent, the sister company of Mr. Jin’s company, based in Guangzhou, is one. “The fragrance concentrates are mainly created by our customers in the U.S. or France and imported from the U.S.A. or Europe.” They are then mixed with alcohol, bottled and sold in China.

Mr. Jin adds that there is virtually universal agreement that Chinese brands will not pose serious competition to Western brands until well in the future. “High-end brands like Dior and Chanel will be for the prestige consumer, which is completely different from the local brand market,” he said. “One bottle of Chanel perfume will cost almost a half month pay for a fresh-out-of-college student.”

Coty entered China, via its Chinese distributor, ADE China, in 2000, immediately establishing Davidoff and its flagship scent, Cool Water, which, Mr. de Lambilly said, is a strong seller. Coty introduced Calvin Klein perfumes in 2006, and that brand is now Coty’s leader. “CK One is obviously very strong,” he said, “and N2U did very well because it fits very well with the young high-tech mentality of the Chinese.”

Jennifer Lopez, which Coty introduced in 2002, is doing well, and the company has introduced Sarah Jessica Parker’s perfume brand, though Mr. de Lambilly said, “Celebrity brands are not doing that well in Asia.”

Kenzo has been in China for more than a decade and, having developed a stable department store business in the main cities, is now moving into secondary cities. B.P.I. introduced its Issey Miyake and Jean-Paul Gaultier brands in China two years ago.

“We began in Beijing and Shanghai with limited distribution,” Mr. de Chaudenay said, “building up our counters and our visibility with a flagship strategy: we invest more in the point of sale than in media.” In the next three years, B.P.I. plans to start selling its brands in 160 department stores in China’s 20 biggest cities.

Inefficiencies, bureaucratic complexities and the major capital investments needed for setting up a subsidiary have made partnerships with Chinese distributors the norm.

“For regulation concerns, China is still one of the most difficult countries to register your product,” says Sung Kim, regional director for the Asia Pacific Region for Kenzo Parfums. “You need to register for both sales and hygiene. It takes about two months per product, and there is no guarantee that approval will be granted by the authorities.”

Luciano Bertinelli, managing director of Salvatore Ferragamo Perfums, said his company also relied on its Chinese partner to distribute its products. He added, “It is today almost impossible to negotiate China by yourself.” Like Coty, Ferragamo also chose ADE, a 10-year-old company owned and led by May Zhang that works principally on perfume.

The question of which perfumes to offer the Chinese consumer is perhaps the trickiest one. Kenzo, with two huge successes in the Chinese market — Flower by Kenzo and Kenzo Amour — plans to develop perfumes specifically for Chinese tastes. “The Chinese cannot accept strong fragrances,” Mr. Kim of Kenzo said. “They prefer the scent to be more floral for women and more fresh for men.” He said the Chinese also preferred the less concentrated eaux de toilette.

When Prada introduced its original Prada perfume — a powerful, rich patchouli amber — to the Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong markets, those consumers found it too strong, the company said. So in China, Prada chose instead to introduce Prada Tendre, a much lighter, cleaner version, in March 2007. Prada said the scent was doing well.

Because the brand’s new clean citrus-tinted Infusion d’Iris perfume is proving to be even bigger in Asian markets outside of China than Tendre, the company is hoping for a big hit on the mainland, where Infusion will be introduced this summer.

Mr. de Chaudenay says that companies are not only investing huge sums in getting into the Chinese market, they have accepted huge losses for a long time.

“Your store is good, and the next day a new store opens next door and you lose all your traffic,” Mr. de Chaudenay said. “You’ve invested in your counter, and now your counter is dead. You have to be aware where the market is moving, and it’s moving fast. Very few brands are making money in China, and I mean in all categories.”

But, he added: “We are buying market share. We will get the profits tomorrow.”

Some major Western brands are treading cautiously. Parfums Givenchy, a major perfume brand of the European luxury giant LVMH, is not yet a presence in China. “The Chinese perfume market is tiny,” said Alain Lorenzo, president of Givenchy Parfums. He said Givenchy was concentrating on the much larger markets for makeup and skin care. “Once we hold a big position in these segments, we will start looking at how to develop perfume as well.”

Mr. Ritter said China was also maturing quickly in regulatory terms, rising toward international standards on allergens and toxicity.

That only means that international brands will try harder to reach Chinese consumers. “I strongly believe that perfume will become more and more attractive to them,” Mr. de Chaudenay said. “China is going to be so big that no one will be able to avoid being in China. We are going there for the long term. We have very ambitious plans.”

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By Amy Harris

HAVE you ever fancied following in the footsteps of Britney Spears, Kylie or Sarah Jessica Parker and creating your own scent?

Well you don’t need to be an A-list celebrity to have your own unique perfume.

Reporter AMY HARRIS discovers a bespoke service which means you too can follow in the stars’ footsteps.

THESE days the perfume industry is big business.

..It seems that everyone - from celebrities to giant fashion houses such as Gucci and Chloe - has a signature scent.

The shelves in big department stores are bulging with rows and rows of brightly-coloured fragrance bottles in all shapes and sizes.

But if you’re sick of spraying yourself with bottle after bottle of perfume, confused and none-the-wiser as to which one really suits you, there is an easy solution.

And it’s right on your doorstep. Warwickshire clothes designer Gill Wesley has added a new line to her business - perfume creation.

It means women in the region can now take the stars’ lead and create their own fragrance.

Dozens of women visit Gill’s studio in Blackthorn Road, Kenilworth, to make their very own bespoke scent.

Gill, who also designs and makes individual tailor-made corsets and clothes, including wedding dresses, said: “My clients come to me for something individual so I thought this would be something that would complement the service I am already offering.

“It’s popular with all clients because everyone is coming for something unique, in particular the brides.”

During the one-hour perfume design session, Gill’s client will sample a range of 18 perfume blends, reserving their favourites.

Gill guides each of her clients through this process, discussing what sort of fragrances appeal to their sense of smell and helping them focus on their preferred choice.

Gill, a mum-of-two, said: “It can be quite an emotional journey as smells can remind you of a time or place.

“This is the exact process that these celebrities will go through to create their own perfume, so for individuals to do that themselves is fantastic.”

All of the perfume blends have been created by one of the world’s leading perfumers and the ingredients he has used to create the blends have been sourced from all over the world to produce perfumes of an exceptional quality.

A classic fragrance is a combination of fresh top notes, which provide the first impression of the fragrance, character-giving middle notes - known as the heart of the perfume - and lingering base notes, also known as the memory.

Any number of the 18 blends can be fused to give an infinite variety of stunning perfumes, which are bottled in a pretty package.

Gill says no particular scent is more popular than another, adding: “There has been no pattern in terms of the types of blends selected by clients. The fragrances created have been as individual as the clients themselves.”

And of course Gill, aged 46, has created her own perfume and wears it every day.

“I never used to wear perfume every day but now because it’s so personal to me I love to wear it.”

Blends available at Gill’s studio include:

FLORAL:

Jasmine, mandarin, violet leaf, sandalwood and blackcurrant.

CITRUS:

Bergamot, mandarin, lemon, grapefruit, neroli.

SPICY:

Cardamom, black pepper, coriander, ginger, nutmeg.

Claire’s sweet smell of success

COVENTRY mum-of-two Claire Martin, visited Gill’s studio to create her own perfume.

Tired of wearing the same scents, Claire felt she was in need of a change.

The 31-year-old said: “I never go and buy perfume for myself. I always get bought perfume for birthdays, Christmas, Mother’s Day, so I always stick to the same one.

“It’s lovely but it’s nice to treat myself and have something individual and a bit special.”

Claire, of Ash Tree Avenue in Lime Tree Park, added: “My perfume ended up being a sweet, floral, fruity scent. It’s completely different to what I have had before, the one I normally wear is quite strong.”

Claire, who owns an equestrian supplies shop in Balsall Common and is a keen horserider, called her perfume Classic Pearl - after her horse.

She said: “It has been a brilliant experience, I will definitely do it again. And it’s on a scale I can afford.

“The bottle is lovely and it comes in such a nice box. And I can also get it refilled as much as I want.”

Smells play a part in sexual attraction

YOU hope it’s turning him on but you’re not quite sure that fragrance you spritzed liberally before stepping out is really doing the trick.

Well, women, worry no more, for recent research suggests a sniff of a pleasant perfume sets off powerful signals in a bloke’s brain.

Scans showed one whiff of a female fragrance can activate a number of different areas in the brain.

Perfume was found to affect the same regions as visual stimulation, such as watching an erotic movie.

The findings, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, suggest smell plays a larger part in sexual attraction than was thought.

Women in the UK apparently spend about £500 million a year on perfumes and the market is awash with launches from actresses, pop stars, designers and assorted celebrities, all keen to cash in on this lucrative market.

But so far there has been controversy over how big a part smell plays for humans in sexual attraction.

Some scientists believe our smell receptors, like animals, are stimulated by aromas, particularly chemicals called pheromones which are released in human sweat.

Pheromones are known to be crucial in sexual attraction in the animal kingdom but it is thought they may play a less vital, or, perhaps more subtle role in humans.

It’s hard to quantify how much influence it plays since other factors clearly have a bearing on who we find attractive, such as physical appearance, social status and wealth.

In the end it’s probably about finding the right combination of all factors but a fine fragrance is definitely a good start.

Stars with a nose for perfume

* SEX and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker is to launch another new perfume after the success of her fragrances, Lovely and Covet.

“I have a genderless one that I’ve been working on for about six months,” she told E!Online. “I wore it a lot when I was shooting the movie.”

And it seems that to SJP, fragrance is as important to her as clothes.

“If I walk out without wearing fragrance, it’s my version of being completely nude,” she said. “Which, as you know, I never am.”

And, in true Carrie Bradshaw style, Sarah Jessica would rather look good than feel comfortable.

“I would rather be cold and look good,” she said. “I would rather wear heels and run down the block for 14 hours, and in six months see it on screen and think, ‘yeah, I should have been in heels running down the street after that cab’. You have to be a thoroughbred about it if you care.”

* JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE is to become the new face of French fragrance house Givenchy.

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