Profile: Patricia de Nicolaï & The Guerlain DNA

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Kafkaesque

Patricia de Nicolaï, via her own website.

I thought it might be nice to take a look at a very talented perfumer whom I deeply respect, but whose scents frequently seem to fly under the radar. It is a little surprising to me, given who she is. Patricia de Nicolaï of Parfums de Nicolaï comes from the Guerlain family, is a grand-daughter of the house’s founder, Pierre Guerlain, a niece of Jean-Jacques Guerlain, and a niece or cousin to the famed nose, Jean-Paul Guerlain. She is a pioneer amongst female perfumers, and has won prestigious honours from both her perfume peers and from the French government itself. Yet, even die-hard Guerlain lovers aren’t always intimately familiar with her works. I hope to remedy that in the upcoming weeks, but I thought I would first start with a look at the woman herself.

Jean-Paul Guerlain. Source: manager-magazin.de

Patricia de Nicolaï fascinates me not only because she is a trail-blazer in some ways, but because she seems authentic, down-to-earth, passionate, warm, and wholly unpretentious. Though she has the Guerlain genes in more ways than just mere chromosomes, let’s start with Madame de Nicolaï’s genealogy. She is closely related to Jean-Paul Guerlain who is both the current family patriarch and the last Guerlain who creates fragrances for the house.(Several sites call her his niece, but Patricia de Nicolaï says her mother was his cousin, so wouldn’t that make her Jean-Paul Guerlain’s second cousin?) Jean-Paul Guerlain is legendary for his creations. According to Guerlain’s Wikipedia page, he made such legends as: Vétiver (1959); Habit Rouge (1965); Chant d’Arômes (1962), Chamade (1969), Nahéma (1979), Jardins de Bagatelle (1983), and Samsara (1989), along with Héritage and Coriolan in the 1990s.

Madame de Nicolaï grew up surrounded by the Guerlain culture. As her website explains, she “spent her childhood in the Guerlain family home in Paris. A home in which she has been in contact with 4 generations of Guerlain.” She elaborated a little further to the The Daily Mail newspaper:

I grew up surrounded by people who were fascinated by smell. My parents had a beautiful 18th century manor house in Burgundy with a lovely garden where the rooms were scented with Pot Pourri de Guerlain. Neither of my parents were noses but they had a vineyard and my mother was a famous wine taster. I think my love of fragrance was unconscious I grew up with it.

Vintage Shalimar ad. Sourc: caviardujour.com

CaFleureBon has a superb, detailed interview with Madame de Nicolaï where her warmth, charm, and wit shine through in great abundance. I recommend reading in full if you’re interested, but I’ll quote my favorite part involving her memories of her childhood, her mother, and Shalimar. The quote not only creates the image of one, big family filled with strong characters who were all completely crazy about perfume, but also really underscores the powerful impact that one’s parents (and their fragrance) can have on a person’s olfactory development. As Madame de Nicolaï explained:

I lived within the Guerlain Parisian ‘Hôtel Particulier’ for the first 20 years of my life. We had – and we still have – a very big family and we all had our corner in this wonderful spot. I could tell loads of little stories about my childhood but if I had to take one moment, it would be when I was waken up every morning by the powerful and spellbinding Shalimar that my mother used to wear. I did not need an alarm clock in that time! The Shalimar scent was my morning wakeup call! And I loved it! My mother’s room was situated underneath mine and the scent came through my window which was always open, because sleeping with an opened window is in fact very healthy. You can trust my grandmother on that!

My mother loved Shalimar , it is true, but she really liked to be the first one to ‘test’ all the perfumes created by Jean-Paul Guerlain. She was the tender ‘guinea pig’ of her beloved cousin.

Source: .beauty-mekka.de

As an adult, Madame de Nicolaï attended the perfume school, ISIPCA, at Versailles, and then was employed at Quest, which later turned into Givaudan. During the late 1980s, she spent a few years working alongside some famous “noses,” like Maurice Roucel. There is also Sophia Grosjman whom she assisted on Lancome‘s very popular Tresor.

Madame de Nicolaï always forged her own path, in part because she was not allowed to work at the family business and, in part, because 30 years ago, perfumed doors were closed to women. In fact, there is an interesting article in the Edmonton Journal which talks about the glass ceiling faced by women perfumers:

When she graduated from ISIPCA, the perfumery school in Versailles, de Nicolai initially sought a job as a junior perfumer but doors were closed. “Because I was a woman. Even if the manager said yes, the chief perfumer didn’t ever want to have a woman on his team.”

She was never allowed to work at the family business. (To be fair, the family sold it to luxury goods behemoth LVMH in 1994, but still.)

“A lot of people ask me that,” de Nicolai shrugged, diplomatically, before adding: “You should ask that to the Guerlain family!” A couple years ago in Paris, when Jean-Paul Guerlain handed in the reigns of house master perfumer and LVMH brought in the first non-family member Thierry Wasseur, I had done just that. [¶]

Did he not believe that women could be good perfumers? I asked. Monsieur Guerlain, then 71, waved his hand dismissively and muttered something about de Nicolai being a woman who made scented salts and candles.

Jean-Paul Guerlain via The Telegraph.

To put it as politely as I can, Jean-Paul Guerlain seems to have … er… issues… with a number of social groups, beyond just women, as evidenced by his attitude towards minorities and immigrants. I am doing my utmost to refrain from commenting further.

Patricia de Nicolai in 1989 with the prize for best international perfumer. Source: CaFleureBon

Still, Madame de Nicolaï had talent that other people couldn’t deny or so easily dismiss. In fact, she seems to have had the last laugh. In 1988, she became the very first woman to ever win the “Prix International du Meilleur Parfumeur“, an award given to the best international perfumer from the French Society of Perfumers (SFP). According to Madame de Nicolaï’s Wikipedia entry, Luca Turin reportedly called her “…one of the unsung greats of the fragrance world.”

In 1989, Madame de Nicolaï founded her own company, alongside her husband, Jean-Louis Michau. I suspect she did so in part because there were not a lot of other options open to her. As she stated in the CaFleureBon interview, her uncle (Jean-Paul Guerlain presumably) had told her that she had “to improve [her] skills and then ‘we’ll see’. This ‘we’ll see’ never happened.”

The Parfums de Nicolai website merely states that she

started ‘NICOLAI, parfumeur-créateur’ … to continue the prestigious family tradition of perfume creation. The concept was to emphasise the role of the perfumer. A perfumer free in his creative choices and free to use the best quality ingredients available.

With an impressive number of creations, Patricia de Nicolai has succeeded in building one of the largest collections of fragrances in the contemporary perfume business.

She is in charge of the creation of the fragrances as well as the purchase of the raw materials and the making of the concentrates.

In all these creations her personal style appears, giving a real signature imprint. Patricia de Nicolaï’s creations are identifiable, original and elegant reflecting the high Parisian ‘parfumerie’ and ‘Le luxe à la française.’ […][¶]

She is also the only independent woman perfumer to have her own fragrance company. [Emphasis in the original, not from me.]

In 2002, Jean-Paul Guerlain retired from the family business as Guerlain’s official nose. Many assumed the mantle would pass to Patricia de Nicolaï. Well, apparently, that glass ceiling is alive and well at Guerlain, even under LVMH ownership. Madame de Nicolaï was passed over entirely for the role of in-house perfumer, a position that eventually went to Thierry Wasser in 2008.

Thierry Wasser and Jean-Paul Guerlain. Source: ellecanada.com

I find it utterly astonishing that a talented, much admired and respected nose who is an actual member of the Guerlain family was brushed aside. I simply can’t wrap my head around it. Guerlain’s Wikipedia page states: “With no heir from within the Guerlain family to take over, the role of master perfumer is no longer tied to family succession.” But there was an heir! An heir who was an actual nose, and who had received international recognition from her peers at an extremely young age! A 100+year family tradition was broken simply because Madame de Nicolaï was a woman??! It’s bloody outrageous.

Today, Patricia de Nicolaï runs her personal company, but is also the president of L’Osmothèque, the famed perfume museum at Versailles. It has become the main guardian of what is left of many of the legendary perfumes of the past, perfumes from Houbigant, Coty, and the like, perfumes that have now vanished from existence except for the tiny quantities that Osmothèque keeps in a Fort Knox-like vault. (You can read all about the fascinating place in a Fragrantica article, if you’re interested.) Osmothèque’s importance is just one of the reasons why France awarded Madame de Nicolaï its greatest honour when it made her a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2008.

Madame de Nicolai at Osmothèque.

Madame de Nicolaï is passionate about the cultural importance of perfumery. As the Edmonton Journal article makes clear, she believes perfume

it is part of the French cultural heritage, as important a cultural and economic export as fashion (which, in the aftermath of the Second World War, saved the country’s economy thanks almost entirely to Christian Dior’s New Look). “It’s a notion of art, and when in the middle of the 19th century synthetic molecules appeared and perfumers were not only chemists or apothecaries, they became really creators,” de Nicolai said.

“Perfume is probably the most sophisticated creation to make,” she added; “it’s very intellectual. It’s the most valuable product of our spirit.” More important than gender, she said, is that each creator has what in fine art is called la patte d’un peintre — the hand of the artist. “You recognize Beethoven, Mozart immediately,” de Nicolai said, and so too the signature of a perfumer.

Her own olfactory signature admits to certain genetic tendencies. “I am influenced by my family!” she admitted with rueful laugh. “Growing up Guerlain was always only nice perfumes, something you could recognize from afar, the sillage, and you would know it was Guerlain. I wanted to have the same approach.”

Source: Now Smell This.

I respect Madame de Nicolaï for her character more than for anything to do with Guerlain. It’s not only her passionate commitment to the art of perfumery, but what seems to be to be something that I can only describe as integrity. She puts her head down, and quietly creates what she thinks is beautiful. Fads or popular trends be damned; it’s beauty and elegance which matter.

In fact, as she told CaFleureBon, one reason why she left Quest (Givaudan) was because she was fed up “by the practice of creating fragrances based on focus groups and marketing questions. I was very frustrated and I wanted to be free!” Her desire to be true to her own beliefs helps explain why it has taken Madame de Nicolaï years to put out a fragrance with oud. She did so finally in late 2013, only after intensely studing the character of the wood. As she said in her CaFleureBon interview, “I did not want to be trapped by trends. I am a free woman, free to create my own perfumes the moment I want to, regardless of any marketing concepts.”

I can’t tell you how much I respect all that. I’m a sucker for quiet intellectuals who also seem to be very down-to-earth, funny, humble, self-deprecating, warm and kind — traits which all the interviews demonstrate that Madame de Nicolaï has in abundance. Really, CaFleureBon did a stupendous job with their interview, and it is a stellar read from start to finish. It’s also quite funny in parts. I laughed like mad at Madame de Nicolai’s confession that she would have loved to make a perfume for Margaret Thatcher… because of how challenging it would be.

Source: rd.hu/A_parfüm_titkai

Apart from the three interviews linked up above, The Smelly Vagabond also has an account of an evening which a London perfume group spent with Madame de Nicolaï last year. It has lovely personal anecdotes, like how Madame de Nicolaï’s daughter suddenly “gets the flu” whenever she’s required to smell perfume. Or the key role played by her very supportive husband who urged her to begin her own perfume house:

At that time I had to take care of my children. My husband told me that if I stopped working in the perfume industry I would never be able to come back to it. Working for other companies was not an option because there is not enough freedom for the perfumer, who is under the whims of the marketing team. There is competition not just within the company but outside as well. So my husband told me that if I made the perfumes, he would settle the rest of the business.

As for her perfumes, well, there is one that I instantly liked, and liked so much that its memory stayed with me for months after I tried it in Paris and I ended up buying it. That will be the subject of the next review. The rest of her line isn’t always very “me,” however, as I find that many lack the sort of bold, opulent heaviness that I enjoy. However, I respect them a lot, appreciate their very classique feel, and can see the technical skill behind them.

“New York” via Luckyscent.

I get the sense that there often seems to be one single Nicolai perfume that wrap its tentacles around you and becomes “yours.” Take, for example, Luca Turin who loved Madame de Nicolaï’s New York cologne so much that he wore it for a whole decade. In Perfumes: the A-Z Guide, he gives New York his highest 5-Star rating, and writes :

If Guerlain had any sense they would buy Parfums de Nicolaï, add her range to theirs, trash fifteen or so of their own laggard fragrances, a couple of de Nicolaï’s, and install owner-creator Patricia in Orphin as in-house perfumer. She is, after all, a granddaughter of Pierre Guerlain and genetic analysis might usefully reveal the genes associated with her perfumery talent. As a control where the genes are known to be absent, use the DNA of whoever did Creed’s Love in White. Smelling New York as I write this, eighteen years after its release, is like meeting an old high-school teacher that had a decisive influence on my life: I may have moved on, but everything it taught me is still there, still precious, and wonderful to revisit. New York’s exquisite balance between resinous orange, powdery vanilla and salubrious woods shimmers from moment to moment, always comfortable but never slack, always present but never loud. It is one of the greatest masculines ever, and probably the one I would save if the house burned down. Reader, I wore it for a decade.

Amber Oud. Source: CaFleureBon

I have samples of a few Nicolaï scents to test in the upcoming weeks or months, including Luca Turin’s beloved New York. It’s a nice, masculine fragrance which contains some of the Guerlain DNA, as it opens with a very superficial similarity to Habit Rouge before turning into something very different and wholly chypre-like in nature. I also have the oriental Maharanih (which I may skip reviewing as it has been discontinued in favour of the new Intense version), and the new Amber Oud whose notes include everything from lavender and thyme, to cinnamon, saffron, cedar, styrax, musk, castoreum and amber.

First up, though, will be the scent which I fell for and bought for myself, Sacrebleu Intense, a fragrance which I find to be a darker, non-powdery and possibly more unisex, modern take on Guerlain’s legendary masterpiece, L’Heure Bleue.

The Guerlain DNA, indeed. Better still, it’s from a really lovely person.

LM Parfums Hard Leather Giveaway: The Ten Winners!

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Kafkaesque

Random.org has spoken, and I have the names of the ten U.S. winners for the perfume giveaway so generously provided by LM Parfums.

THE WINNERS:

I input all the names into Random.org, and its machine has spat out the list of winners. Without further ado,the first ten people chosen at random are: VickyPW, Edward G., The Scented Hound, WeFadeToGrey, Carla Meiners, Cohibadad, Hunter, Two2aHorse, Sara, and Xtopher!

Congratulations to all of you! [Edited to add: In total, 68 names were entered, as indicated by the comment shown that “there were 68 items in your list.”I merely did a Screen Capture of however many names would fit on my list, but that isn’t the complete list. In other words, there were more names shown below #22, but I could only “grab” that amount to show. Please don’t think you weren’t entered simply because I didn’t “screen capture” all 68 names, or the order they came in.]

Hard Leather 5 ml decant. Photo: my own.

Each of the winners will get ONE decant 5 ml bottle of my favorite new perfume in many a year, Hard Leather. You have until the end of TUESDAY, February 25th, to email me your shipping information. Please send an email to Akafkaesquelife @ gmail . com (all one word, scrunched together) with the necessary information.

If I fail to hear from you within the contact period deadline, I will give the gift to the next person on the list, and/or move the winners up by one.

I will take care of all the shipping and costs. I plan to go to the post office to ship your packages out by Wednesday if all goes to plan. So, you might want to add on another 5 business days from February 26th before you get your package, fingers crossed. On a side note, I’m always paranoid about things getting lost or damaged in the mail, so perhaps you might email me when you receive your package to let me know that it arrived safely, intact, and without leakage? As I said, I worry about these things.

For that reason, I would like to emphasize that I am not responsible for items that are destroyed or lost in transit for some reason.

FINALLY:

I would like to thank LM Parfums‘ owner, Laurent Mazzone, for his enormous generosity, kindness and thoughtfulness in offering ten fantastic gifts. This is very expensive perfume, and it also has been extremely hard to obtain in the U.S. until now, so he really wanted to give more people the chance to try it. I hope the winners will let me know what they think when they receive it. I know the raunchy Hard Leather won’t be for everyone, but I hope a few of you find it to be sex on stick or, rather, sex in a bottle.

For those who weren’t so lucky in the giveaway but who live in the U.S., Osswald in New York appears to have finally received Hard Leather in its store. Finally! It’s still not listed on their website, but they sent out a Tweet yesterday to announce the perfume’s arrival. You can always try calling them to order samples. You may not be aware, but Osswald has a special deal (that they keep rather quiet about) which is limited to those who call them at (212) 625-3111. They offer 10 samples of 10 perfumes in 1 ml vials for $10 with free domestic shipping. It is only available by phone and to those in the U.S., so it is one way for you to explore the LM Parfums line since none of the decanting stores offer the perfumes. Also, as a side note, I will be reviewing LM Parfums’ Black Oud (a much better version of Puredistance’s BLACK, if you ask me) and the floral woody Vol d’Hirondelle in the upcoming future as well.

Thank you to everyone for stopping by, and may the fragrant winds always keep you safe.

Arte Profumi Fumoir: Campfire Smoke & Promises

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Kafkaesque

The promise of Russian leather, birch tar, smoke, ambergris, and velvet-covered, opulent smoking rooms in gentlemen’s clubs lies at the heart of Fumoir, a new and expensive eau de parfum from the Italian perfume house, Arte Profumi. From the company’s elegant description right down to Fumoir’s notes (which also include pepper, cumin, and rose), the perfume sounds glorious on paper.

Fumoir, via First in Fragrance.

Arte Profumi, whose name translates to The Art of Perfume, is based in Rome and seems to have been founded around 2013, the year when it launched all its fragrances. Fumoir is classified as a leather scent, but its name refers to smoking rooms at a gentleman’s club, as well as to a smoke house. Arte Profumi‘s website has little by way of description for the scent, and absolutely no notes:

FUMOIR
Birch
… conversations among men,
in reserved rooms,
covered by wood, leather and velvet
surrounded by smoke.

Source: Wingtip.com

First in Fragrance has much more information, and describes Fumoir as follows:

“Fumoir” by Arte Profumi is dedicated to a very special world – the world of gentlemen’s clubs and the pleasures of tobacco.

The quite, intense and distinctive fragrance takes no prisoners. Pepper and cumin are the strong vanguard. The fragrance bites wonderfully with smoky and leather notes, the rose in the heart is known only by hearsay and ambergris stays firmly in the background. The rest is pure and driven to extreme masculinity.

“Fumoir” doesn’t rely on hints. Whoever enjoys assertive smoky notes and old, creaking leather, or prefers a statement to diplomacy, will love “Fumoir”. The name in French not only means gentlemen’s room or smoking room but also smoke house.

The notes, as compiled from First in Fragrance and Fragrantica, are:

pepper, cumin, birch tar, tobacco, russian leather, rose and ambergris.

Talisker, an Islay single malt. Photo: Savuista at the Savuista blog.http://savuista.blogspot.com/2013_10_01_archive.html

Fumoir opens on my skin with beautiful birch, manifesting itself as campfire smokiness infused with a peaty, somewhat salty, single malt, Islay Scotch. I’m quite serious when I say that I actually murmured out loud, “Laphroaig on steroids!” which is a huge compliment, as I love Laphroaig the most out of the all the Islay malts. Here, the Scotch is amplified with that gloriously burnt wood, campfire smokiness that is such a core component of birch.

Birch Tar pitch via Wikicommons.

Birch tar is more than just smoky, though. It is often a key element in creating the impression of leather, especially Russian leather. Back in the old days, Russian tanners cured hides with the tar, and something in the popular imagination (or perhaps just in my imagination) tends to associate the leather aroma with dashing, fierce, or untamed Cossacks. (As a side note, Chanel‘s Cuir de Russie probably helped in creating this association.)

Here, in Fumoir, the campfire aroma of scorched birch wood is soon followed by a definite note of blackened, tar-encrusted leather. At this point in the perfume’s evolution, the leather very much feels like its own distinct, individual element. Unfortunately, it later ends up being subsumed into the birch tar, which drives Fumoir from its very first moment until its end.

Source: lamag.com

The leather is really lovely at this point. It is so black and sultry in its smoky, rugged heft. Yet, there is an odd meatiness about it that continuously reminds me of a mesquite-smoked barbecue. Fiery black pepper thoroughly covers it and the overall effect is… well, you may call me crazy, but I keep thinking of Steak au Poivre. Perhaps it’s the result of the cumin with the pepper and birch, creating a combination which my mind is translating into a big, fat, meaty steak, covered with walloping amounts of pepper, and thoroughly infused with smoke from a campfire that is burning mesquite wood. The cumin really isn’t visible in its usual way, apart from that odd impression, and I detect no rose at all at this point.

Four members of the Tsar’s Imperial Russian Cossack bodyguard. Source: Pinterest.

Instead, Fumoir is a bonfire of darkness, singed woodiness, tar, peaty whiskey, and leather. The latter slowly takes on a slightly animalic touch, a raw, butch quality. For the first time in a long time when smelling a birch leather fragrance, I’m really transported to the steppes of Imperial Russia with its Cossacks. It never really happened with Cuir de Russie, but then, Fumoir is not as refined as that scent and it lacks the avalanche of soapy aldehydes that dominated the Chanel scent on my skin. In short, the Italian perfume has a very untamed, fierce element that the Chanel never did. At the same time, both the campfire smoke and the leather are stripped of the forest or chilly pine aroma that other fragrances with birch often carry.

My favorite part of the scent, though, is definitely the Laphroaig single malt aspect that I noted earlier. As the opening minutes pass, the note grows stronger, and its peaty smokiness works incredibly well with the meatiness of the leather, the pepper, and the birch. Scotch and a campfire steak, how perfect is that?!

Photo: Savuista at the Savuista blog. http://savuista.blogspot.com/2013_10_01_archive.html

Alas, my overall enthusiasm is suddenly tempered exactly 15 minutes into Fumoir’s development when a synthetic note stirs in the base. It smells of very dry tobacco but, also, of an ISO E-like aromachemical. It is wrapped up in an extremely arid woodiness, as well as with a touch of very, amorphous golden… something. I can’t pinpoint what it may be. My first thought was Givaudan’s tobacco synthetic, Kephalis, that is often used for its leathered undertones. Later, though, I wonder if it’s Givaudan’s Ambermax with its peppered, ISO E Super-like notes? The dry, ambergris substitute, Ambroxan? A combination of Kephalis and one of the ambers seems most likely. Whatever the real cause(s) may be, there is definitely something that is not right and very fake in Fumoir’s base.

As a whole, the perfume’s overall bouquet in the opening stage is of tarry birch wood charred in a campfire and infused with mesquite, pepper, Laphroaig whiskey, and meaty Cossack leather, all lightly flecked by a dry tobacco whisper and a good dose of aromachemicals.

Source: speckyboy.com

Then, Fumoir slowly, very slowly, starts to shift. 40 minutes in, the perfume starts to gradually turn warmer and fractionally sweeter. The peaty whiskey fades away, while a kernel of “amber” in the base begins to bloom, seeping over the tarred leather and birch smoke. It creates a small dot of goldenness in the pitch black, but it is an abstract amber, an impression more than a clearly delineated, crisp note.

And it most certainly is not actual, very expensive ambergris, no matter what is listed in the notes. This is nothing like the scent that dominates a fragrance like Profumum‘s Amber Aurea. This is a wholly abstract construct that is nebulous, dry, and, increasingly, subject to a chemical taint, just like the equally nebulous tobacco note. The “amber” is actually why I mentioned those particular aromachemicals up above. Neither its ISO E-like jangly sharpness nor its excessive dryness is a joy.

The problem is that far too much of both synthetics have been used for them to blend well into Fumoir, though they certainly seem to help with the perfume’s projection. The perfume is very potent in the opening hour, and with good sillage that wafts out about 3-4 inches above the skin before eventually dropping at the end of the first hour. Despite the forcefulness of the birch smoke, Fumoir is quite airy in feel, and it grows thinner with time. Actually, it feels rather like an eau de toilette in nature, one which has a powerful start, but little actual body or depth.

“Gold smoke” by etafaz on deviantART.

At the end of the first hour, Fumoir is largely a two-note symphony centered on the main aspects of birch: burnt campfire smoke and leather. The pepper, whiskey, and vaguely abstract cumin element have faded away. However, the “tobacco” is finally starting to emerge in its own right, along with the “amber” in base. I don’t mind synthetics in fragrances if they are well-blended, in balanced proportions, and don’t render the scent into something that is heavily chemical in nature, but I have enormous issues when the quantity is high, especially at Arte Profumi’s prices. (More on that later.) Plus, Fumoir gives me a faint headache whenever I smell it too deeply for too long up close. That is a telltale sign that the aromachemicals are in a large quantity, as I don’t have such a reaction otherwise. Needless to say, I’m feeling rather grumpy at this point, and it only gets worse.

At the end of the 3rd hour, Fumoir smells of aromachemical amber, burnt wood in a campfire, and birch tar that is vaguely leathered, all in a warm blend infused with abstract, peppered, tobacco tonalities. It feels richer than it actually is, and it also reminds me of a very synthetic version of Naomi Goodsir‘s Bois d’Ascese, though not as interesting. Fumoir’s sillage has dropped to about an inch above the skin, but the notes aren’t hard to detect up close.

Source: Theatlantic.com

Fumoir is largely linear in nature, which is fine if you like the notes in question. Obviously, I don’t, but it doesn’t help that the simplicity of Fumoir’s bouquet is becoming increasingly boring. From afar, it really is nothing more than the birch tar’s burnt woods and some extremely arid relative of ISO E Supercrappy. For a brief period about 6.25 hours in, the rose appeared, turning Fumoir into a dry, woody rose and birch tar scent on an abstract amber base. It feels like a very distant cousin to Le Labo‘s Rose 31, only the nebulous rose is massively dominated by campfire smoke and an amber synthetic, instead of cedar woods and actual ISO E Super.

Campfire ashes. Source: dansdepot.com

The resemblance doesn’t last long, and Fumoir returns to its core scent of birch tar smoked woods with aromachemical amber and aromachemical tobacco. By the middle of the 8th hour, the notes veer between acrid, smoked, and ashtray-like in their nuances. There is a subtle vein of dirtiness that lurks underneath, like really old, stale cumin, mixed with mesquite. The whole thing makes me feel incredibly dirty — in an unclean way, and not in the good, sexy, skanky way.

I’d suppressed the urge for a very soapy shower for hours, but, finally, towards the end of the 10th hour, I gave in and washed off Fumoir. It was exactly 9.75 hours into the perfume’s development, and Fumoir would probably have endured even longer as my skin holds onto synthetics like mad. In all honesty, I think it was the monotony which got to me even more than the acrid, burnt, stale, fetidness of the final hours. Fumoir is all about the birch tar first and foremost, then the two other aromachemicals. The remainder of the notes are hardly key players, and the lovely Cossack Russian leather subsumes itself into the overall scorched woods aroma in a way that renders it a mere undertone in the perfume’s overall scent.

I tested Fumoir twice, increasing the amount of fragrance that I applied, and the overall result was largely the same in both instance. The only difference is that I didn’t detect any rose note with larger quantity of Fumoir. It was just more linear, aromachemical laden, and boring. And I washed it off even sooner.

I couldn’t find any blog reviews for Fumoir, and the fragrance has no comments listed on its Fragrantica page. There isn’t even a Basenotes entry for it. However, Parfumo (which is like a European Fragrantica) has some votes for the quality, sillage and longevity of the scent. So, even if there are no actual comments posted, perhaps you may find 3 people’s numerical assessment of the fragrance useful:

3 votes each for Longevity and Sillage, each coming in at an 83% ranking;

3 votes for the scent as a whole, which puts it at 2.5 stars or a 50% ranking.

I think the 2.5 out of 5 rating for the fragrance is generally fair, though perhaps a bit high for me personal. Still, it’s telling that 3 people who may not be as annoyed as I am by massive amounts of aromachemicals don’t think highly of the scent either.

It doesn’t help that Fumoir is neither cheap nor easily accessible. It is exclusive to Europe at this point, though you can easily find samples at Surrender to Chance. Even if you were to order it from First in Fragrance in Europe (or Jovoy for EU-based customers), Fumoir costs €225 for the 100 ml bottle. At today’s exchange rate, that comes to roughly $308. This is not a scent worth $308 or €225! It simply is not, even if you don’t share my disdain for aromachemicals. There is none of the rich body, nuanced complexity, or interesting development that would warrant such a price. I generally liked Arte Profumi’s Ecclesiae incense fragrance, though I thought the price for that one was too high as well, but Fumoir lacks its sibling’s quality.

Photo: Narinder Nanu via washingtonpost.com

More to the point, if you’re an ardent fan of campfire birch scents, there are much better alternatives out there at a much better price. There is the richer, deeper, piney Arso from Profumum Roma; there is the drier, more austere, interesting Bois d’Ascese from Naomi Goodsir (which is hardcore birch, campfire smoke!); and there is also Jovoy‘s Private Label with its heavy vetiver focus amidst the peaty birch campfire smoke and Mad Max leather. They’re all significantly better fragrances.

In short, Fumoir fails to live up to its promises, and I would skip it.

DETAILS:

Cost & Availability: Fumoir is an eau de parfum that comes in a 100 ml/3.4 oz size and costs €225. There are no American distributors for the Arte Profumi line that I could find. Arte Profumi has a website, but not an e-shop or a Stockist/Retailers list, so your best bet in obtaining the scent is from two big European perfume sites. Paris’ Jovoy and Germany’s First in Fragrance both carry the scent. The latter also sells samples and ships internationally. I couldn’t find any retailers in the UK, the Netherlands, or outside of Europe. If you’re in Italy, however, the company has two boutiques in Rome. Samples: Surrender to Chance now sells Fumoir starting at $4.50 for a 1/2 ml vial. There is also an Arte Profumi Sample Set starting at $12.99 for 3 of its fragrance (including Fumoir and Ecclesiae which I previously reviewed) in a 1/2 ml size.

The Global Fragrance Industry: World Markets, Popular Fragrances & Sales Figures

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Kafkaesque

Source: style.uk.msn.com

The numbers are in for the perfume industry’s sales in 2013 as a whole. In Part I, I covered the U.S. market, but this time, I’m going to look at the global perfume industry, from sales in various countries, any trends that may crop up, and the astonishing financial forecast for 2018. I’ll also talk about the degree of profits in 2013 for L’Oreal, LVMH, Givaudan, and IFF. Then, I’ll look at the international picture: from a perfume Fatwa from a Grand Mufti in the Middle East (yes, I’m being serious), to Valentine’s day in the U.K.; from best-selling fragrances in France and the companies which dominate that sector, to those in Germany. I’ll also briefly examine the perfume industry in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and India.

As always, I would like to emphasize that I am the furthest thing imaginable from a financial expert. Also, please note, that all of the articles focus on the more established and significantly larger commercial fragrance market, not the niche one.

THE GLOBAL PERFUME INDUSTRY & ITS FUTURE VALUE:

Source: psdgraphics.com

The global perfume industry is generally valued at around $28 billion (based on a 2012 report) per year, and Elizabeth Arden’s Wiki-Invest page states that the industry has a market cap at $36.6 billion dollars. I believe that means that most people cap the perfume industry’s future worth at around $36 billion. And, in fact, that is the usual number that I’ve read when people are calculating how much the industry will be worth in 2017 or 2018.

A more recent report says it’s going to be far, far bigger than that. Perfumer & Flavorist cites a 2013 study by Global Industry Analysts which says the industry will “reach about $45.6 BILLION dollars in 2018,” a mere 4 years time! Unfortunately, the P&F article is not written in a very readable, straight forward manner, and, more importantly, they bury the lede, so I’ll turn your attention to a more useful source which makes it clear that it is (alas) celebrity fragrances that are really expected to drive the overall surge to a $45.6 billion dollar a year business.

Laurent Dumont’s “Cash Game, Homme.” Source: mimifroufrou.com

Companies and Markets states it boldly in its headline: “Global perfume market driven by the demand for celebrity inspired scents“:

The global perfume market has been forecast to reach a value of approximately US$45.6 billion by 2018, driven primarily by growth expected in the underpenetrated emerging markets and innovative product launches. [¶]

The market is set to benefit from the growing trend towards consumer urbanisation, higher spending propensity and the heightened importance on personal appearance and grooming. In addition, increased demand for youth-oriented, floral and exotic fragrances and celebrity perfumes will set the pace for rapid market expansion.

Perfumes today have evolved into a mainstream business in the cosmetics, and personal care industry. From being non-essential and frivolous, perfumes have emerged as essentials, owing to the increasing trend of appearance and personal care becoming part of pride, self reliance, and confidence.

Source: bloggers.com.br

No longer considered as an extravagant grooming accessory, perfumes have metamorphosed into a “feel good” factor, which complements the consumer’s need for expressing individuality, and personal style. The wide range of themes and choices enable consumers to choose fragrances that complement respective personal and characteristic traits.

Dictated by the fickle trends of haute fashion, the world of perfumes is beginning to witness the entry of new apparel designers, and pop, music, and movie superstars making a dent on the market. The demand for celebrity inspired scents shows no signs of abating, thanks to the increasing number of celebrity fragrances hovering in the market.

The perfume industry is primarily consumer driven. Consumers have a unique cultural attitude to “fragrance” and an uncritical concept of possessing a certain kind of identity through wearing fragrance.

Source: 123rf.com

Currently on the global radar are low penetration markets such as China, and Japan, where huge untapped opportunities are the focus of large international players. Fine perfumes are increasingly looking at the teenage segment as a potential growth market. Women’s fragrances continue to dominate the market, with a maximum number of product launches and innovations aimed at the fairer sex.

The scenario is however set to change with men’s fragrance segment beginning to witness strong growth patterns, as the importance of grooming tops the list of men’s priorities. Typically, the men’s market was confined to the after-shave fragrances, but today the cards are being turned and men’s fragrances for specific occasions are witnessing huge growth, holding the promise of emerging into a mainstay market.

L’OREAL & LVMH:

L’Oreal reported its earnings on February 10th, but, try as I might, I cannot find the fragrance figures in the tsunami of information for the beauty industry leader. For once, even I was overwhelmed by the details! If I spent a few days on the shareholder reports, I know I could find it, but I lack the motivation. Suffice it to say that the company posted record earnings as a whole for 2013 in almost all its global markets. The exceptions seemed to be Japan, China, and India where sales were less substantial, while the South Korean market was depressed. Either way, I suspect that fragrances constitute only a microscopic portion of their revenues, even if they do own YSL fragrances and Armani perfumes.

LV’s Paris Headquarters in animated art by Studio Cyrille Thomas. http://www.cyrillethomas.com/

According to a New York Times report, LVMH did not do so well in 2013, but, again, it is impossible to find specific details on perfume sales or revenue. In addition, LVMH doesn’t seem to release revenue figures for its individual companies, so it may not be possible to know how Guerlain and Dior fared last year. What the newspaper does report is LVMH’s bottom line:

its profit was almost flat last year amid flagging demand for some of its core fashion brands in key markets like China and the impact of weaker currencies in its main overseas markets. [¶] LVMH … recorded a net profit of 3.4 billion euros, or $4.6 billion, for the year to Dec. 31, up just 0.4 percent from 2012.

While this post is supposed to talk about the perfume industry, I have to partially digress for a moment to talk about LVMH’s luxury sales in general. The article has an utterly fascinating reference to what seems like a backlash against Louis Vuitton’s gaudy, overly loud new bags. (Okay, it only says — quite diplomatically — that they aren’t “subtle,” but I find them to be gaudy, not to mention cheap-looking. They weren’t always that way.) The NY Times also talks about how LVMH is trying to deal with some of its problems by appealing to the super-rich, but it’s not having a lot of luck in China where sales are flagging. Given the role of LVMH in the perfume industry through its ownership of Guerlain and Dior, I thought you might find it interesting to know how they are faring in general.

Some excerpts from the NY Times report:

Revenue grew 4 percent, to €29.1 billion, a sharp decline from the double-digit increases seen in previous years [due to unfavorable exchange rates and currency conversion charges]. […][¶]

Both Kering — the French company formerly known as PPR, whose brands include Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Yves Saint Laurent — and Prada of Italy also cited unfavorable exchange rates as contributing to weaker sales in the third quarter. [¶]

Limited Edition LV bag. Source: bocaratonpawn.com

Louis Vuitton, which accounts for more than two-thirds of [LVMH’s leather] division’s sales, has suffered recently as many high-end consumers have begun to shun its familiar logo-emblazoned handbags for subtler products. To compensate, LVMH has increased its investment in smaller brands like Fendi, Céline and Berluti.

Faced with a protracted economic downturn in Europe and slowing growth in important emerging markets like China, Louis Vuitton, like its rival, Gucci, has sought to jump-start sales by repositioning itself even further upmarket, pursuing superrich clients, rather than the merely rich. [¶]

Revenue at the perfumes and cosmetics business, which includes brands like Guerlain and Loewe, rose 3 percent to €3.7 billion. Watch and jewelry sales fell 2 percent to €2.8 billion, reflecting in a slowdown in China, where a government crackdown on giving lavish gifts has crimped sales.

Specialized retailing activities, including the Sephora cosmetics chain and Duty Free Shops, recorded strong growth, buoyed by a surge in tourism spending, particularly by Asian travelers. [Emphasis added by me.]

Source: perfumemaster.org

As a side note, I found nothing detailing Chanel‘s sales or revenues in 2013. The company is privately owned, so it has no need to release official figures. However, I did find Hermès 2013 annual report. The company’s core business of luxury goods is doing astonishingly well, particularly in Asia (in contrast to LVMH, it would seem). But Hermès also sells fragrances, and those were quite successful in 2013:

Perfumes (+15%) confirmed their momentum in 2013. The new fragrance for women Jour d’Hermès was warmly welcomed whilst Terre d’Hermès continued its growth and established its position as a classic male fragrance. [Emphasis to names added by me.]

GIVAUDAN:

Javanol via Givaudan.

While the EU moves slowly to restrict natural perfume ingredients to draconian levels, Givaudan — the maker of aromachemical synthetics and one of the big backers of IFRA — is raking it in.

For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Givaudan is a Swiss company founded in 1895. According to its Wikipedia page, it is reported to be the largest company in the world producing fragrance ingredients and flavours. It controls 25% of the market share, as “the company’s scents and flavors are developed most often for food and beverage makers, but they are also used frequently in household goods, as well as grooming and personal care products.” In 2011, Givaudan had sales of 3.9 billion Swiss Francs with an overall market share of 25%. “It is one of Switzerland’s 30 biggest listed companies in terms of market capitalization[.][…] The company has a leading presence in all major markets and operates through a network of more than 40 subsidiaries” in established and emerging markets.

Givaudan’s new 2013 Mumbai Flavour Innovation Centre. Source: article.wn.com/

And it had a great year in 2013. RTT News provides Givaudan’s full-year report, starting with the fact that its annual income climbed to “490 million Swiss francs ($546.6 million) from 410 francs in the prior year.” In addition:

Gross margin increased to 44.7 percent from 42.4 percent.

Fragrance Division sales rose 3 percent to 2.083 billion francs and increased 5.1 percent on a like-for-like basis. Fine Fragrance witnessed strong growth in Latin America, while Consumer Product saw strong performance in developing markets.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS & FRAGRANCES (IFF):

ISO E Super. Source: Fragrantica

Givaudan may control 25% of the global fragrance and flavouring market, but IFF is definitely a powerful force in the field. And it, too, did well in 2013. According to Perfumer & Flavorist, IFF’s

full-year 2013 local currency sales increased 5% to $3 billion, reflecting 10% growth in emerging markets and 2% growth in the developed markets. Reported net income for the full year totaled $353.5 million.

Emerging markets grew 10% last year, accounting for 49% of sales.

The fragrances business unit reported that revenue for the full year increased 6% to $1.5 billion. The fragrances segment contributed 52% of the company’s consolidated revenue in 2013, up from 51% in 2012. Local currency sales increased 6% for the full year, supported by double-digit growth in Greater Asia and Latin America and solid growth in EAME. [Me: I think “EAME” refers to the Middle East and East Asia.]

Source: FoxBusinessnews.com

For the 4th Quarter in specific, the article states that

IFF fourth quarter 2013 revenue increased 7% to $725 million compared to the prior year. A full 50% of consolidated IFF sales were achieved in emerging markets, according to the company.

The fragrance unit reported that revenue increased 8% to $382 million in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared with $354 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Fine fragrance and beauty care achieved 9% local currency sales growth, due to strong growth in fine fragrance owing to strong new business wins in EAME.

Fragrances gross margins improved over the prior year quarter primarily due to moderating input costs and other strategic initiatives including mix, innovation and cost reductions. Segment profit increased 16%, or $9 million, to $62 million in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared with $53 million in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In short, emerging markets and the Middle East are responsible for the surge in sales. I will jest, and say that IFF’s invention, ISO E Super, probably helped as well, judging by how many bloody fragrances contain the damn thing. (No, it’s not actually paranoia if they really are out to get you. 😉 But, in any event, I’m merely joking to alleviate any numbness you may feel at this point from all these details.)

THE U.K. FRAGRANCE MARKET:

Source: Maria Rogerson at ourtipsfor.com

Fragrance sales in the U.K. rose 9.3% in 2013, boosted by the fortnight before Valentine’s Day 2013 during which there were £32 million value sales and 1 million units sold. The numbers come from NPD, as quoted by Premium Beauty News. Apparently, the two weeks before Valentine’s Day are a huge deal in the UK, though not as much as in the U.S. where the day accounts for 4% of perfume sales. The article reports:

“Valentine’s fortnight remains a key focus for prestige beauty products, with fragrance representing 2.7% of annual fragrance value sales and 3% of total beauty sales in the UK – beating both Father’s Day and Mother’s Day sales,” says The NPD Group.

The market research firm notes there is an opportunity for growth in the UK fragrance market when comparing sales in other key markets. “In France and the United States, 2013 Valentine’s fragrance sales represented 4% of annual fragrance value sales, generating just over £67 million and £81 million, respectively.” [¶]

Trend data reveals that while fragrance sales peak around Valentine’s Day, at 42% of prestige beauty products sold based on 2013 figures, sales are less concentrated at this time of year compared to Christmas.

Men were spending away as well:

“Men look set to be the winners in the fragrance stakes this year if the 2013 trend continues, with men’s fragrances for Valentine’s 2013 representing 35% of all fragrance value sales – up from 33% in 2012,” points out The NPD Group.

However, it seems that everyone was after less expensive fragrances for the most part:

Data from Valentine’s 2013 reveals that consumers may become more price conscious with their fragrance purchases. On average, both women’s and men’s fragrance sales were down £1-2 on the annual average price at £33 and £31, respectively. Leftover Christmas gift sets were also popular for Valentine’s 2013 in the UK.

Davidoff Cool Water ad, October 2000. Source: coloribus.com

In terms of the best-selling perfumes in the U.K, I found a list dating back to 2009. It comes from the Daily Mail which makes me cautious as to its accuracy, but there really isn’t else that I found on the subject. The newspaper states that it “asked Britain’s top department stores which scents fly off their shelves the fastest – the results were unanimous…”

Chanel No. 5

Calvin Klein Eternity

Prada Eau de Toilette

Davidoff Cool Water

Gucci Rush

Ralph Lauren Romance

Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely

Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey

Estée Lauder Beautiful

Tom Ford Black Orchid

THE FRENCH PERFUME MARKET:

Source: hdwallpapers.in

According to the Perfumer & Flavorist, “France’s fragrance market [is] the second most important sector in the country’s health and beauty industry.” The Euromonitor research group calls it is an extremely competitive market, and provides a fascinating breakdown of the market share of the three market leaders, Chanel, Dior, and Guerlain (in that order):

Source: entertainment.desktopnexus.com

Fragrances is fragmented, with more than 40 different players operating in the category. Amongst them, the leading companies are Chanel, Parfums Christian Dior and Guerlain, with 12%, 11% and 8% value shares respectively in 2012. These three operators offer several well-recognised premium fragrances for women and men, which are well-positioned in the market. Chanel N° 5 from Chanel and J’adore from Parfums Christian Dior, for example, were the leading brands in premium women’s fragrances in 2012. These two popular fragrances are constantly promoted on television. Over the years, these three players have been able to maintain their leading positions thanks to important investment in advertising, but also due to some product and packaging innovation. [Emphasis to names added by me.]

Paco Rabanne 2013 Invictus Ad.

Even if the Big Three control the greatest portion of the market, they don’t necessarily have the best-selling perfumes in France. In fact, Chanel No. 5 isn’t even on French Sephora’s 2014 list of top sellers, a list which obviously has to be based in large part on prior sales in 2013. That list, as provided by the French-based blog The Scented Salamander, is as follows:

Sephora
1 – Invictus by Paco Rabanne
2 – La Petite Robe Noire EDP by Guerlain
3 – La Vie est Belle EDP by Lancôme
4 – J’Adore EDP by Dior
5 – Shalimar by Guerlain – (boosted by sales price)
6 – 1 Million EDT for men by Paco Rabanne
7 – Flowerbomb EDP by Viktor & Rolf
8 – Si by Giorgio Armani
9 – Le Mâle EDT by Jean Paul Gaultier
10 – Boss Bottled EDT by Hugo Boss

Invictus for men and Si for women, a fruity chypre, are two 2013 entries and have already reached the top.

Source: LOreal.com

For the beauty chain, Marionnaud, which features a more “mature” clientele and an “atypical” dated lineup, their list of best sellers for 2014 is even more different. The Scented Salamander reports:

Marionnaud
1 – Boucheron Femme EDP by Boucheron
2 – Flowerbomb EDP by Viktor & Rolf
3 – Alien EDT by Thierry Mugler
4 – Féminité du Bois by Serge Lutens
5 – Eau Sauvage EDT by Dior
6 – Magie Noire EDT by Lancôme
7 – Chloé EDP by Chloé
8 – 1 Million EDT for men by Paco Rabanne
9 – Only the Brave EDT by Diesel
10 – 0 de Lancôme EDT by Lancôme

Coco Mademoiselle.

The lists are interesting, especially when you compare to what was selling back in prior years. Surrender to Chance lists what it says were the best-sellers in France for 2011:

Chanel No. 5 EDP – “iconic decades-old perfume that has topped the best-seller list for most of those decades.”
Dior J’Adore – “now overtaking Chanel no. 5 worldwide[.]”
Thierry Mugler Angel
Chanel Coco Mademoiselle
Kenzo Flower
Guerlain Shalimar EDP
Lolita Lempicka
Christian Dior Miss Dior Cherie
Nina Ricci Nina
Yves Saint Laurent Paris
Yves Saint Laurent Opium
Jean Paul Gaultier Classique
Lancome Tresor EDP
Nina Ricci L’air du Temps
Clinique Aromatics Elixir
Lancome Cuir de Lancome.

Naomi Watts in Thierry Mugler’s Angel campaign ad. Source: Basenotes.com

Going back further, Marie-Claire magazine has a listing of the most successful fragrances in 2008 in France, as compared to the U.S. and China at roughly the same time:

FRANCE
1. Chanel No. 5
2. Thierry Mugler Angel
3. Dior J’adore
4. Kenzo Flower
5. Lolita Lempicka 1er Parfum

UNITED STATES (2006)

1. Estee Lauder Beautiful
2. Chanel No. 5
3. Donna Karan Cashmere Mist
4. Estee Lauder Pleasures
5. Calvin Klein Euphoria

CHINA (FIRST HALF OF 2007)
1. Chanel No. 5
2. Dior J’adore
3. Lancôme Miracle
4. Chanel Chance
5. Dior Addict 2

I don’t think you can look at the 2014 Sephora and Marionnaud lists as being completely representative of French sales as a whole. There are a variety of reasons. First, Sephora’s clientele generally skews younger and towards a certain financial bracket, while Marionnaud’s doesn’t seem representative for other reasons. (I’ve been in their stores, and The Scented Salamander is correct in saying that they skew extremely old and their merchandise really is dated.) Plus, how can you take figures from 2 chains to be representative of the country as a whole? At best, their lists may demonstrate a gradual shift amongst certain groups away from the classics and the market leaders. Moreover, I find it difficult to believe that Chanel No. 5 and Dior’s J’Adore would lose their many years-long death grip if you looked at numbers from all vendors and across all segments of the population.

Regardless of what fragrances are the most popular, French consumers are buying less of them and reducing their spending in an effort to save more money. The Perfumer & Flavorist has the details of market research by a company called Canadean, but there is a lot of gobbledygook about Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) which hurt my head, so I’ll just give you the summation as I understood it:

France’s perfume market showed only the seventh fastest growth rate out of the nine health and beauty markets that Canadean follows. The reason is the very high personal saving levels in France at 15.5%, as compared to the average 2.5% rate in the United States.
French fragrance is forecasted to show much slower growth until 2017. Women’s perfumes dominate the sector with a value share of 62.8% and volume share of 65%. It is expected to show the strongest growth in the upcoming years, especially as compared to men’s fragrances.
“Men’s fragrances made up less than half the volume of the market in 2012, at 31.7% volume and a slightly higher value of 33.8%. In growth terms, 2012–2017 is projected to see volume and value for men’s fragrances significantly lower than both sector levels and female fragrances[.]”
The third category, unisex fragrances, recorded just over 3% of the sector for both value and volume of sales in 2012, and its growth is projected to be even lower than that of men’s fragrances at 0.2% in the upcoming years.

In other words, the main buyers of perfume in France now and for the next 4 years are women. Yet, even they are buying less these days, and they’re certainly not buying unisex fragrances in large quantities or buying enough to drag France’s perfume industry out of 7th place from the 9 big markets that the research group follows.

ITALY & THE NETHERLANDS:

Supermodel David Gandy for D&G Light Blue. Source: Pinterest.

Italy doesn’t have a booming perfume market right now, and won’t for the ostensible future. According to Canadean as reported by Perfumer & Flavorist, the sharp drop in Italy’s GDP since 2007 means their perfume sector won’t see growth rates above 2% growth until 2017. Women’s fragrances take up 60% of the market in terms of sales, but they are forecasted to have the slowest growth. Men’s fragrances are expected to perform slightly better but the real surprise pertains to unisex fragrances. They are expected to do the best in the upcoming years, even though they have a much lower market share, with 1.5% for both value and volume in 2012.

The Netherlands may be a small country, but they have a great economy on average. According to Digital Journal, back in 2008, the Netherlands had the 16th largest economy in the world, and ranked 10th in GDP per capita. It reported that fragrance sales were booming in the “600-million Dutch perfume market” which was dominated first by the Douglas chain of shops, then by those of Ici Paris XL perfumeries. If you fast forward to 2013, a report by the Euromonitor states that Dutch perfume sales continued to increase, despite a difficult economy, but the research group saw only modest growth lying ahead. It adds:

L’Oréal (NBO: Prestige & Collections Nederland) is the leader in fragrances with a 12% value share in 2012, with some of its popular brands including Trésor, Acqua di Giò, Ralph Lauren and Emporio Armani. In 2012 the company registered a very small decline in terms of value sales, but overall it had a stable market share. [Emphasis in bolding added by me.]

Source: myfdb.com

As noted above, one of the top beauty chains in the Netherlands is Ici Paris XL, and they have a list of their Top 10 Bestsellers amongst female fragrances. The same caveats that I raised for the French Sephora list applies here, too, but it’s still interesting to see what is selling in each country. So, here are their top-sellers:

Lancome La Vie est Belle

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle

Dior J’Adore

Paco Rabanne Lady Million

Chanel No. 5

Thierry Mugler Alien

YSL Manifesto

Jil Sander Sun

D&G The One

Cacharel Noa

Their list of Top 10 Men’s Fragrance Bestsellers is:

Paco Rabanne One Million EDT

Chanel Allure Sport EDT

Jean-Paul Gaultier Le Male

Chanel Bleu de Chanel

Giorgio Armani Acqua di Gio

Hugo Boss’ Boss

Dior’s Dior Homme EDT

YSL l’Homme

D&G The One

Davidoff Cool Water

GERMANY & SPAIN:

Germany has a large fragrance market, and it did well in 2012. According to a September 2013 report by the Euromonitor,

Fragrances in Germany experienced a positive performance in 2012, with retail current value growth of 2%, reaching €2.0 billion. Volume growth of fragrances in Germany only increased by 1%, which was lower compared with 2011. This was due to the poor volume performance of unisex fragrances in both the mass and premium segments.

Procter & Gamble Prestige Beauté was the leading player in fragrances in 2012, with a 17% value share. The company is strong in both mass and premium fragrances. In the mass segment Procter & Gamble Prestige Beauté markets a broad range of established brands, such as Mexx Woman. In premium fragrances it has a significant presence with popular brands such as Gucci Guilty Pour Homme and Boss Woman. The company managed to maintain its strong position thanks to well-supported new product launches in 2012.

Fragrances in Germany is expected to see a rather negligible growth to reach €2.1 billion in 2017. It is expected that the living standards of German consumers will start to slowly decrease in response to the economic crisis, which will limit the growth rate of fragrances to a certain extent in constant value terms. [Emphasis added by me.]

Lacoste Pour Femme. Source: shop-cosmetice.ro

One of the biggest perfume chains in Germany is Parfumerie Douglas or Douglas. According to a Basenotes discussion, in 2004, Douglas announced that its top-selling women’s fragrances were:

1. D&G Light Blue
2. Pure by Jil Sander
3. Lacoste pour Femme by Lacoste
4. Chance by Chanel
5. Touch of Pink by Lacoste
6. Jean Paul Gaultier by Jean Paul Gaultier
7. Pure Poison by Dior
8. Chanel No 5 by Chanel
9. Hugo Deep Red by Hugo Boss
10. L’Eau d’Issey by Issey Miyake

Exactly 10 years later, now, in 2014, only two of those scents remain on Douglas’ new list of its top-selling women’s fragrances. They are Lacoste and Chanel No. 5:

Thierry Mugler Alien

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle

Lancome La Vie est Belle

Chanel No. 5

Paco Rabanne Lady Million

Toni Gard Honey

Lacoste Lacoste Pour Femme

Escada Born in Paradise

Giorgio Armani Si

Dior J’adore

Alien ad, via sandiinthecity.onsugar.com

Douglas’ list of its current best-sellers for men is:

Hugo Boss’ Boss

Paco Rabanne One Million

Jean-Paul Gaultier Le Male

Davidoff Cool Water

Paco Rabanne Invictus

Chanel Allure Homme Sport

Giorgio Armani Code Homme

Hermès Terre d’Hermès

Chanel Bleu de Chanel

Hugo Boss Hugo

Finally, a brief look at Spain. It may be one of the countries most affected by the Eurozone crisis, but the Perfumer & Flavorist reports that Spanish consumers, particularly men, like to treat themselves to fragrance. The market is “set to be one of the five fastest growing health and beauty sectors in Spain to 2017.” Men’s fragrances will display the highest volume growth through 2017. “As the women’s fragrances category matures, women’s fragrance is predicted to become the slowest growing category of the sector over the next five years[.]” Unisex perfumes, in contrast, will do the best over the next five years, even though they have the smallest market share at this moment.

THE MIDDLE EASTERN MARKET:

The Grand Mufti of Dubai. Source: emirates247.com.

A Fatwa was issued by a Grand Mufti in the Middle East on the issue of perfumery, and no, I’m not being facetious. It was actually a positive edict, according to the Euromonitor. Its October 2013 summary report states that:

A Fatwa was issued in June 2012 by Dr Ali Ahmed Mashael, Grand Mufti at the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai. This stated that Muslims can use alcohol-based fragrances, due to the proportion of alcohol in fragrances being low. While the Fatwa stated that cautious Muslims could use oil-based fragrances that are alcohol-free, it also stated that the use of alcohol-based fragrances would not affect the purity of a Muslim’s prayers. This Fatwa thus encouraged many Saudi consumers to expand their purchase of fragrances to include alcohol-based fragrances from prestigious global brands such as Estée Lauder’s Tom Ford or DKNY. [Emphasis to names added by me.]

I really hope the Euromonitor is the one providing those brand examples, and that the Grand Mufti did not personally mention DKNY! I can’t read the full report unless I pay $725 — which I most certainly do not want to do — so we shall just have to rely on the Euromonitor’s synopsis.

They also mention Arabian Oud, writing “Arabian Oud defines traditional Saudi fragrances for many consumers and was the clear leader in fragrances throughout the review period. The company accounted for 34% share in 2012. This company benefits from its history and its strong premium image.”

Arabian Oud via their website.

Arabian Oud also comes up in the Euromonitor’s report on the fragrance market in the United Arab Emirates, and I found the mention of private agarwood plantations to be fascinating:

There is a strong tradition for fragrances in the United Arab Emirates, with local men and women using perfumes on a daily basis. The country is particularly known for its oud-based fragrances and benefits from the strong presence of premium oud specialists such as Arabian Oud Co and Ajmal International Trading Co LLC. While oud is expensive and rare, being more expensive than gold, these players have their own agar plantations, enabling them to offer premium quality products at a profit. […]

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Source: unperfume.es

The leading players in fragrances perfectly represent the dual nature of this category. Traditional oud specialist Arabian Oud Co remained the leading player, accounting for a 14% value share thanks to a wide range of both oriental and Western-style fragrances and opulent outlets in Dubai. Global giant Estée Lauder Cos Inc ranked second with a 13% value share, benefiting from a fashionable global image for brands such as Estée Lauder, DKNY, Clinique Happy and tommy. Both players maintained their value share from the previous year. [Emphasis to names added by me.]

The fragrance brands mentioned as market leaders in that October 2013 report seem to have changed from a 2011 Euromonitor PDF report that I sampled. It states:

Fragrances remain largely fragmented amidst continuous launches, with fragrances leader L’Oreal Middle East holding a retail value share of only 6% in 2010[.][…] Emporio Armani continued to be the best-selling premium brand for both men and women with over 5% of value sales of premium fragrances overall.

The report makes, clear, however, that the only thing which really sells in the UAE is premium. Premium anything. None of this celebrity stuff is going to pass muster with the largely unimpressed population soaking in Petrodollars. Furthermore, the UAE citizens regard perfume as an essential part of every part of their life and culture. A few other tidbits gleaned from the PDF:

The UAE posted one of the highest per capita expenditures on perfumery in 2010, and despite some small economic slowdown that year very few people “traded down” to cheaper, mass fragrances.

Premium fragrances accounted for 73% of perfume sales in the UAE in 2010.

“Beauty specialist retailers” like the niche-selling Paris Gallery account for 42% of sales, while (very high-end) department stores like Harvey Nicks and Debenhams only account for 19%. Clearly, niche and uber-luxury fragrances sell! And the main category or genre of perfume that sells is… well, obviously, Orientals.

All socio-economic groups in the UAE buy perfume which they see as “essential.” They are “part of the basic attire and are consumed throughout the day and during any occasion or outing.”

The “global trend towards attaching celebrity names to fragrances works less well in the Emirates due to the diverse population – many celebrities are simply not known by Western, Emirati and Asian parts of the population.”

One of the most fascinating parts of the PDF sample file was something buried far at the end and in the back. The leading UAE perfume manufacturer, the Adjmal International Group mentioned earlier, buys some of its stuff from Givaudan, IFF, Firmenich, Symrise and the rest of the big Western ingredient and aromachemical companies. The PDF sample report states:

In addition to the company’s own agarwood plantations in Assam, India, which account for around 40% of the required raw materials, Ajmal sources the balance from the Far East[.] Raw materials are sourced from world-renowned suppliers like Symrise, IFF, Firmenich, Givaudan, Drom and V. Mane Fils.

Apparently, there is no getting around Givaudan and its brethren’s tentacles. So, the next time you smell something very synthetic in your supposedly purely Middle Eastern, “local,” oud fragrance, you may want to blame the big guys in Switzerland and Europe.

Asghar Ali Perfume Company, Bahrain. Source: YouTube.com

As a small side note, the UAE is not the only part of the region that is experiencing a healthy perfume market. In the Gulf coast kingdom of Bahrain, the fragrance and beauty industry is on the verge of a massive shift upwards. An article in Gulf News Daily discusses the findings of the Euromonitor research group which found that, sales “are expected to hit $29.9 million by the end of the current year amidst positive growth trends in other parts of the GCC.” One Middle Eastern perfume executive is quoted as saying that the amount of money spent in the Gulf as a whole is “relatively higher… than in other parts of the world as fragrances and perfumes are an important part of the Gulf lifestyle coupled with a high disposable income[.]”

INDIA:

Aishwarya Rai. Source: ibnlive.in.com

I was surprised to find details on the Indian perfume market. I actually tried once before for an earlier article, but gave up in frustration. This time around, I’ve had better luck. I’ll start with the brief synopsis from April 2013 from Market Research. In a nutshell, it states that the current Indian perfume market had revenues of $227 million in 2012, and that the figure is expected to go up to $510 million by the end of 2017:

The Indian fragrances market had total revenues of $227.4 million in 2012, representing a CAGR of 19.4% between 2008 and 2012.

Market consumption volumes increased with a CAGR of 14.9% between 2008-2012, to reach a total of 18.7 million units in 2012.

The performance of the market is forecast to decelerate, with an anticipated CAGR of 17.6% for the five-year period 2012 – 2017, which is expected to drive the market to a value of $510.6 million by the end of 2017.

Source: National Geographic

A report by Canadean (which costs over $1,300 to read in full) states that young people (up to the age of 30) are driving demand, and that age dynamics are key to the market. It also adds:

In 2012, 20.7% of Fragrance use among Indian consumers was motivated by the desire to seek better quality products. Apart from the attraction of the newness factor, quality is also being sought after, from the product ingredients to packaging.

India saw minimal impact from the global economic slowdown and the market displayed a positive trend during 2007–2012, growing at a CAGR of 16.0% during this period in local currency terms. The upbeat mood of the economy and its increasing integration with globalized lifestyles and consumption patterns will drive the growth.

Analysis of India’s Fragrances sector between 2007 and 2017 highlights a number of clear winners and losers. Large categories posting moderate growth such as Female and Male Fragrances will gain a larger market share than smaller categories such as Unisex Fragrance, indicating consumers’ preference for gender specific Fragrances.

Source: Askmen.com

The Economic Times of India has an interesting article from 2012 which talks about consumer tastes. It spends a large amount of time talking about deodorants, which it classifies as part of the “fragrance industry,” so please keep that fact in mind when you read the quotes:

Nearly 60 per cent of the whole fragrance market is dominated by the men’s category which is also highly fragmented and keeps evolving with change in attitudes and lifestyle. Besides, high-end perfumes in the male category are also doing a brisk business courtesy the growing urge among urbane Indian males to stay well-groomed.

Though there are limited options for women but the segment is likely to see an upsurge with various existing brands and new entrants resorting to sustained media campaigns to cash in on the untapped category with enormous growth potential.

Model Simon Nessman for CK One, Winter 2010-2011. Source: MaleModelSceneNet

Teenagers are a significant segment in both male and female categories as an average teenager at an urban centre tends to spend anywhere between Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 only on fragrance including – deodorants, roll-ons and perfumes. [¶]

Armani, Azzaro, Burberry, Chanel, CK 1, Dior, Escada, Estee Lauder, Ferrari, Hugo Boss, Lacoste, Nina Ricci, Polo, Shiseido etc. are certain most sold leading perfume brands in India. Amid the deodorant category Axe, Park Avenue, Nivea, Set Wet, Wild Stone, Garnier, Yardley etc. are leading. [Emphasis to names added by me.]

ALL IN ALL:

It is clear that the fragrance industry is booming. Sales may be soft in the U.S., but they aren’t overseas. And there is so much money involved! An estimated $46 BILLION a year by 2017 or 2018, which isn’t all that far off.

Source: timeoutbahrain.com

Companies are trying to tap into this lucrative market by issuing more and more new fragrances each year. Just 21 years ago, there were only 132 new perfume releases. Now, there are a thousand more. Jordan River of The Fragrant Man, has a post on Michael Edwards‘ new book, Fragrances of the World, which details the rise in the number of perfumes released each year. Jordan writes:

In 1993 there were 132 new perfume releases, by 2003 the number had grown to 581. As noted above, 2012 saw 1330 releases and in 2013 retail shelves made room for a further 1492 new perfumes.

If you’re exhausted from all these numbers, I don’t blame you. What you should take away from all this is the same thing that I repeat in all my posts on the perfume industry’s growth and sales: the future lies in new emerging markets.

Justin Bieber’s Girlfriend perfume. Source: getitwrighthere.com

I think the Western markets are starting to be over-saturated, something that is certainly true of the Celebrity Perfume Industry which drove a lot of U.S. sales for a while. My post on that issue covers the astronomical, utterly mind-blowing numbers, especially from Britney Spears! Whether it’s a billion bottles or over a billion dollars, she’s raked it in for Elizabeth Arden, while Justin Bieber drove the entire U.S. market in terms of sales for 2012. Yet, as the 2013 sales figures for Elizabeth Arden discussed in Part I demonstrate, things may have changed a little in the short-term. The market has probably over-flooded — One Direction‘s massive success in the U.K. notwithstanding. Companies like Elizabeth Arden who are so centered and focused on the American sector are going to have problems in the future, I think.

The companies that will succeed are the ones who are targeting the markets of the future. Europe seems dead, with the unique exception of Russia and its oligarchs. However, the future is bright in India, not to mention Latin America (Brazil is frequently mentioned), and it’s raining down gold in the Middle East with their long tradition of perfumery and enormous disposable income.

Asia is less certain for the near future, in my opinion and for the reasons outlined in my earlier post on the 2013 Global Perfume Industry. I can’t see a dramatic change by 2017, the date selected by many of these research reports for their analysis of the growth curve. However, companies like Estée Lauder, LVMH, Kilian, Tom Ford and others are clearly trying to lay the foundation for future growth there. I have no doubt they will succeed to a small extent in capitalizing on social aspirations and the hunger for luxury products with their Asian exclusives and targeted marketing. However, I personally believe it will be years and years before cultural issues in perfume usage will be overcome to the point that Asia will join North America and Europe as market leaders.

Source: Hongkiat Lim at hongkiat.com

In the more immediate future, I see a small silver lining in all this news, even if it is a rather philosophical one: the love of perfume is slowly turning both global and wider in scope. Not only is perfume interest spreading out to new parts of the world, but even those who already loved perfumery are broadening their horizons. Things are changing to become more universalist: women seeking out woody orientals; Middle Eastern ouds have filtered out to the West, while, over there, Grand Muftis are issuing Fatwas to wear alcohol-based perfumes; unisex fragrances on the rise in various European markets; and men are poised to compete with women in terms of perfume addiction. (I think any perfume blogger or member of a perfume group could have told NPD that last fact!)

Unfortunately, the cynic in me is whispering that none of this really matters, because the Golden Age of Perfumery is at an end. There are a lot of reasons why I’m dubious of the quality of what may lie ahead of us: the EU restrictions on rich natural ingredients; the impact that draconian regulations on everything from testing to packaging will have on small, truly niche, independent perfumers; the growing conglomerization of the industry through takeovers by wealthy multi-national corporations like Estée Lauder or L’Oreal; the way many of these entities are in bed with the corporate ingredient (and aromachemical) giants who provide both their materials and their stable of “noses”; the important role of cheap celebrity perfumes in driving sales; and the increasingly generic profile of fragrances put out under increasingly tight schedules to meet the publicly held companies’ quarterly-earnings report and shareholder expectations. (That explains Tom Ford’s numerous releases each year, with each collection having at least three fragrances in it. And, based on what I’ve tested thus far, they are almost invariably created by a Givaudan perfumer with Givaudan ingredients.)

Still, notwithstanding my personal pessimism, it’s good news to know that our love of perfumery is spreading out to more parts of the world than ever before. And I think we can all agree that an industry whose future may be valued at almost $46 billion in annual sales is an industry that matters.