Stéphane Humbert Lucas Mortal Skin

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Kafkaesque

Woods and herbaceous fields, spices and sweetness, incense and leathery smoke — those are some of the various strands of Mortal Skin, the latest release from Stéphane Humbert Lucas. It is a scent that echoes some of his other fragrances for me, but it is ultimately its own creation, and one which I think will appeal to lovers of spicy, smoky, woody orientals.

“Collection” is written under the snake. Source: Stephane Humbert Lucas.

“Collection” is written under the 777. Source: Stephane Humbert Lucas.

Mortal Skin is a new parfum or extrait that initially looked as though it were being released under Stéphane Humbert Lucas’ own name, unlike the 777 fragrances. That confused me at first, so I asked Monsieur Lucas about it and about the significance of the “777” being omitted from the packaging. He explained that “777” is merely one collection within his overall brand, which should officially be considered as “Stephane Humbert Lucas” as a whole. The Snake Collection is a separate line altogether and has its own signature aesthetic. He provided the images above to underscore how the packaging emphasizes that “777” is merely a collection, not part of his brand name. He also brought up Kilian, who has various unrelated lines, like the Arabian Nights, the Addictive State of Mind, or the Asian Tales.

Photo: Roberto Greco for Stephane Humbert Lucas. Source: Roberto.

Mortal Skin is the debut release in The Snake Collection, along with the new Harrods Exclusive, and it will be slowly rolled out at all regular SHL retailers over the next 6 weeks. Luckyscent already has it, with Osswald NYC to follow in a few weeks. In Europe, I’ve been told that it is already out at Harrods. The fragrance originally debuted at the Esxence perfume show in March, but that was an earlier version that has been substantially altered since then. Monsieur Lucas told me that, in total, Mortal Skin has gone through roughly 200 or so modifications before being finalised after Esxence with the version that will be hitting stores shortly. I’ll explain the specific changes in a moment.

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4th of July, Travel Plans & Italy

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Kafkaesque

Happy Independence Day to all my American readers. Regardless of your location, though, I hope you’re all having a lovely weekend and that those of you in Europe are finally getting some relief from the heat wave.

Source: eujacksonville.com

I’m sorry I haven’t posted any perfume reviews lately, but I’ve been overwhelmed by all that I have to do for my upcoming trip. It’s finally set and everything worked out, much to my disbelief because I really hadn’t been sure I would manage to get away. I’ll be in Italy for a little under 3 weeks, departing on July 20th and returning in early August after visiting Florence, Rome, and a seaside resort town.

The city of Split in Croatia. Photo: Ante Verzotti, via charterworld.com

Simply finalising my locations took a lot of time because, at one point, the goal had been 10 days on Croatia’s stunning Dalmatian coast. What beauty… truly stunning. (You should see some of the YouTube videos of their amazing islands and national parks!) Unfortunately, Croatia doesn’t have the easy train connectivity of other European countries, so one can’t simply hop on a train to go from one place to the next. Plus, Croatia seems to be a place best suited to someone outdoorsy, beachy, and/or seriously sportive (the last of which is not me) who is happy to stay in one or two seaside towns/islands, or who can rent a car to go around in-land. That’s not me either. I’m not going through the hassle of getting an International Driver’s License. (Plus, with my luck and terrible sense of direction, I’d end up driving myself off a cliff somewhere in Albania.) So, Croatia will have to wait for another time.

Only a few of Croatian's many, many islands. Source: adriaticprestige.com

Only a few of Croatia’s many, many islands. Source: adriaticprestige.com

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Chanel Misia: The Women, The History, The Fragrance

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Kafkaesque

Photo & Source: i-mag-online.com (Direct website link embedded within.)

Drugs and Nazis. That’s what comes to mind each and every time I wear Misia, the newest addition to Chanel’s higher-end, quasi-niche collection, Les Exclusifs. It may be an unfair conclusion, but it’s an inevitable one for me, thanks in large part to the history of the women behind the name “Misia.” The fact that Chanel itself has presented the scent as one that should be seen through the filter of those women doesn’t help. Frankly, I’m astounded that the company would choose an inspiration and story for its latest release that would risk unearthing the unpalatable background of Coco Chanel, a history that it hopes assiduously stays hidden. But it takes little effort to discover the unappealing side to the “special friendship” that is explicitly stated as the cornerstone for Misia’s creation, especially if one is to asked to interpret Misia through the lens of Coco herself. The connections are too negative for me and, ultimately, serve to ruin a decent fragrance.

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Grab Bag Round-Up – June 2015

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Kafkaesque

Hello everyone, I hope you’re all having a good weekend. It’s time for this month’s Grab Bag, with a look at random things from news articles on popular fragrance genres, top Arabian perfume brands, synaesthesia, and the science of smell, to the more personal things occupying my attention this month.

Scientific Articles on Smell & Scent:

The Guardian had something really interesting to me: “Smell, evolution and the sex brain: why we’re monogamous and use perfume.” The piece argues that “Today we have a global fragrance market equal to the GDP of a medium-sized country, because of a gene mutation that made smells less sexy to us.” Basically, we used to have a gene — nicknamed “Adam” by its discoverers — that transmitted sexual scent messages (largely about ovulation) to our brains, but we lost it about 16m years ago because of evolutionary pressure to maintain monogamy and the family bond. However, the neural pathways that responded to such messages will still respond to “sensual perfumes made from – among other things – the sexual signals of musk deer, beavers and civets.”
From Science News: “Sense of smell is strictly personal, study suggests.” The article’s focuses primarily on genetics, neuroscience, and how we have “olfactory fingerprints,” thanks to a “new test [that] can distinguish individuals based upon their perception of odors, possibly reflecting a person’s genetic makeup[.]” However, there are obviously indirect implications that support what most perfume bloggers always say, that smell is subjective and subject to wholly personal variables.
From Aeon Magazine, a really fascinating piece asks “Are we all born with Synaesthesia?” It covers synaesthesia in literature (Nabokov’s Lolita, Mary Shelley, and the Enlightenment philosopher, Rousseau) before looking at the neuroscience, child psychology studies, and different forms of synaesthesia (musical notes, numbers, letters, or one poor woman who reacted viscerally to mere fabric textures). It’s a really interesting, in-depth piece that covers some unexpected issues.

Source: artsfon.com

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