After seeing an extremely beautiful bottle in a Fragrantica posting for the new Lancome Oud scent, I thought it might be fun to post about some of the new perfume releases. At the very least, you’ll see some gorgeous bottles. All posts are taken via Fragrantica. (If I could figure out how to properly re-blog a non-WordPress article, I would but, alas, my technical knowledge does not go that far. I have tried to give credit via full quotes and source citation.)

Lancome jumps on the increasingly mainstream, extremely popular oud bandwagon with Lancome L’Autre Oud:

Lancome launched L’Autre Oud in October 2012 as a part of the luxurious and exclusive collection. The scent is inspired by traveling the Orient. Opulent, rare and mysterious, this new fragrance provides the Lancome vision of popular oud. L’Autre Oud is an allegory of the mythical tree located between shadow and light, strength and tenderness, freshness and sensuality.

The formula is simple: seventeen ingredients were carefully selected to convey the point and the theme as best as they can. It starts off with spicy notes of saffron, cypriol from India, labdanum absolute and aromatic clary sage. The heart consists of Turkish rose and Bulgarian rose absolute. The rich, powerful and woody base is made of guaiac wood, green and wet patchouli, vetiver, amyris wood, moss, gurjun balm and myrrh absolute. The perfumer is Christophe Raynaud. The fragrance is available in bottles of 75 ml at the price of 120 Euros.

Chopard, that famous old jewelry house, doesn’t want to be left behind either. It has teamed up with the legendary Dominque Ropion, the “nose” behind such scents as Malle’s Carnal Flower and Portrait of a Lady, Dior’s Pure Poison, Armani’s Acqua di Gioia, Givenchy’s Amarige and Ysatis, Lady Million, Krazy Krizia and many more. Together, they have created an oud perfume for men:

Chopard is launching a new fragrance for men which will first be launched in the Middle East. It is inspired by the Orient and contains dark and seductive spices, leather and dark wood. The composition signed by perfumer  Dominique Ropion, highlights oud, completing the oriental character of the edition.

I know I keep writing about the popularity of oud, along with other bloggers like Scent Bound, but it’s really popular! So, here’s a third oud fragrance release: Reminiscence Oud by the french house, Reminiscence. Fragrantica states as follows:

After wonderful vanilla (Reminiscence Vanille) launched in 2012, the French house of Reminiscence is launching Reminiscence Oud which joins the collection “Les Classiques.” Its oriental character is accentuated with spices and surrounded with the main ingredient of the composition—oud.

Reminiscence Oud is beautifully composed. Harmonious and perfect for both sexes, Reminiscence Oud offers hot and comfortable aromas supporting the oriental rhythm. The fragrance balances between pink pepper, saffron and cardamom, providing dynamics to warm and pleasant notes of amber and chocolate patchouli. The new composition is enriched with the charm of rose enhanced by intense oud and castoreum.

Reminiscence Oud
pink pepper, cardamon, saffron, rose, patchouli, amber, castoreum, oud

Fragrance REMINISCENCE OUD arrives in a dark brown color and has the same form as its antecedent with one difference. The body of the new bottle bends in the opposite direction from the bottles of the entire collection. The cap is gold in color as well as the stars on the front side of the bottle. The perfume aims at men and women and is available as 100 ml Eau de Parfum.

Two other trends are also popular, though they’re more of a marketing ploy, in my opinion. They are: releasing flanker versions of existing perfumes, or selling special limited-edition versions of existing perfumes in more luxe (and therefore, more expensive) bottles. It’s an increasingly popular way for perfume companies to make money without expending the capital, effort or resources required to produce a new perfume completely from scratch. Which probably explains YSL‘s decision with regard to M7 Oud Absolu and In Love Again. Fragrantica provides the relevant information, along with photos of the embellished bottles:

On the eve of the holidays Yves Saint Laurent is launching limited editions In Love Again Crystal Edition and M7 Oud Absolu Crystal Edition. The fragrances are available in the same form as last year’s collection of classics which includes eight fragrances by Yves Saint Laurent, with stoppers covered with gold and black crystals.

In Love Again is one of the classics of the Yves Saint Laurent collection, composed of floral-fruity notes. Its composition encompasses accentuated accords of mandarin, currant, grapes, rose, peony, musk and blackberry. The new edition In Love Again Crystal Edition can be obtained in a bottle with golden crystals 80 ml eau de toilette priced at 200 pounds.

IN LOVE AGAIN
mandarin, currant
grapes, rose, peony
blakcberry [sic], musk

 

M7 Oud Absolu is a sophisticated and luxurious fragrance based on notes of the popular M7 edition combined with precious oud accords. The composition highlights intense oud surrounded by patchouli, labdanum and myrrh refreshed with luminous mandarin zest. New edition M7 Oud Absolu Crystal Edition is available in a flacon with black crystals 80 ml eau de toilette priced at 185 pounds.

M7 OUD ABSOLU
mandarin
patchouli
oud, myrrh, labdanum

There are also numerous, new, flanker versions for other best-selling scents such as: Armani Code, Coach Signature, Dolce & Gabbana The One, Dior’s Hypnotic Poison, Narcisco Rodriguez‘s best-selling For Her (just released in L’Eau for Her version), Issey Miyake‘s L’Eau d’Issey, Valentino‘s Valentina Acqua, Cartier‘s L’Heure Verteuse, and YSL Parisienne. If you’re interested, you can find more information on these (and the numerous other) releases at Fragrantica.