Un nouveau regard sur le parfum - Osmoz

Luxurious Pleasures
Designing Dreams
Designers get it: to conquer consumers’ hearts, they have to perpetuate a world of dreams come true, the
essential ingredient in the alchemy of luxury. Designer Stella Cadente (whose name means “shooting star”) has
made it one of her working principles. Her world is infused with poetry and dreams. Women can’t resist her
inventive and colorful styles blending fantasy and surprising materials. And now they can discover Miss Me, her first
fragrance, which matches her collections’ image perfectly. But the concept of making dreams come true isn’t limited
to luxury fashion and fragrance. Cooking is getting into the act too, with celebrity chefs, like pastry chef Pierre
Hermé, who proposes unusual flavor combinations in cakes with names like Dune (pistachio sponge with flaky
grilled-corn praline), Instant (chocolate ganache and Earl Gray tea jelly) or Eglantine & Chestnut Macaroon. But the
dream can also be the fruit of a meeting between a brand and a creator from different horizons. To celebrate their
40 th anniversary, Habitat invited designers, actors and stylists (like architect Jean Nouvel, actress Kristin Scott-
Thomas, musician Gilberto Gil and couturier Paul Smith) to create the VIP collection. A selection of collectibles
made in an ephemeral partnership. And an extremely successful concept, witness the encounters between stylist
Stella Mc Cartney with H&M and Adidas.
Home Is Where the Heart Is
Another revolution in luxury living is that it is developing new consumer habits and entering new places, particularly
the home. It started with spa products sold for home use, or personal trainers who come to you. Another luxury
item that has conquered homes: Nespresso. A choice of 12 top-of-the-line single-serving espresso capsules in gemlike
colors: emerald, amethyst, ruby and more. Everything about it, from the product to the packaging to the
customer service is unequivocally luxurious. Like a relaxing bath, it provides a moment of personalized pleasure.
Enjoying practically professional quality services and technology at home is the one of the new, every-day, personal
luxuries. Brands have realized this, and are offering dermatologist-quality skin care, like anti-aging peeling kits
(Resurface Peel / Lancôme, Renoviste / L’Oréal) and dentist-quality tooth-whitening kits (Go Smile, available from
Sephora). These are top-of-the-line, higher-priced consumer products intended for regular use; they give luxury a
new, every-day face.
A Gourmet Consumer Who Wants to be Impressed
English Version Gourmet Nectars
Luxury is also putting on a new face in order to satisfy an ever-more demanding clientele that’s harder and harder to
impress. To tempt customers looking for personalized sports shoes, Nike has created the Nike ID website.
Department stores and perfumeries are also betting on superior services. Like wine-tastings with a sommelier in
certain department stores. Or eyebrow and nail bars for clients in a hurry between important meetings. Moredemanding
customers also translate into more elaborate, gourmet-influenced products, like the La Prairie cosmetics
brand offering a high-tech skin-care range made with caviar. In fragrance terms, more and more ‘niche’ brands are
raising standards by proposing essences made from absolutes of rare woods and flowers, or with notes of truffle
and more…
Waves of Caviar
Truffle, cognac, champagne... More and more fragrance lines are going in for that luxurious, gourmet olfactory
register. This very creative vogue responds to two different dem ands from consumers: discovering innovative new
olfactory emotions, as well as a desire for prestige and status when purchasing perfume. Like pampering yourself
with a luxurious pastry from Pierre Hermé or a creatively flavored macaroon from Ladurée. The latest creations do
indeed have ties to haute cuisine, but they don’t appeal to your sweet tooth the way some fragrances do. Black
cocoa notes, for instance, have come into vogue recently, particularly in men’s scents (Hugo Energise, Dior
Homme, L’Instant de Guerlain Extrême). Until recently, chocolate notes tended to bring fragrances a sweeter, more
vanilla dimension. This trend is probably tied to the rise in sales of extra-dark (70, 80 or even 99 % cocoa)
chocolate, which is attracting connoisseur consumers looking for extra refinement.
In Une Rose (Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle), the perfume designer uses truffle to enrich the facets of a rose
absolute with earthy, animal touches. In Very Irresistible for Men (Givenchy), the sesame note brings the fragrance
a sweet dry-fruit-and-wood sensation. In L’Instant de Guerlain, citrus honey unveils a lively, fruity and luminous
nectar. And last but not least, angelica, which can be candied and used in baking, brings perfume a très chic musky
aromatic note, as in Piment des Baies (Miller Harris) and Kenzo Air Intense.
Olfactory Nectars
For a luxurious bit of fantasy, perfume designers have also dreamt up olfactory accords constructed around liqueurs
or champagne. The champagne note really is quite trendy just now. It’s so festive, with its luxuriously sparkling little
bubbles. You can find it in Rykiel Woman Eau de Toilette (Sonia Rykiel), as well as in Ambre Russe (Parfum
d’Empire), where it is paired with a vodka note, evoking the sumptuous lifestyle at the court of the last czars. The
vodka note can also be found in recent fragrances like Blu Notte Femme (Bulgari) and Cosmopolitan Cocktail
(Demeter). Liqueur scents are trendy too. They make creations stand out, bringing a suave and sophisticated image.
Thus recent creations have captured the scent of cognac (Parfum des Merveilles / Hermès and London for Men /
Paul Smith), absinthe (Cabaret pour Homme by Grès; Man by Roberto Cavalli; Au Masculin Fraîcheur by Lolita
Lempicka), and fruit liqueurs like raspberry (Apparition by Ungaro), apple (Red by Lacoste) and more.
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