Landscapes, culture, colour, seasons, ingredients, food, gardens: China inspires perfumery with many sources for perfume, skin care and home fragrance. With a population of over a billion and one which is increasingly prosperous, it is also an attractive market.

Inspiring Gardens

With a Chinese wind blowing through olfactory creations, Armani Privé recently expanded its collection with Pivoine Suzhou. A city near Shanghai, Suzhou is famous for its gardens, which are listed as UNESCO heritage sites. The fragrance itself, is a fresh and fruity floral bouquet.

The couturier Hermès, expanded its ‘Le Jardin’ collection with a Chines garden in 2015, following gardens from India, the Mediterranean and Egypt. With sparkling green facets (kumquat, jasmine, bamboo), the fragrance was christened ‘Le jardin de Monsieur Li’.

Local Taste

Chinese consumers have a strong appetite for luxury goods, both from local retailers and when travelling abroad. The majority of the Chinese luxury budget is spend abroad, in places such a Hong Kong, France and the UK.

The new challenge for couture perfume houses is to offer fragrances which are tailored to local tastes. It is commonly understood that fragrances for China, Taiwan, Korea and the region generally, should be fresh, natural, light and slightly fruity.

China Inspires Perfumery Ingredients

As of today, the reference to Chinese ingredients remains confined to niche brands or small collections: Examples are Tom Ford’s Private Blends ‘Fleur de Chine’ and ‘Shanghai Lily’, as well as the ‘Asian Tales’ collection by Kilian, created around ingredients such as bamboo, water, tea, sandalwood and peach blossom.

In 2011, Roger & Gallet launched Fleur d’Osmanthus , a perfume inspired by a trip in Southern China. Other houses have placed the apricot scent of osmanthus flower centerstage, like Jo Malone, whose perfume Osmanthus Blossom was revived in 2015.

Today, China views perfume mainly as gift and not yet as a culture need or an essential part of one’s personal beauty routine. Their beauty market still predominantly consists of skin care products with personal fragrance and especially home fragrance only playing a small part. And yet, Chinese consumers are aspiring to Western perfumery brands and perceive them as more luxurious and longer lasting.

Home Fragrance inspired by China

Pairfum London has its very own natural home fragrances and organic skin care products inspired by China: Pink Grapefruit

A vibrantly pink grapefruit fragrance with added complexity from mandarine, lime and bergamot. Floral notes of jasmin and lily lend a feminine touch and deep sophistication comes from a sandalwood accord in the base note.

The inspiration for this fragrance came from the Chinese New Year and the custom of giving mandarine oranges and red envelopes with money. We wrote about this in a previous blog post:

MANDARINE ORANGES AND THE SCENT OF THE CHINESE NEW YEAR

Inspire your home with a sense of China and place some of our luxuriously scented candles or natural reed diffusers strategially in different rooms. Depending on the room size and location, choose from:

• Reed Diffusers (large, classic, petite) in decanters with different shapes: bell, cube or tower
• Snow Crystal Candles (classic, large and cool tin)
• Flower Wax Candle
• Hand & Body Lotions
• Perfume Room Spray

We also offer ‘pink grapefruit’ as a natural reed diffuser refill oil with extra long, natural black rattan reeds.

Thinking about it, natural ‘rattan reeds’ come from China and it is fair to say that the creation of the reed diffuser was inspired by this very Chinese ingredient ! Did anybody expect that the reed diffuser is a home fragrance inspired by China ?

As you can see, China inspires Perfumery and Home Fragrance in many different ways. What will be the next inspiration?

White Flowers in Perfumery and Home Fragrance

White Flowers have have been starring in perfumery from the early classics and they continue to seduce perfumers and consumers alike. Due to new types of white flowers, new extraction techniques, changing tastes and new forms of blending them, accords with white flowers keep evolving thanks to the inventiveness of perfumers and their houses to see them to continuing to bloom in couture perfumes, home fragrance and skin care.

Classic White Flowers

85 years after Joy de Patou and the famous 10,600 jasmine flowers required per vial, 30 years after Dior’s Poison and its narcotic tuberose, white flowers can to this day evoke in certain consumers a very classic perfumery world and a wealth of associated memories. Not surprisingly, perfumery houses have successfully managed to re-invent them by re-working them with modern facettes or unexpected angles to make them again a current and strong trend.

Gourmand White Flowers

Even gourmand style creation like to include these flowers in their accords, as they guarantee quality but also a certain naturalness of the note. Black Opium (YSL), one of the best new launches in 2014, mentions the use of sambac jasmine and orange flower absolute. Equally, Bonbon (Viktor & Rolf) captivates with the oils of sweet orange blossom and a sun-drenched jasmin.

In Gentlewoman (Juliette has a Gun; 2015) use a white floral and almond accord that was inspired by Cleopatra. Ilha do Mel (“Honey Island”), a new creation from the niche brand Memo, relies on honey in combination with the notes of jasmine and gardenia. Frequently found in cosmetics nowadays, it may be expected that honey will increase its influence on fragrances.

Jasmin & Orange Blossom

Every perfumer agrees that white flowers are timeless, and the two of them strongly characterise the latest creations: jasmin and orange blossom.

The focal point in La religieuse by Serge Lutens, jasmin partners with woody notes in Paradiso (Roberto Cavalli) and is also taking a more sparkling form in Quatre by Boucheron.

As for the orange blossom and its cousin ‘neroli’, often find themselves used in creations in the form of absolutes or essential oils. They beam in combination with lavender in Knot (Bottega Veneta). In Love Story de Chloé, they are gently and beautifully combined with stephanotis (a white jasmine flower also called Madagascar).

Jasmin and orange blossom can also be used in a more opulent fashion that is influenced by Middle Eastern tastes.

In one of the niche brands, neroli become oriental in Jardin Neroli for women (Comptoir Sud Pacifique), which recreates a trip on the Bosphorus. The boutique perfumery ‘Au Pays de la fleur d’oranger’ from Grasse, has combined Neroli with Oud this year in its creationg ‘Neroli Oud’.

Gardenia is coming

Among white flowers to follow next, gardenia leaves few people indifferent. It is a fragrance ingredient that has to the potential to return in force. Already a firm favourite with many fashion designers, it may be re-invented in a more transparent form but also in an opulent or chypre-inspired style.

In La Panthère for women by Cartier, we find a chypre and gardenia accord with leather facets. In 2015, La Panthère re-introduces itself as a ‘eau de parfum légère’, that is twisted with Panther comes in light eau de parfum, twisted with a solar Tiare Flower.  Gardenia also presents itself in Essence No. 2 Gardenia from La Collection des Essences by Elie Saab (unisex).

White Flowers in Men’s Perfumery

In the future, we will undoubtedly see white flowers in men’s perfumery. In particular orange blossom is well suited for masculine notes as it offers power, performance and originality, at this moment in time.

Summing up, there is no shortage of ideas how perfumers and their house can re-invent white flowers, whether this is women’s or in men’s perfumery.

White Flowers in Niche Perfume & Home Fragrance

Obviously here at Pairfum London, we have some absolutely beautiful white flower fragrances in our Home Fragrance Collection for you to enjoy at home:

• Trail of White Petals, the scent of the white flower carpet at Katie & William’s Weddiing
• Orangerie Blossoms, the fragrance of the Orangeries at Hampton Court Palace in London
• Neroli & Olive, a relaxing excursion to Southern Europe

Within our Niche Perfumes, you find:

• Neroli, Musk & Orange Blossom

As you have come to expect from PAIRFUM, these fabulous perfumes are being presented in many different products in our online boutique:

• Natural Reed Diffusers (large, classic, petite) in glass decanters with different shapes: bell, cube or tower
• a refill oil for your Reed Diffuser (black refill reeds are also available)
• our now famous Snow Crystal Candles (classic, large)
• the new and very fitting, Flower & Soy Wax Candle,
• our elegant Flacon Room Sprays, or
• the Eau de Parfum spray

At some point in our live, all of us will have answered the question: What is your favourite colour ?

Actually, it is one of the earliest questions children are being taught to answer. It has been shown, that colour influences our moods, eating habits and even who we date.

Colour & Our Senses

Studies by Goethe (2013), Kandinsky (2000), and Farina (1986) show attempts at translating colours into sensations: they attempt to describe the psychological effects of colours on people.

In perfumery, the link between fragrance and colour has frequently been demonstrated. Here are some examples:

• “THE INFLUENCE OF COLOR IN FRAGRANCE PERCEPTION” was studied by Camila Assis Peres Silva and Clice Sanjar Mazzilli from University of São Paulo.
• “Cross-Cultural Colour-Odour Associations” were investigated by Carmel A. Levitan , Jiana Ren, Andy T. Woods and Sanne Boesveldt.
• “Visualising fragrances through colours: The mediating role of emotions” by Hendrik N J Schifferstein and Inge Tanudjaja.

Colour is also closely linked to national and political identities in multiple countries.

Blue Is The Winner

With colour having such a strong and varied influence in our lives, it comes as a surprise that a new survey by YouGov, conducted in 10 countries across four continents, highlights that a single colour – blue – is the most popular across all regions. Between 23% (in Indonesia) and 33% (in Great Britain) prefer the colour ‘blue’ over all the colours listed, putting it 8-18 percentage points ahead of the next favourite colour.

The second-most popular colour varies a little bit more from country-to-cournty, although it is always one of three other options:

• green (second in Thailand, China and the United States),
• red (in Indonesia, Singapore, Germany and Britain), or
• purple (in Hong Kong).
• In Malaysia and Australia red and purple tied for second.

‘Blue’ even wins in a place like China, where colours like red, yellow and green are considered to be auspicious and the traditional symbol of ‘good luck’. Considering that is also the colour of the national flag, the result that blue is by far the most popular choice, is even more surprising.

These results confirm a previous study by Dulux, the paint manufacturer, in 30 countries. The figures vary, but blue remains the favourite color: 42% for men , with 30% for women . Blue is also considered the ‘color which displeases the least’.

Colour & Demographics

These preference also consistently filter through the different demographic groups within the countries surveyed.

Although blue tends to be more popular with men than women (in the US, the split was 40% to 24%; in Great Britain it was 40% to 27%), women still pick blue more often than any other colour.

Not surprisingly, ‘Pink’ was much more popular with women than men, but even among women it was preferred by only around 10-13% and was not usually any more popular than red, purple or green.

Blue is also the winner across age groups and, in the United States, where respondents are broken down into racial subgroups, blue is preferred by roughly equal numbers of whites (30%), blacks (35%) and Hispanics (35%).

Perhaps more surprisingly for a country often described as a collection of red (Republican) and blue (Democratic) states, US Democrats and Republicans are about as likely as each other to prefer blue (33% for Democrats and 29% for Republicans). However, 17% of Republicans like red – twice the number of Democrats who do (8%).

These surveys were carried out by YouGov UK, YouGov Germany, YouGov America and YouGov Asia Pacific.

A similar result came out of a study by Color Matters:

• blue is the favourite color of 57% of men, followed by green and then black,
• 35% of women prefer blue, followed by purple and green.

The Colour Blue In Perfumery

With blue being preferred by consumers, it is no coincidence that many successful perfumes are build around this colour. But what is the fragrance of blue? Indeed, very few food items are blue (with the exception of blueberries).

L’Heure Bleue by Guerlain, Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel Bleu, Polo Blue: the word ‘blue’ word is used by several perfume brands and it seems they have been successful with it.

In the case of Angel by Thierry Mugler, its blue juice caused shock waves in 1992, especially for a gourmand note. Since Angel though, blue is perfectly acceptable for a feminine fragrance, including a sweet accord, but the colour blue is still predominantly used in men’s fragrances.

When comparing L’Heure Bleue, an oriental powdery creation, Bleu de Chanel, a woody aromatic fragrance, we can see that the association of a colour with a perfume is still subjective.

Olfactively, blue masculinity tends to come in one of two types of notes:

• a cool or luminous blue is typically associated with aquatic or sky / aerial notes, and
• the cold blue, which tends to use oils such as menthol, rosemary, eucalyptol …

A Blue Room Fragrance?

With ‘blue’ being so popular around the world, we can confirm here at PAIRFUM, that our ‘blue’ room fragrance SPA, is one of our best-selling fragrances.

Here is its olfactive description:

a tangy, effervescent top note of bergamot, mandarin, rosemary, lavender and fresh violet leaves, radiates from heart of  salty aquatic notes, with aerial and translucent flowers (lily of the valley, jasmine). The fond is layered with vibrant woody (cedar, patchouli), ambery and mossy accords (oakmoss).

To add a splash of blue to your home, you can use SPA in any of our luxury scented candles or natural reed diffusers:

• Reed Diffusers (petite, classic, large) in various shape decanters (bell, cube or tower)
• Reed Diffuser refill oil
• Snow Crystal Candles (classic, large and tin)
• Flower Wax Candle
• Message Candle
• Hand Wash & Oil
• Hand Lotion
• Body Wash & Oil
• Body Lotion

A Final Contradiction?

It is not surprising that ‘blue’, the World’s Favourite Colour, is such a prominent colour in our clothes and fashion.

On the other hand, it does seem to be a colour used sparingly in our homes interiors and exteriors.

The human race around the world seems to enjoy wearing ‘blue jeans’, a splash of a ‘blue cologne’ or releasing the room fragrance of a blue reed diffuser.

However, are we overly keen on painting our walls blue, sleeping in blue sheets or walking on blue carpets?

And so it seems that ‘blue’ is the world’s favourite colour, but subject to terms & conditions.

Where does ‘Blue’ rank amongst your colour preferences?

 

‘Cooling’ And ‘Colder’ Fragrances

It is spring and as the sunshine is beginning to warm us up after the winter months, our minds turn to Summer and holidays, with an afternoon on the beach or dinner under palms. We also begin to think of cool & refreshing ‘cocktails’, a dip in the pool to cool down, body-surfing down a wave, testing the air-conditioning and other ways of how can we cool down.

Have you already chosen your couture perfume or room fragrance for this summer ? Not yet, well then hold on, because … perfume offers a refreshing solution with the concept of ‘cold’ or ‘cooling’ fragrances.

Here are some images you may associate with cold: pure white snow flakes, frozen icicles, crisp mountain air, glacier blue, waves crashing on the beach or a cold drink by the pool.

Equally, colours can have a cooling effect such as light blue, white and grey.

Perfume Houses and their perfumers use these images and colours as an inspiration to create perfumes which feel ‘cool’.

‘Cooling’ Fragrances To Wear

Kilian introduced ‘Vodka on the Rocks’  in 2014, a unisex accord opens with cooling spices and aldehydic notes to create the ‘freezing’ effect of ice cubes.

The Demeter Fragrance Library offers an eau de cologne called ‘Snow’, reminding of crisp clean and freshly falling snow and snowballs. Demeter fragrances are unusual in being linear, single note perfumes without an accord of top, middle and base notes.

The Frédéric Malle inspired fragrance Géranium pour Monsieur, cools via ‘mint’ and ‘peppermint’.

Luna Rossa by Prada, uses spearmint but in combination with the cooling effect of lavender, for a cooling wave splashing over the brow of a majestic yacht.

Burberry’s Burberry Sport Ice (Man & Woman), uniquely employs the cooling effects of frozen ginger, icy citrus, and a cool, cool aquatic breeze. It is getting cooler by the minute just reading this !

Then there are the dry, fresh woody-aromatic accords, as you can find in Grey Vetiver, by Tom Ford. The fragrance produces a crisp, cool silver shine.

Ice Tea has long be a favourite in the USA for cooling down and the ice-cold combination of mint and eucalyptus certainly freezes the top note of Elizabeth Arden’s Iced Green Tea.

In Spain, it is the fresh, clean citrus fragrance of the Nenuco splash cologne that cools down the population after a bath.

Does a Hot Drink on a hot day cool you down ? Apparently yes. The same clash of hot vs cold, works also for fragrances. For example, in La Nuit de l’Homme Frozen Cologne by Yves Saint Laurent the icy and citrusy top contrasts with the warm, woody and musky fond.

Another example is Bloody Wood by Liquides Imaginaires, that places a cold and metallic top note on a warming base of woody and chypré.

‘Cooling’ Room Fragrance

Cooling your home with fragrance is different from keeping yourself fresh with perfume. You will be cooling down several rooms at the same time and placing a room fragrance in different areas of your house must become a harmoniously fresh sensation. Nobody likes a cold home but an ‘oasis of cool’ is what everybody enjoys stepping into out of the heat.

Depending on the room you may prefer a different sensation:

• your hallway should be welcoming and fresh
• but for your bedrooms, you may prefer a cool breeze
• in the lounge, you could choose a ‘hot & cold’ sensation

Choose your room fragrance accordingly.

The effervescent top note of ‘SPA’ cools with bergamot and it salty aquatic notes. A perfect fragrance to give you that refreshing holiday feeling at home.

‘Bergamot & White Tea’ is just like a cooling ice-tea for your home, simply a beautifully refreshing bouquet !

The freshly cut ginger in Ginger & Lemongrass is both ‘cold’ & ‘hot’ and produces a tingling cool experience in your home.

All of these room fragrances to cool your home are available as luxury scented candles and natural reed diffusers:

• Reed Diffusers (petite, classic, large) in various shape decanters (bell, cube or tower)
• Reed Diffuser refill oil
• Snow Crystal Candles (classic, large and tin)
• Flower Wax Candle
• Message Candle

Introduce a room fragrance for a ‘cooling splash’ in your home and enjoy the hot summer days even more ! Your home will be like a ‘cool’ haven.

Selfie Trend

After Beyoncé came out with her hit single ‘Flawless,’ we now all want to wake up impeccably perfect. The hashtag #IWokeUpLikeThis can be seen everywhere in social media, often in combination with the hashtag #nofilter.

We all want to impress the world with the beauty of our ‘natural’ selfie.

To make an “I woke up like this” selfie, the author takes a selfie or photo of themselves immediately after they wake up, to catch a tired but natural and unkempt look.

This the trend has now been exaggerated with ‘parody’ versions where people style themselves to look overly messy before taking a photo with a tag of “I woke up like this”.

Top Tips for a ‘no make-up look’ and the perfect #IWokeUpLikeThis selfie

We agree that not all of those amazingly beautiful photos you see are truely natural but there has never been anything wrong with a little help from a friend, such as a few natural beauty enhancers.

Here are the key tricks and top tips to perfecting this look.

1. Don’t snap a picture as soon as you get up. Brush your teeth first ! Now you can smile with confidence in your photo.
2. The real secret is super minimal makeup but do apply a little moisturizer. You’re still makeup free, but have made your skin look a little ‘dewy’.
3. Spot Correct because nobody has perfect skin. With a little CC cream, you can color correct a dark spot or two. But remember we mean just a ‘little dab’, nothing more !
4. Get Rosy with the lightest touch of blush to your cheeks. It should be barely visible, just as if you slept on the side.
5. Stay looking messy with an unkempt bed hair head to shoot a convincing selfie. And the one thing you want a little undone that will make your ‘natural’ selfie 100% convincing is bed head hair. Aside from taming the craziest tresses, let your crown do its thang. It’ll make your photo realistic and relatable.

Catwalk Look

Now, this ‘selfie trend’ has entered the catwalk !

“I woke up like this…” is the tending look at this moment. At all of the SS & AW catwalks that have just passed, fresh-faced models were showing a ‘barely there’ glow or ‘no make-up’ look.

Obviously, this is a carefully styled look with the two key success factors being:

• the right make-up and the application, and, more importantly,
• a good base, which means a well looked-after face.

No amount of make-up can ever hope to recreate a well nourished skin with a fresh & rosy spring glow.

But how can everyone achieve this look every day?

‘Beauty from within’ to support the ‘no make-up look’

A great skincare regime with high quality products and the addition of supplements. It is focuses on the ‘skin health’ benefits of a combination of:

• a good diet and lifestyle,
• alongside the use skincare products

With supplements we refer to the trend towards ‘beauty from within’.

When it comes to skincare, the emphasis on a cleansing regime is essential. Daily cleansing should be combined with weekly and monthly treatments to target specific skin concerns and give a visible ‘refresh’.

Education

Journalists and bloggers are increasingly trying to educate consumers about their skin to get them to put in the time to improve their ‘skin health’ from the outside and ‘within’.

In particular, products are being promoted with ingredients that brighten or give an even skin tone, with immediate and tangible effects.

Look for lotions & creams with the following properties:

• brightening
• even skin-tone
• blurring
• plumbing
• mattifying
• tightening
• Day Defence (DD) Creams

To celebrate one of the hottest film launches of the year, the PAIRFUM team would like to offer their view on the which fragrance ingredient has “Fifty Shades of Grey”.

Ambergris

In our opinion, there is only one candidate: Ambergris !

‘Ambergris’ (French) or ‘grey amber’ (Physeter Macrocephallus) is a solid and waxy material of a dull grey colour produced in the digestive system of sperm whales and then excreted. Sperm whales produce it to protect their stomachs from the beaks of the cuttlefish they swallow. Ambergris is not to be confused with ‘Fossilised Amber’, which comes from plant resin.

Ambergris is one of the most valuable raw materials in perfumery. Historically, it was found at sea and collected on beaches. Fresh ambergris is black, matured ambergis is white. Inbetween are at least “Fifty Shades of Grey”. The longer it is in contact with seawater and exposed to sunlight, the more it ages and oxidises, the more it acquires a sweet, rich and sensuous quality to becomes a strong and very valuable perfume ingredient or scent with woody, earthy/mossy, animalic, marine (algae) and powdery notes. In perfumery, ambergris is used as a fixative and to impart ‘depth’ and ‘richness’ to a fragrance accord. Nowadays it is mostly replaced by a synthetic version.

In some cultures it is regarded as an aphrodisiac and offered for sale by herbalists in the fascinating souks of Marrakesh (Morocco) and Cairo (Egypt), where is frequently stirred into cups of sweetened tea.

Historically, Ambergris has been a sought-after product and has been traded in Africa since 1000 B.C. It was seen as one of North Africa’s luxury goods (along with gold). One of the biggest pieces of ambergris ever found was auctioned in London in 1913 and weighed more than 336 pounds.

Blush Rose & Amber

Here at PAIRFUM, we are proud to present our perfume ‘blush rose & amber’ which contains ambergris. The perfect fragrance for #fiftyshadesofgrey.

‘Blush Rose & Amber’ is available in the following luxury scented candles and natural reed diffusers:

• Reed Diffusers (petite, classic and large size and in the bell, cube and tower shapes)
• Reed Diffuser refill oil
• Snow Crystal Candles (classic, large and tin)
• Flower Wax Candle
• Message Candle

Epidermal Renewal

‘Exfoliation’ is widely accepted as an important and efficient approach to improving the feel and appearance of skin. Lack of proper cell-cycling leads to skin that feels rough and looks dull. Skin appears aged when dead cells stay on the skin’s surface.

Generally, these are the two ways of exfoliating:

• physical or
• chemical exfoliation;

Physical exfoliation uses microbeads or textured ingredients, such as crushed shells / salts / minerals or other similar natural materials, to rub off the dead cells on the uppermost layer of the skin or epidermis to reveal a smoother, more uniform and younger looking smoother skin underneath.

Chemical exfoliation, employs acids to ‘dissolve’ this top layer to achieve the same result.

Our advice is to use physical scrubs for the body and chemical toners/brighteners should be used for the more delicate facial area. Microdermabrasion should only be professionally administered, as it is often a particularly harsh and strong physical exfoliant.

Exfoliation continues to grows in popularity. AHA exfoliants and similar products are a fashionable subject for beauty editorials and influential beauty bloggers / vloggers (e.g. Caroline Hirons, A Model Recommends by Ruth Crilly).

Exfoliation

Looking at the top of the illustration below, the dead keratinocytes are flaking off (desquamation). This creates a ‘rough surface’ where cells are poorly or not at all bound together, which makes them sit at unstructured angles to one another. This causes ‘rough’ feeling and ‘dull’ looking skin, as light is not reflected perfectly to create a dull finish.

Exfoliation removes this deal skin layer to reveal the smooth cells below that are still structured and bonded together.

This natural process of exfoliation happens naturally but as we age, the differentiation of keratinocytes becomes less efficient and the appearance of rough skin becomes more visible.

New Trend

There is continuous research & development in the area of exfoliation and skin re-surfacing / smoothing / brightening / refining and general all round improvement.

In particular, research is looking at how the skin can be aided in the process of desquamation and how it can improve this cycle itself, as opposed to simply acting on the top layer by physically removing it. This work is focused around the idea of epidermal renewal and the internal processes involved, by defining the main proteins / enzymes and attempting to target them cosmetically.

“Nutriceuticals”, an ever growing trend, try to support the skin through diet with ‘good oils’ and ‘hydration’. Keeping hydrated is one of the best ways how each and everyone of us can help their skin from the inside !