By Kilian Bamboo Harmony Is Ethereal Tea For Your Skin

By Kilian has released two new perfumes as part of their new Asian Tales line. It's a bit of a departure from their first two collections, which tend to be headier and richer. They are all beautiful in their own way, but certainly not for everyone. We all wear scent differently, and one person's lovely floral is another  ones suffocating nightmare. So for those of you that like some air and softness in their perfume, which I love too, you must check out By Kilian Asian Tales Bamboo Harmony and Water Calligraphy. 

Water Calligraphy- this is the packaging of By Kilian perfumes SWOON

From By Kilian, "Bamboo Harmony pays homage to Bamboo, considered by the “Men of Letters” as the symbol of human perfection. It is also the main component of their brush, the central element of calligraphy which, in Chinese culture, is the representation of Art and Beauty". That is sort of an esoteric and poetic descriptor for a perfume but By Kilian is not known for their pared down approach to creativity. I love that they put this much thought into a scent, and reading about this new line is as enchanting as their previous offerings.

So- the scent. Bamboo Harmony is a lovely white tea scent. There is a touch of citrus & orange blossom in the top notes, but only a touch. Then the white tea note blooms, and its made ever so gently floral with a bit of mimosa. It dries down to a delicate slightly warm skin scent with a little more sweetness from fig leaves, but never too sweet, thanks to their "Matè Essence" which adds a crisp green fresh note, which is unusual in the base of a perfume. This is perfect scent for warmer weather as well. It manages to balance the complexity of notes By Kilian and the amazing perfumer Calice Becker are known for, and make it an ethereal veil of soft, pretty perfume.Verdict: Lovely! 

By Kilian also has lacquered evening bags that echo the design of his perfume packaging- gorgeous

By Kilian is available online at their e-store, at MIN New York, Aedes, Luckyscent and several large department stores in the US, and at Holt Renfrew in Canada. Bamboo Harmony is $225 for a 50 refillable bottle. Travel sets with atomizer are around $70 but I don't know if Bamboo Harmony has a travel set out yet.

Gratuitous photo of Kilian Hennessy

Funny screen cap of what comes up when one Googles Kilian....oh, ladies.

My List of Beautiful Gifts For The Holidays

Here are some of my favourite things for the 2011 Holiday Season...some of them are on my wish list too! Do any of these sound perfect to you? What are you hoping to get this year?

Diptyque Holiday Fragrances - The gorgeous & luxe special edition candles in gorgeous holiday red, green and gold, Epinette (resinous pine) and Perdigone (spicy plum) and also a lovely Winter Coffret with 3 mini candles- Wood Fire, Pomander & Pine. My friend Tara loves to travel with mini candles- they are a perfect way to make an impersonal hotel room feel like home. Lovely gifts! From $32-$84. 

Deborah Lippmann Get This Party Started Limited Edition Kit - What a mouth watering selection of Lippmann's sparkliest glitters, perfect for holiday parties! From a neutral pretty pink to an elegant black confetti, there is something for any party here! Around $42.

By Kilian Perfume Solid Compacts: Ok these are simply stunning. The delicious By Kilian perfumes, available in a gorgeous black bakelite-style compact that would look drop dead elegant in any purse or pocket. One thing I love about solid/concreta perfumes is they are very quiet on the sillage front. They stay close to the skin, and contain pure parfum so only the best part of the scent is what you smell. And, they don't spill or explode which makes them ideal for travel. For her perhaps the solid of Love & Tears (glorious jasmine) or, for him, the sublime A Taste of Heaven (worlds most stunning lavender). Trivia- the boxes that By Kilian's bottled perfumes come in are so stunning they have been seen being carried by the worlds most stylish and elegant women as evening bags. Seriously. $95...and this will last a lifetime.

Thann Skincare Gift of Complete Pampering: After a whirlwind month of parties, preparation and primping, who wouldn't want to find a box full of pampering goodness under their tree? Thann has a lovely set that includes their Aromatherapy Salt Scrub, Rice Grain Soap and Moisturizing Olive Oil Spray for the gift of relaxation and skincare goodness. And, it's on sale for $45.50!

Cashmere Wrap from Banana Republic: I LOVE these wraps! I've owned this in ivory and it is the softest and coziest scarf/wrap I've ever had. I say ownED as it now seems to be my daughter's scarf...Anyways, the hot pink Bright Sangria or reddish-orange Ubud Red would look amazing on anyone, keep them warm and add a splash of colour to that winter wonderland outside. On sale as well...around $100.

                                            

                                            

Dior Crème de Rose Lip Balm & Crème Abricot: A luxe & lovely lip balm that only Dior could make. It smells like roses, moisturizes chapped lips and lightly plumps them. It comes in a lovely bakelite style pot with a subtle Dior logo, which is the same style container as their iconic Crème Abricot- one of the best nail & cuticle savers ever made. Both of these are a luxurious twist on a utilitarian product, with the benefit of being Top Quality and looking pretty sitting on a bedside table or in your purse. These certainly fall under my "Things I Hate To Buy For Myself" category which  makes them  perfect gifts. Around $25-$30 depending on where you live.

Bobbi Brown Classic To Go Palette: Ok, no one does cosmetic party kits, palettes and sets like Bobbi Brown. I felt like a kid in a candy store when I was the counter the other day. They had a lovely display case with all the gorgeous little kits lined up in little windows. I wanted them all! I thought the Classic To Go Palette would be the one I'd like to see the most in my stocking. Great price too at under $30 US.

Guerlain Vol de Nuit Perfumed Shimmer Powder: Ok this entire Guerlain Limited Edition Holiday Collection is GORGEOUS. Each piece is swoonworthy all by itself, but the Vol de Nuit powder is the ultimate luxury. Scented, gently I've been assured, with the classic Vol de Nuit perfume, its for use on the body, face and, the best part, hair. It has a soft and gentle shimmer and is in a gorgeous emerald green interpretation of the classic propeller bottle, from the perfume. Trivia: The original Vol de Nuit (Night Flight) perfume was allegedly inspired by the book of the same name written in 1931 by the aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Romantic...Santa, are you listening? Around $80-$90.

And I'm sure you'll forgive me this Christmas carol...because it's Diana Ross & The Supremes....

By Kilian Sweet Redemption

I adore perfumes with orange blossom. There is a simplicity and innocence to that scent that evokes soap, babies and even sweet desserts. You can be transported to a romantic garden with intoxicating blossoms surrounding you. But therein lies the issue with this flower. We don’t always want to smell like sweet gentle babies in the garden. Leave it to By Kilian to amp up the sensuous quality of orange blossom while keeping the true to gorgeous nature of the flower.  Love & Tears, Surrender, has been a favorite of mine since first sniff, so I couldn’t wait for this latest release.

                                 

Sweet Redemption, The End, is the last of the L’Oeuvre Noire collection. The notes from the By Kilian website include bitter orange leaf, vanilla, orange blossom and myrrh, oppononax and incense. Where the average orange blossom scent sits prim, pretty & freshly scrubbed, Sweet Redemption melts into the skin. The vanilla wraps around the resins and warm on the skin beautifully as the scent dries down. These sweet mysterious notes add a sexy factor to orange blossom that is unexpected and seductive, making you want to lean in closer. As I wear it I’m sniffing my wrist & thinking how perfect this will be in cooler weather. Sweet Redemption may be The End of the series, but it will likely be the beginning of many other wonderful things...

...is that the end up ahead?

The By Killian Collection is available at Holt Renfrew in Canada. This review was originally posted on The Kit.

Beautiful Jasmines

Jasmine field in China

Jasmine is my favourite note in perfume and I am constantly searching for a simple, green jasmine that smells sweet and true. Jasmine scents (and other white florals such as orange blossom, gardenia, honeysuckle and lilac) can be tricky as they often contain indolic compounds- hard to explain although Bois de Jasmin does a superb job here- that need to be finely balanced in the dilution of the perfume. Indoles have a narcotic quality that can knock you over if they are too strong. There is also an odd, well, animalic quality to jasmine, a compound that shares a few molecules with horse sweat. I prefer a more gentle sparkling white floral. I know some people who wear animalic type scents beautifully; as I fully believe how we wear perfume is so individual. Our own body chemistry, skin type as well as personal preference of course, dictates what smells good on us. The many years I worked in the perfume industry did teach me a few things about what smells good on what people so I can often suggest or guess perfect perfumes for you if you tell me one or two of your favorites. But, I digress. Jasmine is what we are talking about today.

As time goes on I find myself liking simpler, gentler scents that I wore in the past. Oh, the 80s- remember Giorgio anyone? I would never have thought I would enjoy wearing soliflore scents (soliflores are fragrances replicating the scent of a single flower) as I really enjoy the development of a perfume. The top notes can sparkle and shine, then slowly warm to a lovely gently blooming heart note, and then later, a warm base note develops on my skin. I enjoy the journey a complex perfume takes me on. But lately, I find many contemporary scents are a mish mash of notes, all jammed together in a big crock pot with little or no evolution from top to base. I’m at the perfume counter, feeling overwhelmed by synthetic notes in various levels from tester to tester that after awhile, all smell the same. So lately I’ve taken to wearing simpler scents that I can layer myself, which I find much more satisfying. I can keep it simple if I like, then mix it up when I need something more interesting and complex.

Today I will suggest some of my favorite jasmine scents:

Keiko Mecheri Jasmine

Keiko Mecheri Jasmine: This is simple pretty jasmine. Slightly green and dewy, this one really feels like you are sticking your nose into a lush jasmine bush. It is a delicate scent with a touch of musk in the dry down. A hint of petit grain keep it from being sweeter, although I like sweet, this one is lovely and summery. Very nice and if you are a jasmine lover you should seek this out.

Creed Jasmal

Creed Jasmal: Jasmine and only jasmine. Very clear and green but in the end a little more than I want. Not sweet enough perhaps and too strong, even though it is a soliflore.  It has a watery quality to it that is difficult to describe. This one gets a lot of love though, so it is worth a try. A classic elegant and understated perfume, it was created for Natalie Wood in 1959. I love a perfume with provenance!

By Killian Love and Tears (Surrender)

By Kilian Love & Tears (Surrender): Ok this is not a gentle soliflore, this is JASMINE and lots of it. It is heady and lush, and the word “narcotic” applies here. Love & Tears is a sultry jasmine, and a heartbreaker too. There are other floral notes in here but they are beautifully blended. The odd addition of cypress in this one adds a tenacious green aspect that makes it “chewy” which is one of my favourite qualities in a perfume. That feeling of almost wanting to eat it. Yes, I am a crazy pefumista.

L'Artisan Parfumeur La Chasse aux Papillons

L’Artisan Parfumeur La Chasse aux Papillons: This one is not a soliflore at all, but it is quite gentle and deliciate and jasmine is the scent that rises above the others in this. Sparkling is another word I would use for this delightful perfume. I adore it and it has been a summer staple for me for years. It is like walking through a garden of jasmine on a hot summer day. There is a “honeyed” aspect to the flowers in this one and you can almost see the butterflies flying by when you wear it. If you have not tried this and you like white florals, please give it a try. [Note: there is an Extreme aka Eau de Parfum version of this which is lovely, but different for sure. There is a pink pepper note that, while pretty, is strong in this version, making it a whole other scent than the original]

Old style bottle

Chantecaille Le Jasmin:  An odd but pretty jasmine, this is one that challenges me a bit in the top note, which is weird and difficult to pinpoint. I think it may be the mimosa they use but I can’t be sure. I have a love/hate thing going on with the top as I tend to love a perfume that makes me think and puzzle a bit. It dries down to a simple pretty jasmine with a very clean musk base. Its lovely and wearable and very summery. I can see wearing Le Jasmin at a summer garden party with a pretty dress. Noting that this is an older bottle style. They have redone their perfume collection which is a pity.  Also a pity are the new perfume bottles they introduced. The old style bottles were elegant & simple with a heavy glass high quality feel. The new ones are a bit tacky and just don't have the same appeal.

The Different Company Jasmin de Nuit

The Different Company Jasmin de Nuit: This one is really beautiful. I wonder why I haven't got another bottle of this. Its sweet and gentle with a subtle dark aspect - the "Nuit" part. Some soft whispery spices on the top (cardamom and cinnamon) with some black currant added into the heart add a sweet almost edible feel to this beauty. Its a sexy jasmine I suppose, but not in a diva way at all. Love it.

Nuxe Huile Progidieuse

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse: This is not a perfume nor does it seem to be officially jasmine scented but that matters not. It is simply gorgeous. I do get a gentle jasmine scent, similar to the jasmine that grows in my friend’s back yard in Florida. I adore this and this is the jasmine perfume I have always wanted. My only wish would be for it to be a) an actual perfume and b) stronger, but then it might not be as lovely as it is. It makes skin feel and look sublime, especially bare legs in the summer, and manages to be an oil that isn’t oily- a magical “dry oil”. But the scent is the winner here. Soft, gentle, with a hint of indole & green, this is my dream jasmine.

Jo Malone White Jasmine & Mint: Previously reviewed by me here

Love's Soft Jasmine

Love’s Soft Jasmine: Ok this is just for fun, but does anyone remember this one? I recently found an older bottle on ebay and was surprised at how pretty it was. It was as I remembered it, and it was funny how that scent took me back in time. It is a bit of a rubbery jasmine, which doesn’t necessarily mean fake, as there is a rubber aspect to white florals. It has the pretty powdery Love’s Baby Soft base and is about as inoffensive as you can get. It has a little more alcohol that I like in my perfumes so I spray my sheets and lightbulbs with this one. Soft, innocent and summery.

I have a few more soft jasmines I need to try. Annick Goutal Le Jasmin, the new Guerlain Acqua Allegoria Jasminora and Diptyque Olene and Child, both of which I tried years ago, when I didn't know how much I love jasmine so they are worth a re-sniff. What are your faves? I'd love recommendations.