"Designer Masakï Matsushïma found inspiration for his new perfume in this distinguished upper class New York character. It is an unusually feminine approach, a transgression from his minimalist trans-gender style. The result is a classy and rich fragrance that, surprisingly, is easily recognizable as a creation of the Japanese trend setter.
Jean Jacques, Masaki's "nose" traveled from Paris to New York for inspiration and spent the summer, walking around the elegant parts of the city, capturing the vibrations of its modern-chic atmosphere. The final fragrance is an explosive mix of Japanese and American senses put together by a French perfumer.
Notes:
Litchi, Fuji Apple, Passion Fruit, Watermelon, Sakura, Angel Face Rose, Magnolia, Raspberry, Patchouli, Crystal Musk, White Cedar Wood.
Style:
Chic. Rich. Feminine."
Of course, I had to buy one for the Japanese Literature Challenge 3 prizes, didn't I?! Here it is, a small bottle (about five inches long) of the fragrance in rollerball form:
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment about the role of fragrance in your life.
Oh, and the copy of Yakuza Moon goes to ds of Third-Storey Window. Congratulations, ds!
We love perfume in my family. My dad buys it for us every Christmas and then I have my everday one the new Realities. My mom is crazy about candles and reed diffusers.
ReplyDeleteI have a whole shelf of perfume, each with their own purpose. There is the "going out on the town" perfume, the everyday, fresh smelling perfume, I have perfume for each season of the year. I have perfume that I wore when I was younger that takes me back. I have perfume that acts as a souvenier (purchased in France, in Poland or on a cruise). My friends used to call me "olafactory Sandy" for a reason. We won't even get started on all the doo-hickies I have around the house that make it smell good...
ReplyDeletethanks so much for sending me an email!!!! I am woefully behind in reading in Blogworld and even email and suddenly had the feeling I'd better at least check my email and there you were!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely giveaway (again - your giveaways are awesome) and please enter me, because here is my response to "fragrance:"
Frangrance immediately gets my moods' attention. the lovely thing about it is its invisibility, its "notes," its power to lift and press all the right buttons, at least in terms of perfumes, natural things like cucumber and citrus and various oils. Fragrance, in all its connotative meanings, is such a lush surprise, a memory booster and an "aaaahhhh" inspirer.
What do I like? Fresh, slightly floral, often woodsy scents. I love citrus, too. I don't have a favorite currently other than my L'Occitane Gold Body Lotion that has an awesome light scent!
Fragrance in my life is about memories. Certain scents will remind me of certain places, events, people. Pine trees=Christmas, sun lotion=summer, Fall has a smell all it's own and I can always smell when it's going to snow. My husband has a cologne that he wears but I haven't worn a perfume in years, I've been looking around trying to find something that would fit the women I am, maybe this will be it. Thanks for the giveaway chance.
ReplyDeleteFragrance. Hmm. Someone's fragrance can sometimes make me either instantly dislike them or love them, upon first meeting them. I like light fragrances, that are subtle, barely detectable, but there. I enjoy the light, happy fragrances of fruit and the warm, creamy vanilla and musky fragrances. I don't like a fragrance that doesn't smell natural. Too chemical-like. I work in a chemistry lab most of the time, so the more I have to smell the stuff the more annoyed I get. I don't like Axe, myself. I hate being trapped in an elevator with a guy who sprayed way too much of the stuff on himself. A fragrance is a suggestion of a feeling/mood not a demand or invasion of another person's scent space. Too many smelly things gives me a headache, and makes me feel claustrophobic. Fragrance definitely has a role in my life, in terms of affecting my mood!
ReplyDeleteAhh, I love different fragrances. Like Tokemise, I associate certain smells with certain memories. Like the scent of apple cider reminds me of autumn. And this one cologne reminds me of a friend I had who gave the most amazing hugs. It's a different way to remember people, using your sense of smell. Very powerful.
ReplyDeleteI am not a perfume connoisseur. I found a fragrance I liked, let's see, 15 years ago and have worn the same perfume since....Red Door. However, I still get lots of compliments on it!! But I do notice fragrances on people all the time.
ReplyDeleteAh, oui, perfume. I can't live without it. It has the ability of getting me out of a funk. I spray it on my Japanese roll (my pillow , my mother thought me this to keep wrinkles out of my face).
ReplyDeleteMy very favorite is FIJI by Guy Laroche I also love Red Door Red by Elizabeth Arden and of course I am always open to new fragrances ;D
Thank-you for the giveaway Meredith
To Sara Bowyer post above mine:
I always get compliments on Red door, it is such an elegant fragrance
Congrats to ds!
ReplyDeleteFragrance can refresh and inspire and make me anew.
Wow, thank you Bellezza! I look forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much.
Ooh so pretty! I have been wearing fragrances more and more. I have one from the Banana Republic that supposedly smells like Mandarin Orange, but doesn't at all. Then I have my winter perfume that's absolutely perfect for the season!
ReplyDeleteAll the women in my family have a special fragrance they use and it's always so nice to come across it in public. I always turn around expecting to see my family member in town! Especially after my grandmother passed away, it was always such a nice surprise to be able to smell her special scent again.
I did not live with my Dad when I was little, and every once in awhile as a surprise he would send me a bottle of perfume in the mail, wrapped up very prettily. It went from strawberry shortcake and the like when I was little, to much nicer smells as I grew up. I always think of perfume as a happy little treat!
ReplyDeleteI used to wear perfume every single day. I don't know when (or why) I got out of the habit. I've always been the sort of person to wear the same scent for year. When I was a teen, it was Charlie or Tigress. In my 20s it was White Shoulders. In my 30s it was Jessica McClintock. I should splurge and buy myself a half dozen different fragrances and start wearing perfume again! I love how I can travel back to a specific time location simply by smelling a perfume on someone. I can be reminded of my grandmother or mother or both daughters simply by smelling one of their perfumes on a woman in the store. My husband loved White Shoulders and gave me a bottle when we were first dating. He snuck into my office and hid the box in my desk drawer, as a surprise. Such a romantic. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat are your favorite scents, dear Bellezza?
I love fragrance and have a number to choose from depending on mood. I prefer classic scents that smell sophisticated and love citrus and bergamot based ones.
ReplyDeleteI made the mistake of stating a favorite fragrance about a decade ago, and now on every gift giving occasion, I get that same fragrance from my sister, sister in law, kids, grandmother. I still love it but am ready for something new. This one sounds yummy.
ReplyDeleteFragrance - is there anyone out there who does not get nostalgic about some particular one, which brings back some
ReplyDeletedistant memories!
Love them all.
Mystica
I like only a few fragrances, and they really affect how I feel. In particular I sometimes wear Coco by Chanel, and whenever I wear it, it's warm spicy and floral scent reminds me of winter, being wrapped up in soft jumpers and sparkly things at Christmas. It once made me cry in the middle of a university lecture because It tipped me into a sad nostalgic moment about a lost love, but usually it just makes me feel warm and happy!
ReplyDeleteWell, you already know I love perfume. Even have my own reference copy of "Perfumes: The Guide" just so I can read about all of the lovely fragrances and compare my own thoughts with those with "smell expertise." I wear my favorite fragrances based on either season or mood (it depends on my mood!). I do have one that I wear because it reminds me of my Grandmother who passed away 2 years ago; when I really feel like I need to be close to her I put on a bit of the fragrance she wore for years. Wearing fragrance ALWAYS lifts my spirits. I can almost smell the Masaki based on your description. Mmmmm ...
ReplyDeleteEach One:
ReplyDeleteBeing the complete Perfume Addict that I am, your comments have thrilled me! My perfume shelves are as bad as my bookshelves (well, almost), and now I feel I must write a post, which I've wanted to do for a long time, on what my favorite fragrances are. Only, it's going to take me a long time to gather my thoughts, the pictures, the lists of ingredients...don't worry, I'll pull a winner before I write that post.
I remember an old post on your original blog that dealt with the subject of your favorite perfumes. I tried to find it in your archives, but didn't have any luck. Do you remember that one??
ReplyDeleteI love perfume. I have mulitples ones and switch it up. Wearing perfume makes me feel very girly and feminine!
ReplyDeleteLesley, I went back into my archives and found these three:
ReplyDeleteDeath of a Perfume
Trying To Make Scents of It All
My Favorite Perfumes
I think the one you're referring to is the last one, but as I look at it, I'm totally embarrassed by how that list has quadrupled (or more!) since I wrote it. Sigh...I can't wait to post on this, and get your thoughts. I loved reading about your White Shoulders bottle.
Yay, congrats ds!!!
ReplyDeleteScent is an amazing thing, isn't it? Scent, fragrance, scent-memory place a big role in my life. I specifically notice the scents of autumn and winter, two of my favorite seasons. The difference in the quality and smell of the air in those seasons sparks something primal in me and heightens my awareness of just how much I love this time of year. During these seasons I am also aware that I manufacture certain aromas in the house to enhance my enjoyment. Pumpkin spices and cinnamon are a big part of my at-home pleasure during fall and winter.
On a note more related to this giveaway, perfume is something that I find quite intoxicating. On occasion a woman can walk by with a certain scent and it matters not what she looks like, her age, or anything, but I catch a whiff of her perfume and it is just like I said, intoxicating. There are certain scents that I love my wife to wear and when she does I just want to sit down next to her, close my eyes, and just drink in the scent. Memories flood in when that occurs. I just love it.
Finally, because I could talk about this for hours, the fragrance of new books is a distinct pleasure. I love the smell of ink and paper in a new book. I can never help myself when I buy a new book...as I read it I end up smelling it many times. Something about that scent adds a completely different layer of pleasure to the reading experience.
Love the shot of the perfume on the autumn leaf, by the way.
Oh, Carl, there is nothing more intoxicating (to me) than the scent of ink and paper and new, uncracked-open, books. I get giddy thinking about it. Closely following that joy are the scents of cinnamon and spice as your say embellish this time of year.
ReplyDeleteBut, I do not like food scents as a perfume. At all! I'm not sure what all the fuss is about in the past ten years or so about smelling like some frosted berry smoothie. Opium, in the 80's, caused a huge sensation with it's spicy cinnamon type fragrance, and of course, Shalimar has been much loved since the 20's with it's vanilla notes. But, overall, I do not want to smell like my kitchen. Or, a frozen yogurt store.
I love when you leave long, carefully constructed comments. They're a great pleasure to read. And, I thought you might enjoy the shot on the leaf, which actually undermines the size of the bottle. It's a huge leaf, and it's on the cover of my Illinois Conservationist magazine so it's not real. ;)
Unfortunately, I don't have many perfumes as I prefer something very mild and subtle, and many perfumes are not! I keep trying to find the perfect one for me!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was the last post you listed. Gosh, that was in August 2006!! I think I had just "met" you via your blog. Time flies, eh? :)
ReplyDelete