Earlier this year, when the NY Times went straight for the Pulitzer by revealing that beauty bloggers sometimes get free samples, there were people who questioned our ability to review products in an objective manner (despite all the evidence to the co…

Continue reading → Excuse me while I snicker

I bought a bottle of Sensuous last week. I had no choice. All the perfume blogs were giving Sensuous high marks and describing the fragrance as (paraphrasing here) a “warm, fluid river of wood”….it sounded right up my alley. So, as I menti…

Continue reading → Will Estee Lauder turn the tide with Sensuous?

By Nava
If there was ever any doubt as to whether the behemoth cosmetics and fragrance companies are paying attention to what’s going on in the world of niche fragrances, Estée Lauder’s latest offering, Sensuous, is absolute proof. They have succeeded in bringing a woody feminine scent to the department store masses. [...]

Continue reading → Friday Guest Post: Estee Lauder Sensuous

Ah, summer..! The occasion for this month’s PFTO is versatile and malleable: a summery state of mind. Whether you’ll be making your escape to an exotic local, a cosmopolitan resort, a blindingly white Mediterranean isle set against the endless blue, a relaxed camping where you’ll be spending your days at the beach bar and your nights drinking frozen beer around a campfire on the sand or right

Continue reading → Perfume for the Occasion: Beachy Scents

Fragrance brands have cottoned up to the fact that jaded travellers who have to sail through the Symplegades to travel by air are searching for a little escapism: anything really to make them get it through the tiresome waiting for their luggage to get…

Continue reading → Bali Dream by Estee Lauder: a Travel Exclusive

Summer is officially here and thoughts almost atavistically veer towards the beach: the expanse of white sand resembling minuscule crystals of sugar, whiffs of fresh ocean spray brought by the gentle, cool breeze and bodies sprawled on straw mats anoin…

Continue reading → Bronze Goddess vs. Azuree Soleil

In my recent browsing at the various perfume counters in town, I noticed something of the unusual: two limited edition scents that I have grown very fond of have made a sneaky comeback. Sneaky because they have now returned with a new name, new bottle …

Continue reading → Same Lady, Change of Gown

After our healthy serving of ensalada mista a couple of weeks ago, it is now time for another round of perfumed tidbits and thoughts. It might be rather early in the day, but how about a little cocktail?

· Let’s start with some news first: Emerald Dream, Estee Lauder’s 2007 travel retail exclusive, is currently making its way to select beauty counters. Here in the Netherlands, Emerald Dream is

Continue reading → Cocktail : 1 oz vintage, 1 oz modern, 2 oz new, splash of musings

Reading the Turin/Sanchez book is so much fun. They are opinionated and unapologetically subjective. Their personalities are so big and they give them free rein, so I find it a joy to read. Why read anything about perfume if it is not entirely idio…

Continue reading → Perfumes - The Guide

I tried to be a trooper most of last week and managed to post on both Monday and Wednesday… As some of you perhaps read in the comment section I have been suffering from the flu, yet again. Friday morning I was taken to the doctor because I was suffering such pain that I thought the neighbors were bound to come knocking at my door to see what all the screaming was about. I seem to be getting

Continue reading → Ensalada Mista

This really is going to be one of those posts, and I do apologize, but I just have a bunch of stuff to talk about, some only a little bit about perfume.

First, I am going to just squeeze March to pieces for turning me on to these Not Your Daughter jeans.  …

Continue reading → Loose Ends and Estee Lauder Azuree

Warning: today is a really long post. Get your coffee first. This post was supposed to be an experiment, a rapid-fire sequence of impressions of a much-admired line I hadn’t tried yet, and will now remain nameless, a small perfumer. The scents are not me, and we’ll …

Continue reading → More Thoughts on Scent

Two scents today.
First, Lee blogged on Serge Lutens’ new ginger scent, Five O’Clock au Gingembre, yesterday. It occurred to me that this would be a fine time to plug Roger & Gallet’s Gingembre.
I love ginger – ginger tea, gingersnaps, ginger beer. Is R&G Gingembre a replacement for Serge, …

Continue reading → March’s Two Scents

In the realm of sweet scents, the consumer is spoiled for choice. There are literally hundreds of releases that focus in treating our taste buds, rather than our olfactory centers, luring us in with the promise of a pampering, homely and seductive arom…

Continue reading → Twin peaks: Lauder Pleasures Delight & Mugler Innocent

Now there’s an interesting question for the new year! Isn’t it?The poll we conducted here at Perfume Shrine was intriguing on many levels, none the less important because it revealed certain finer points.First of all, the poll confirmed that the people…

Continue reading → What makes for the popular vote?

Private Collection was created in 1973 and was allegedly Estée Lauder’s signature fragrance, a scent that became synonymous with the image of good taste she projected throughout her life. The story goes that before this fragrance was made accessible to the general public, it was only available to three women: Lauder herself, Princess Grace of Monaco and Wallis, the Duchess of Windsor. Allegedly,

Continue reading → Forget me Not: Private Collection by Estée Lauder

It has long been my opinion that fragrances do not merely reflect their makers’ vision or the desire to attain beauty and harmony through an ethereal means such as the fume of a precious liquid. They are routinely shaped by the circumstances that defin…

Continue reading → Chypre series 5: chronology and the zeitgeist

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and many of our favorite companies have launched pretty pink items that we can buy and have a percentage of the sale donated to the good cause. You can have a look at offers from Estee Lauder Pink Ribbon Collec…

Continue reading → Pink with a Twist

While writing a perfume review is probably the hardest part of my blogging, testing and writing about mascara must be the easiest. The requirements are simple: define, lengthen, hold a curl, don’t smear/flake/clump/dot and be easy to remove. There are …

Continue reading → Comparative Mascaraizing

In his speech at the World Perfumery Congress 2007, Daniel Annese, Senior vice president and general manager of Estée Lauder International, talked about “the notion of heritage, which acts as a symbol of simplicity and authenticity to today’s consumers. In other words: look to the past to define the future. While the idea of “retro” means brining back chic packaging, it also means reinterpreting

Continue reading → Perfume Review: Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia

Coming across the new Tuberose Gardenia by Estee Lauder was not an accident. It was thanks to a very thoughtful person who was able to obtain a precious sample for me and sent it against all odds for my tentative sampling. Gratitude is in order.No hesi…

Continue reading → Tuberose Gardenia by Estée Lauder Private collection: fragrance review

I have been on a coconut bender for a while now. Even though I adore coconut, I never get the urge to actually smell of it during the colder months of the year. My love for it remains dormant all through winter, forgetting all about it. Come summertime though, my desire for its summery scent is instantly rekindled and I once again begin craving it, finding myself looking for the perfect coconut

Continue reading → A Coconut Lover’s Summer