Archive for June, 2010

NY Eco Fragrances

There are no doubts: if you want to discover something really new, you have to go to New York: yesterday I virtually travelled around NY and I must say that, nearly 10 years since 9/11, New York is as energetic as never.

Fashion and fragrance are part of the scene, with lots of new trends to sniff out in city’s department stores.  One major trend is eco-fragrances…

Green  essences – in an ecological sense, rather than in terms of colour or scent –  are in.

Designer Donna Karan, for instance, recently launched a green perfume in her DKNY line. The fragrance, christened Pure DKNY, boasts recyclable materials and renewable energies for its raindrop-shaped bottle, as well as fair-trade vanilla in the formula of this sweet floral scent.

As for NY base Bond No.9 (I’ve allready presented this line, do you remember?), this spring they launched their latest scent, a unisex fragrance called High Line. This time, the bottle itself is quite green, since the scent’s name refers to the new elevated park installed on the former freight-train line in south-west Manhattan. The fragrance is green, floral and aqueous, befitting this city park overlooking the Hudson that has just celebrated its first anniversary.

But I think that the really innovative trend is that of the newer fragrance brands that are surfing a different green wave: organic. In the States, natural perfumes are part of the enthusiasm for protecting the environment that is growing by leaps and bounds. Not all the fragrances in this category are actually organic, but they are all natural, even if the world “organic” is often prominently displayed. In fact, for this moment, independent organic certification is less common in the USA than in Europe.

In this green team, we can refer to Libby Patterson Organics (their mythical scent, Deep Alchemy, is a powerful woody essence).

Then there is also Réglisse  Noire, a spicy-gourmet scent by 1000 Flowers, a brand founded by Canadian Jessica September Buchanan.

The brand that gets the most points for packaging is called Tallulah Jane. Their logo is a coat-of-arms adorned with pink pistols and a banner that declares “New York City”. A modern look for “Nature Inspired” scents for men and women.

Also a European brand is active in this new trend: in fact the niche brand Honoré des Prés has just launched a new collection christened “We love NY”. The fragrances created by the perfumier Olivia Giacobetti, are certified organic, and their playful look was inspired by take-away drink-cups. The fusion food inspired menu of scents includes: carrot-iris (I Love les carottes), tuberose-room (Vamp à NY) and coconut-coriander (Love Coco).

Of course the collection name is a tribute to the “I Love NY” logo created by Milton Glaser in 1977 and printed on thousands of shirts, mugs and more that can be found in every souvenir shop in the city.

2010
06/28
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To protect
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Packaging of the year

Hello!

Today I would tell you about the “21st International Award” organized by the Italian Accademia del Profumo, last 16th April 2010 in Bologna.

The winners have been LOLA by Marc Jacobs (in the class of female perfumes) and CK Free by Calvin Klein (in the group of male perfumes).

But what is interesting for  this blog is related to the class of packaging: stressing the increasing importance of packaging for perfumes, Accademia Del Profumo has recently added awards for the best female packaging and the best male one.

This year the Special Jury Award for the best female packaging has been given to “A scent by Issey Miyake”.

Also -this Issey Miyake creation is guided by the quest for essentials as a new means of expression and is faithful to his motto “perfume is air that smells good” – explained the jury.

In this new creation, Miyake combines traditional raw materials with latest processing techniques and nature with technology. The fragrance has been created by Daphné Bugey, perfumier of Firmenich.

The luxury of the essentials is also reflected in the packaging created by the designer Arik Levy: the bottle emerges from a block of glass. Devised by the designer Taku Satoh, the logo carved on the inside of the bottle highlights its allure, with the aid of a secret high-tech production process.

The peak of transparency is achieved in the case, wich reveals its contents with never a shadow or hint of mystery, saying nothing but the barest essentials: the bottle’s shape and the perfume’s name, in a colour -green- that perfectly harmonises  with the olfactory composition

The Special Jury Award for the best male packaging is, instead, for “Dsquared2, He Wood Rocky Mountain Wood“.

Wood plays the starring role in this perfume for men belonging to the Dsquared2 “Nature always wins” collection.

Wood is a sign of strength and purity, a forceful reminder of the origins of the two Canadian fashion designers.

Daphné Bugey of Firmenich has interpreted wood’s strength in a virile amalgam of vetiver and cedar wood.

The same authentic refinement comes across from the packaging’s  lines and colours: the ring in wich the bottle is set is a sophisticated detail: a wooden frame, with the perfume’s name laser-carved into one side, surrounds the bottle’s perfectly square glass. The whole thing is housed in a black box that is further embellished by a tasteful bronze graphic sign in relief.

2010
06/27
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Packaging for cosmetics and perfumes
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Niche fragrances

Last year, when I approached the world of perfumery during a course organized by “Museo del Profumo” in Milan with Mr. Giorgio Dalla Villa, expertise of ancient perfumery and director of “Profumeria da Collezione” Magazine, I heard this expression: niche fragrances.

So I thought that the supremacy of marketing has been imposed to the world of perfumery too, underlining a gap between quality, as aim of the so-called Artistic Perfumery and quantity, main goal of perfume mass production.

But I tried to go deeper: Dalla Villa provided his owm opinion during the course.

According to Dalla Villa, the expression of niche fragrances is an use and abused slogan in perfumery, especially by those who lack passion. Although the supposed difference is often more linked to distribution than to quality. The price war, made by large retail chains on the products in fragrances business, has unfortunately created the proliferation of brands of niche as expensive brands: this is the true nature of the sector of Perfume Art.

Asking to Dalla Villa which are the basis of artistic perfumery, he said that in order to define the perfumery as artistic, two elements are necessary:

  • raw materials of high quality

 

  • composition cutting artistic

Further considerations about the external aspect of the product (package) should be considered incidental. That is: if a great scents also has an elegant bottle or a well refined box, this is good. But you can’t accept the opposite.

Today, Dalla Villa said, there are perfumery agents who make choices based on what they consider most right for their businesses. It means that scents would normally belong to a medium-low cost, with a great packaging, are proposed with stratospheric prices.

In order to fix this problem, Della Villa thinks that the only filter can be posed by perfumers or proponents products to end users: every retailer who married the world of perfumery art should have the right tools to understand if a product that is offered for sale in his shop, is to be considered qualitative valid, in terms of olfactory characteristics.

2010
06/26
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CATEGORY
About Perfume
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Help…they have stolen the senses!

Hi!

The idea of making reference to “1984″ by Orwell, “Brazil” by Gilliam or “Brave New World” by Huxley (as in Wobbling Solutions about “the large group for the single” class) as  literary examples of descriptions of the negative effects of the “industrial recipe”, gives me the idea of finding something similar for perfumes industry.

Well, as perfume industry is today in the form of industrial recipe into the “large group for the single” class (without considering the so-called and distinct “niche perfumery”), I think that a kind of similar dystopian scenery can be presented specifically to perfumery industry if it continues  stressing supremacy of mass, packaging or digital fragrances rather than inner value of the perfume…

In this case the reference is to Stefano Lalli, a young sociologist and economist that in his “The theft and commodification of youth” says “Help: they have stolen the senses…”

If he had been right, we have witnessed a tragic historic event: the unexpected loss of our perception in the world. It’s obvious we are facing with an unpleasant utopia, inner-contradictory. Perhaps, if it’s true that our senses are partly being commoditized and sometimes atrophied, on the other side, we cannot deny forms of senses’ excessive emphasis: such the current celebration of the body and the increasingly production of multisensory objects (books with strawberry, scented CDs).

Perhaps the only real problem is a kind of dislocation of senses that become unreliable (as Lalli says).

Certainly this growing anesthesia of the five senses affects a small part of the world , that is to say the rich West. In fact in the huge metropolis, in particular Western ones, new forms of communication penalize our sensory channels. That makes necessary to implement a defense strategy similar to that adopted in the East: striving to create a bareer to protect odors and sounds against commodization.

That is to say that we have to open the channels for getting what can shake our soul and make us mad with desires and pains, tenderness or anger (Filippo La Porta).

In this sense literature reveals a gigantic nose like the protagonist of the novel of Rushdie “Midnight’s Children”: smells, scents and smells again are what India tells its travellers ( like Pasolini that, through smells in India, drew a delicate and poetic portrait of this slice of the world).

Then, another smell in literatures: it’s the smell of warm bread that announces the death of her mother in one of the three story of ell and love by Susanna  Tamaro (Rispondimi).

2010
06/23
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About Perfume
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Smell&Shop

Hello World!

Today I’d like to tell you about a very amazing (or tragic?) innovation that could change Perfumes Industry with no necessity of packaging any more.

In class’s blog there is reference to Kubler that, in his “The shapes of Time. Remarks on the history of things.”, defines history as an overall framework where the processes of innovation, replication and change are in continuous dialogue through the different eras and different times”.

The theme of this post seems to be the practical explication of what Kubler said.

If a dramatic fragrant new technology will be available at the end of the year, in near future the buyers who visit a web site of cosmetics can smell the structure of the fragrance of perfumes and lotion in real-time.

In fact one of the most amazing technology is now developing the scent-enable (literally “to make the smell real”). It’s also known with other names like “Smell&Shop” and “scent stream technology”. A quartet of companies is close to complete this attractive idea: DIGISCENTS (California); TRISENX (Georgia); AROMAJET (Texas) and ISRAELI SENSELT (bought by Digiscent).

Brian Nelson, draftsman associated with Digiscent, told the “Times of India”  that the company’s co-founders, Joel Bellenson and Dexter Smith,  have had the idea while they were holidaying in a beach: they imagined they could transmit smells over the internet to be enjoyed by others.

In the same way blue, red and green are combined to create millions of colours on the screen, computer technology “iSmell” will combine the essential oils to create a broad mix of perfumes through specific Shenthesizer.

No coincidence that Procter&Gamble had decided to fund Digiscent’s smelling research, while Real Network has signed a contract providing for the online dissemination of “smell-speaker” that lets you download free bouquet from Snortal, the first of fragrant portals.

Among future applications as well as that of e-commerce sites, there will be a new age of aroma-therapy that will take care of clients thousands of miles away. So psychiatrists will have a great advantage as, thanks to the speaker, they will analyze patients by focusing on the association between old familiar smells and memories.

Surely, the video game industry will benefit more thanks to these new communication media that will see “smell websites, email and gaming”

I let you think about…

 

2010
06/22
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About Perfume
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Two variations of glass for promoting two concepts of man

The historic brand haute couture “Canali ” has turned to Eurocosmesi, the division of Guaber Group specialized into perfumery channel, to produce and distribute “Canali Men”, the new line of perfumes with which the brand has debuted in the world of fragrances. Italian Perfumery, other Guaber division specializing it the enlarged distribution, has instead developed, according to a very different concept, “Max”, the first men’s line that ties its name to the publishing world.

A high quality glass, a precise project and a concept of packaging as tool of promotion unite the two packs.

Canali Men

Canali proposes a line of perfumes dedicated to the same target of its dressing collection: men with refined and distinctive taste, quality-conscious and able to appreciate the attention to detail. So Canali wanted not only a refined and distinctive fragrance, but also an elegant packaging, able to promote the values that always identify the brand in the world: style, luxury, simplicity, attention to details, tradition and innovation. The uniqueness of the olfactory sensation given by the perfume is reflected in its container: a glass trapezoid bottle, brilliant and precious as a jewel, but soft geometric structure in the profile, minimalist, elegant and balanced surmounted by a cylindrical metal cap in polished titanium colour, which in turn rests on a steel-coloured satin ring where the mark  Canali is embedded.

Max

The packaging chosen for the next generation of the male scent Max, the first perfume “cult” , is completely different. The pack of Max reflects the dynamism, the strong and passionate male character and the fragrance of the target which is dedicated: men integrated into the social fabric in which they live, a man that pays attention to fashion and culture trends.  The perfume is contained in glass bottle of premium subject to pickling and a silver paint layer very thick, making the surface uniform to touch. TRhe logo is gloss printed and the bottle is embellished with a precious metal cap weighting silver finish.

2010
06/17
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To promote
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Fashion Scent

After old perfumers spread the habit of using delicate scent upon their own body among people, many couturier have launched their perfumes. Why?

The most immediate reason: the perfume, so appreciated by the market, is always  an economic success, thanks to which many couture maisons have survived during the time.

The most noble reason: women don’t wish only to be well dressed, but they also require fragrances able to underline their elegance.

Thus, some couturiers have become great perfumers too, able to use smells and related packs (above all packs) to interact with their target. The interaction made possible by fragrances’ packs is a tool of valorizing couturiers’ collections and their concept of women.

No coincidence that manufacturers are more and more attentive to the package. Great seducer, the packaging causes lightning strikes: a sixth of second, experts sais, the pack has already conquered the beholder.

Thomas Hine, a journalist who has devoted a book to the topic (“The Total Package“) defines “Masculine Forms”  the tall, angular, monumental forms. These are able to awake the erotic senses and the desire of the conquest. While the soft, sinuous and round forms are “Female Forms“, because they tend to reassure the child that is in all of us.

“Flower by Kenzo”  falls under this theory.

Being faced with the choice of the “masculine form” that usually presents full colours, the transparency of glass is reminiscent of the ice and, however, softens the presence of the red poppy, a symbol of passion and joy that touches the peak of its glory in 100 ml bottle, in which the flower is fully bloomed. The choice of the poppy isn’t random or simply tied to the colour: red poppy is odorless and Kenzo has had  to invent Kenzo perfume.

For Kenzo, women are faced with looking for a mediation between the world of the city and the need for contact with nature, among the very strong top notes and the heart cypria, sweet and seductive: not surprisingly Kenzo headline slogan is “a flower city”.

Another example of female form package is that of “J’adore by Christian Dior”.

J’adore is a fragrance for a woman who certainly makes her femininity weapon of seduction. The sweetness envelops the harmonious base notes,  and rounded forms are reflected by the glass bottle that lets you see the colour of the perfume become gold by metonymy. The long neck enclosed by a series of rings recalls the magnificence, elegance and richness of this woman, whose fragrance is addressed. In fact the advertising campaign for print and television shows a woman cannot resist the urge to dive into a pool full of gold: how women cannot resist gold, they cannot resist J’adore.

J’adore encapsulates the personality of the product Or and producer Dior, a musicality that creates a strong similarity which makes the indelible image of the perfume.

2010
06/17
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To promote
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Packaging phase: the last but not the least in cosmetic production

The end of line isn’t a marginal part of production and cannot be performed without a precise logistics.

In smaller companies, the premium or niche perfumes  are still manually worked, through simple but very careful processes. The outputs from the packaging machinery are stored in boxes manually, and control boxes are individually made by a charged person before they are stacked on pallets, tapes and sent to storage as finished products.

Working large amounts, the industrial lines provide end of line with automatic cartooning, labeling, palletizing and taping managed by special softwares. The production made in small batches on the same line but in different packages is now the rule especially for contractors.

The format change is the crux of this area and should be quick and simple, so it doesn’t require specialized staff. Boxing can be loaded from the bottom, suitable for handing delicate products, or horizontal loading, perfect packaging when selling the product to be included in the box is pretty hard (boxes or cans). The assembled set of products  is pushed in the chest, placed in the car so that they show opening on one side.

The case packer must have three conditions: easy, reliable and flexible.

The taping can be done with a tape or a gummed paper tape. It can be manual or semi-fixed, requiring manual set up bat allow the filling and sealing of the box without the assistance of an operator. The automatic variable format recognition system height and width boxes is based on pneumatic and electromechanical systems.

2010
06/17
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Packaging for cosmetics and perfumes
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To each pack its material

As we have seen, the rating of a beauty product isn’t limited to the results, the texture or the pleasantness of the smell, but also it extends to the packaging, which makes adifference on the shelf, enhancing the feeling of uniqueness and prestige.

Marketing experts conduct detailed researches before launching a new package.  The most important and innovative companies project a brief  to conduct the project of  new packaging: the brief is the result of creativity and technical expertise of a packaging team made up of creative designers and engineers who collaborate with suppliers of materials to create something functional, tangible and impact, always considering that a pack hasn’t happened when it looses sight of its purposes and meets the expectations of its users.

Among the materials used to create primary packaging there are:

  • PP (polypropylene): thanks to the good  mechanical properties, chemical resistance and high impermeability o water vapor, it is suitable for battles or films oriented;

 

  • PET (polyethylene terephthalate): it has among its features high mechanical properties, toughness, good thermal and chemical resistance and an excellent transparency and brilliance;

 

  • PE (polyethylene): it has a good mechanical strength and rigidity, resistance to acids, alkalis, saline solutions and various organic solvents but with a lack of transparency, it is ideal for caps and closures;

 

  • Metal: it evokes strength and masculinity, it is low-cost and durable and suitable for products fora young male target, for the talents and capabilities of transmitting the message of modernity;

 

  • Plastic: it is no longer a poor material because many researches have declined it into highly resistant formulas, so it is now able to achieve aesthetic effects truly remarkable, thanks to its high processability, even from the standpoint of printing techniques used. As the metal material is a young and modern, durable and good value for money;

 

  • Stock:light, cheap and convenient, it can be worked into any shape but it is easily worn. Worked in keyed cardboard takes a central role as a real booster packaging;

 

  • Glass: synonymous of luxury, refinement, it lends itself to be used, often enhanced by new workings, within the high-end products. For its qualities of high protection of the product and interaction is ideal for low alcohol products. Its fragility clashes in some applications with the qualities of functionality. In single.dose vials, for example, it is intended to be replaced by plastic vials.
2010
06/17
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Packaging for cosmetics and perfumes
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The virtuosity of a pack that keeps the origins of a great brand

A vigorous and sensual architectural bottle pour

L’ Instant de Guerlain pour Homme

  contains the origins of Guerlain, one of the most famous brands in haute-couture and ready-to-wear, but born as perfumers’ maison.

The packaging, the slender shape and intense brown colour represent a history that accompanies a smell that is history itself: in this case sharing the perfume and its packaging is very difficult.

For this perfume, Guerlain has chosen a tailored look that reflects the character of the mysterious fragrance created by the French. The bottle of perfume, as the perfume has charm and vigor typically male, but combined with a pinch of extravagance and seduction, has a solid glass body. The bottle, sweetened by the scent of brown shades becoming an intense chocolate-brown, is punctuated by an elegant interplay of lines of light shades: passion and fantasy mingled in a harmonious way composition. The bottle   is also carved like a sculpture, with fine vertical grooves carved on the back capable of imparting to the whole idea of movement. On either side, however, the glass gives a sparkling effect “magnifying glass”.

The logo, in matte silver, is inserted in the center of the bottle: it adds a delicate touch of elegance. The rigorous architectural structure is in an original contrast with a warm brown tone, which became a symbol of elegance and luxury and therefore used  for various women’s accessories such as compacts and lipsticks.

The upper surface of the cap is engraved with the name Guerlain as a mark that unifies the entire package.

 

2010
06/16
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To keep
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