The Prize for Kuri

Before my vacation last summer we had left a quiz. We had asked what was Clement’s favorite music genre. Kuri who answered Reggae became the winner of the quiz, and we promised to send her one of the scents from the huge IFF library which we hoped she would fall in love with. We needed to spend some time to choose a perfect scent for Kuri among the thousands of scents in the library. Finally, we have found something and are sending it to her. It took a long time but was a fun process! [by Nobi]

To choose the prize, we asked Kuri for some information. Below is the excerpts from her messages.

In her first message Kuri wrote:

My favorite notes are almond, gardenia, and black tea. I really love straightforward smelling almond scented lotions like Caswell-Massey and Crawford & Williams, and the smell of Lush’s Snowcake soap.

I’m still searching but perfumes I like include:
Les Parfums de Rosine Un Zest de Rose
The Body Shop Indian Gardenia
Emanuel Ungaro Desnuda

I find interesting but wouldn’t wear:
Bulgari Omnia

I don’t like:
most Chanel perfumes that I’ve tried; they smell like old school perfumes (Chanel Chance is boring)
l’Eau d’Issey; I think the ozone note bothers me, it smells empty
Anna Sui Secret Wish; tires my nose out although I like it to begin with
Lanvin Eclat d’Arpege; liked for a while but in the end it also tires my nose out
Bulgari Eau Perfumee
most of the Shiseido perfumes I have tried are interesting but too heavy – Saso, Chant du Coeur, Jeanne Arthes Sultane
most Guerlains haven’t worked for me either

Later she added:

Current explorations:

Fragonard Eau du Bonheur solid perfume: cheerful, bright, and fun. I really like it and it’s fun to put on (1 1/2 weeks so far). I have a feeling that the solid perfume consists only of the top notes, though. It’s got a lot of oomph and impact but doesn’t feel heavy at all. I probably really like citrus. Essential Oils of Portland’s Grapefruit essential oil smells addictive. So does Muji’s fragrance hair essence (grapefruit and orange?). I don’t know if I want to smell like that, but I could breathe in the scent all day long.

4711 Original Cologne; rather addictive, but doesn’t last at all. At first the spice(?) was a bit surprising, but I soon needed a hit more than once a day. The citrus doesn’t have the same impact as in Eau du Bonheur.

Jean Patou Sublime; I have an old sample, so it’s probably gone a bit off, but I rather like this. It’s pretty subtle, but elegant and pretty and still interesting. In contrast, I re-tried Estee Lauder Beyond Paradise and found it rather boring. It’s very nice and I can totally see why it would be popular, but it was too refined and restrained.

CK Summer was better the second time I tried it. I got a bit of a tea note this time. Rather nice.

In her most recent message Kuri states:

I discovered I don’t like Caswell-Massey’s almond that much. It’s nice but too sweet for my taste.

Some fragrances were not at IFF, so we searched for them at stores. Veronique Ferval, the Director of Fragrance Development at IFF, has tested all the fragrances mentioned in Kuri’s messages and chose one of the newest addition to the library which was created by Laurent Le Guernec.

Since Ms. Ferval has enjoyed the selection process so much she wanted to give recommendations on fragrances on the market that Kuri should check out, too. Here is her message to Kuri.

Dear Kuri,

Congratulations on winning the quiz !

It was a pleasure searching the right scents for you to try from thousands of great products available on the market.

From widely available fragrances I would recommend the followings:

Fracas by Piguet … it’s a classic if you like white flowers like gardenias and tuberoses. It’s not only an amazing floral but also has a very skin like sensual back, musky and slightly animal…

Eau Parfumee Au The Rouge by Bulgari … this addictive red tea could also be a black tea to me with it’s slightly smoky dimension and a luscious “cooked berry” note, like a blackberry. Love it !

Castelbajac from Castelbajac … an edible almond. quite monolithic but powerful. Brings back the memory of green almond from a French glue called “colle blanche.”

Farnesiana from Caron … another classic. Almond-ish, heliotrope, wrapped in a classic floralcy between orange flower and violet. Addictively feminine. Only at Caron stores. One of my old time favorites.

Code Donna from Armani … not exactly what you are hoping in terms of
ingredients but close in terms of sensations. Tuberose and almond have very feminine comfortable “white” voluptuous sensations to me, and tea is an easy fresh qualitative appeal. Code Donna is an extremely natural orange flower on a bed of warm, light edible vanilla and musks (like a “fougasse” : famous French pastries) with a crisp bright top.

Now, for your prize, we are sending you a beautiful gardenia, wrapped with an intimate almond accord and with a subliminally addictive background reminiscent of the Madeleine cookie. The top is more like a bergamot tea…. Enjoy !!!!

V e r o n i q u e F e r v a l
Director of Fragrance Development
International Flavors & Fragrances

Oh, and one last thing. Kuri will be posting her review on the scent she receives in her own blog some time in the future. We’ll let you know.