One of the things that happened when I attended Esxence that I was sworn to secrecy about was I got to get a sneak sniff of the next new set of perfumes from Clive Christian. Unlike many perfume houses Clive Christian does not release new perfumes every year, the last release was 2012’s “V” for Women and “V” for Men. This always makes it exciting when a new release is announced. Here is the press release for the new Clive Christian “L” for Women and “L” for Men which will be released exclusively to Harrod’s on August 15, 2014 and sell for £ 225 for 50 mL.
As his loyal fans will have noticed, it’s not every day that Clive Christian launches a new perfume. Not for him the endless stream of the “new”, the “fashionable” and the “latest”. He waits until he finds something that he completely loves, a perfume that captures something of his spirit, that is truly beautiful and that, as always, is made up of only the most precious of materials in their purest form.
Joining his “C” and his “V” Perfumes in the Private Collection, Clive has selected the letter “L” from his name to become the final addition to what is now a trilogy of luxury perfumes. The Private Collection consists of perfumes that are amongst his great personal favourites – “C” for Clive, “V” for Victoria. And now “L” for Love, the most important, yet also the most invisible ingredient in every relationship. Love is the perfect emotion to bind this collection together.
“L” for Women – a Fruity Floral perfume with classical ingredients of Damask Rose and Jasmine at the heart. The rose was seen as a symbol of beauty and femininity by the ancient Roman noble women; they used to wear garlands of roses around their necks, bathed in rose water and perfumed the soles of their feet with rose oil. The perfume is spiced up and modernised by the addition of Pink, Black and White Pepper notes at the top, together with green foliage and dried fruit notes of Davana, bringing to mind images of a darkly romantic dense green jungle. Base notes of Vanilla and Cedar add a smooth sweetness, whilst Patchouli, Vetiver and Musk add depth and a nicely contemporary touch of something a little edgier and woody.
“L” for Men – a Spicy perfume with a glorious celebration of precious woods. It takes the wonderful smokey-green aroma of Vetiver and combines it with Cedar Atlas and Fir Balsam to add rich sweetness, with some Musk for sensuality and spices to bring the whole base notes alive and enhance the beauty of the Vetiver – the oil of tranquillity.At the top of the traditional pyramid, Grapefruit leads the way with a bright citrus note, which also livens up the natural green-citrus notes, whilst tones of Oud, Rose and Petitgrain Mandarinier round out the whole and give it a nice modern, distinctive edge. During the Roman Empire, the rose was a symbol of power and was used to honour returning armies and later to perfume sophisticated celebrations.
I hope to have samples soon to review this.
–Mark Behnke
