New Perfume Releases- Do We Care? Should We Care?

Pierre Amédée Marcel-Béronneau, Parfum Caressant, circa 1897

There’s a YouTube genre of videos called “reactions”. People film themselves as they watch or read something semi-controversial, from the Red Wedding to celeb plastic surgeries, clips by Dr. Pimple Popper or their followers’ assumptions about their own lives behind the scenes. I was thinking about it recently while browsing lists of new perfume releases , making mental comments and the kind of facial expressions my mom has always warned me I’d be stuck with if I didn’t stop right that moment (she was kind of right).

I’m definitely not going to film myself doing it, but you may picture me trying to balance George and Lizzy, my laptop, iPad, messenger alerts on my phone, and a cup of tea. That’s the visual. My scent of the day was Chaos by Donna Karan from the original 1996 icicle bottle (“The Precious”. I also have the 2007 version in the black bottle which is just as discounted. Go figure). It may or may not influenced my attitude, but you tell me: can you avoid even a minimal snark when faced with the launch of Mademoiselle Rochas Couture, a new perfume that opens with notes of pear and pink peppercorns and dries down to a musk?

My reactions to the other perfumes went something like this (you can treat it as blind items if you wish):

Klassy.

Great. A flanker of a flanker of that thing I hated back in 2014. Can’t wait.

As opposed to “inauthentic woman”? Seriously? In 2019?

Mmmm... iris. Must. Investigate.

WHO ASKED FOR THIS?

I actually like the name. It goes with my image.

Can they just bring back two or ten of the originals?

Who let this happen?

I had no idea they still exist! Cute. 

Lord. The bottle. They can’t be serious, right?

The thing is that I’m highly unlikely to get out of my way to try any of them. For any perfume I’m going to sample one way or another there are 30 that will be completely ignored, even if they come from brands that twenty, fifteen, or ten years ago I’d bend over backward to get a sample as soon as the first testers trickled in. 

I’ve washed my hands off Serge Lutens. I no longer recognize the brand that still occupy part of my soul and a considerable shelf space in my cabinets. I’ve given up on L’Artisan three reformulations and repackaging ago, and on Malle, Kilian, and Le Labo a Lauder ago. Indie and micro-niche haven’t escaped the feeling of drowning under a tsunami of releases that feel rushed and half-baked, even from some of my favorite artisan perfumers. I feel that we as consumer and semi-industry savvy are partly to blame for that. If you’re a blogger or a mega consumer who goes to perfume events, how many times have you eagerly asked the perfumer or brand owner “so what’s next?” all while spraying yourself from the tester of the new fragrance that won’t be launched officially until next week?

If you’ve been a perfume enthusiast for decades, do you still care? Are you still excited about a Harrods exclusive you’ll need to have muled to you by your cousin’s in-laws? Do you still get butterflies at the name “Tauer”? Do you order sample packs from Luckyscent? Do you call Josie at Osswald to reserve your bottle of the latest oud? Do you still expect greatness from Guerlain and Chanel? 

Let’s talk about it. I’m genuinely struggling with the question “should I care?”. I’m beyond privileged, of course, having the depth and breadth of a perfume collection that had begun around 1989. I have a serious vintage collection as well as modern gems that delight me to no end. It’s easier for me to shrug at a new Dior exclusive called Holy Peony. I tend to dislike peony notes, so whatever. I’m also not as jaded as to lose my love for DSH who never bores me, Bruno Fazzolari who recently created the solution for all of us who were gutted by Chanel butchering Sycomore (again). Buy a bottle of his Vetiverissimo and send me chocolate and kittens as a thank you (note to self: get one for the husband ASAP). I never skip a Zoologist release, even If I end up hating it, because Victor Wong’s vision is still an adventure. 

But should I try to keep up? Do I care? Do YOU care? And if you do, about what and whom? Are you hiding behind your vintage collection or are you out there shopping like it’s 2006?

Please tell me about it.