Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Love, Chloé

In July, I gave you the heads-up on Love, Chloé, the latest women’s fragrance from Chloé. Love, Chloé’s scent, created by Givaudan perfumers Louise Turner and Nathalie Cetto-Gracia, has top notes that include orange blossom and pink pepper. The heart of the scent is filled with iris absolute, lilac, hyacinth, wisteria blossom, and heliotropine. At its base are musks, talc, and rice powder. It's a floral scent that has been described as powdery. I perfer the term "soft" for this one.

Roman Coppola directed the television advertisement for Love, Chloé, an inspired choice by Coty, which owns Chloé. It features Raquel Zimmermann striding through a day in Paris. She’s featured in numerous locales, including the Pont Alexandre III. The ad is intended to simultaneously convey a sense of modernity and a vintage character. New and old even meet in the design of the flacon, which was inspired by an old bottle. It has a metal plaque at its base and an old-fashioned chain to keep the cap close to the bottle’s neck.

I read on another blog (can't remember which one) that the lightweight chain that holds the cap to the bottle had broken. The same was true on my bottle, and quality control is the issue. There is a ring to which the chain is attached, and the ring was open on mine. There was no way to keep the chain from slipping off a ring with a wide gap. I have two choices: 1) I can leave it off, which I will probably do, or 2) I can use a pair of needle-nosed pliers to fix it. I don't think I need to solder it. I don't care that much.

When I wrote about Love, Chloé this summer and how bummed I was that other countries were getting it before the U.S., Clarisse, my cherished reader in France, offered to buy it for me and send it. She did buy it, but got to the local post office in France to find that she couldn't ship perfume, a flammable liquid. That's another story, and don't get me going. I sincerely doubt terrorists are planning to ship a few fragrances to blow up an airplane, and those working around the planes are not allowed to smoke. Oh well, there must be something I don't understand or haven't taken the time to learn. Poor Clarisse! After going to all that trouble to buy Love, Chloé for me, she had to go to more trouble to return it.

Now I'll turn back to the fragrance, which is absolutely lovely, despite the bottle malfunction. While it is powdery, I would describe it as a fresh, soft floral with a hint of fruit. The notes. listed above, are a beautiful blend that includes some of my favorite scents. Couldn't you nap under a wisteria arbor? The pink pepper gives it just a slight zip. It does dry down to a fragrance that anyone close to you should find attractive. This is an office-friendly fragrance. I am very pleased with it - unusual since I am often dismissive of "department store fragrances." They are getting much more desirable!

I purchased mine at Saks during Friends & Family. It's my understanding that it's exclusive to Saks - for now at least.

Photo courtesy of Chloé