This is so natural

Mar 17, 2008 18:06 GMT  ·  By

In the end, that's nothing odd on this. On one side, researches showed that man's armpit sweat does contain pheromones, and if they do not make women enter in heat like animals, they do change some hormonal concentrations and brain chemistry.

On the other hand, one of the most appreciated and expensive scents come from the most disgusting sources. Civet and musk come from the anal glands of civet cats or musk deer; castoreum comes from the gut of the beavers, while ambergris is the sperm whale's vomit. In fact, all these smell foul when fresh, and even processed civet has a bloody smell. No wonder, some smart producers want to make a step ahead. In a world invaded by sex, the selling of sex, saliva, sweat and advertised ejaculation turn into favorite themes.

The new perfume "Secretions Magnifiques" is meant to evoke the smell of "blood, sweat, saliva, and sperm" and it is a real hit in UK, at the price of $ 100. The "olfactory orgasm" in a bottle is sold at New York's Henri Bendel. Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Kilian should evoke an orgy.

"Bodies slick with sweat, hot with the odors of sexual favors" Kilian Hennessy, the perfumer who conceived "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", told canada.com

In fact, many perfume names recall sexual act: French Lover by Editions du Parfum; Putain des Palaces (Hooker of the Hotels) by Etat Libre d'Orange.

Sex and drugs are the themes of L'Oeuvre Noir (Black Masterpiece) of Kilian Hennessy's first collection of scents, an homage to the 19th century poetes maudits: Baudelaire, Verlaine, Rimbaud.

"L'Oeuvre Noir contains six perfumes. There are two perfumes inspired by beautiful young women or men. There are two inspired by les paradis artificiels, by opium dens and absinthe. And there are two inspired by Parisian orgies. In each pair of perfumes, there is a soft perfume and a hard one," said Hennessy.

Softer scents are spicy (like sandalwood and cinnamon) and amatory (musk).

Cruel Intentions by Kilian is the hard orgy perfume, and has the smell of oudh, the resin secreted by a rare South Asian tree. Castoreum is the main scent in Cruel Intentions by Kilian, and it was characterized to smell like leather, urine, smoky tar and anus.

"American perfumes are so often what we call 'overdoses'. They have a single strong sent, sometimes soapy. Americans like clean scents. I am creating something darker," said Hennessy.

French are not unaware of the animal aromas. Dioressence (1969) of Christian Dior smell had fecal notes, and Miss Dior (1947) resembled a bit the armpit sweat. L'Artisan Parfumeur comprises circus smells: sawdust, gasoline and wild animal dung. Jicky (1889) and Shalimar (1925) had a tinge of vaginal and anal scents.

"People want to smell different than other people, they want their own perfumes. Animalic notes have always been around, have always been at the disposal of the perfumer. The only thing that sickens me are tacky perfumes. I am repulsed only by what is poorly made," said Hennessy, who worked for Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen.