So it seems to be the summer of odd fragrances. Hot on the heels of the sushi scent we featured, which generated a healthy discussion on Twitter about how the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach and a more interesting tweet from a certain someone that I shall not name who talks about rubbing sushi over his body for the same effect, comes the Slave Leia fragrance. The scent contains notes of white peach, lily, bergamot, heliotrope, jasmine and musk. And of course, the bottle features a chain that is reminiscent of the ones that Carrie Fisher wore when she was imprisoned by Jabba the Hutt. Being a Geek that hasn’t seen Star Wars (let the lynching being… long story short, I was traumatized by Darth Vader as a kid), the only image I have in my mind is the scene in Friends when Phoebe takes two buns and puts it atop her head. And yes Jww, this time there’s a guy’s version called Eau Lando in case you are interested. Get it here.

Another fragrance roundup of the latest scents to be launched in the Hong Kong market.


The Big Pony Fragrance Collection from Ralph Lauren
With the aim of motivating the men to “get in the game,” this collection of four attempts to tailor to everyone from the sporty to seductive to adventurous to the stylish. Is it me or does anyone else think that these could totally be the Spice Girls of perfumes?
#1 Sporty boasts of lime and grapefruit.
#2 Seductive comprises of dark chocolate and musk
#3 Adventurous contains mint and ginger root
#4 Stylish is citrusy with mandarin and kyarawood

$360/75ml
$480/125ml
Available at:
Lane Crawford Canton Road
Lane Crawford Times Square
Sogo


L Loewe
L Loewe offers an opening note of bergamot, tangerine and fressia, a middle note of peach, peony and violet with a base of musk and sandalwood.
$380/ 30ml
$490/ 50ml

Available at:
LCX, Ocean Centre, TST
Sogo, Causeway Bay
Lane Crawford, Times Square, Causeway Bay
Lane Crawford, Pacific Place, Admiralty
Harvey Nichols, The Landmark, Central


LANVIN Éclat d’Arpège Limited Edition
Not quite a new perfume per say but rather a repackaging of the bottle where the bottle is dressed with violet and fuchsia ribbons: a wink at the couture world of Alber Elbaz.
Top note comprises of lilac green and Sicilian lemon leaves, middle note of wisteria flowers, green tea leaves, peach flowers, red peony and China Osmanthus and a bottom note of white cedarwood of Libanon, precious amber and sweet musks.

$368 / 30 ml
Available at:
Land Crawford, Timesquare, CWB
Land Crawford, TST
Land Crawford, IFC, Central
Land Crawford, Pacific Place, Admiralty
SOGO, Causeway Bay
L2, Seibu, Langham Place, Mong Kok
LCX, Ocean Terminal, TST
Wing On Department, 345 Nathan Road
APITA, Cityplaza 2, Taikoo Shing



Jean Paul Gaultier Ma Dame
I’m having a rather juvenile moment with this one. Very inclined to just keep saying Ma DAMN! The three key notes are rose, musk and cedar which isn’t quite my cup of tea but bottle sure DAMN is pretty. (Ok I’ll stop now.)
$550/ 50ml
$710/ 75ml
Available at
New Town Plaza, Phase I Shop 421A –
Lane Crawford (Times Square, Canton Road)
Sogo (Causeway Bay)
Hong Kong Seibu (Pacific Place)
Harvey Nichols (The Landmark)

This is a long overdue follow-up to our last giveaway! Readers, line up for a 50ml bottle of the classic Bulgari Voile de Jasmin scent. (Not sure if you like it? Drop by Sasa for a sample sniff or sign up anyway because free stuff is free stuff which can't be bad...)

We're looking to do more freebies and whatnot in 2010 to keep you guys happy so just to get the ball rolling, we're throwing in some of the press gifts and samples we've received from brands and never put to good use. Hopefully you will give them a happy home!

The requirements are simple: just send an email to giveaway@hkfashiongeek.com with the subject "Perfume giveaway" and you will be eligible, no strings attached. RT the giveaway on twitter (make sure to @hkfashiongeek or @hkshoegeek so we know!) to get an extra entry. Since this is coming out of our own personal stash, it would be ideal to meet on HK island to pass you your freebie, or we can work something out. The winner will be chosen at random with a number generator and contacted via email.

The contest ends in two weeks, or whenever we feel like it after that :)

I’m a sucker for packaging. Present it to me nicely and I’m bound to fall in love with it. Case in point: Hermes’ latest perfume, Kelly Caleche. It’s available in a ‘normal’ bottled and also as a lock where you twist the top in order to spray it. The perfumer aims to bottle the scent of leather that is renowned in any Hermes store. The top note of this has a hint of floral but after a while, the middle note definitely reminds me of a woody leather-like scent. The best part of this design is that it is refillable. Do I like the scent personally? It’s ok but nothing to rave about. Do I love the packaging and hope that there will be another scent from Hermes that will come in that refillable cartridge so I can change it? Definitely.

Had a fragrance consultation at Guerlain's "The Exclusives corner" at Harvey Nichols the other day. Was an interesting experience although the consultation did take a while. The fragrance specialist sits you down and goes through about five mood boards to try to identify what type of characteristics you have and then each scent goes along with the mood board. After the consultation, she offers a series of scents arranged in order of what she thinks you will like. The nice thing is that she will try to push you out of your comfort zone yet still find a scent that is close enough to be subtly different. One nice detail was that they spray the perfume onto a feather rather than blotting paper in order to give you a more accurate scent. They also had a jar of coffee beans on hand to help you "clear up your nose" if the series of smelling different scents start to confuse your olfactory senses.