Berlin - Some men find women at times just delicious. They will find even more to taste thanks to new perfumes, as fragrance creators have relied on all sorts of sweets in coming up with their summer compositions. Nuances from raspberry to chocolate mix among the classic ingredients, some of them letting gourmet fragrances emerge. Fresh fruit from strawberry to peach and from papaya to mango are trendy, said Werner Hariegel of the German association of perfumeries in Recklinghausen.
"And chocolate is also in," he said, however, there are only echoes of it in individual perfumes, resulting in a broadening of the spectrum. "It's like in music: the more new instruments come in, the fuller the sound."
The leading scents within women's fragrances are "really delicious," said Martin Ruppmann of the German cosmetic association in Berlin. "Raspberry, grapefruit, blackberry - fruity-floral is hot."
There are plenty of examples currently on the shelves of perfumeries and drug stores. The fragrance My Insolence by Guerlain is the first to place raspberry in the spotlight. Kylie Minogue's fragrance Showtime is a cocktail of wood strawberries, blackberries and strawberries, while in Yves Saint Laurent's elle, lemon and litchi join to create a classic peony.
Perfumes by Tommy Hilfiger, Mauboussin and Kate Moss also give a nod to the appetite. The heart of Hilfiger's fragrance Dreaming is white peach. At the centre of Mauboussin's emotion devine is mango and passion fruit, and the fragrance Kate-Luxury Edition mixes white peach and vanilla. For the fruit nuances, floral fragrances are combined.
"Tender blooms shape a floral transparence and convey lightness," said Britta John of the perfumery cooperative Beauty Alliance in Bielefeld. "Right at the centre of the fragrance, this season goes right across the flower garden," said Ruppmann. "Lily of the valley, freesia, lilies, roses and also more exotic blooms such as jasmine, almond and lotus are in."
This can convey, for example, a retro touch, which is the case with Marc Jabobs' fragrance Daisy, which consciously places the violet, once derided as old-fashioned, in the centre. The bloom's fragrance can, however, also represent a modern, erotic female image. Claude Montana even sees his bloom-oriented fragrance Parfum de femme, made of bergamot, freesia, jasmine, cyclamen, peony and iris, as an aphrodisiac for "nonconformist and active women."
Fashion icon Vivienne Westwood has fallen back on almost identical ingredients for her fragrance Let it Rock. Its bergamot, freesia and jasmine are rounded out by patchouli and amber.
Chloe with its perfume of the same name and Paul Smith's Rose would rather take the classics to the limit. The luxuriant fragrant rose provides a floral basis for both. And Tom Ford is not messing around playfully with little flowers found along the side of the road. Preferring to deal with precious varieties, Ford has grown a black orchid especially for the purpose and made it the centre of his creation Orchid Voile de Fleur.
Just to make sure the sweet fruit and fragrant flowers don't fog up the head too much, many perfumes have woody-spice notes forming the necessary grounding and elegance, said Ruppmann. Burberry's The Beat is a woody floral fragrance for women. Its white musk, vetiver and cedar wood is supposed to create a "sensuous, sexy aura."
The new fragrances are not to everyone's taste. That's because the trend is going in the direction of distinct fragrances that don't necessarily appeal to the masses.
"Fragrances that everyone likes are always a compromise," said Hariegel of the perfumery association.
That's why currently so many completely different perfumes - from strongly floral to very fruity to powerfully oriental - are coming on the market. Buyers are in a position to decide for themselves. Beyond that it is common today for a women to use contradictory fragrances the same as she would use an accessory with different outfits according to her mood and style, said John of the Beauty Alliance.
"Rules such as use a fresh fragrance when wearing sporty clothing, are long since passe," she said.
