MANILA, Philippines - It’s mighty moody at perfume counters this season. A fresh batch of scents has arrived –– some promising warmth and seduction as the cold continues to cling, while others flirt with the promise of spring with crisp, light concoctions. Get a whiff of these mood setters:
Escada Cherry In The Air
The mood: Fun and youthful, the scent will make you yearn for the summer even more.
Transports you to: The orchards of Southern France, under a canopy of cherry trees.
How they sell it: Escada commissioned Parisian fashion illustrator Margot Mace to capture the scent. The result was a whimsical commercial that appeals to the carefree girl inside every woman.
The scent: The scent opens with top notes of ripe black cherry and juicy raspberry and an energizing burst of mandarin. At its heart is a mix of gardenia, coconut orchid and vanilla, and it dries down with comforting sandalwood, oak and musk.
Elizabeth Arden Red Door Aura
The mood: Effortlessly seductive, sophisticated and exciting, the scent capture the timelessness of the timeless and luxurious Red Door scent for the modern woman.
Transports you to: Vibrant New York city, brimming with style and easy sophistication.
How they sell it: With a fairytale set in the city –– model Mona Johanneson makes like a modern-day Alice, traveling through a red door that’s a portal to the big city.
The scent: A bright floral fragrance with fresh tones of wood, it opens with luscious raspberry and Sicilian bergamot. Adding a dose of youth to the original Red Door fragrance are orange flower and jasmine.
Eau de Lacoste Pour Femme
The mood: Fresh, feminine and innocent, with a light touch of sensuality.
Transports you to: Somewhere between the sheets on a bright summer morning, lazing around in a cabana that overlooks the ocean, or the mountains, whichever makes you feel more serene.
How they sell it: With actress and red carpet hit Amy Adams, no less.
The scent: It’s like pure, white cotton on skin, with the sparkling freshness of white pineapple, mandarin and bergamot.
Yves Saint Laurent
Opium Vapeurs de Parfum
The mood: Delicate and mysterious, this light reinterpretation of Yves Saint Laurent’s mythical Opium fragrance is no less dangerous or seductive.
Transports you to: Your own cocoon of mystery.
How they sell it: A new texture: it is lighter and shimmers on the skin, and now with a more slender bottle that trades the classic Opium shades for a new powdery pink hue –– still a picture of luxury.
The scent: Light but not diluted, fresh but not watered down, it opens with mandarin and pink peppercorn, filters down to orange blossom and Sambac jasmine and incense, and dries down to woody, ambery notes.
Hugo Red
The mood: Intense, provocative
Transports you to: A place where “red means go,†as the Hugo Red commercial puts it.
How they sell it: With super intense actor and musician Jared Leto, all sleek, suited-up; and a bottle that’s coated with cutting edge thermo-chromic ink, which makes it respond to heat and change color upon the user’s touch.
The scent: Full of cold and hot tension –– “Solid Chill†combines grapefruit, rhubarb and solid metal, while “Liquid Heat†has hints of cedarwood and hot amber.
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Scents by Escada, Elizabeth Arden, Lacoste and Hugo Boss are available at leading department stores nationwide. Yves Saint Laurent Opium Vapeurs de Parfum is available exclusively at Rustan’s Department Stores.All fragrances are exclusively distributed by Rustan Marketing Corporation.