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The fragrances of a new age
VIDYA
DESHPANDE
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With Indian
beauty queens bedazzling the ramps in world parades, big international
labels in the perfume business have set their eyes on the
Indian market. The result is that the Indian perfume market
is suddenly being flooded with big label designer perfumes.
Perfume counters at all departmental stores can now easily
give you what you have been buying from abroad. Not surprising
then that cosmetic companies now choose to launch their new
perfumes in the Indian market almost simultaneously with the
international launches.
Last week,
two big labels were launched in India: Aigner Pour Homme and
Balmain de Balmain. Headway Cosmetics, which has many other
brands like Boucheron in its stable, has brought Aigner Pour
Homme to India. This men's perfume has a fragrance of leather.
The new fragrance is supposed to supply self-confidence and
assurance of classic values during the challenges and opportunities
of the new millennium.
The perfume
is meant for "a man who has found his equilibrium, does
not become lost in fixed conventions, but selects from the
latest trends". Aigner Pour Homme costs Rs 2,600 for
100 ml. The fragrance is composed of a combination of fresh
Mediterranean citrus fruits, exotic spices and warm woody
fragrances like sandal and cedarwood. "Leather and musk
evoke exceptional accents and underline the virile character
of this fragrance," says Mr Peter Pias, export director
of Aigner, who was in Delhi to launch the perfume.
The fragrance
comes in three different products-perfume, shaving cream and
body care gel.
The other
new perfume is for women from the house of Pierre Balmain.
Balmain de Balmain is supposed to be the mother of all perfumes
and ultra-feminine. It is a couture perfume from Pierre Balmain,
a couture house that has dressed a host of French and foreign
stars like Brigitte Bardot, Marlene Dietrich and Katherine
Hepburn. Since 1990, Oscar de la Renta has been the artistic
director of this house.
This perfume,
too, is meant for the new age woman and costs Rs 2,600 for
100 ml, Rs 1,875 for 50 ml and Rs 700 for 30 ml.
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