Perfumeland was abuzz with discussion about OpenSky and Chandler Burr’s idea of selling perfume as is, i.e. without packaging and advertising surrounding and cluttering the olfactory artwork.
This Friday, June 29, Chandler will be revealing the identity of the mystery scent S01E01. Live at 12noon EST on OpenSky he will reveal the scent in addition to explaining why he chose it and some history behind the brand. Chandler will then open up the discussion and answer questions and comments live through his Facebook feed on his OpenSky profile.
Are you curious what it is? Will you be joining the discussion?
UPDATE: S01E01 is Prada’s Infusion d’Iris by Daniela Andrier.
And this is what Chandler says about the next perfume in line, S02E02:
“E02 is a work of olfactory science fiction. It is not merely the morphing of the eau fraîche into a 22nd century form (which would be feat enough), it is the scent of a plant, a lovely curling vine, in a garden built in outer space. It is the green scent of the plant’s delicate green tentacles and its graceful leaves in the precious, pressurized air circulating in cool post-metal tubes, a perfect equilibrium of the heartbreakingly natural and the mesmerizingly artificial.”
Any guesses? Reading that my first thought is Mugler Cologne… we’ll see next month if I’m right. 😉
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You know, I was among those few who were all for Chandler Burr’s idea and I went to OpenSky right away – but they deliver within the US only, and they didn’t accepted the payment with my Austrian cc, when the delivery is to my friend in the US… So my excitement was quickly drown. But still, I’d be curious what it was what I couldn’t smell – and even more curious about the reason why did he choose that particular scent.
I can imagine that your excitement quickly waned facing such obstacles, that’s really stupid of them. 😦
I’ll be curious to hear Chandler’s reasons for choosing the scent too.
I think it is such a good idea, to really concentrate on the scent with none of the other distractions, and to open up conversation around it. But I also have to add my voice to the list of people asking for far smaller bottles… and of course shipping outside the US!
The details of the project are not ideal indeed, but the principal idea is great!
It mirrors Vero Kern’s pre-launch blind testing of her new fragrance, which was also a wonderful idea – and a wonderful idea for a niche brand, it certainly created a delicious buzz!
That was a brilliant idea indeed. I’m patiently waiting for my sample… 🙂
I was one of the lucky 50, and it is quite beautiful. It reminded me vividly of a holiday in Capri…
Despite pricing/postage issues it’s hard not be interested in which scent Chandler has choosen first and why. Will it be something widely known but unappreciated or something new and obscure or neither!
Tonight we’ll know! 🙂
Your guess of Mugler Cologne sounds eminently plausible for the next one!
It does, doesn’t it?
I hope I’m right, I would feel very smug then. 😉
I feel really good: I was right in each of my points. I love Infusion d’Iris but it’s sooo not worth $50 for 50 ml in unmarked bottle… If to base my guess on the price point (~$10 per 50 ml of perfume), Mugler Cologne is a very good candidate.
And there were people who thought the first perfume was by Malle. Should I even try not to look smug?.. 😉
I think you can’t help looking a bit smug right now! 😉
A very, very well informed friend of mine, with a huge collection and years of experience also thought it was Malle’s L’Eau d’Hiver (despite owning both bottles). Very interesting indeed.
I hope it’s Mugler’s Cologne next, so I can feel smug next month. 😉
And even less so if it was in fact rather 30ml everyone got & not the expected/mentioned 50ml.
As I’ve just noticed that under the ‘reveal details’ it’s advertised as being “100 limited edition bottles (30ml/1 oz)” …
So I now wonder, has he reduced the amount of the juice to 30ml (after all the complaining for smaller bottles perhaps ?) YET kept the same pricing ??
(Can anyone here confirm what was actually the size of S01E01 ?? … Or was it just a “50ml lab bottle” as stated, BUT with only actually 30ml in it ??)
I’m pretty sure they always talked about 50ml before it started…
I didn’t smell the unlabeled perfume, but from his description, I thought it was L’Eau d’Hiver! It was partly that he said it was “commissioned by a patron” and created by “an artist” he “admires” — that sounded very Malle/Ellena to me.
Me too! Especially the “patron” sounded so much like Malle…
Mugler Cologne is indeed a good guess for S01E02 – surely fits with the description given.
However, I must admit I’ve never really got anything remotely ‘alien-ish’, odd or ‘out of the ordinary’ from MG. To me it just smells like a pretty straight forward clean-vetiver scent. I don’t sense it as ‘otherworldly’ in particular. …
(Still, I haven’t been able to think of anything else that would be more fitting).
I always associate Mugler Cologne with a laundromat, all the steam and ironing smells… so I guess that is not very alien, but it would fit the marketing campaign of Mugler (which CB wants to forgo. 😉 )
Yes that’s exactly what I get too, laid over all the vetiver. ~ And yes that would certainly be ironic indeed, if it did turn out to be MC. 🙂
Tho’ I have a feeling he’ll probably go for a ‘niche’ next …. (Perhaps the fore-expected F.Malle ?? … Which is the ‘greenest’ Malle ??)
The greenest Malles are probably Vetiver Extraordinaire and Geranium pour Monsieur.
🙂
I was surprised, but not so surprised that it was Infusion d’Iris. I remember thinking after the reveal that it was the only perfume that Burr mentioned twice in his New York Times perfume feature. He seems to have a thing for scents with iris or orris root too.
I like the idea of the Open Sky editions. I have to admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of Infusion d’Iris when it came out (they also had a drawer liner — I liked that more), but I went back and tried it again after the reveal and was surprised how it grew on me. $50 is a lot for a sniff, but Open Sky always seems to give out credits, so maybe this time, I’ll give it a go!
Great blog by the way! I love perfume and it’s great to be able to find like-minded people. I look forward to following!
Hi baconbiscuit,
That’s true, Infusion d’Iris seems to be one of his top favorites.
I’m curious what the next month brings…
Thanks for following, my husband is a big foodie, so he was excited when I told him about your blog, he is currently reading your archives. 🙂
Me too! I think I’m going to go for it tomorrow. I have some OpenSky credits and I like this idea of a blind sniff. I wish that I could say I was immune to the packaging and the marketing, but it’s hard to disassociate them.
Have you read any of his books? He raves about Michael Kors, so I wonder if we see something with tuberose…
I would love it, but I think something in the Frédéric Malle price point is wishful thinking 😦 Is that too cynical of me?
Thanks too for reading my blog! I look forward to catching up on your archives and seeing where your scent adventures take you!
I was wrong last time, but my guess for next month’s perfume is Flower by Kenzo (which I love). I seem to remember him describing it in the past in alien terms.
Interesting guess. Flower does smell very alien to me too (as in synthetic – which is not a put-down btw).
I just got S01E02 in the mail. I have to say that it is really hard to not be influenced by Burr’s description. At first sniff, I can only smell curling vines in space. It is really light though. After a few minutes, it doesn’t even seem as if I can detect it at all unless I bury my nose in my arm. Nor sure about this persistence Burr talks about . . . I don’t know. I think I would need to compare-sniff it to Mugler Cologne . . . It actually reminds me a lot of Molecule 01!
Thanks for the feedback! Lol, I doubt anyone on earth would ever have smelled curling vines in space if CB had not said that. 😉
If you smell Mugler’s Cologne next to it, let me know if I’m right… 🙂
Will do.
After wearing S01E02 for two days, I can say that I am really glad that the price and the amount of juice was halved. Burr described a vacuum, and that is exactly where I have been picturing all the smell going . . . down a vacuum!
Lol! 😀
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