Scent of romance
( Beijing Weekend)
Updated: 2005-02-01 14:33

Perfume emits a sense of temptation that attracts people to sniff and wonder...

Especially at this romantic time of year - as St Valentine's Day approaches, perfume producers begin presenting their best gifts, alluring lovers to buy and give sweet scents for their significant others.

People consider perfume a way to display their confidence and to free their spirits. Perfumes and colognes are a way for people to give the outside world a hint about their inner most secrets, their ego and tastes.

For people around perfume users, the scents attract their attention, arouse their passion and stimulate their power of fantasy. Scents can even suddenly help wake up long-forgotten memories of the past, reminding one of another time and place.

As music is to the ear, taste is to the mouth, perfume is like a work of art for the sense of smell, filling one's nose with floral and woodsy aromas.

Perfume fans can easily name a number of brands: Chanel No 5, Guerlain's Shalimar, YSL's Opium, Dior's Dune, as well as Lancome's Tresor, Calvin Klein's Ckone, the list goes on and on.

For perfume lovers, perfumes should be of top brands, symbolizing their sense of grace, high status and fine taste.

Among the many choices for perfume lovers in Beijing, two new top brands - Jean Paul Gaultier and Issey Miyake have opened new perfume counters at the Parkson Shopping Centre in Fuxingmen area this week.

The two brands have prepared a limited supply of special gifts for lovers to celebrate St Valentine's Day.

Seeing is believing. A first sight of these works of grace may push you to buy.

Jean Paul Gaultier's perfume pack for this special holiday is a pink rectangular package. Two bottles of perfume stand closely side-by-side in the package similar to that of a romantic hideaway for sweet lovers. The fragrance for women, called "classique," is shaped as a charming, pink lady, donning a pink body-hugging dress to reveal the beauty of her curvaceous shape. The other bottle, called "Le Male," looks like a smart, muscular man, strapping with muscles and strength.

When applied on the body, either by the ear, or at the back of the neck, on the shoulders or waist, "classique" is said to smell like a rose upon the first whiff, later turning into a fragrance like orange flowers or ginger. Its long, stable, basic tones and tastes are of vanilla and amber.

"Le Male" for men is at first mint, then moving toward lavender ten minutes later, which finally rests with the scent of vanilla.

If you find the French style too open and expressive, you can try another brand of perfume by Issey Miyake. Miyake's perfumes seem to mix the Western style with Eastern flavour well. The new perfumes from Miyake are displayed in a more pure, romantic and traditional way.

Four sets of different scents have been created for this lover's festival.

Miyake's perfume package looks like square romance books, on which transparent hearts adorn the cover, revealing the unique essence inside. The four styles are distinguished by colour, with bottles of pink, silvery white, ivory yellow and light blue.

The men's fragrance first smells like Japanese pomelo fruit, then some ten minutes later it transforms to the scent of a blue lotus, until finally it dwells in the scent of white sandalwood.

Its perfumes for women are scented as rose and lemon at first, then later as Cape jasmine, moving lastly into milky-amber or wood scents.