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Gifts "University" - Education and Information on GiftsLAWRENCE CARTER (120)     JL CARTER MARKETING Baccarat Perfume BottlesPosted Thursday, December 04, 2008 (354 days 15 hours ago.) Viewed 428 times. .25oz of Baccarat's perfume Les Larmes Sacres de Thebes costs over $1000.00 at Harrods in London. The expensive price is due to the Egyptian-style Baccarat crystal bottle and the frankincense and myrrh contained in the perfume. Baccarat perfume bottles are just as popular with many collectors as the more famous Lalique. The French crystal company made many bottles for classic brands, such as Guerlain, Jean Patou, Elizabeth Arden and Lentheric. Like Lalique, the perfume bottles by Baccarat have their own mark. Founded as long ago as 1764 when the French King Louis XV gave Bishop-Montmorency-Laval permission to build a glassworks in the village of Baccarat in eastern France, the crystal company has since gone from strength to strength. In 1816 it received its first crystal oven and started producing its glittering crystal. In 1896 the Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, gave the company his favor after being introduced to it in Paris. Baccarat contributed greatly to the splendor and elegance of the Russian court. According to an article at Dinnerware Matchers (dinnerwarematchers.com) : " Candelabras, fountains, centerpieces, and luxurious stemware including a vodka glass, were specially designed for this market." The company started making its lovely perfume bottles in the late nineteenth century. This soon became a large part of the business. By 1907 Baccarat was producing 4000 bottles a day! Jacques Guerlain was one of the first to realize that the bottle and presentation of the fragrance could be just as important to women as the scent itself. Many perfumes were designed around the perfume bottle and the name. The first bottle Baccarat made for the company was for the fragrance Champs-Elysees in 1904. The bottle was in an unusual turtle shape. Other famous perfume bottles that Baccarat made for Guerlain included Mitsouko and Shalimar. Matsouko was inspired by Claude Farrere's novel , La Batoille, which was about a British officer fighting in the Russo-Japanese war of 1905 who fell in love with a Japanese woman called Matsouko. The bottle, with its inverted heart shaped stopper has a scroll design. The Shalimar bottles are also Art Deco designs. Designed in the 1920's and inspired by the fountains in oriental gardens, these bottles are even more beautiful than those for Matsouko. The stunning blue stopper was in the shape of an oriental fan. Another famous perfume bottle made by Baccarat was for the fragrance, Miracle, by Lentheric. This was made of black crystal with gold dust in the glass, called floating gold'. Other perfume bottles made by Baccarat include those for Jean Patou's Joy, nicknamed the most expensive perfume in the world', and the Evening in Paris bottle. Vintage perfume bottles made by Baccarat can be extremely expensive. Some cost thousands of dollars. Although Baccarat, called the glassmaker of kings', has even diverged into owning hotels, it still makes its extremely elegant perfume bottles. It is even possible to obtain a bespoke' perfume from Guerlain's Paris boutique in its own Baccarat bottle. 
Permalink Comments (0) Perfume: The Essential Fragrance FactsPosted Monday, November 24, 2008 (364 days 17 hours ago.) Viewed 94 times. Perfumes have been used by both sexes for over 4 000 years. Once a sign of wealth and a means to cover less fragrant whiffs, today perfumes are a must-have accessory. Perfume needs to be carefully chosen and matched to personality and occasion. Familiarity with types, ingredients and the jargon of the parfumier's art will help you choose amongst the many hundreds of brands on the market. Perfumes consist of aromatic compounds dissolved in ethanol (alcohol), sometimes diluted further with water. They are described according to their dilution: Parfum extrait (perfume extract): 1540% Eau de parfum: 10-20% Eau de cologne < 5% Eau de Toilette 5-15% Like music , fragrance is described in terms of notes'. Middle and base notes combine to give the principal scent of a perfume. The parfumier is an expert in creating harmonious compositions, as skilled as any artist. Head notes, or top notes, are the smells you smell first in a perfume (because they evaporate first). Heart notes, or middle notes, are the next to emerge. Base notes may take up half an hour or longer to appear, which is why you should never spray and buy in a hurry. For the last twenty-five years fragrances have been classified into five main families: Floral, oriental, woody, fresh and fougre. Many masculine fragrances belong in the family fougre', meaning fern' in French. Fresh fragrances include citrus and green'. Gourmand fragrances are those with the eat-me' factor, with notes that may include chocolate, vanilla or other edible substances. Plants are the main sources of organic or natural perfume essences, and include flowers, resin and even roots and bulbs. Some sources are no longer used because the species is endangered (such as sandalwood) or because of cruelty to animals (civet, musk oil, ambergris). Synthetic compoundsare commonly used in perfumes today, in some cases because they are cheaper but also because chemists have created fragrances not found in nature. Essential oilsare distilled from plants instead of being extracted by dissolving in alcohol or by other chemical processes. Storage of perfume is important if you want it to last. Heat, light and air cause perfumes to degenerate. Ideal temperatures are less than 10 degrees Celsius. Spray bottles are best because they prevent exposure to air every time the cap comes off the bottle. Perfumes, especially those with higher concentrations of aromatic compounds, can trigger allergies, asthma attacks and rashes. Because the ingredients of perfumes are closely kept secrets, the industry has been under-regulated but is increasingly being required to comply with regulatory guidelines. If in doubt, stop and switch. Understanding perfume helps you match scent to scenario. A concentrated perfume with heady oriental notes is for evening, a fresh, green eau de toilette ideal for daily use. The number one rule of perfume use is that less is more. The old chestnut about spraying perfume into the air and then walking through the mist is not such a bad idea. If the whole room smells like you, you've overdone it and are probably quite literally getting up people's noses. Just the right amount suggests a person of elegance, taste and sophisticated femininity.
Permalink Comments (0) Shopping on Black FridayPosted Monday, November 24, 2008 (364 days 17 hours ago.) Viewed 26 times. Americans can probably blame one of the original magnates of retail, Macy's department stores, for the Black Friday phenomenon. The Black Friday sales date back to just before the Great Depression, in 1924 when the New York-based retailer began its famous Thanksgiving Day Parade. Or we might be able to lay the blame on President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who told people to get out and shop after Thanksgiving in 1933 during his weekly radio address. People spend hours poring over the multitude of ads in their paper on the day before Thanksgiving, carefully planning out their every move for "the biggest shopping day of the year." Then Friday, at three in the morning, they drag themselves out of bed, still bleary eyed from the Thanksgiving turkey and "just one more glass of wine, thank you" hangover. The lines are wrapped around the building three times, but this doesn't stop these determined shoppers, they simply wrap themselves in blankets whose blanket, they have no idea and nor do they care and dream about all the "bargains" they will leave with. The doors open and the freezing crowd ignores the icicles dropping off their noses as they push their way through like a documentary nature film that shows a herd of wildebeest jumping into a river teeming with crocodiles. The store owners stand handily by, chortling with glee at the gullibility of the people with their overflowing shopping carts, ready to help them spend every last dollar they stuffed into their purses, pockets, and overcoats at three o five in the morning. Apparently the masses have decided that spending money equates with saving money. Although maybe, not spending as much money might be a good thing. Maybe if it was spent on something that people truly needed, and could thereby afford more of it say heat, food or clothing it would truly be a saving. Instead, the masses demand video game consoles at the bargain price of three hundred dollars. Whatever the root cause of this one-day shopping binge, one fact remains retailers announce "amazing bargains" available for ONE DAY ONLY for the shopper lucky enough, and early enough, to acquire it. SAVING MONEY of course is one of the big catchphrases that seems to somehow, however illogically, lure in shoppers. And if you read the fine print on those ads, you'll see that those sales have limited availability, sometimes saying they will have just a handful of a particular item available. There are knock down, drag out fights for the one item available at some ridiculously low "loss leader" price. Jerry Springer and his entourage should be standing by to mediate and film the chaos. The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday because that one day ONE DAY each and every year, is THE day that can either put a retailer in the black, or keep them in the red, when they report their annual profitability. And through decades of promotion, Black Friday shoppers have come to resemble an invading tribe of Goths or Vandals storming Rome, intent on sacking the store and sometimes attacking each other in the melee. Shoppers, thinking how smart they are for taking advantage of these great sales, spend their hard earned cash on insignificant doodads or thingamabobs while risking broken bones in their feet from the trampling masses bent on buying. They face down that mother, intent on one, and only one goal, getting to the section where the Little Miss Molly Street Hooker dolls are on sale. Shopping for sales on Black Friday seems almost suicidal. Of course, if shoppers were really as smart as they think they are, they would consider going to these stores on Wednesday, buying up everything that retailer is putting on the SPECIAL PRICE, and standing outside of that store on Black Friday to sell them to the highest bidder. That would be more like the American way of entrepreneurism. Black Friday is aptly named, because the mere thought of shopping on that day should turn someone's mood MOST black. But the herds flocking to the stores always appear, prodded by store owner shepherds. Apparently shopping for sales on Black Friday really IS worth a black eye! All this can be avoided by shopping online and shopping "smarter not harder". What better way to accomplish this by comparing prices, vendors, products etc. all from your computer at the convenience and comfort of your own home while sparing yourself the long lines, elbows, pushing and tugging of frantic shoppers. In light of the current volatile economic crisis, do you really want to add to your stress level by forging the masses in the malls on Black Friday??? Think again and take another sip of java from your favorite cup and sit back. Happy holidays and enjoy surfing for all of your gifts!
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