Tag Archives | perfume

Givenchy, Dahlia and Me

By Sabrina on June 20, 2012 in Beauty, Events

I headed over to the Givenchy launch of their new lady fragrance, Dahlia Noir at Il Bottacio yesterday after work. The event started at 5, but I didn’t get there until 6 whereas I missed the talk from the managing director of Givenchy UK. Ah, dear.

Dahlia Noir is the 2012 release of the previous Dahlia Noir fragrance back in 2011. Upon heading up the candlelit stairs (although I did feel a bit like Giles when he found the body of Jenny Calendar) I was greeted with a waft of Dahlia Noir and a Givenchy bar.

Buffy flashback

Do you think I could get one of these in my house?

Dahlia Noir comes in EDT and EDP versions and is launching in August (with a 10 day exclusive in July to Harrods, natch). I’m no olfactorialist but I do know what I like. The fragrance specialist (doctor? scientist?) wafted a cloud of Dahlia Noir Parfum under my nose and it smelt like scented powder, the kind your mother used to have, but more flowery and lighter. I also found it quite comforting, but also a romantic but peppery sort. Crikey.

The Givenchy fragrance specialist then handed me the EDT which was a whole other ballpark. She told me it was ‘luminous’ and ‘galloping over the hills at full force’(sic). Well I don’t know about that, but it was a lot brighter, and fruitier. Smelt like an expensive fruity cocktail. But the classy kind that you get in upscale hotel bars and restaurants, not happy hour at the place around the corner.

The Givenchy x Baccarat Dahlia Noir crystal bottle

The name did throw me off, as I was expecting a much heavier fragrance, but Dahlia Noir is definitely a surprise. The ad campaign stars Tisci muse, Mariacarla Bosco and is shot in black and white with lots of abstraction and clean shapes. I tried to get some stills of it, but alas, it’s not out until July.

Givenchy dress worn in the ad for Dahlia Noir

Il Bottacio is a beautiful event space in Mayfair where I’ve been to a lot of fancy press days with glittery biscuits(?) and as always was the perfect excuse to pull out my new Fujifilm X10 and take pictures, of which I know now how to use the camera. I also discovered the black and white film mode – simulating black and white film photography in three different settings and decided to try it out.