However, when you love fragrance, there is always the risk that your favorite one will disappear - why should I buy one that I know for certain will go away? What if it’s the one I love the most that’s a limited edition? Seems a little masochistic (or sadistic on the part of the perfumers!) to knowingly fall in love with a millessime fragrance that you know will last only as long as the one precious bottle in your possession. I was quite peeved when the House of Amouage dropped Ubar, and I was delighted when I found it somewhere & ordered a bottle. But it just prolongs the agony of knowing that one day my source will dry up, irrevocably.

Perfumes will always come and go, but fortunately I like the classics best, and I know that there will always be something I love that is available. Perhaps I will take a risk someday and fall for a “harvest” fragrance. If it breaks my heart, there is always Lady Caron waiting for me to come back.

Robin, yeah, in the case of this one ten dollars makes the concept more feasible for the average consumer - and this one, too. The L’Artisan line presents itself as a luxury and a niche house, so I suppose they’re in a better position to attract the consumers who are willing to pay for such a price jump. Givenchy’s cosmetic/perfume line positions itself more as a luxury line specifically for middle class folks, so I doubt they’d be able to swing that.

March - hee! Yeah, I think you could use Amarige to shut any other scent up if you wanted to. It is so potent. I have to apply lightly, or else I am opressed by it. It is beautiful, although I can’t carry off that big fruity gardenia very well at all. I do hope that these LEs don’t become the giant new trend, through, with LEs turning into a rule rather than offered as occasional exceptions.

I think the LEs are just another way to sell more perfume to people who may already own the “regular version” — plus there’s the snob factor of buying something that’s not theoretically unlimited in supply. Having said that, it sounds like l’Artisan and Givenchy LEs smell great.

Like you, I think that this is just another way for the perfume industry to gain back its image of luxury. The torrent of releases is right! Why not focus on the flowers and essences, especially since lately the interest in aromatherapy, all-natural everything is so high (just look at Donna Karan Essence line). I am just skeptical that the LE of Amarige actually contains more natural essence of mimosa than the original one.

Less than five years after natural perfumery comes on the scene, they’re now into the “fine cru” PR. It’s different from the sequel-izing you mention, it’s a definite step into our natural terroir. I already smell the desperation, from this step and the reports of the slim profits in their industry.

That said, Amariage redux sounds lovely!

Anya, I’m not sure it’s panic, but if everyone and their dog leaps into the fray with their own LE vintages, then it may be more at a sweaty palmed desperation as time goes on. The use of specific harvests really doesn’t seem a bad idea to me, but the inevitable hype that’s going to go along with all of them bugs, as well as the risk that vintages will become serial behavior like the current craze of sequel-izing fragrances.

That said, here’s my two cents on it all: we’ve been discussing the mainstream houses’ bit of panic over the intrusion of natural perfumery into their profit margin on my group for some time. A French member feels they are going to, in larger numbers, try to push their perfumes as natural, and, at the very least, increase the amount of naturals in the blends.

Perfumistsas may see it as a gimmick, those of the bit more skeptical amongst us natural perfumers see it as a desperate ploy.

Some (myself included on this) feel that they have been monitoring the chatter among us in our groups and have taken to the whole idea of ’special edition’ tied to a particular harvest, etc. We often state (I’ve seen this on numerous NP websites) that due to variations in soil, climate, extraction techniques, etc., our naturals vary from year to year. We’ve often made the wine analogy, also.

So amazing that the mainstreams are now parrotting this! LOL.

Still, it’s good, IMO, since it shines the light on naturals and their ability to capture the senses with their inherent beauty.