Description
Drama Queen: 2021: A retro-nouveau, aldehydic, white-floral chypre fragrance created with Editor-In-Chief Michelyn Camen to celebrate CaFleureBon’s 11th Anniversary.
When I was invited to create a “Queen” I was utterly delighted and inspired by the concept of Drama Queen.
While some might think of Drama Queen and immediately get a vision of hyperbolic eye rolling and fainting, the image that came for both Michelyn and myself was that of some Old Hollywood stars and operatic divas, who experienced extreme heights and valleys in their careers and personal lives. Our minds and conversations were filled with the likes of Rita Hayworth, Elizabeth Taylor, Maria Callas, Dorothy Dandridge, and Ava Gardner. Each put on a brave face to shine in the spotlight and for the flash of paparazzi only to know darkness and heartbreak behind the closed curtain.
When translating the concept of Drama Queen into scent, I had two big ideas whirring through my mind: I wanted the perfume to be a vintage-style, aldehydic, white floral-chypre that even Michelyn could (and would!) wear. Because while Michelyn LOVES Old Hollywood, vintage perfumes just don’t really excite her. Above all, though, Drama Queen needed to be a perfume that we could imagine ALL of our stars wearing. The kind of “show stopper” fragrance that would mirror their star power!
As befitting our Drama Queens and the era in which they reigned, the top note of the perfume shines with aldehydes like the bright, flashing bulbs of paparazzi. Juicy, voluptuous ribbons of fruit, neroli, and sambac jasmine dazzle as the heart note develops while just one step below grandiflorum jasmine, orange blossom absolute, and the ‘great floral diva’ tuberose steals the show. This is the kind of sex appeal and pure pleasure that we imagine stars being filled with. But in the dry down is the ever present darkness; the classical elegance, and delicate melancholy of oak moss is balanced with the sensuality of tolu balsam, ambergris, musk, and civet.
After a year of being locked away, with nowhere to go and seeing most people through online meetings, we’ve become accustomed to our sweatpants. With one spritz of Drama Queen we can all be transformed. We can experience an expression of glamour, star power, and DRAMA.
Notes: Aldehydes, Ambergris, Australian Sandalwood, Bergamot, Brown Oakmoss, Cassis Bud, Civet, Damask Rose Absolute, Grandiflorum Jasmine, Green Mandarin, Green Pear, Jasmine, Muguet / Lily of the Valley, Musk, Orange Flower Absolute – Spain, Orris Concrete, Sambac Jasmine, Siam Benzoin, Tolu Balsam, Tuberose Absolute, Tuberose accord, Tunisian Neroli, Vanilla Absolute, Virginia Cedar, and Ylang Ylang Nosey Be.
Warrior Queen, 2022: Throughout the past 12 years, it has been a blessing to know many of the Cafleurebon editors and contributors, personally and virtually. I have had a particularly strong relationship with Editor-in-Chief Michelyn Camen that dates back to 2008.
It seems surreal that another year has passed, still under the uncertainty of the pandemic. I’m honored that Michelyn had invited me to create my fourth perfume to celebrate CaFleureBon’s anniversary (I created Lautrec for the first, Become the Shaman for the 7th) and my second “Queen”-Warrior Queen six months ago. The inspiration for Warrior Queen was born out of the shadows to bring light and strength. This year’s Queen has a completely different feeling and personality than 2011’s Drama Queen, which was meant to bring a sense of glamour to what had been a very dark, and isolated year. Warrior Queen is intense with an ice coated suit of silver armor as the first impression of the scent. The metallic accord in the opening tells you just how strong you are and, I feel, a sense of protection comes along with it. No one wants to mess around with this Queen! Inside we find a metallic rose surrounded by hawthorn branches, and a cool lily in the heart. The base is grounding and made of abstracted earth notes: moss, stones, and wood.
For Warrior Queen, Michelyn wrote, “It’s as if the world has been frozen underwater not able to break through and allow our true selves to emerge”. She let me know that she wanted something powerful, ’not pretty’ (but wearable), and abstract to speak to the sense of power and intensity that this year has brought. Michelyn sent me a quote that hit very deeply for both of us and informed this perfume at each stage of its composition the design: “The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us but those who win battles we know nothing about”. Jonathan Harnisch, The Brutal Truth. We all have battles that we wage in our lives; many of us are living with pain, trauma, and hardships that we don’t make public. And now, as I write this, there is a war raging in Ukraine, brutalizing the people with unbelievable loss and suffering. We all have to be strong to fight the good fight in big and small / public and private ways. This year we bring you Warrior Queen; an inclusive, fierce, that I hope will help us all find within ourselves. Huge congratulations to all of the amazing editors and contributors at CaFleureBon for all of the work that you do bringing beauty and scent to life for us… 24/7 ( for 12 years! ). And I wish to thank Alex C. Musgrave for the most beautiful and evocative art work made for Warrior Queen: the crown that graces the bottle and box label. It’s glorious! <3
Notes: Aldehydes, Ambergris, Casablanca Lily, Cassie Flower, Frankincense (Olibanum), Frozen Earth (Accord), Frozen Lily (Accord), Green Oakmoss, Hawthorn Blossom, Lemon, Lily, Metal Rose (Accord), Musk, Orris, Ruh Khus, Silver Armor (Accord), Snowflake (Accord), Sweet Basil, Violet Leaf Absolute, and Wintery Air (Accord).
Disco Queen: 2023: It is with a jubilant mood that I throw virtual glitter in the air in honor of CaFleureBon’s big day and announce that another Queen has been crowned. This is my third invitation to collaborate with Michelyn to create a uniquely envisioned Queen; one that speaks to this moment in time as well as referencing other moments on that trajectory that brought us here. Unlike the fiercely chilly intensity of last year’s “Warrior Queen”, this year’s Queen is filled with youthful exuberance, dancing sensations, and the excitement of one’s first real independence. Disco Queen, as she is aptly named, is a brightly sparkling fruity-aldehydic floral fragrance with a burst of Bellini and aldehydes in the opening and a sexy base that references the glamor of vintage Calandre (a la one of the the kings of disco fashion, Paco Rabanne). It’s as dazzling as a disco ball making the room feel as though it’s filled with stars and possibility. I have to admit that I utterly love Disco Queen! Not only in the fragrance (which I do!) but also in being allowed to live in the telling of Michelyn’s memories of her first years after moving to Manhattan. Disco Queen is a young, high-powered Manhattan executive by day, and a dancing queen* by night. While finding the kind of balance that the young can manage best, only a ‘disco nap’ was needed after the 9-5 seriousness to cut loose and dazzle until all hours at some of the hottest places in town, like Area and the Limelight, while drinking Bellinis and wearing Paco Rabanne’s Calandre perfume. (*Michelyn even won a dancing contest at the Limelight !) Disco Queen has had a prescient quality about it since Michelyn and I began working on it together last year. We both have a personal relationship with Calandre (created by Michael Hy) and wanted to reference the gorgeous metallic and glass tones evoked by this perfume in Disco Queen. And with the passing of Paco Rabanne earlier this year, it felt all the more right. As Spring opens its doors to the world again, Disco Queen comes in beaming with shimmering beauty and sweet delight; a perfect celebration!
Notes: Aldehydes, Amber, Australian Sandalwood, Bellini Accord, Bergamot, Brazilian Vetiver, Bulgarian Rose Absolute, Egyptian Rose Geranium, Green Oakmoss, Hyacinth, Muguet / Lily of the Valley, Musk, Sandalwood, Siam Benzoin, and Virginia Cedar.
Laura Newton (verified owner) –
Warrior Queen is such a fabulous summer scent to me (though you could wear it any time of year!). I just love that it’s the opposite of cloying, it’s icy and fierce yet feminine and a touch floral. It’s atmospheric and unique, I definitely get the wintery air accord and “aldehyde”! I have a lot of perfumes in my collection, but this one holds a unique place for sure!
lm_pilcher –
I don’t necessarily get the “icy” coolness, just the cold and strange metallic edges. I guess its the silver armor accord which “give(s) the impression of thick metal armor, complete with a slight tone of the oil used to keep it shiny and moveable” according to the description. This is the primary impression for me, with some lily humming beneath.