Dior Midnight Poison

Handpicked Media recently hosted a wonderful bloggers evening with Shu Uemura, Kiehls and Biotherm at Vanilla. Ever the magpie, I was instantly drawn to the sparkly corner of the room and fell in love with Shu Uemura’s limited edition holiday collection by Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar Wei.

Wong Kar Wei is best known for his stylised, beautifully-shot films such as 2046, In The Mood For Love and My Blueberry Nights and Quentin Tarantino is particularly influenced by his work.

Wong Kar Wei’s first foray into beauty was directing the film campaign for Dior Midnight Poison, featuring Eva Green.

Wong Kar Wei collaborated with Shu Uemura artistic director Mr. Uchiide on a cosmetics collection called rouge et bleu. The red and blue tones reflect the contrast between hot and cold and are inspired by the breathtaking use of colour in his films.

The luxurious packaging features a cool hologram image that is shot in the typical Wong Kar Wei style.

The collection features two eye and cheek palettes, mascara, a glitter premium false lash, partial false lash, face powder, three lipsticks, two mini nail polish sets, cosmetics pouch, mini brush set and a cleansing oil in limited edition packaging.

For more info, visit: www.shuuemura.co.uk

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Black Afgano by Nasomatto is the holy grail of perfumes and its allure is so intoxicating that it sells out pretty quick among those in the know. So coveted is this scent, that Selfridges only have a massive display bottle and if you’re lucky, they’ll give you a spritz from a tester under the counter.

After scanning the Nasomatto fragrance collection and continually finding Black Afgano to be missing, imagine my delight to find that Harvey Nichols is now stocking the illusive scent!

Not to be confused with hemp, Black Afgano encapsulates the mysterious scent of hashish – smoky and spicy with hints of cedar wood, vanilla, amber and patchouli. It’s very strong and full-bodied, so you can expect it to last for hours and hours.

The liquid itself is a deep, inky black and apparently it is said to arouse the effects of temporarily bliss – as a perfume addict, I can wholly believe that!

At £98 for 30ml, it’s something of an investment buy, but then again you probably wouldn’t spritz on Black Afgano to go and do your laundry, so it will last.

If you need to wait to put Black Afgano on your Christmas wishlist, there some slightly more affordable niche scents that have that intoxicating, midnight aroma.

Comme Des Garçons Red Series

Comme Des Garçons Red Series are made up of five fragrances with red elements (obviously), all centred around peppery florals and spicy woods. My absolute favourite is Palisander – a woody, aromatic scent with a hint of raspberry jelly and sherbet (although the official sweetening note is actually myrrh).

Series 2 Red Comme Des Garçons Palisander, edt 100ml, Harvey Nichols

Visa Robert Piguet, edp 100ml, Harvey Nichols

Juliette Has A Gun Midnight Oud, edp 100ml, Harvey Nichols

Robert Piguet Visa

Another favourite is Robert Piguet Visa – a dark, smoky vanilla-infused scent that is a million times more appealing and modern than its iconic sister fragrance, Fracas. Visa was created in 1945 by Germaine Cellier, but was brought bang up-to-date by Givaudan’s Aurelien Guichard, who gave the perfume a revival while staying true to the original fragrance.

Dior and Daphne

Also worth a mention are Dior Midnight Poison, a mixture of black rose, bergamot and patchouli with a slightly menthol scent, and Comme Des Garçons Daphne, created by the formidable Daphne Guinness with notes of Tunisian jasmine, amber, bitter orange, oud and saffron. It evokes the heavy incense aroma of a mysterious old Moorish church and is an intense, seductive evening fragrance.

Have you tried Nasomatto’s Black Afgano perfume? What are your favourite fragrances?

Shu Uemura Wong Kar Wei Collection

Black Afgano Perfume by Nasomatto

Comme Des Garçons Red Series

Robert Piguet Visa

Dior and Daphne