Prada Essence No.14 Rossetto (2012): Invitation to Wear Lipstick {New Perfume - Exclusive}

One of the most exciting fragrance news to emerge this fall of 2012 is the launch of a 14th composition in the Essences Exclusives Prada, the more out-of-reach library of scents consecrated to the highest form of perfumery, the parfum concentration, and furthermore, in its most creative incarnation. The motto behind this range is to let the perfumer's inspiration - here Daniela Andrier - guide the creative process, in collaboration with Miuccia Prada, going as far as being acceptant of an unfinished state of the perfume composition envisioned as an "open work"...

This style of perfumery is highly sophisticated, a far-cry from bourgeois or self-satisfied feelings of contentment. A more mainstream parallel example comes to mind with Eau Claire des Merveilles by Hermès which has a perceptible unsewn, incomplete dimension. 

What makes this news even more exciting is the fact that Essence No. 14 Rossetto departs from the habitual concept found behind each perfume of the collection which is usually named after a main material or an accord like last year's No.11 Cuir Styrax. This time Prada somewhat out of the blue tackle a fabricated, man-made object dedicated to glamor and femininity, the lipstick, going as far as emblazoning a pair of red lips on the perfume label. There is a retro charm emanating from this new project and a distinct, storied homage paid to the universe of cosmetics and feminine beauty which no one expected. 

The violet-rose accord has been worked in such a way so as to evoke both nostalgia and modernity, according to the brand. The composition was made to oscillate between softness and power, we are told. 

Notes include a lipstick accord, rose, violet, raspberry, heliotrope, vanilla, musks. 

This fall, another niche perfume label is coincidentally launching a lipstick-inspired perfume, Jovoy, with their Rouge Assassin.

Via press release